Re: [XForms] file selection dialog problem

[Jens Thoms Toerring]

Hi Jussi,

On Mon, Oct 19, 2009 at 03:31:13PM -0700, Jussi Eloranta wrote:
> On 10/19/2009 01:34 PM, Jens Thoms Toerring wrote:
>> Sorry, not yet and I am surprised that it happens both with the
>> newest version and the rather ancient 1.0.90 version since this
>> bug hasn't been reported before - at least as far as I remember.
>> I tried the same (i.e. entering the file name in the input box
>> and then pressing the<ENTER>  key) with some programs I have around
>> and couldn't reproduce the effect. Since I have seen some problems
>> with certain window managers, can you tell me what you're using
>> (KDE, Gnome, fvwm2 etc.)? That's a long shot but perhaps it helps
>> me to reproduce this behavior... Should you have the demo programs
>> compiled could you also try out e.g. the 'fbrowse' program (where
>> a file selector box pops up when you click onto the button labeled
>> 'Load') to see if this happens always or only with certain programs?
>>    
> I tried fbrowse and I got the same effect. I am using Gnome
> (the standard one that comes with fedora 11).

I have found something even stranger that may also explain
the problem you have seen. You also wrote that the effect
of the <Return> key seemingly being stuck persists even after
you managed to kill the XForms-based program that started
the effect. And when I run Gnome I get exactly the same re-
sults. Now, after searching for some explanation on the net,
I found a way to produce this effect even without ever run-
ning an XForms-based program: all you have to do is open a
terminal and then run

xset r off

(the command to switch keyboard autorepeat off) and, voila,
suddenly you get an endless stream of the <Return> key get-
ting pressed and released (as confirmed with xev).

It's a known bug, see

https://bugs.launchpad.net/gnome-settings-daemon/+bug/367136

that isn't resolved yet. As a workaround it was proposed to
switch autorepeat off via Preferences->Keyboard and that
really avoids the problem (of course for the price that
autorepeat doesn't work anymore which is a PITA for seri-
ous work). After doing so also the file selector worked
normally again (i.e. no more repeat of the <Return> key
happens).

Of course, that isn't proof that the effect you have found
with the file selector has the same cause, but that a) the
behaviour doesn't stop when killing the program, b) the exact
same effect can be triggered when using xset to switch off
autorepeat and c) that, when using the proposed fix of
switching off autorepeat via Preferences->Keyboard, also the
effect vanishes when using the file selector makes it look a
bit more than just simple coincidence. Combined with this only
happening under Gnome (KDE and fvwm2 don't seem to be affected)
raises IMHO the chances considerably that it's some Gnome bug
getting triggered  - but I haven't yet figured out what exactly
in XForms could lead to it getting triggered (but that could be
a bit tricky when the cause for the Gnome bug obviously isn't
understood yet), so I can't blame Gnome as the sole culprit
yet;-)
                         Best regards, Jens
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