[Users] One character eaten

[Dustin Miller]

> Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2016 08:38:15 +0000
> From: Keith Edmunds <kae at midnighthax.com>
> Subject: [Users] One character eaten
> 
> Bit of a long shot, but anyway...
> 
> Claws 3.14
> 
> I have Claws installed on a number of systems, all running
> Debian/XFCE. On one of them only, when I use the 'change
> folder' ('G') or 'move to folder' (^O), the dialog box pops up as
> expected. Then, whatever key I type next (to select the folder) is
> ignored. After that, all is OK.
> 
> So, to move a mail to the "xyz" folder, I do:
> 
>  - ^O (dialog box appears)
>  - x (nothing happens)
>  - x (first folder starting with 'x' is selected)
> 
> Really open to any suggestions as to why this may be happening.

I have this same issue with 3.14 on a Lubuntu 14.04 system and posted
about it a month or two ago. Paul (one of the developers, I think) is
pretty sure that this is not something Claws-related, but rather
related to the particular desktop environment (DE) and/or windows
manager (WM) being used. This sounds right, because I had no problem
with this on two different Ubuntu 14.04 systems running an alternative
DE (Metacity Flashback, I think).

What I noticed is that there a few keys (but not letter keys) that are
responsive on first touch, but that most of them aren't. I also noticed
that if I use Alt-SpaceBar, go to the 'Layer' option and choose 'Always
on Top' that it then works as expected, but I'm not sure if this is
because of the keys I hit in doing it or because of the changed
setting. Not sure if/when I'll get around to it, but the next thing I
thought I would try was to see if I could change a config file
somewhere so that the 'Browse Folder' window (the same issue affects
hitting 'G' to move to a folder) would open with the 'Always on Top'
option as default, to see if that's a good workaround/solution. I also
checked all the 'user-friendly' settings (via menus, GUIs, etc.)
related to windows that I could find, but none of those seemed to have
options to fix the problem. For now, I've just gotten in the habit of
pressing the first key I want to use twice.

If you're willing/able to dig into and edit config/system files on your
system, then my advice would be to look into whatever documentation you
can find for the DE and/or WM you're using to see if there's a way to
edit/create some instructions somewhere that will open that window as
'Always on Top' (or its equivalent) by default. I don't know for sure
that this will work, but I think it's worth a shot. From the little
that I've searched online in relation to my system, I think it might be
possible, but it looked like it could take a bit of time/effort to
figure out. You may need to find out from the Claws code or a developer
what this window is called if it needs to be named in the DE/WM config
files, not sure.

It's my understanding that it's best practice for developers to avoid
using 'Always on Top' as a default for their apps since it can be rather
annoying for the user, but that shouldn't be an issue here if you
figure out how to make that change for yourself, since as soon as you
select what you want to in the window it closes.

Hope this helps at least a bit. :)