[softwarelist] Re: problem with holding format during copy/paste

In message <5db5867e50.steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
          Steve Fryatt <lists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> I've just had a play: a short piece of text with formatting in O-Pro, copy,
> and paste back.  On RISC OS 5, it works as expected and the formatting is
> retained.  On RISC OS 4.37, I see exactly what Martin describes (ie. the
> formatting is lost).  A quick look at the Wimp messages flying around gives
> some clues as to what might be happening (and I'm fairly sure we've been here
> before on this list -- if not, it was with another WP/DTP app).

Yes, we have been here before on this list, years before. However, the 
problem was fixed back then, and it is still working fine here on RISC 
OS 4.39 and RISC OS 6.14. Maybe RISC OS 4.37 behaves differently, but 
that is not too likely. I tried it with the 2-Jun-2006 version of OP 
2.77 (which is I happened to have installed in my copy of VRPC).

> As far as I can tell, the problem is as follows.  On RISC OS 5, which is
> 'primitive' enough to still use the Global Clipboard Protocol as devised by
> Acorn, when the text is copied in O-Pro, O-Pro retains it on its own internal
> clipboard and advises all the other applications that it now 'owns' the
> clipboard.  When the text is pasted back into O-Pro, O-Pro knows about the
> formatting (I assume), and so it is retained.

> On RISC OS 4.37, however, we have the Clipboard Holder.  When O-Pro
> announces that it now 'owns' the clipboard contents, the Clipboard
> Holder (part of ROL's Select versions of the OS) immediately requests
> a copy of the contents and on receipt, claims ownership of the
> clipboard for itself.  The logic is that if O-Pro is quit, the cut
> text will still be safe, held in the OS.

Yes, correct.

> The problem is that the Clipboard Holder seems to always take the lowest
> common denominator format: plain text, with no formatting.

No, the ClipboardHolder obtains the data in its native format in 
preference. Some earlier versions of OP supplied text, which caused 
the symptoms as described, but that was fixed.

> When O-Pro comes to paste in the text from the clipboard, it has to
> ask the Clipboard Holder for it as it no longer 'owns' the clipboard
> for itself.  What it gets back is plain text, with no formatting.

That is what would happen if ClipboardHolder obtained plain text and 
then claimed the global clipboard, but that is not what I observe here 
on 4.39 and 6.14: OP 2.77 with "Global clipboard" enabled pastes text 
with effects just fine. I confirmed that the global clipboard works by 
pasting the same text into Zap, which worked fine, too, just as plain 
text of course. Pasting into OP again still pastes the text with 
effects.

Martin
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Martin Wuerthner           MW Software          lists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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