Re: [Usability]clipboard/selection behavior

[Gregory Merchan <merchan phys lsu edu>]

On Sat, Nov 02, 2002 at 09:47:13PM -0800, Keith Packard wrote:
<snip>
> The PRIMARY selection is supposed to be represented graphically on the 
> screen; any selection without a graphical representation is not the 
> PRIMARY selection.  When the graphical representation disappears, so 
> should the selection.

I had missed this before. It's at the end of section 2.2:

     If the selection value completely changes, but the owner happens
     to be the same client (for example, selecting a totally different
     piece of text in the same xterm as before), then the client should
     reacquire the selection ownership as if it were not the owner,
     providing a new timestamp. If the selection value is modified, but
     can still reasonably be viewed as the same selected object, the
     owner should take no action. 


> If 'highlighting' isn't possible, some alternative graphical 
> representation of the existance of the PRIMARY selection should be used.

I said 'highlighting' to try to avoid confusion between selected text
and X selections in general.


> >   b) as a consequence, highlighting text to allow speedy changes in text
> >      fields will cause loss of any pre-existing highlight.
> 
> You might consider using the SECONDARY selection in this case; that way 
> you could replace a selected region with other contents without going 
> through the CLIPBOARD. . . .

I had suggested this before:
  http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2002-January/msg00228.html


Cheers,
Greg Merchan