Editor right-click, outside current text selection, lose this selection

frying-pan

Hello,

my config :
Windows8.1 64 bits, notepad++ 7.8.2 64 bits, python27.dll, PythonScript.dll(1.5.2.0)

my issue :
when I select some text and right-click outside of the selection,
the selection is lost and the context menu does not allow me to copy this text
(I’m aware of the ctrl+c keyboard shortcut but still want to use the context-menu copy)
This is not the usual behavior of text editors, at least under Windows.

===

There does not seem to be a program option to keep the selection when right-clicking outside of this selection.
Is there a plugin or a python script that can do that ?

Otherwise, is there a place where I could find some example of a python script where a mouse click hook,
or a windows message hook (for mouse click message like WM_RBUTTONDOWN),
could prevent the right-click loss of text selection while invoking the editor context-menu?
I know how to do that for the GUI of an AutoIt script for example, but not in a python script within Notepad++.

I already know how to start automatically a script at every Notepad++ startup
(with the python script option Initialization:ATSTARTUP,
and a custom line at the end of the startup.py script :

import Perso_Startup_Code

this line pointing to my own script Perso_Startup_Code.py)

thanks for any help or hint

Alan Kilborn

@frying-pan said in Editor right-click, outside current text selection, lose this selection:

when I select some text and right-click outside of the selection,
the selection is lost and the context menu does not allow me to copy this text

This problem has a simple solution: Don’t right-click outside the selection. Done.

Or, if that is not a satisfactory answer, tell us your use case (what you need the text to remain selected for, and what your next right click operation is going to be).

frying-pan

As stated, my next operation on selected text woud be (for example) a copy,
which is not possible if the selection has been lost…

After a few hours of pythonscript quick learning, it seems to work as intended. Kind of miracle.
Someone could have a look to see if there are errors, or if improvements could be added.

Code adapted from
https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/15238
https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/47293

# PythonScript that prevent right-click to move the caret and lose current text selection
# My first PythonScript, so there could be errors...
# Tested on 64 bits NPP (NOT tested on 32 Bits but could be compatible)

from Npp import *

import platform
import ctypes
from ctypes import wintypes
import datetime
from datetime import datetime

LRESULT = wintypes.LPARAM

WndProcType = ctypes.WINFUNCTYPE(LRESULT, wintypes.HWND, wintypes.UINT, wintypes.WPARAM, wintypes.LPARAM)

CallWindowProc = ctypes.windll.user32.CallWindowProcW
CallWindowProc.restype = LRESULT
CallWindowProc.argtypes = [WndProcType, wintypes.HWND, wintypes.UINT, wintypes.WPARAM, wintypes.LPARAM]

x86 = platform.architecture()[0] == '32bit'
if x86:
    SetWindowLong = ctypes.windll.user32.SetWindowLongW
else:
    SetWindowLong = ctypes.windll.user32.SetWindowLongPtrW
SetWindowLong.restype = WndProcType
SetWindowLong.argtypes = [wintypes.HWND, wintypes.INT, WndProcType]

FindWindow = ctypes.windll.user32.FindWindowW     # used to find class='Notepad++' npp window handle
FindWindowEx = ctypes.windll.user32.FindWindowExW # used to find class='scintilla' child window handle

GWL_WNDPROC = -4        # used to set a new address for the window procedure
WM_RBUTTONDOWN = 0x0204 # message we are interested in

class Mouse_Right_Click_Hook(): # hook class

    def __init__(self):                                                           # class constructor
        self.nppHandle = FindWindow(u'Notepad++', None)                           # find NPP window handle and store it
                                                                                  # possibly ambiguous, there could be multiple windows : class='Notepad++'
        self.scintHandle = FindWindowEx(self.nppHandle, None, u'Scintilla', None) # find 'scintilla' child window handle and store it
                                                                                  # there is more than 1 (4 of them in fact, 3 with no text and hidden) !
                                                                                  # how is it I seem to always get the right one ?
                                                                                  # maybe because the right one is always the first one in the Z-order (luck)
        print 'NPPHandle=' + hex(self.nppHandle)
        print 'ScintillaHandle=' + hex(self.scintHandle)

    def register(self):                                                                 # function to register the hook
        self.newWndProc = WndProcType(self.MyWndProc)                                   # get the address of our wndproc
        self.oldWndProc = SetWindowLong(self.scintHandle, GWL_WNDPROC, self.newWndProc) # register it and receive old wndproc address
        console.editor.setProperty('oldWndProc', self.oldWndProc)                       # store it to be able to unregister if needed
        #print self.newWndProc
        #print self.oldWndProc

    def MyWndProc(self, hWnd, msg, wParam, lParam):                       # our own wndproc function receives windows messages
        if msg == WM_RBUTTONDOWN:                                         # it is WM_RBUTTONDOWN msg
            #print 'Mouse_Right_Click_Hook'
            #print datetime.now()
            return CallWindowProc(self.oldWndProc, hWnd, 0, 0, 0)         # kill the standard right-click message
        return CallWindowProc(self.oldWndProc, hWnd, msg, wParam, lParam) # IMPORTANT pass other received msg to npp, otherwise npp will be blocked.

print '*** Mouse_Right_Click_Hook starts... ***'
print datetime.now()
_mouse_right_click_hook = Mouse_Right_Click_Hook() # create an instance of Mouse_Right_Click_Hook class
_mouse_right_click_hook.register()                 # set up the mouse hook
print '*** Mouse_Right_Click_Hook registered ***'

Alan Kilborn

@frying-pan said in Editor right-click, outside current text selection, lose this selection:

As stated, my next operation on selected text woud be (for example) a copy,
which is not possible if the selection has been lost…

It makes no sense. If you want to copy the selected text, right click the selected text…

László Botka

I think it makes sense, at least for me and for the OP.
And probably for others too, because as I see, it works in Notepad, Wordpad, Ultraedit, although doesn’t work in Winword.

guy038

Hello, @frying-pan, @alan-kilborn, @lászló-botka and All,

@lászló-botka, you said :

I think it makes sense, at least for me and for the OP.

So, @frying-pan, @lászló-botka :

Okay, but what good is that to you ? I mean : why is right-clicking outside the selection area interesting to you ?

WHAT do you intend to do, after right-clicking outside the selection area ? Could you give us a concrete example ?

Like @alan-kilborn, I don’t see any immediate advantage in doing things your way ?!

Best Regards,

guy038

László Botka

For example I select the text, that I perhaps want to Copy/Cut, then I watch the text moving the mouse until find the text, where I want to copy to, right click Copy/Cut, left click at the desired text on the screen where I want to copy, and right click Paste.

This is hard enough to describe for me, but easy to do.

It gives me a lot of freedom, I don’t have to issue “Copy”, only when and where it is needed, so I don’t overwrite the clipboard possibly unnecessarily.

Naturally right-clicking inside the selection area works already, nobody have to work on it - I understand this thinking.

Alan Kilborn

Regardless, its a Scintilla characteristic, not a Notepad++ characteristic…

BTW, I have no clue as to what this means:

I select the text, that I perhaps want to Copy/Cut, then I watch the text moving the mouse until find the text, where I want to copy to, right click Copy/Cut, left click at the desired text on the screen where I want to copy, and right click Paste.

guy038

Hello, @frying-pan, @alan-kilborn, @lászló-botka and All,

@lászló-botka, you said :

For example I select the text, that I perhaps want to Copy/Cut, then I watch the text moving the mouse until find the text, where I want to copy to, right click Copy/Cut, left click at the desired text on the screen where I want to copy, and right click Paste.

OK, I see ! Personally, I would have used, both, keyboard and mouse :

Selection of text to be copied elsewhere
Hit on the Ctrl + C shortcut to place selection into clipboard
Move of the mouse to the other location where you want to paste the selection
Left mouse click to specify the new location of the caret
Right mouse click to get the context menu
Left mouse click on the Paste option

However, to be honest, I’m more a “keyboard-gestures” man than a “mouse-gestures” one ;-))

Best regards

guy038

Alan Kilborn

Okay, so after reading @guy038’s response to:

I select the text, that I perhaps want to Copy/Cut, then I watch the text moving the mouse until find the text, where I want to copy to, right click Copy/Cut, left click at the desired text on the screen where I want to copy, and right click Paste.

it helped me to understand it, I think.

If I were doing it that way, I’d have zero confidence that the source block I was copying/cutting was still selected. Much better to have it onscreen (which the current Notepad++ enforces) when copying/cutting it.

But I agree with @guy038 about mouse-vs-keyboard, and here are the actions compared:

mouse :

move hand from keyboard to mouse (this is a text editor after all)
right click
choose copy
return hand to keyboard (this is a text editor after all)

keyboard :

press ctrl+c

Even mouse purists (if there are any) would have a hard time arguing with the effort involved. :-)

Ekopalypse

@frying-pan

Note, that you only set the hook for one scintilla message queue but
I assume you want it to have for both, don’t you?

Beside that everything is personal coding preferences, just be carefully to call it once.

guy038

Hi, @alan-kilborn,

You said :

BTW, I have no clue as to what this means:

To my mind, here are the different operations, described by @lászló-botka :

First, you select, with the mouse, some text to be pasted elsewhere
Then you search for the location where to paste the selection. moving the vertical bar of the window up/down to reach the new location ( the selection, which may be out of sight, is still active )
Now, as you are around the desired location, you right-click to get the context menu
Then, you left-click on the Copy option, which places present selection into clipboard ( This is the step where Notepad and Notepad++ behaviors differ ! )
Now, you left-click at the location where you want the contents of clipboard to be inserted
Again, you right-click to get the context menu
Finally, you left-click and choose the Paste option

Best Regards,

guy038

Alan Kilborn

@guy038 said in Editor right-click, outside current text selection, lose this selection:

To my mind, here are the different operations, described by @lászló-botka :

Yes, I understood this from your earlier clarification. Maybe you had this reply in progress before seeing my earlier reply.

I just still find it odd, but to each his own.

László Botka

@guy038 exactly, thank you for making it clear.

Alan Kilborn

@László-Botka

I see, it works in Notepad, Wordpad, Ultraedit, although doesn’t work in Winword.

Another notable is Visual Studio 2019, where it works exactly like Notepad++ does.

László Botka

I have a rarely used editor installed, Pspad, and it works again as Winword, Notepad ++, Visual Studio 2019.

I see no reason why one program behaves this way and the other that way. Maybe it’s occasional, it works the way it just did, or the way it was natural, simple for the programmer in the development tool.

Since I use Firefox a lot, it’s natural for me to select something, and if I move the mouse by any reason or accidentally, and then do a right click, the selection remains.

Alan Kilborn

@László-Botka said in Editor right-click, outside current text selection, lose this selection:

have a rarely used editor installed, Pspad

PsPad is cool! :-)

I like to think of it this way: If I select something with the mouse, and I want to drag-n-drop-move-it, I can’t just point anywhere and click-drag, I have to point to the selected text first. So right-click-copy is analogous.

But yes, points and all views about this are well-taken. Good discussions are what this forum is about.

frying-pan

I wonder if explaining why it is very useful to me is needed.

first example : (I copy a lot between different tabs and different applications)
Some text is selected in a notepad++ tab, or any application window, that I need to copy repeatedly.
I activate this tab or window with ctrl+tab/alt+tab, right-click anywhere and ‘copy’,
go back to the other app and right-click anywhere and ‘paste’.
So, I do not have to point every time the selection or the caret for copying/pasting.

second example :
I select some text in a notepad++ tab with the mouse, and immediatly right-click to copy it.
If I have moved just a pixel farther than the selection, then I lose the selection and can not copy it.

Added benefit : Since I can right-click anywhere, I do not have the context-menu appearing above the selection,
so I can check my selection is good…

indeed Microsoft Visual Studio (when editing Microsoft Word macro) is one of the infamous selection-looser
Internet Explorer 11 also…

===

Here is the improved code

code has been hardened against errors
the hook still can not be removed (*see below the code why),
but now can be “de-activated”/“re-activated” by re-running the script
now hooks all scintilla windows (so incuding the notepad++ second view when splitted)
added : SHIFT + double left mouse click -> select text from click point until next space/space-like chars

(sorry the two functions SHIFT+double-left-click and right-click can not be “de-activated” separately,
I think a dialog prompt and two separate variables set by console.editor.SetProperty would do that)

# PythonScript which hooks mouse clicks (WndProc HOOK on Scintilla windows)
# * SHIFT + double left mouse click : select text from click point until next space/space-like chars : \s
# * right mouse click : prevent right-click from moving the caret and losing current text selection
# re-run the script to de-activate/re_activate the hook
# Tested on NPP 64 bits (NOT tested on 32 Bits but could be compatible), /!\ this file uses TABS for indent

from Npp import *

import platform
import ctypes
from ctypes import wintypes
import datetime
from datetime import datetime

s_script_name			= "Perso_ScintWndProc_Hook"
s_hook_name				= "Scint_Mouse_Click_Hook"
s_editorprop_regdone	= "SCINTWNDPROCHOOK_DONE"
s_editorprop_active		= "SCINTWNDPROCHOOK_ACTIVE"
s_true					= "TRUE"

GWL_WNDPROC = -4				# used to set a new address for the windows procedure
I_VK_SHIFT		= 0x10			# SHIFT virtual key code
I_VK_CONTROL	= 0x11			# CONTROL virtual key code
I_VK_ALT		= 0x12			# ALT virtual key code
KSTATE_ISDOWN = 0x8000			# key pressed
WM_LBUTTONDBLCLK	= 0x0203	# double left mouse click window message
WM_RBUTTONDOWN		= 0x0204	# right mouse click window message

LRESULT = wintypes.LPARAM
WndProcType = ctypes.WINFUNCTYPE(LRESULT, wintypes.HWND, wintypes.UINT, wintypes.WPARAM, wintypes.LPARAM)

# window message hook functions
CallWindowProc = ctypes.windll.user32.CallWindowProcW
CallWindowProc.restype = LRESULT
CallWindowProc.argtypes = [WndProcType, wintypes.HWND, wintypes.UINT, wintypes.WPARAM, wintypes.LPARAM]

x86 = platform.architecture()[0] == "32bit"
if x86:
	SetWindowLong = ctypes.windll.user32.SetWindowLongW
else:
	SetWindowLong = ctypes.windll.user32.SetWindowLongPtrW
SetWindowLong.restype = WndProcType
SetWindowLong.argtypes = [wintypes.HWND, wintypes.INT, WndProcType]
# end of window message hook functions

EnumWindowsProc				= ctypes.WINFUNCTYPE(wintypes.BOOL, wintypes.HWND, wintypes.LPARAM)
EnumWindows					= ctypes.windll.user32.EnumWindows
EnumChildWindows			= ctypes.windll.user32.EnumChildWindows
RealGetWindowClass			= ctypes.windll.user32.RealGetWindowClassW
GetWindowThreadProcessId	= ctypes.windll.user32.GetWindowThreadProcessId
GetCurrentProcessId			= ctypes.windll.kernel32.GetCurrentProcessId
GetLastError				= ctypes.windll.kernel32.GetLastError
SetLastError				= ctypes.windll.kernel32.SetLastError

GetAsyncKeyState = ctypes.windll.user32.GetAsyncKeyState # used to check if a modifier key is pressed

class C_Scint_Mouse_Click_Hook(): # hook class
	# class constructor
	def __init__(self):
		def Enum_Window_Hwnd(hwnd, lParam):
			arr_enum_window_hwnd.append(hwnd)
			return True

		s_npp_class		= u"Notepad++"
		s_scint_class	= u"Scintilla"

		self.arr_scint_hwnd = []
		self.npp_win_hwnd = 0

		i_cur_pid = GetCurrentProcessId()

		arr_enum_window_hwnd = []
		EnumWindows(EnumWindowsProc(Enum_Window_Hwnd), 0)
		# enum all class="Notepad++" NPP window handles
		buff = ctypes.create_unicode_buffer(len(s_npp_class) + 1 + 1)
		for win_hwnd in arr_enum_window_hwnd:
			RealGetWindowClass(win_hwnd, buff, len(s_npp_class) + 1 + 1)
			if buff.value == s_npp_class:
				# check that found NPP window handle is owned by current process, stop at the first found
				ci_win_pid = wintypes.DWORD(0)
				GetWindowThreadProcessId(win_hwnd, ctypes.pointer(ci_win_pid))
				if i_cur_pid == ci_win_pid.value:
					self.npp_win_hwnd = win_hwnd
					break
		if self.npp_win_hwnd == 0:
			return

		del arr_enum_window_hwnd[:]
		EnumChildWindows(self.npp_win_hwnd, EnumWindowsProc(Enum_Window_Hwnd), 0)
		# enum all class="Scintilla" window handles, childs of NPP window
		# get all of them in arr_scint_hwnd (at least all existing ones at that time)
		buff = ctypes.create_unicode_buffer(len(s_scint_class) + 1 + 1)
		for win_hwnd in arr_enum_window_hwnd:
			RealGetWindowClass(win_hwnd, buff, len(s_scint_class) + 1 + 1)
			if buff.value == s_scint_class:
				self.arr_scint_hwnd.append(win_hwnd)

	def RegHook(self):															# function to register the hook on all found Scintilla windows
		s_npp_class		= u"Notepad++"
		s_scint_class	= u"Scintilla"

		if (self.npp_win_hwnd == 0 or len(self.arr_scint_hwnd) == 0):			# abort if no NPP handle or no Scintilla handle
			return

		self.NewWndProc = WndProcType(self.MyWndProc)							# get the address of our own WndProc

		self.arr_scint_oldwndproc = []
		s_list = "\t" + "Found " + str(len(self.arr_scint_hwnd)) + " " + s_scint_class + " Handle / WindowProc"
		for i in range(0, len(self.arr_scint_hwnd)):
			win_hwnd = self.arr_scint_hwnd[i]
			SetLastError(0)
			oldwndproc = SetWindowLong(win_hwnd, GWL_WNDPROC, self.NewWndProc)	# register and store oldwndproc addresses in arr_scint_oldwndproc
			i_apierr = GetLastError()
			if i_apierr == 0:
				self.arr_scint_oldwndproc.append(oldwndproc)
				s_list = s_list + "\n" + "\t\t" + hex(win_hwnd) + " / " + str(oldwndproc)
			else:
				del self.arr_scint_hwnd[i]
				s_list = s_list + "\n" + "\t\t" + hex(win_hwnd) + " / " + "NO WindowProc, NOT hooked"
		print "\t" + s_npp_class + " Handle = " + hex(self.npp_win_hwnd) + "\n" + s_list

	def MyWndProc(self, hWnd, msg, wParam, lParam):							# our own WndProc function receives windows messages
		oldwndproc = 0
		for i in range(0, len(self.arr_scint_hwnd)):
			if self.arr_scint_hwnd[i] == hWnd:								# target hWnd found at index i in arr_scint_hwnd
				oldwndproc = self.arr_scint_oldwndproc[i]					# corresponding oldwndproc is picked in arr_scint_oldwndproc
				break
		if oldwndproc == 0:													# fatal error ! should not happen...
			print "\t" + s_hook_name + " Fatal error ! oldwndproc = 0"
			notepad.messageBox(s_hook_name + " Fatal error ! oldwndproc = 0", s_script_name)
			return 0

		if (msg != WM_LBUTTONDBLCLK and msg != WM_RBUTTONDOWN):				# if NOT mouse hooked messages : abort
			return CallWindowProc(oldwndproc, hWnd, msg, wParam, lParam)	# -> IMPORTANT pass other msg to NPP, otherwise will block NPP
		if console.editor.getProperty(s_editorprop_active) != s_true:		# if hook de-activated : abort
			return CallWindowProc(oldwndproc, hWnd, msg, wParam, lParam)	# -> IMPORTANT pass other msg to NPP, otherwise will block NPP

		b_shift_down	= ((GetAsyncKeyState(I_VK_SHIFT)	& KSTATE_ISDOWN) == KSTATE_ISDOWN)
		b_ctrl_down		= ((GetAsyncKeyState(I_VK_CONTROL)	& KSTATE_ISDOWN) == KSTATE_ISDOWN)
		b_alt_down		= ((GetAsyncKeyState(I_VK_ALT)		& KSTATE_ISDOWN) == KSTATE_ISDOWN)
		if (b_shift_down and b_ctrl_down and b_alt_down):					# if SHIFT and CONTROL and ALT down : unregister
			self.UnRegHook()
			return CallWindowProc(oldwndproc, hWnd, msg, wParam, lParam)	# -> IMPORTANT pass other msg to NPP, otherwise will block NPP

		if (msg == WM_LBUTTONDBLCLK and b_shift_down and not b_ctrl_down and not b_alt_down):
			self.ExtendSelToSpaceLikeChars()								# extend selection from the clicked point to the space-like chars
		elif (msg == WM_RBUTTONDOWN and not b_shift_down and not b_ctrl_down and not b_alt_down):
			dummy = 0														# do nothing
		else:
			return CallWindowProc(oldwndproc, hWnd, msg, wParam, lParam)	# -> IMPORTANT pass other msg to NPP, otherwise will block NPP

		#res = "DEBUG " + s_hook_name
		#res = res + " Message = " + hex(msg) + " to hWnd = " + hex(hWnd)
		#res = res + " Forwarded To oldwndproc = " + str(oldwndproc)
		#print res + " At " + str(datetime.now())
		return CallWindowProc(oldwndproc, hWnd, 0, 0, 0)					# nullify the mouse hooked messages

	def ExtendSelToSpaceLikeChars(self):
		# space-like chars are space/tab/carriage return/line feed/form feed... [\t\n\x0B\f\r\x20\x85\xA0\x{2028}\x{2029}]
		editor.searchAnchor()
		i_start = editor.searchPrev(FINDOPTION.REGEXP, "\s")
		i_start = i_start + 1
		if i_start < 0:
			i_start = 0
		i_end = editor.searchNext(FINDOPTION.REGEXP, "\s")
		if i_end < 0:
			i_end = editor.getTextLength()
		editor.setSel(i_start, i_end)

print "[" + s_script_name + " starts]"
if console.editor.getProperty(s_editorprop_regdone) != s_true:
	console.editor.setProperty(s_editorprop_regdone, s_true)
	console.editor.setProperty(s_editorprop_active, s_true)
	o_scint_mouse_click_hook = C_Scint_Mouse_Click_Hook()	# create an instance of hook class
	o_scint_mouse_click_hook.RegHook()						# set up the mouse hook
	print "\t" + s_hook_name + " registered and ACTIVATED (re-run script to toggle the hook)"
else:
	if console.editor.getProperty(s_editorprop_active) != s_true:
		console.editor.setProperty(s_editorprop_active, s_true)
		print "\t" + s_hook_name + " RE-ACTIVATED (re-run script to toggle the hook)"
		notepad.messageBox(s_hook_name + " RE-ACTIVATED\n(re-run script to toggle the hook)", s_script_name)
	else:
		console.editor.setProperty(s_editorprop_active, "")
		print "\t" + s_hook_name + " de-activated (re-run script to toggle the hook)"
		notepad.messageBox(s_hook_name + " de-activated\n(re-run script to toggle the hook)", s_script_name)

*Breaking the hook chain :
If a hook is set by

self.NewWndProc = WndProcType(self.MyWndProc)
oldwndproc = SetWindowLong(win_hwnd, GWL_WNDPROC, self.NewWndProc)

and then removed by

SetWindowLong(win_hwnd, GWL_WNDPROC, oldwndproc)

that breaks the hook chain if there is more than 1 hook.

original WndProc funcA > hooked by MyWndProc funcB > hooked by MyOtherWndProc funcC
if funcB hook is removed, than funcC will not receive any message after that, and will not be aware of it

Some more sophisticated hook api could solve that problem but I don’t know them.
I chose the easiest way, which is to “de-activate” my hook by just telling him to do nothing,
except silently forwarding the window message to the the next WndProc (oldwndproc).
This way my “de-activated” hook does nothing but does not break the hook chain.

Alan Kilborn

@frying-pan said in Editor right-click, outside current text selection, lose this selection:

I wonder if explaining why it is very useful to me is needed.

Not needed, but often I give people that at first seem to want odd things a “hard time” about it, and it draws them out into explaining/justifying their need.

Future readers that come along then get the whole story, and maybe don’t dismiss something that could really be of use.

I think you have done a good job of that, as well as solving your own problem with the script. Nicely done!

frying-pan

@Alan-Kilborn

Well, I would not have made Notepad++ my default text editor, if I couldn’t have solved the right-click question.

It’s the first reason I bothered to install PythonScript and learn this syntax (while I’m only accustomed to Pascal/VB/VBS/AutoIt)

And otherwise I use PSPad for its Project features, Notepad++ session and workspace are not as featured.
PSPad is mostly missing code wrapping (if > endif, etc…)