Global HotKey PauseBreak not correct in npp 8.6... via PuntoSwitcher

kuzduk = kuzduk

For fast change wrong keyboard layout i use PuntoSwitcher: It can change wrong keyboard layout globally in any application in text editing area. My global hot key in PuntoSwither is “PauseBreak” - you can type text and press “PauseBreak” for last just typed word automatically change to aver correct keyboard layout. It work good anywhere except NPP 8.6 and bigger. NPP 8.5.8 work correcttly. This is BUG!

If change Global hot key in setting of PuntoSwither for NOT “PauseBreak” then NPP work correctly.

Video with bug: https://disk.yandex.ru/i/lmNb7IVTJLWEKw

sorry for accent)

PeterJones

@kuzduk-kuzduk ,

I know that the developer recently changed some of the keyboard interception to make N++ and plugins work better for shortcut interpretation in dialogs, so maybe one of those changes affected things.

I have no clue whether there’s anyone else here uses PuntoSwitcher (never heard of it, myself), and I doubt anyone here nor in the GitHub Issues would install it just to test this.

Unfortunately, I don’t know of any other application which can assign a global (Windows-wide, rather than app specific) hotkey for the Pause/Break key, so I cannot test it for you to confirm/contradict – but maybe something like AutoHotKey could. There might be an AHK user here who could test to see if they can confirm that N++ 8.5.8 allows AHK Pause/Break to work, but N++ 8.6+ prevents it from working.

If two external shortcut apps (like your PuntoSwitcher and AHK) are both not able to use their global Pause/Break shortcut in 8.6.4, but can in 8.5.8, then it would be worth submitting an official bug report (per the FAQ)… But if it’s just one external application, and not a popular one like AHK, my guess is that the developer wouldn’t bother investigating or trying to fix it.

So if you or someone else here is able to confirm it with 8.6.4 vs 8.5.8 using AutoHotKey, then it’s probably worth at least reporting it as an official bug, even if the Developer never addresses it.

kuzduk = kuzduk

@PeterJones

ATN not has function “change keyboard layout” so it can not be tested. I tryed “PauseBreak” global-shortcut in ATN with aver function: “Paste My Text” - it work correct.

I testing aver program KeyboardManiac with such function “change keyboard layout” - it work with same bug!

Significant clarification is needed regarding this bug:

The “replace keyboard layout” function implies two sub-functions combined in one:
A) Replace the layout of the SELECTED TEXT - there are no problems with this option.
if text no selected then program do:
B) Replace the layout of the WORD in front of the caret (all the text to the left of the carriage up to the first space or red line on the left) - this is where the described bug appears, which appeared in version npp 8.6. This function works globally and has the following sequence of steps:

selects the text to the left of caret, until space or a red line
replaces the layout of the selected text (= functions A)
clears the selection and sets the carriage to its previous position.

I assume that the bug is related to text selection and PauseBreak keys

mkupper

@kuzduk-kuzduk The pause/break key came up in this recent discussion.

The puzzle is I don’t any any obvious changes from 8.5.8 to 8.6.4 in the source code specific to the pause/break key. There were large changes related to relaying messages, including the keyboard ones, on to Scintilla and plugins. I don’t see how changes to that area impact an external app such as PuntoSwitcher.

The Pause/Break key has always been special, starting with the very first IBM PC. For many years, keyboards would not send a key-up message for that key. That may well still be the case. You had to poll the keyboard and one of the status flags was the pause/break state.

Thus I’m both surprised and not surprised there is a conflict of some sort between Notepad++ and PuntoSwitcher when the pause/break key is the hot key for PuntoSwitcher.

I suspect someone will need to do a deep dive into the keyboard messages to detect how 8.5.8 and 8.6.4 are different.

@kuzduk-kuzduk - with PuntoSwitcher and Notepad v8.5.8 and then v8.6.4 running is their any difference with how the Windows key + Pause/Break combination is handled? It should fire up the Settings / System / About page.

S 1

@mkupper This problem not only with PauseBreak key. Home, End, Insert, etc. the same (f1-f12 working normal).