Bugs and feature requests

[stenoknight]

List your wishes and grievances with Plover here. Or if you want an even more direct route to the source, lodge a bug report at the Launchpad page. A list of open blueprints (plans for future development) can be found here.

[_gcr]

Overall, Plover is quite amazing! Thanks for your hard work.

I've been kicking around the idea of making the Linux-flavored version of Plover use the XGrabKeys extension. This way, instead of intercepting keys after-the-fact and sending dozens of backspace strokes, all keystrokes would be sent to plover, which would then send the correct strokes to the application with focus. Has this been considered before? If so, what obstacles arose?

Also, it might be nice to have Plover assume complete control of my Sidewinder so I could enter normal keys in with my normal laptop keyboard and have plover only intercept strokes sent from the sidewinder. This library does just that on Windows: https://github.com/eberle1080/Kaptivate No python bindings though.

[eternaleye]

I've been kicking around the idea of making the Linux-flavored version of Plover use the XGrabKeys extension. This way, instead of intercepting keys after-the-fact and sending dozens of backspace strokes, all keystrokes would be sent to plover, which would then send the correct strokes to the application with focus. Has this been considered before? If so, what obstacles arose?

Also, it might be nice to have Plover assume complete control of my Sidewinder so I could enter normal keys in with my normal laptop keyboard and have plover only intercept strokes sent from the sidewinder. This library does just that on Windows: https://github.com/eberle1080/Kaptivate No python bindings though.

XGrabKeys may not be the best way to do this.

I'd suggest looking into XInput2 - it introduces the ability to 'float' an input device using the XIChangeHierarchy function, detaching it from actually sending events to the master/focus device but keeping it attached to the X server, preventing any keystrokes from getting to the application Plover is inputing to. You can then use XISelectEvents with the proper mask to listen for events on the device while it is floated. SInce XInput2 is in every X server since 1.7 (October 2 2009), it should work in most distros.

EDIT: In reading the man pages more deeply, it looks like XIGrabDevice [the XInput2 way of grabbing a full device] does exactly this in one call.

You could even use XIDeviceInfo (NOT XDeviceInfo - note the I after the X) to implement a device picker so that Plover could have a nice dialog for "What keyboard do you want to use for steno?".

Relevant manpages: XIQueryDevice(3) [for XIDeviceInfo] XIGrabDevice(3) XIChangeHierarchy(3) XISelectEvents(3)

[_gcr]

Serious? I am totally looking into this. Thanks, eternaleye!

[stenoknight]

Woo! First non-spam post in weeks! Sorry about all the spam, guys. I've been trying to keep on top of it, but it's still a problem, even after upgrading the phpBB version and restricting the access of unregistered users. I might have to go to moderated-only posts for new users, which would be too bad if we actually got any new users here, but so far this place has been pretty empty, and I'm hesitant to promote it much before I get the spam situation under control. Kind of a catch-22, I guess. Any advice?

[Bladerun]

Im having trouble running Plover on Linux Mint 12(Lisa) which is based on Ubuntu. I got everything installed fine, but when I try to run it (alt+F2 and clicking the green "P"), nothing happens. I have tried running it several times, but I never get a little red "P" in the menu bar. I have tried this using Gnome, Gnome Classic and the relatively young MATE desktop environment to no avail. Any assistance would be great, I'm not sure what else to do to get it running!

[cyanos]

Im having trouble running Plover on Linux Mint 12(Lisa) which is based on Ubuntu. I got everything installed fine, but when I try to run it (alt+F2 and clicking the green "P"), nothing happens. I have tried running it several times, but I never get a little red "P" in the menu bar. I have tried this using Gnome, Gnome Classic and the relatively young MATE desktop environment to no avail. Any assistance would be great, I'm not sure what else to do to get it running!

What is the error message that comes up when you run 'plover' from the terminal?

[cyanos]

I admit, I can sometimes get dreamy/idealistic, but what do you all think of these features?

Keep in mind, my usage of Plover is to be able to type my own stuff (emails, IMs, offline transcriptions, composing essays and blogs etc). Also, I do intend on keeping a NKRO keyboard, and at this time am not interested at getting the real-deal steno apparatus.

Smaller Feature Request: Uncapitalize

Can I get a way to UN-capitalize? Often, I'm typing along and hit a period to end the sentence. Plover goes into uppercase mode (which is normally AWESOME). But then I click somewhere else in the paragraph to extend a sentence or replace a word. The word typed there will be incorrectly capitalized. Grr.

Ultimate Feature Request: Plover as a Coach

I have thought of two scenarios where, if Plover could assume a coaching role, it would provide steno learners tremendous traction.

The first scenario is when user needs to type in single-letter mode. If the word is found in the dictionary, Plover will display the brief and remember the word as an item to teach the user later. (Bonus: If it is not in the dictionary, it will display a small prompt off to the side asking the user to type in a new brief. When the user has a chance, she can type in a new brief into that field, and it will be added to the dictionary immediately.)

The second scenario is when the user is typing along and uses a longer brief than needed. Plover will remember these instances. Then later on when the user is ready for practice, Plover will display suggested briefs the user should practice for speed optimization.

Yeah, I know.. It's huge. I'm a software developer myself, and I know it would take a lot of work. I have even considered doing it myself. Given enough feedback from the community, I just might. So, any feedback would be appreciated, all!

But to have Plover actually coach me I think would be huge. Of course, Hover Plover would be the ultimate way to learn, but I think of coaching Plover as a little-more-boring, practical supplemental approach.

Anyway, I thought I would put it out there and see what you guys thought.

[mau.bustamante]

Im having trouble running Plover on Linux Mint 12(Lisa) which is based on Ubuntu. I got everything installed fine, but when I try to run it (alt+F2 and clicking the green "P"), nothing happens. I have tried running it several times, but I never get a little red "P" in the menu bar. I have tried this using Gnome, Gnome Classic and the relatively young MATE desktop environment to no avail. Any assistance would be great, I'm not sure what else to do to get it running!

Try running it from the terminal - just type the command
plover
and let us know what output you get.

Even if the green P doesn't show up in your menu bar, Plover may still be running. Does the main window come up as in the attachment (red when stopped, green when running)? If so, click the red P and try typing in a text editor.

[mau.bustamante]

Anyway, I thought I would put it out there and see what you guys thought.

I think they're both solid ideas. I run into exactly the same problem you describe when editing a document and I need the word following a period to be in lowercase. I end up typing "A" and backspacing a couple of times instead of correcting the stroke. This is not ideal.

The coaching idea also sounds like it would ease the learning curve greatly. I believe they're already working on the Just-In-Time editing of the dictionary, much like what you mentioned in the event that the word is not in the dictionary. See https://blueprints.launchpad.net/plover ... -additions

It would be great to match single-letter words to their definitions as long as it's not too obtrusive to the user. The problem that I see here is for words that have more than one definition (a large proportion of the dictionary). How would we prioritize which definition pops up? Go for shortest... most commonly in use by stenographers... one that appears most as the beginning stroke(s) of other definitions?

As far as the second scenario goes, I'm all for it. But I wouldn't foresee most people using it, so I'd consider it low priority.

Lastly, I personally disagree that Hover Plover would be the _ultimate_ way to learn. I think that day-to-day tasks are as important as drills to get accustomed to a new method of entry and the more accessible we can make them, the better. Each has their own way to learn and speaking from experience learning Dvorak without typing tutor software, switching cold-turkey for day-to-day tasks can be quite effective as well.