copy/paste not working

[Mike Marchywka]

On Sun, Jul 21, 2019 at 05:31:20PM -0700, rikona wrote:
> On Sun, 21 Jul 2019 23:06:15 +0000
> Mike Marchywka <marchywka at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> > On Sun, Jul 21, 2019 at 03:44:30PM -0700, rikona wrote:
> > > On Sun, 21 Jul 2019 19:02:46 +0000
> > > Mike Marchywka <marchywka at hotmail.com> wrote:
> > >   
> > > > On Sun, Jul 21, 2019 at 08:46:52PM +0200, Ralf Mardorf via
> > > > ubuntu-users wrote:  
> > > > > On Sun, 21 Jul 2019 20:37:02 +0200, Ralf Mardorf via
> > > > > ubuntu-users wrote:    
> > > > > >On Sun, 2019-07-21 at 11:26 -0700, rikona wrote:    
> > > > > >> Did this always work between ANY Gnome/KDE/MATE/etc pgms you
> > > > > >> run?      
> > > > > >
> > > > > >Yes, parcellite works with Qt apps such as Qupzilla or Falkon
> > > > > >and it works with Gnome apps such as Gedit or Mate apps such
> > > > > >as Pluma or Engrampa, too.    
> > > > > 
> > > > > Did you ask regarding klipper? I used klipper a long, long time
> > > > > ago, it worked with all apps,GNOME and KDE too, but Mate and
> > > > > Cinnamon unlikely existed that time.
> > > > >     
> > > > 
> > > > I did not follow the thread- just saw the burst of messages and
> > > > thought it went off topic :) However, what is the source of the
> > > > incompatibility?
> > > > 
> > > > You could try using xclip and find out if your stuff is on the
> > > > right clipboard if that is a problem. I've had odd problems
> > > > sometimes but most of the time that works. You can put stuff from
> > > > the command line onto a clipboard and see who can read it and
> > > > also see what others put there. 
> > > > 
> > > > I use xclip  for getting links from browser into scripts.  
> > > 
> > > I installed xclip, and it verified what I seem to see. Stuff copied
> > > in falkon does not show up on the clipboard. But, it added to the
> > > mystery a bit. I have three instances of kate running. Copying from
> > > #1 instance of kate DOES show up, but copying from kate #2 or #3 DO
> > > NOT show up. If something is broken, as Ralf suggests, it is broken
> > > in a weird way...
> > > 
> > > You mentioned the "right clipboard" - is there more than one? If so,
> > > what/where is it, and how can I access it?  
> > 
> > I never entirely figured out what they are but if you try "man xclip"
> > I guess I was thinking of selection, 
> 
> I saw that but could not figure it out either.
> 
> > https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Clipboard#Selections
> 
> This gives some insight into the confusion but no clue which pgms use
> what, and how/where they do it. Still can't tell if the KDE copy
> actually does something...

I guess the idea is to copy something and then see if xclip can
find it in any of the "selections." I seem to recall having
copy to wrong one  a few times although I can't remember a specific
example. Right now I get this,  

 xclip -o -selection p | strings
The majority of programs for Xorg, including Qt and GTK applications, follow this behavior. While ICCCM also defines a SECONDARY selection, it does not have a consensually agreed upon purpose. Despite the naming, all three selections are basically "clipboards". Rather than the old "cut buffers" system where arbitrary applications could modify data stored in the cut buffers, only one application may control or "own" a selection at one time. This prevents inconsistencies in the operation of the selections.

marchywka at happy:/home/ubuntu/dev/tl/auctex/auctex-11.88$ xclip -o -selection s | strings
Error: target STRING not available

marchywka at happy:/home/ubuntu/dev/tl/auctex/auctex-11.88$ xclip -o -selection clip | strings
The majority of programs for Xorg, including Qt and GTK applications, follow this behavior. While ICCCM also defines a SECONDARY selection, it does not have a consensually agreed upon purpose. Despite the naming, all three selections are basically "clipboards". Rather than the old "cut buffers" system where arbitrary applications could modify data stored in the cut buffers, only one application may control or "own" a selection at one time. This prevents inconsistencies in the operation of the selections.



> 
> Thanks for the clarification.
>  
> > The majority of programs for Xorg, including Qt and GTK applications,
> > follow this behavior. While ICCCM also defines a SECONDARY selection,
> > it does not have a consensually agreed upon purpose. Despite the
> > naming, all three selections are basically "clipboards". Rather than
> > the old "cut buffers" system where arbitrary applications could
> > modify data stored in the cut buffers, only one application may
> > control or "own" a selection at one time. This prevents
> > inconsistencies in the operation of the selections.
> > 
> > 
> >        -selection
> >               specify which X selection to use, options are
> > "primary"  to  use XA_PRIMARY  (default),  "secondary"  for
> > XA_SECONDARY or "clip‐ board" for XA_CLIPBOARD
> > 
> 
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mike marchywka
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marchywka at hotmail.com
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ORCID: 0000-0001-9237-455X