3 ms·

> You generally can't copy text in native UIs You mean mobile apps, right? With desktop UIs this has traditionally never been an issue.

fweimer 2y ago
Never an issue in what sense? In my own experience, it's not been issue because there wasn't an expectation that this should be possible. For example, text in Tcl/Tk label widgets cannot be copied (at least not by default). There must be a way to extract text using an a11y interface, but I haven't encountered that in practice.
IshKebab 2y ago
No, I mean with desktop UIs too. Try copying from a traditional win32 GUI or Qt or Gtk.
- rubymamis 2y ago
  Care to explain? All text editable widgets in Qt[1] supports text selection and copying. [1] QTextEdit, QML TextEdit etc
  - dminik 2y ago
    The conversation isn't about text inputs but about text labels. On the web you can usually select any text. Paragraphs? No problem. Form labels? Sure, easy. But desktop and mobile apps don't allow that. You can only select text in editable fields.
  - jraph 2y ago
    In dedicated widgets yes, but widgets that aren't specifically dedicated for text editing don't usually let you select the text. Try selecting explanatory text, or text associated to checkboxes in a Qt app: it won't work. There are exceptions, for example you can select text in the right side file metadata pane in the Dolphin file manager. But even this is limited: you cannot cross cells. Should you copy-paste all the metadata, you'd need to do it cell by cell.
    - rubymamis 2y ago
      Gotcha, yeah the developer needs to implement text selection himself. I wrote how I implemented text selection between discrete blocks in a ListView in my block editor on my blog post: https://rubymamistvalove.com/block-editor https://rubymamistvalove.com/block-editor
grumbel 2y ago
Desktop UIs only started adding that around 2000 or so (Gtk2?), it generally hadn't been possible before in the Windows/Linux world. Even today it still doesn't work as well as the Web, as the select ability is limited to a single widget, e.g. you can't copy&paste the complete text of the About box in Gimp in a single go and many other widget with text don't allow text selection at all. That said, even on the Web it often feels like an afterthought. What text gets selected when you cross over multiple boxes in a layout often feels completely arbitrary, e.g. dragging the mouse to the left will select text at the top.
- spacechild1 2y ago
  Ah, I misunderstood! You are absolutely right.
Kiro 2y ago
Most desktop apps are games and I can't think of a single game where you can copypaste text.
- CptKriechstrom 2y ago
  Counter Strike 2

fweimer 2y ago

Never an issue in what sense? In my own experience, it's not been issue because there wasn't an expectation that this should be possible. For example, text in Tcl/Tk label widgets cannot be copied (at least not by default). There must be a way to extract text using an a11y interface, but I haven't encountered that in practice.

IshKebab 2y ago

No, I mean with desktop UIs too. Try copying from a traditional win32 GUI or Qt or Gtk.

rubymamis 2y ago
Care to explain? All text editable widgets in Qt[1] supports text selection and copying. [1] QTextEdit, QML TextEdit etc
- dminik 2y ago
  The conversation isn't about text inputs but about text labels. On the web you can usually select any text. Paragraphs? No problem. Form labels? Sure, easy. But desktop and mobile apps don't allow that. You can only select text in editable fields.
- jraph 2y ago
  In dedicated widgets yes, but widgets that aren't specifically dedicated for text editing don't usually let you select the text. Try selecting explanatory text, or text associated to checkboxes in a Qt app: it won't work. There are exceptions, for example you can select text in the right side file metadata pane in the Dolphin file manager. But even this is limited: you cannot cross cells. Should you copy-paste all the metadata, you'd need to do it cell by cell.
  - rubymamis 2y ago
    Gotcha, yeah the developer needs to implement text selection himself. I wrote how I implemented text selection between discrete blocks in a ListView in my block editor on my blog post: https://rubymamistvalove.com/block-editor https://rubymamistvalove.com/block-editor

grumbel 2y ago

Desktop UIs only started adding that around 2000 or so (Gtk2?), it generally hadn't been possible before in the Windows/Linux world. Even today it still doesn't work as well as the Web, as the select ability is limited to a single widget, e.g. you can't copy&paste the complete text of the About box in Gimp in a single go and many other widget with text don't allow text selection at all. That said, even on the Web it often feels like an afterthought. What text gets selected when you cross over multiple boxes in a layout often feels completely arbitrary, e.g. dragging the mouse to the left will select text at the top.

spacechild1 2y ago
Ah, I misunderstood! You are absolutely right.

Kiro 2y ago

Most desktop apps are games and I can't think of a single game where you can copypaste text.

CptKriechstrom 2y ago
Counter Strike 2