The moving finger writes...

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jeffbronks
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The moving finger writes...

Unread post by jeffbronks »

A colleague and I have both seen a bug in which the mouse pointer in H&M7 changes from the normal text editing pointer to the Windows "pointy finger" and won't go back to normal. Once H&M is stuck in pointy finger mode, the only way to restore the original pointer is to quit H&M and start again.

I'm not sure what actions can trigger this behaviour, but it might have something to do with focusing on another application and then returning to H&M.

Update: I've found one situation that makes it happen, although not 100% repeatably: click the Publish button. The pointer changes to a pointy finger and stays that way even when you return to a content page.
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Darren Rose
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Re: The moving finger writes...

Unread post by Darren Rose »

not happening for me with H&M7 Pro on Windows 10
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jeffbronks
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Re: The moving finger writes...

Unread post by jeffbronks »

Forgot to mention: I'm using Win8.1 Pro 64-bit.
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Tim Green
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Re: The moving finger writes...

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Jeff,

Not reproducible here at all, unfortunately. Try restarting Windows, if you haven't for a while. Also check that you're using the latest build of Help & Manual 7:

http://www.helpandmanual.com/downloads.html?upd
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Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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jeffbronks
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Re: The moving finger writes...

Unread post by jeffbronks »

Hi Tim. I tried updating to Build 3631 and restarting Windows, but the bug still returns randomly. It's not a big deal, just slightly confusing. When you see the pointy finger, you assume that H&M is waiting for you to click a hyperlink. All you need to do is ignore it and carry on editing.
pointy-finger.png
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Tim Green
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Re: The moving finger writes...

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Jeff,

I'm passing this on to our developers, perhaps they have an explanation for it... 8)
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Alexander Halser
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Re: The moving finger writes...

Unread post by Alexander Halser »

Hi Jeff,

I cannot reproduce this, either. But I wonder how you made that screenshot with the cursor included. Is this a screen capture tool running in the background? If yes, is the cursor still wrong if you deactivate it? I think that a 3rd party program is changing the cursor here. Neither the editor of H&M nor the publish button changes the cursor to a hand pointer.
Alexander Halser
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jeffbronks
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Re: The moving finger writes...

Unread post by jeffbronks »

Hi Alexander,

I used an ancient program called Paint Shop Pro 5, with the "Include cursor" check box checked, to create the screenshot. But I saw the bug long before I used PSP5 so that isn't the cause.

Just now I did another experiment: I opened an HMXP by double-clicking in Windows Explorer, then closed H&M7, then repeated. The bug appeared after about six iterations (PSP5 was not running). Sometimes the effect persists from one run to the next, and at other times it disappears spontaneously.

You say that H&M doesn't change the cursor to a hand pointer: it does if you hold down the Ctrl key and point to a hyperlink. Perhaps that's the mode that's being activated unexpectedly.
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Alexander Halser
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Re: The moving finger writes...

Unread post by Alexander Halser »

How big is your screen and do you run H&M with a maximized main window or not? The pointer symbol in the editor cannot be the reason, because it changes only when you are moving the mouse while the CTRL key is pressed. It checks its state with every pixel you move the mouse, but only if CTRL is pressed.

A possible source could be the welcome screen that pops up and disappears too quickly when a help project is opened from the Windows Explorer. One mouse-out message not getting through or something like that.
Alexander Halser
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jeffbronks
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Re: The moving finger writes...

Unread post by jeffbronks »

I have dual 1280x1024 screens and I run H&M7 maximised.

I think I have found the trigger condition for this bug. 8)

1. Run H&M on screen 1 and close it again. This step is to teach H&M to open on screen 1.
2. Open Windows Explorer on screen 2 and navigate to your HMXP/HMXZ project.
3. Double-click the H&M project.
4. Immediately move the mouse pointer to screen 1 where you expect the "About H&M" start-up image to appear. You might need to practise this step, but it's what you instinctively do if you are used to running H&M on one side of your dual screen setup.
5. Keep the mouse pointer in this location until the project opens.
6. The mouse pointer in the WYSIWYG editor pane will be a pointy hand.

If I repeat the above procedure but leave the mouse pointer on screen 2 while H&M opens, the bug doesn't happen.
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Martin Wynne
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Re: The moving finger writes...

Unread post by Martin Wynne »

Hi Jeff,

I'm also using PSP5 -- wouldn't be without it. But Irfanview makes a neater capture of the mouse cursor.

There are several hand-pointer cursors:
hand_pointers.png
The 2nd one looks like trying to press a button wearing gloves. :)

I prefer the 3rd one, and use it in my own software.

My guess is that you have some other program running which is changing the mouse cursors. Most likely one which uses custom cursors, such as a drawing or CAD program.

Martin.
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Tim Green
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Re: The moving finger writes...

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Jeff,

I have a 2-screen setup under Windows 8.1 and I can't reproduce this. My cursor remains as it should. I have screen 1 on the right and 2 on the left, so I tried switching, starting both from screen 1 and screen 2 alternately, but it's fine in both cases.

Gremlins... :twisted:
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jeffbronks
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Re: The moving finger writes...

Unread post by jeffbronks »

Thanks, Martin. I didn't know that Irfanview could do screen captures. I might have a play with it.
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Martin Wynne
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Re: The moving finger writes...

Unread post by Martin Wynne »

jeffbronks wrote:I didn't know that Irfanview could do screen captures. I might have a play with it.
Options > Capture/Screenshot :)
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Alexander Halser
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Re: The moving finger writes...

Unread post by Alexander Halser »

We could duplicate the glitch in the meantime. It works as follows:

1) Start Help+Manual, do not open a project
2) Drag a H&M project file from Windows explorer into the welcome screen and drop it on any element on the screen that is a link (e.g. one of the icons)
3) The cursor has now changed to hand pointer and does not revert back

There are similar scenarios, but they have in common that the mouse is hovering over a link on the welcome screen while a project is being opened.

How to reset the cursor:

1) Switch to the welcome screen, move the mouse over it
2) Switch back to the project

We are working to fix this glitch.
Alexander Halser
Senior Software Architect, EC Software GmbH
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