[Tolriq]

Since forums are followed :

Jarvis : long press backspace / arrows in dialogs does no more repeat the action.

This makes using dialogs quite painful right now.

Since track is followed :

http://trac.kodi.tv/ticket/16187 : Major issue on Windows 10 (http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=249562 does also touch Kore)
http://trac.kodi.tv/ticket/16186 : Important issue with data loss risk.

I will not debate about 15 month handling for a bug report (that was closed without any investigation, but reopened since it was a Team member)...

[imott]

I believe this is an unfortunate side effect of the Kodi Team attempting to conform more closely to the Android way of doing things.

[zag]

Yep this is due to the long key press PR

[Tolriq]

Maybe other users feedback have more weight ?

http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=251258

This should really be fixed before Jarvis final.

[Martijn]

https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/8430

[Tolriq]

Well shipping a wrong default configuration and having the users to try to understand the problem is certainly not the correct way to do that but let's ignore this as users needs does not count.

Current virtual keyboard mapping for keyboard is

Code:

<VirtualKeyboard>
    <keyboard>
      <left>Left</left>
      <right>Right</right>
      <up>Up</up>
      <down>Down</down>
      <return>Select</return>
      <enter>Select</enter>
      <left mod="longpress">Backspace</left>
      <right mod="longpress">Number0</right> <!-- first entry creates a space -->
      <up mod="longpress">Shift</up>
      <down mod="longpress">Symbols</down>
      <backspace>Backspace</backspace>
      <browser_back>Backspace</browser_back>
      <browser_back mod="longpress">PreviousMenu</browser_back>
    </keyboard>
  </VirtualKeyboard>

So long pressing left should delete the char on the left (This is really a strange behavior in the concept as not natural on most os) but more than that it does not work, it just move the caret 1 left and do not repeat. So no meaning at all to be like this by default. Repeat left is more logical, or at least fix the delete if this is really wanted even if unlogical.

Long pressing right seems to have a configuration to do SMS things style, but as the comment says it does create a space and nothing else since no repeat. So no meaning to exist like this. Repeat right is more logical.

For backspace long press I've tested with latest nightly and whatever I add or change in the keymap repeat never comes back unless I remove the global one. No way to reset at the virtualKeyboard level.

Default config should be

Code:

<VirtualKeyboard>
    <keyboard>
      <left>Left</left>
      <right>Right</right>
      <up>Up</up>
      <down>Down</down>
      <return>Select</return>
      <enter>Select</enter>
      <up mod="longpress">Shift</up>
      <down mod="longpress">Symbols</down>
      <backspace>Backspace</backspace>
      <backspace mod="longpress"></backspace>
      <browser_back>Backspace</browser_back>
      <browser_back mod="longpress">PreviousMenu</browser_back>
    </keyboard>
  </VirtualKeyboard>

To have a normal user expected behavior (Ie no long press left right) and correct backspace repeat.
Removing the long press for arrows does work. But fixing the backspace is currently not possible.

So current shipping configuration is not only broken but not fixable by end.

[Ned Scott]

Regarding backspace/back: That will hopefully be fixed for Jarvis, as mentioned here: http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=...pid2181704

Regarding the long press on arrows: I commented on this when the keymap change was pulled in https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/8338

I considered that, but repeating the directional keys in the virtual keyboard really isn't practical. Pressing and holding, especially for up/down, wraps really fast on most systems and you end up on a semi-random letter.

I've used every major platform/OS that Kodi is available for, with dozens of remotes, and have always found it easier to press the directional keys a specific number of times. Key repeat has never been accurate enough to land on the letter I want, nor is it significantly faster to get from a general area to another on the virtual keyboard. When I asked others about this they felt the same. I can only conclude that most users are pressing the button a specific number of times to reach a specific letter.

It made sense to get rid of it [key repeat] for select and delete because those can both be used to clear the text, which does not need to be precise.

Now keep in mind, this is just my opinion. I have no authority on what is or isn't the default, and I'm not even a member of Team Kodi anymore. However, I feel this logic still applies.

Changes like this make small button remotes incredibly more useful, and even help full-button remotes. It has nothing to do with using the "android way" of doing things. The inspiration for this change was that it was useful and easy to learn. My main HTPC that I test on is x86/Linux. It is new behavior, but it still follows a simple logic that is easy for causal users to quickly learn. Having used this setup for a few months, I believe it makes searches/lookups and other text entry a lot faster.

If you really feel it is an issue then I will err on the side of caution and make a PR with those arrow-long presses removed. Before I do, I wanted you to see my rational for the way it is now and see if that changes your mind at all.

[Tolriq]

Well I agree there's room for some change and optimizations (For the repeat my personal opinion is that I prefer to long press then 3 or 4 press to reach correct position than pressing 20 times but this is a pure matter of taste)

About current configuration.
There's 2 things to consider here :
- First most remotes does not act as keyboard nor support long press, so in the end this mostly impact real keyboard.

- But most important at least on Windows since I only test nightly there the default configuration is completely broken :

* Long press left triggers 1 left and not the backspace to delete, so it should either delete as I understand the function or repeat, but long press that only do 1 left without repeat offers no new function but the removal of one.

* Long press right : After tons of test I was able to get something from it, you need to long press and as soon as the character appears release, then press again before a few milliseconds happens then again and again if you wait one time just a little too long (and the delay is incredibly small) you loose. And the character list seems to be the symbols but not in the order of the symbols or the virtual keyboard but it's the ascii one starting at space. Nearly no user know the ascii table nor will be able to do the ultra precise multiple long press the correct amount of time to reach the wanted char. (If ever they find that you can repeat the long press ultra fast after having a space shown)
So here again, long pressing to have the numbers in sms style why not, but it needs to display the numbers and have an increased time to do that, ultra fast repeat of long press action is not natural and hard for users. So as for long press left since currently this does not work in a usable manner, repeat right sounds more correct.

[Ned Scott]

Better to be safe. I'll send in a PR today that fixes both the backspace issue and removes the arrow long presses.

Strange that Windows is being so weird with the repeat in general.

[Ned Scott]

Sorry, it's been a crazy week for me due to a family issue. I had access to my phone and tablet, but wasn't at my laptop most of the time.

I came up with this that reverts the arrow keys and fixes the backspace issue: http://pastebin.com/h0BSk7w0

I'll PR it as soon as I remember how them "computer" things work.

[loggio]

Ned,

this is not actually working for me. I deleted my keymap from c:\program files (x86)\kodi\system\keymaps and replaced with yours from the pastebin above...
Also deleted all keymaps from my userdata folder.

Longpress backspace does not "activatewindow(home)" in any of the windows you've specified.
Longpress from home does not open the "ShutdownMenu"

I'm convinced the issue is with kodi and the way it's handling backspace.

It appears a longpress backspace cannot work unless there is a longpress backspace action set in the global section first.
If I remove <backspace mod="longpress"> and leave <backspace>Back</backspace> in global

Then use <backspace mod="longpress"> in other sections, it's not recognised.

but if I remove all references to backspace (single and longpress) from global, then all other sections will start to work with backspace longpress.

It appears to be a bug in the way kodi handles the backspace key....
I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that pressing back from the home menu takes you to Fullscreen being hard coded into kodi.

[Ned Scott]

Weird, it works for me.

[loggio]

I've tried this on 4 systems... all produce the same result.

[Ned Scott]

I've tried this on 4 systems... all produce the same result.

Can you provide a debug log (wiki)?