Failure to paste

English
#1

I’m using Version: 7.4.5.1 (x86) / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: 9c0871452b3918c1019dde9bfac75448afc4b57f
CPU threads: 4; OS: Windows 10.0 Build 19045; UI render: Skia/Raster; VCL: win
Locale: en-US (en_US); UI: en-US

I also use a clipboard utility called Clip-Clip. ClipClip Pro 2.45710
Installation date: 3/31/2022 [345 day(s)]

I’ve used Clip-Clip for several years, never seen this problem before. Don’t know which to blame it on. Clip-Clip lets me copy several bits of text in succession and then choose which to paste, but in this case I am simply trying to paste the last thing I copied.

Generally I am copying from some other type of document and pasting into a Writer page. And generally I have been doing it for a while and it has been working properly. Then I will copy a bit of text and paste … and it pastes not the last bit but the previous bit. I try several times, repeating paste and then repeating copy and paste. Same result, previous bit pasted. I switch to notepad and paste and the proper bit is pasted. I switch back to writer and the wrong bit is pasted. I’ve made changes to the settings in Clip-Clip but it doesn’t seem to help. It continues to work properly for other programs.

I note there are some other postings about pasting but they seem different.

Any suggestions about diagnostic tests would be received gratefully.

-----Paul------

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#2

First diagnostic of course is to see how it works without your Clip-clip application. That would already allow to see whether the issue is with the utility. Second diagnostic is to run LO in safe mode to see whether the issue is with your user configuration.

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#3

And, of course, one of the problems with diagnosis is getting it to malfunction on command. But, thanks, good ideas. I would not have thought of Safe Mode. I shall persist.

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#4

Was the “previous bit” copied from Writer, or another LO app? If so, it may be the same bug I’ve been plagued with for years.

V 7.4 on Windows 10 - No special clipboard applications installed.

Version: 7.4.6.2 (x64) / LibreOffice Community
Build ID: 5b1f5509c2decdade7fda905e3e1429a67acd63d
CPU threads: 16; OS: Windows 10.0 Build 19044; UI render: Skia/Raster; VCL: win
Locale: en-US (en_US); UI: en-US
Calc: threaded

Behavior:

Essentially the behavior is that once something has been copied by LibreOffice, nothing copied to the clipboard from outside LO can be pasted. Copy and paste all you want outside LO, but when you come back and try to paste in LO, it will paste the last thing copied in LO.

Perhaps it’s just coincidence with back-and-forth that it seems the contents pasted in LO is always the copy-before-last?

With Writer alone, I can’t seem to clear the LO clipboard and paste in again without closing all LO windows and restarting it. I work more in calc, and I tried this, which works: copy plain text from the formula bar (can be a space, but cannot be empty). After that, you can copy from outside LO and it works again (until you copy from an LO document again).

I just updated to 7.4x from 7.3x, and was hoping this was fixed. :frowning:

#5

Certainly sounds familiar. But I am generally copying from some other environment. Typically from a pdf. And it will work fine for a while. I’ve never identified a way to make it start happening. But once it starts, yes, closing down and restarting LO seems the only way. Safe mode makes no apparent difference.

The pasting of copy-before-last is consistent. Once it starts I can copy and paste several other items from/into some other item (notepad, powerpoint, pdf editor, etc.) but when I go back to LO, it get the same copy-before-last. Even if I copy a graphic and paste that , when I go back to LO, I get copy-before-last. I’ve never noticed an instance where copy-before-last was a graphic itself. Don’t know if it is impossible, just never encountered it.

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#6

There is a built in clipboard manager accessed with Win+V. If this clipboard manager is enabled AND you log in with a Windows account AND you have any other device connected to that Windows account then you at likely to have clipboard problems as anything copied to the clipboard overwrites the clipboard for all devices.

The easiest way out of this is to disable windows clipboard manager and just reply on normal clipboard operation

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#7

This behavior was observed with Windows Clipboard Settings: “Clipboard history” set to “off”, and “Sync across devices” set to “off”.

I turned Clipboard history on, and found identical behavior. Additionally, if I Windows-V, and use the history to select a different set of contents, it still pastes into LO the latest contents copied from LO.

So for instance, and I tried multiple permutations, all consistent with this sequence:

  • In LO Calc, fill cells with “Foo” and “Bar”
  • Using the text editor Notepad++ (NPP) as an alternate application, type “Bat”.
  • Copy cell in LO Calc “Foo”.
  • Copy cell in LO Calc “Bar”.
  • Copy text from NPP “Bat”.
  • Win-V Paste in NPP and select an entry – pastes as expected (Matching selection “Foo”, “Bar”, or “Bat”).
  • Win-V Paste in LO Calc and select an entry – pastes “Bar” (The last LO copy, regardless of selection).

I’ve also tried from the Windows Clipboard Settings “Clear” clipboard history (with and without Clipboard History on, results were the same):

  • In LO Calc, fill a cell with “Foo”
  • Using the text editor Notepad++ (NPP) as an alternate application, type “Bar”.
  • Copy cell in LO Calc “Foo”.
  • In NPP paste – pastes “Foo”.
  • “Clear” Windows Clipboard Contents
  • If clipboard history is off: Win-V will display “Can’t show history”, with a CTA to turn it on.
  • If clipboard history is on: Win-V will display “Your clipboard is empty”.
  • In NPP paste – no observable reaction / pastes null.
  • In LO Calc paste – pastes “Foo”.
  • Copy text from NPP “Bar”.
  • In LO Calc paste – pastes “Foo”.

And then this behavior can be “reset” by selecting plain text in the LO Calc formula bar:

  • Copy cell in LO Calc “Foo”.
  • Copy text from NPP “Bar”.
  • In LO Calc paste – pastes “Foo”.
  • Select any one or more characters from the formula bar, E.g. “F”
  • I think this also works if you select into the contents of the cell, where you could copy a portion of a word, etc, I.e. as with the formula bar, you are explicitly copying a string of text, and not a cell or formatted contents.
  • Copy text from NPP “Bar”.
  • In LO Calc paste – pastes “Bar”.

But here’s something new, and interesting (with history on):

  • Copy cell in LO Calc “Foo”.
  • Copy from formula bar in LO Calc “F”.
  • Copy text from NPP “Bar”.
  • Win-V in NPP, select “Bar” – Pastes “Bar”.
  • Win-V in NPP, select “F” – Pastes “F”.
  • Win-V in NPP, select “Foo” – Pastes “Foo”.
  • Win-V in LO Calc, select “Bar” – Pastes “Bar”.
  • Win-V in LO Calc, select “F” – Pastes “F”.
  • Win-V in LO Calc, select “Foo” – Pulls up an LO Information box “The contents of the clipboard could not be pasted.”, Button:“OK”
    Screenshot 2023-04-27 090135
    Screenshot 2023-04-27 090135690×501 16.2 KB
#8

You are looking at limitations of the Windows clipboard manager not the clipboard. Clipboard managers are known to not work well with all applications.

According to Free Clipboard Viewer 3.0 there are 24 possible formats if I copy “Foo” in LO Calc, presumably Windows Clipboard manager doesn’t store all of them as they become not available. Also see 62196 – EDITING: copy-paste from non-LibO-text-source pastes previous clipboard contents (see comment 62) as to why the 3rd-to-last copy is not available in the Clipboard manager except as text only.

#9

Aye… since LO is managing its own clipped contents, I can see it not recognizing formatting of a previous copy coming from the Clipboard manager. My thought was that it was interesting that LO presumably knows that what it’s being given was copied from LO, but it doesn’t have it in LO’s clipboard, so it just says “it’s gone”. Any other program may see it’s from LO, but reacts by taking the text, and ignoring whatever else there may be (I’ve got no idea of the data structure for clipboard contents… I’m assuming there’s at least some format identifier, full contents, and a fall-back plain text string).

Better user experience might have it warn that the formatting is no longer available, and offer the option to cancel or paste the text string.

Either way, with history/sync/etc “off”, and a one-slot system clipboard, LO will paste what’s in its own clipboard, ignoring the last thing pasted in the system clipboard.

#10

Huh! I was utterly unaware of that. We shall see if it makes a difference. Thanks.

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