Windows clipboard issues discussion

[mbien]

Copying text in and out of NetBeans stops working for some users on windows, this thread discusses #3962 on the adventurous quest to fix the bug.

[stodge]

For me, CTRL+X in Netbeans temporarily restores the broken copy functionality, until it happens again that is.

[wumpz]

Using Netbeans 23 relaxes most of the problems for me. Most of the time a copy / paste does not work, the second try succeeds. So right direction.

[Chris2011]

I can confirm the problem on Windows and funny thing is, sometimes it works back again. Maybe a raise condition with smth?

[stodge]

Netbeans 23 doesn't seem to improve things for me. It still happens a lot. Occasionally if I try CTRL+C twice it may fix it, but not always.

[jShiwaniGupta]

I can confirm that I’m experiencing this issue as well; it seems to be quite common on Windows. The CTRL+C shortcut often fails to work, which is really frustrating. As a workaround, I’ve been using CTRL+X followed by CTRL+Z to copy text from NetBeans to other applications, but it’s not a reliable solution. Additionally, I’ve noticed that sometimes copying from external apps to the NetBeans editor using CTRL+V also fails, forcing me to open the file in an external editor. I really hope a fix can be implemented soon!

[jGauravGupta]

I completely agree with the frustration expressed in this thread. This clipboard issue is not just frustrating but quite basic and critical for daily workflow. It's concerning that such an essential feature is unreliable, as it may force many developers to switch to other IDEs just to avoid the constant interruptions. A fix for this issue is quite important and would make a huge difference for all of us who rely on NetBeans for efficient development.

[jShiwaniGupta]

I will take a look at NbClipboard.java, as I can only reproduce the issue after working with NetBeans for extended periods.

[eirikbakke]

@jGauravGupta @jShiwaniGupta If either of you have a chance to try it, I'd be curious to hear if the patch posted at #3962 (comment) by any chance fixes the problem.

[jShiwaniGupta]

I downloaded the NetBeans 24 RC1 tag and built it locally for testing. Unfortunately, I was still able to reproduce the clipboard issue. After that, I applied the patch to the NbClipboard and tested it again, but I could still reproduce the problem. It seems that the patch didn't resolve the clipboard issue for my setup.

For testing, I opened the IDE and loaded a Java file, then left it idle for 30-60 minutes. After that, I attempted to copy content from my browser to the IDE, but unfortunately, I was unable to do so.

Edit: I will observe this patch over the next few days to assess if it reduces the overall occurrence of the clipboard issue.

[eirikbakke]

@jShiwaniGupta Thanks a lot for testing! Your report is useful, as it eliminates one (somewhat unlikely) theory I had about the cause of the bug.

[ebresie]

Any logs or profiler dumps available when this happens?

[stodge]

I don’t know if this will help but I typically copy/paste between NetBeans, IntelliJ, Notepad++ and VisualCode. This is on windows 11. I tend to switch apps pretty quickly when I’m copy/pasting but I don’t know if that’s relevant. I also have two external monitors attached to my laptop.

I can’t help with the code but I’ll see if I can build and run from source. Maybe I can quickly try a patched version. I’ve never built NetBeans but if it might help, I can try. I’ll have to check the policy at work on running a patched version though.

[stodge]

I think I can always copy from the Debug output window, and paste it into an external application. So is the problem only related to the main file editor? Or was this fact already known and, as always, I missed it? 😆

[wumpz]

I added a PR to introduce this new retry logic for SetContents as well: #8024.

With this, SetContents and GetContents are equally atomic and do not create new tasks within the executor. With atomic I mean, once it starts processing, it does not create any other tasks but stays within its own thread and holding further processing, till MAX_TRIES is reached or success. The executor has only one thread as a processor.

It is possible that this interference is one reason to break copy and paste in windows, since get and set clipboard could interfere each other. Using this windows hack there always was a GetContens after Netbeans got focus back. I remember using FINE logging for this NbClipboard stuff, I had log messages telling me, that the system clipboard was not reachable. So a collision should be definitely there.

Since there seems to be a timing or threading problem, my guess is that the convert method with all its flavours stuff in it has some complex stuff to do and therefore could take its time. Using this fine logger does a convert again to log out clipboard values. @stodge I cannot confirm, that copy from output window is not affected, but my guess is, that the more complex the editor is I am in, I am copying from, the more likely it becomes a problem.

So having these thoughts, making SetContent and GetContens atomic seems to be the right way to go.