Bug Report: Issues selecting text

connorfuhrman
Running MacOS 12.5.1 (21G83) with Zotero 6.0.13 I am seeing an intermittent issue where I'm unable to actually select text, e.g., to highlight. I can start to select text but it never actually finalize that selection. When I stop clicking the mouse then it just keeps trying to select more text and won't stop until I hit ESC. This happens both with my mouse and the trackpad. I cannot then do any highlights which is severely hindering the experience!! :( The issue persists across Zotero app restarts and is only resolved when I restart my entire computer which isn't really a good fix.
  • dstillman
    edited September 9, 2022
    If it persists across Zotero restarts and goes away after a computer restart, I'm afraid that really sounds like an issue with some other software on your computer (mouse software, etc.), not in Zotero.
  • connorfuhrman
    It's not an issue on any other application. Only Zotero
  • dstillman
    edited September 9, 2022
    Yes, but if you're restarting Zotero, you're completely clearing any state. Nothing continues to run. So if restarting your computer is really what fixes it, it's almost by definition something outside of Zotero. (And no one else has reported anything like this.)
  • connorfuhrman
    okay then. This has unfortunately been far less helpful than I had hoped... When an issue is only seen with one specific application (note this occurs *both* on the Mac app and the web app) I personally wouldn't jump to the conclusion that it's something outside that particular application.
  • dstillman
    But that's not "one specific application" — the Mac app and the web app are totally separate programs. One is a dedicated program and one is a website running in your web browser. Just on a technical level, we by definition wouldn't have control over something that occurs both in Zotero and your web browser and that is fixed by restarting your computer. Something running on your computer — e.g., the drivers for your mouse or some other utility program — would seem to be interfering with basic mouse events (mouseup, mousedown, etc.), which is all the PDF reader gets.

    If you can reproduce this reliably in the web library, you can try creating a new macOS user account and trying with that to see if whatever is causing this is limited to your main account.
  • connorfuhrman
    It's the Zotero app! Why doesn't any other PDF reader see this issue on my computer!?

    Thanks for not even attempting to help solve the issue but rather just throw your hands up and say "its not our issue. gotta be something else". Major cop-out. I'll be canceling my paid subscription for extra storage then.
  • dstillman
    edited September 9, 2022
    Do you understand that we can't fix something that we're not causing? We help people here all day every day, but if something literally isn't from our code, we can't fix it, and helping you understand where to look for the actual problem is the best we can do.

    I understand that this just seems like "Zotero" to you. I'm explaining why, on a technical level, this would have to be something on your computer that runs outside of Zotero. We can't magically fix a problem that's only happening on your computer, that's fixed by restarting your computer, and that happens in both Zotero and in your web browser. I've suggested a first step you can try to troubleshoot it. But getting mad at us for trying to point you towards whatever is actually causing the problem is a strange choice.
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