Shift+delete is broken in the latest versions

GlassBeaver

I'm pretty sure I could press shift+delete to cut text, but it just seems to delete it without sending it to the clipboard in the newer versions (of the Windows client at least). Shift+insert still works.

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Comments

12 comments

Date Votes
  • rubix

    Shift+Delete, Ctrl+Insert, and Shift+Insert are three alternatives shortcuts for Ctrl+X, Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V.

    They come from a user interface standard called Common User Access (CUA) that also defined basic stuff such as shift+tab being the opposite of tab, and Enter/Escape standing for Ok/Cancel.

    For more than three decades the three alternatives shortcuts to Ctrl+X/C/V have worked by default in every Windows application and also in Linux (both Gnome and KDE).

    I am among those who always use Shift+Delete, Ctrl+Insert, and Shift+Insert, and I never use Ctrl+X/C/V. I find them really easier to use, they make possible to single-handedly combine clipboard actions with the use of arrow keys for movement, selection (with shift), and word by word movement (with control). It is all muscle memory for me.

    Please Discord, don't be the only application on my desktop that doesn't support the standard alternative keyboard shortcut for Cut.

    5
  • NecroBorg

    +1. These shortcuts have worked in all applications for years – they predate the Ctrl+C series by many years, working even in most MS-DOS apps. They are standard shortcuts and have been forever. They work correctly in Discord on the web, because all browsers know how to use these shortcuts.

    The Ctrl+Ins series can be used with the right hand, and is practical no matter your layout, while the Ctrl+C series is extremely awkward to use with a Dvorak, Colemak or Workman keyboard. This makes them an essential feature for some users, and still a convenient feature for all others.

    All SDKs also encourage using standard events like WM_COPY on Windows or VK_COPY in Java apps, rather than hardcoding your own shortcuts. This is one of the reasons.

    Please embrace standard UX patterns and let users use Discord like they use everything else on their computers. Also : please write a unit test so this doesn't break again :)

     

    4
  • GlassBeaver

    Fascinating, someone's downvoted this along with all the comments. I wonder what these people are like. Like who can get hurt by shift+delete?

    2
  • Xelloss

    Ok, At least I was not the only one to be really pissed about this.... I have being using shift delete sin DOS era...

    1
  • Squirrel

    I'm getting so fed up with this egregious bug. Please fix it!

    I've lost track of the number of times I've been writing a complex message to help someone out, gone to rearrange it in a more understandable way and found all my hard work gone without a trace!

    For people who have only ever used Ctrl+X for Cut, this bug isn't a problem, but for people who are hard wired (muscle memory) to use Shift+Del it can be incredibly frustrating.

    0
  • Squirrel

    After asking a question about this over on Superuser, I managed to find a work-around for this problem: https://superuser.com/a/1684697/16858

    Essentially, you install AutoHotkey and run the following script whenever using Discord:

    #IfWinActive ahk_exe Discord.exe
+Del::
Send, {Ctrl down}x{Ctrl up}

    This says "If Discord is the active window and Shift+Del is pressed, send Ctrl+X to Discord instead"

    We shouldn't really need to do this though.

    0
  • Vlasec

    Yeah, I got used to the shortcut back in the DOS era. And while I got used to many changes since, the shortcut is far more practical than Ctrl-X, because you use Shift when selecting the text, and your other hand is on the arrow keys, or perhaps on Home button. So with your left hand on Shift already and right hand on numpad or the six buttons above, Shift-Delete is much closer.

    The worst thing about it is that before you realize you deleted it instead of cutting it, you've probably already lost the text you had. I also hope Discord gives fixing this bug high priority, even if it delays some new exciting Nitro feature by a few days. Because bugs like this can greatly increase user discontent and discomfort, perhaps even discord with Discord.

    0
  • Vlasec

    I guess Discord staff doesn't really care about us here, so I guess it's time for the workaround. It really damages Discord's reputation in my eyes considerably though. Whether you are not supporting such a basic thing or not fixing it as a bug … moreover, Shift-Insert (which is far less important to work) still works, adding insult to injury.

    0
  • Михаил Сенин

    I use Shift + Del for move text. Hey, where my message? You really joke! I write this thing last half hour! Arrggghhhh!!!

    I see this problem in Firefox and Windows.

    Discord is the only service with a similar problem on the entire Internet.

    0
  • darknase
    • Edited

    Unlike Windows does Linux have multiple ways to work with Clipboard, actually Clipboards, or even more correctly "Selection", if it's be the "primary selection" or the "Clipboard" also being not able to access the Clipboards via the **standard** OS & UI keyboard shortcuts is beyond annoying and doesn't bode well as to the capabilities of Discords programming team.

    To break it ... as it used to work ... and not even care to fix it for months is shows disregard for customers.

    It might be you guys at Discord HQ are just - what we call in my mother tongue - mouse bouncers (Mausschubser), but there are people out there that want to work efficiently and thus use keyboard shortcuts extensively and Windows' CUA isn't the only one nor the most efficient one.

    Here after some reference material you should take a look at:
    https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/139191/whats-the-difference-between-primary-selection-and-clipboard-buffer

    https://askubuntu.com/questions/26655/how-do-you-know-when-to-use-shiftinsert-vs-ctrl-v-vs-right-click-paste-to-paste

    https://dev.to/yashsugandh/keyboard-shortcuts-for-linux-terminal-19ml

    1
  • Twinsen

    I bet a lot more people have this issue but never realized it's Shift+Del and it's Discord specifically. I've been having this problem for months and only now I realized what it was.

    0
  • gynvael

    I've had a lengthy discussion with Discord Support about this, and was told they don't consider this a bug / regression (*sad panda*). Instead they said that I should propose a feature request to add "Shift+Del" back. So, here it goes!

    ⁂

    Dear Discord devs,

    Please fix the input text field bug, uhm, I mean, please implement a "Shift+Del is 'cut' just like Ctrl+X" keyboard shortcut to the main text chat field, so that it works like every other text field in the system.

    Thank you :)

    ⁂

    I was also asked about where did I get the Shift+Del shortcut, so I did some historical digging as well, and here's my reply (copy-pasted from the support e-mails):

    > Lastly, would you be so kind to tell us where does the information of shift + delete being similar to Ctrl+X originated? We can use this as a reference for our future checking.

    Haha that's a historical question, but let me try to answer it :)
     
    First of all I'll mention that this shortcut is listed on Wikipedia in this article:
     
     
    as well as in this one (note that GNOME/KDE, i.e. common Linux environments, are listed here as well):
     
     
    Now I'm pretty sure I've used it since Turbo Pascal 7.0 on MS-DOS, here's a screenshot pointing to Edit|Cut using Shift-Del:
     
     
    Here's also a screenshot from Microsoft's EDIT.COM DOS application from '94, which also lists Shift+Del as "Delete selected text and copy it to the Clipboard":
     
     
    I'm guessing that Microsoft just moved the old DOS shortcuts to Windows.
    I can't find any good resource for Windows 3.11, but at least defkey.com does list Shift+Del as "Cut the selected text to the clipboard" for it:
    (actually clicking on the Shift+Del on the above website gives a list of apps which use this shortcut - https://defkey.com/what-means/shift-del - and there's quite a lot of "Cut" or equivalent).
     
    This seems to be somewhat documented in the WinAPI reference in the Edit control (i.e. the text box window element):
    The quote is from WM_CLEAR, which is an event sent when DELETE is pressed:
    "WM_CLEAR - Clears the current selection, if any, in an edit control. If there is no current selection, deletes the character to the right of the caret. If the user presses the SHIFT key, this cuts the selection to the clipboard"
     
    Though in all fairness for some reason Microsoft does not list this shortcut here:
    (but it does list the old Ctrl+Insert and Shift+Insert)
    Probably an omittance on their part as the shortcut works well everywhere else in windows.
     
    Hope this helps :)
    42

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