Lyrics disappear when typing in v. 2.1
About every 10th time I type some lyrics in v2.1, as I hit the space bar or hyphen to move to the next note, the cursor jumps up toward the note above, and what I type shows no text.
The cursor remains in typing mode as an insertion blinker on a blank area above the line of verse 1 that I was typing, but further keystrokes don't show any characters on the screen.
I have to hit Escape, then get back to that note and reenter Lyric typing mode, then characters appear as expected.
What is the solution?
Comments
Can you upload a sample score where this happens?
It happens with nearly every file I work on, but here is a current example.
In this case, it happened around measures 23-25, 1st or 2nd staff, as I recall
In reply to It happens with nearly every… by tomfeledy
I deleted all of the lyrics and reentered them to see if I could make it happen, but it did not. I'm using version 2.1 also. I've entered lyric heavy song before also, but haven't noticed it. This may be because I generally transcribe them 4-8 measures at a time. I'm working on one right now that is an oratorio, so I'll keep an eye out for it happening to me and even try to allow it to happen by entering more lyrics at a time then usual.
In reply to I deleted all of the lyrics… by mike320
Thanks, Mike.
It is such a sporadic thing. It happens when you least expect it, and only occasionally.
But it keeps happening, song after song, maybe once or twice per song.
I wonder if it's something about this squirrely Mac laptop trackpad. It periodically jumps the cursor around as my palm touches it when typing. I'll try some experiments with disabling it and see if that's contributing somehow.
In reply to Thanks, Mike… by tomfeledy
Do you have any global shortcuts that imitate the trackpad?
In reply to I deleted all of the lyrics… by mike320
I covered up the trackpad with a keyboard, so I wasn't anywhere near it when typing lyrics.
And it just happened again, at measure 75, staff 1.
I saved the file right away, attached.
I also took a screen shot, showing how it looked to me.
You can see the cursor hanging above the verse 1 line.
In reply to I covered up the trackpad… by tomfeledy
The fact that the "cursor" in your screenshot is actually box suggests to me there was an invisible lyric there, and when you hit space the cursor moved to it. Not sure how it would have gotten there or why it isn't there now - maybe you hit space again and it was cleared? Anyhow, that's my best guess, because otherwise this would never happen, and your picture seems to suggest this is the explanation.
In reply to The fact that the "cursor"… by Marc Sabatella
It was the space bar that I pressed from a previous note that got me to the box you see in the screen shot.
But I did not press the space bar once the box appeared.
Even if I had, the space bar wouldn't wipe out lyrics, visible or otherwise. The Space bar just moves the cursor to the next note, right?
Are you able to examine any of the mscz files I uploaded to see if invisible lyrics are present at those measures?
In reply to Are you able to examine any… by tomfeledy
I didn't see any invisible lyrics, but the auto-save explanation I think is the winner here; my guess was wrong. The reason for the box is, I think, a discrepancy between the position of the cursor in continuous view versus page view - autosave internally forces a switch to page view.
As far as I recall, the reason autosave switches temporarily to page view is to generate a good thumbnail. But it seems this leads to a number of problems that we've been fixing one by one. I still wonder if maybe we'd be better off not worrying about updating the thumbnail for autosave in continuous view.
In reply to I didn't see any invisible… by Marc Sabatella
I don't know if this will help tracking down the bug, but I saved my score from continuous view with the lyric cursor on an empty spot and got the same results as the OP. I think you're idea has merit.
In reply to I deleted all of the lyrics… by mike320
And it happened again at measure 89.
Here is the file, immediately saved, and the screen shot.
In reply to And it happened again at… by tomfeledy
I'm sure it has something to do with your computer. Perhaps you are brushing it with the side of your hand, and whatever you covered it with still allowed the static electricity that causes your track ball to move went through the material? What did you cover it with?
In reply to I'm sure it has something to… by mike320
I'm not sure that would explain it, since the laptop keyboard and trackpad are completely covered by the external keyboard I've now attached. See the photo.
The trackpad is recessed and makes no contact with the raised underside of the keyboard above.
In reply to I'm not sure that would… by tomfeledy
It may be awkward, but should be doable, but have you tried sitting the keyboard to the side or in your lap to see if it still happens?
When you mentioned your track pad, I didn't realize you had an external keyboard and mouse.
In reply to It may be awkward, but… by mike320
When I first posted this , I was using just the laptop keyboard and built-in track pad.
Then I tried it with the external keyboard and mouse, but it made no difference, as you saw from the screen shots.
I will try to have the keyboard in my lap as you suggest, to see what effect this might have.
In reply to I'm not sure that would… by tomfeledy
The focus seems to have been stolen by another software (or script, or automated task).
Or is it possible to accidentally hit the apple-key or the alt-key?
In reply to The focus seems to have been… by Ziya Mete Demircan
I don't know of any scripts or automated tasks that would be running at these times.
I tried pressing the Apple or Alt keys, but they don't produce this effect.
In reply to I don't know of any scripts… by tomfeledy
According to the following posts: AutoSave is stealed Focus. (for every 2 minutes; default).
My autosave is off.
Because of this, I could not get the same effect even though I tried it :)
In reply to According to the following… by Ziya Mete Demircan
Same here. My Autosave is off, so I couldn't make it happen either.
I've had that happen occasionally in 2.0.3 (/Win7) as well, but indeed could never reproduce consistently enough to make a bug report out of it.
I'm just wondering, because of the seemingly random way it occurs to you and did (but less frequent) to me, if it would be somehow tied to auto-save kicking in. After all you're entering lyrics in continuous view, but auto-save switches back to page view to perform the save and then back to where you were. Just a guess though.
See Auto-save erases the selection and various elements.
In reply to Disappearing selection… by geetar
Indeed, still the same involved issue. Easily reproducible here, with always the same ingredients, ie Auto-Save and Continuous View.
When the box becomes empty, type a letter, and it jumps. No more, no less.
Some examples (and I have others!)
In reply to Yes, easily reproducible… by cadiz1
I can confirm that Continuous View was in use in each of my cases.
I have Auto-Save enabled, but I don't know if it was saving at that moment.
How could I tell?
If Auto-Save + Continuous View is the culprit, is anyone working on fixing this, or do we just work around it?
In reply to I can confirm that… by tomfeledy
Well, until such time as that issue is fixed, the easiest way to avoid this inconvenient (in this case, when entering lyrics) is simply to switch to Page View (no issue in this view mode)
In reply to Well, until such time as… by cadiz1
Yes, it's not the biggest problem I face.
I'd just like to know that we've sufficiently identified the problem so that it can be scheduled for resolution - unless of course the coming version 3 eliminates the need for it.
In reply to Yes, it's not the biggest… by tomfeledy
Turning auto-save off can be a solution (or workaround).
If you are doing Ctrl + S after every change (like me), it seems that auto-save does not have a function.
But if you do not have such a habit, it might be useful.
In reply to Yes, it's not the biggest… by tomfeledy
Yes, it's not the biggest problem I face."
Okay. So, good to hear.
"I'd just like to know that we've sufficiently identified the problem"
How far do we have to go in order for you to be convinced? From the moment this issue can be reproduced as we want (I have just succeeded a new one from scratch and since the first attempt, see image below), this issue is not "sufficiently" idendified, but this issue is clearly and definitely identified, and since a while: #112251: Auto-save erases the selection and various involved elements: lyrics, chords, figured bass
The difficulty is that apparently the solution is complex, otherwise this issue would be resolved since a long time. So, be patient while awaiting a fix, or as said previously, circumvent the situation via the Page View.
![lyr.jpg]( "lyr.jpg")
In reply to *Yes, it's not the biggest… by cadiz1
I detect some frustration in your response, cadiz1.
Who is the "we" in "How far do we have to go..."
Are you one of the MuseScore programmers tasked with addressing this problem, or just a user like myself who has reported it?
In reply to I don't understand, who is… by tomfeledy
No, "we" in the general sense of users who test the program.
I'm not a MuseScore programmer, but let's say I'm not really "just a user like myself who has reported it", accustomed to reporting many issues for over some years :)
Edit: some frustration, where, when? Don't know what you mean.
In reply to I don't understand, who is… by tomfeledy
To be clear (and I am one of the programmers who fixes bugs in MuseScore):
At this point is completely clear the problem is triggered by auto-save kicking in while in continuous view. The existence of the issue report cadiz included the link to, and the clear steps to reproduce the problem included in that report, are all we need to go on from here. It's still not clear how we will solve the problem or when a fix might appear, but there is nothing else you need to do at this point.
In reply to To be clear (and I am one of… by Marc Sabatella
Thanks, Marc.
As a MuseScore user of only a few years, I'm not always successful at locating existing issues on MuseScore forums to avoid the sort of repetitive reporting that I understand to be cadiz1's concern.
The acknowledgement of a person I recognize to be on the MuseScore development team that the issue is well known and documented satisfies my desire to do my part as a user in supporting development of this important creative tool.
One question remains which you may know the answer to: Is any work planned for this problem on version 2 or is it waiting for elimination in version 3?
In reply to Thanks, Marc… by tomfeledy
It is not a critical enough problem that must be solved in v2.x. If someone can spend some time on it (remember, most developers of MuseScore are volunteers), it will normally be fixed against the development traject of 3.0.
With any luck the change in code can be ported over to 2.x, but if not; no guarantees.
FYI; you can rest assured in the future that if cadiz1 says he could reproduce an issue, that it will be clearly document in the issue tracker for the developers. cadiz1 is kind of our testing magician :-)
In reply to It is not a critical enough… by jeetee
For what it is worth (probably not much!) I was having this exact same problem a year, or year and a half, ago, using 2.03. The problem was intermittent and not reproducible, very random but fairly frequent. At first I thought I was doing something wrong such as accidentally hitting an arrow key or the like. After several months the problem stopped happening, no apparent explanation. The only thing I can think of is a temporary Windows incompatibility. Windows 10 user.