solved Selection in macOS doesn't work in apps

[Rickw]

New to Alfred and trying to learn, so thanks in advance for answering the question!

 

I have tried the example as well as downloaded workflow.   It seems the "Selection in macOS" only works in some apps like Finder, but not other like Notes, Textedit, Chrome, and etc...  The argument is empty with these apps.

Could this be some compatibility issue with the current Alfred (3.6.1[ [910]) and the latest OS update (10.13.5)?

 

 

[vitor]

Welcome @Rickw,

 

When asking for help with a Workflow, please upload it somewhere as we can’t properly help you without access to it. Debugging can already be hard with access to the code, and you’re asking us to guess yours from a description. There are multiple places where your code or Workflow setup may be going wrong. Without looking at it we’re shooting in the dark.

Read the Reporting Problems with Workflows topic, as it gives a nice overview on how to build an effective report.

[Rickw]

Hi Vito,

 

Thanks for your reply and sorry for the missing info.

Here is a simple workflow I created for testing https://www.dropbox.com/s/gjkpaf973tce540/TestSelection.alfredworkflow?dl=0

 

Here is the screenshot when I tried to display the selected word "test" in large type, only prefix was displayed.

 

Thanks.

[vitor]

Your Workflow is correct and I can’t reproduce the issue. It’s likely this is an issue with the beta macOS, yes. Try the latest Alfred pre-release(3.6.2). If it doesn’t work, see the following post and re-report the bug according to the instructions. I got confused and forgot Mojave is 10.14.

Edited July 11, 2018 by vitor

[Vero]

@Rickw I've just had a look at your workflow, and it behaves as expected for me - but I'm not on 10.13.5 on this Mac.

 

Could you take a look at whether you're using any third-party clipboard managers (e.g. PopClip) or other tools that could manipulate the clipboard? Tools like these could result in your clipboard content being unavailable to Alfred, so take a look at your Mac's preferences under > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Accessibility to see what other tools/apps have permission to manipulate your clipboard data.

 

Cheers,
Vero

[deanishe]

3 minutes ago, Vero said:

but I'm not on 10.13.5

 

I am (and I have PopClip) and it also works correctly for me.

 

If you do have any clipboard managers running, check the Hotkeys. The Hotkey you've chosen is quite likely to conflict.

[vitor]

3 hours ago, deanishe said:

3 hours ago, Vero said:

but I'm not on 10.13.5

 

I am

 

New Mac?

[deanishe]

15 minutes ago, vitor said:

New Mac?

 

New hack.

 

Didn't have much choice: the OpenSSL in Sierra and earlier is so criminally old that it only supports SSLv1. That means anything that uses it (e.g. Python) can't connect to GitHub or the Python software repository or many other sites.

[Rickw]

Hi,

 

I upgraded to 3.6.2 + 10.13.6 from 3.6.1 + 10.13.5, now the workflow doesn't work completely.  Before the upgrade, it used to work in Finder app.

Here is what I have under the Mac's preferences under > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Accessibility.  I tried to disable everything else except Alfred 3 but still no luck

 

[Rickw]

Also tried 10.14 (beta), same thing

[Vero]

@Rickw I've tested this in Mojave and it works as expected for me there too.

 

Could you please temporarily create a new user account on your Mac, and try the workflow in a vanilla user profile where other potentially interfering apps are not installed/running? This will allow you to establish whether other apps are getting in the way, as we haven't been able to replicate the issue on quite a range of devices.

 

Cheers,
Vero

[Rickw]

Sure thing, I will do that!

 

A few things I also tried:

1. I disabled/deleted almost all other system/app shortcuts and touchpad gesture, still not working.

2. While testing it, I notice that maybe something else was triggered at the same time. For example, the Developer tools of Chrome was triggered. And this behavior is the same no matter which hotkey I chose for the workflow, so I suspect it is not due to a hotkey-conflict issue.  I also tried the define the same hotkey in iTerm2 to test possible hotkey-conflict, the hotkey recognized by iTerm2 was immediately cleared and set to ⌘C. Again, it doesn't matter which hotkey I choose for the workflow, it seems like ⌘C was recognized as long as I type this hotkey in iTerm2.

3. If I chose a different Argument option in my workflow, either text, or macOS Clipboard Contents, the workflow would work and no extra stuff (i.e. developer tool of chrome) was triggered.

 

At the very beginning, I installed Alfred 1 from the app store, then uninstall and get the Alfred 3 after realizing it was outdated.  Not sure if this can cause anything...

Edited July 13, 2018 by Rickw

[Rickw]

Here are the screenshot of system shortcut and Alfred Clipboard settings.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6sgfrjaa8ltkyap/Archive.zip?dl=0

[Rickw]

@Vero I just tried to create a new user as your recommended, then I installed the Alfred 3 in the same folder, imported my existing preferences.  The workflow worked....

So it must be something to do with my existing setting then, but what could it be?  Clipboard? Hotkey? Other app?
 

Here is the screenshot of all the apps I installed.....

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qsr5n1246n28t32/Screen Shot 2018-07-12 at 8.55.39 PM.png

Edited July 13, 2018 by Rickw

[Rickw]

@Vero I found the bug.

 

It was caused by redefining the shortcut of Copy in the system pref

[Vero]

@Rickw Glad you were able to get to the bottom of it.  I'll mark this thread as solved.

 

Cheers,
Vero

[Rickw]

@Vero Thank you!

 

Now this leads to another problem.  I have changed the shortcut for "Copy" to default, but I am constantly switching between Win and OSX, so I am hoping Alfred can allow me to use  "Control + C" for copy.   (OSX added filename after the text "Copy" in the shortcut menu so I wasn't able to redefine the copy shortcut --- or is there an easier way and I'm just being dumb?)

 

1. If I "Control + C" a text, Alfred copies the text to the clipboard so I can paste the text

2. If I  "Control + C" a file, Alfred copies the file so I can paste the file, not the file name

 

 

 

Edited July 13, 2018 by Rickw

[Rickw]

here is the workflow i created, it works, but I think it can be improved as this is my first workflow (not including the test one)

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/b3cvkdufz1spbg6/Copy.alfredworkflow?dl=0