Alfred clipboard copies when it shouldn't

[uservin]

 

This issue appears when using Eudic dictionary app, it has a feature called "Select to Translate", pretty self-explanatory, it translates when you select the word, it does not need you to copy that word. But somehow Alfred clipboard adds the selected word into the clipboard everytime and effectively clogging the clipboard history. But when you cmd+v, it pastes the actual last copy you made instead of the random words selected for translated purposes. 

 

As in the pic below, all items are just selected words for the translation except for the highlighted file item. And if you cmd+v, you will paste that file but not any other items above it. 

Any help would be appreciated, thanks. 

aslo, video demonstration here: 

 

Edited May 10, 2023 by vincentea

[Stephen_C]

Does it make any difference if in Alfred preferences → Features → Clipboard History on the Advanced tab you add the Eudic dictionary app under Ignore Apps?

 

Stephen

[uservin]

1 hour ago, Stephen_C said:

Does it make any difference if in Alfred preferences → Features → Clipboard History on the Advanced tab you add the Eudic dictionary app under Ignore Apps?

 

Stephen

thanks for your advice, but that didn't solve it, I tried to put that app in ignore list, still it copies. you can see in the picture, the clipboard thinks the Safari, Onenote or other apps the selected text is in as the source apps, the dictionary app is not considered as source app in this situation. 

[vitor]

Alfred doesn’t copy on its own, the feature is called Clipboard History because it saves what was copied.

 

3 hours ago, vincentea said:

it has a feature called "Select to Translate", pretty self-explanatory, it translates when you select the word, it does not need you to copy that word.

What exactly does that do? How does it translate? You select the text and then what happens?

 

We may need a screen recording to properly see what’s happening.

[uservin]

1 hour ago, vitor said:

Alfred doesn’t copy on its own, the feature is called Clipboard History because it saves what was copied.

 

What exactly does that do? How does it translate? You select the text and then what happens?

 

We may need a screen recording to properly see what’s happening.

I made a short screen recording to reproduce this issue, in which I did't copy anything, only select: 

 

 

[Terminal]

I’m willing to bet that this app does copy on select/translate Very much like default terminals do on Mac unless set to not to do this. 
 

Potentially it copies and then restores the clipboard. 

Edited May 10, 2023 by Terminal

[uservin]

2 minutes ago, Terminal said:

I’m willing to bet that this app does copy on select/translate Very much like default terminals do on Mac unless set to not to do this. 
 

Potentially it copies and then restores the clipboard. 

 

maybe, but then I tested this issue with other clipboard app, Maccy, it does not copy the selected text. all is normal. 

[uservin]

just update this post to see if any solution

[Andrew]

Just to explain how Alfred works, and why this might be happening. While in the background, Alfred watches the macOS clipboard counter and the instant this increments, Alfred checks for relevant types in the current macOS pasteboard. If the pasteboard types contains text, images or files (based on what's configured in Alfred), and the pasteboard doesn't have a concealed or transient metadata type marker, and the current focused app in Alfred isn't in the ignore list, then Alfred will place the current clipboard item into his history.

 

In this case, it seems like Eudic's "Select to Translate" must be using the clipboard (even just briefly) to transfer the word. At the point of transfer, Word is the current active app, so adding Eudic to the clipboard ignore won't work.

 

Without knowing how Eudic works under the hood (It may use macOS Accessibility to know when a word is selected), and how the selection is being placed briefly in the pasteboard (may be another app which is interfering with Eudic), it's not possible for Alfred to know it's not just you copying something from Word.app.

 

It may be worth approaching Eudic and asking for a bit more info, which could give us insight into how this data could potentially be excluded.