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IDLE save keyboard shortcut problem #56596

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IDLE save keyboard shortcut problem#56596
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terryjreedy
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easytopic-IDLEtype-bugAn unexpected behavior, bug, or error

Description

@jvanburen
jvanburen
mannequin
opened on Jun 22, 2011
BPO 12387
Nosy @rhettinger, @terryjreedy, @kbkaiser, @ned-deily, @serwy, @jvanburen, @ringof
PRs
  • gh-56596: IDLE keyboard shortcuts function irespective of caps-lock state #32245
    		•
    Files
  • windows_caps_lock.patch
  • keybinding-issue12387-v1.diff
    		•

    Note: these values reflect the state of the issue at the time it was migrated and might not reflect the current state.

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    GitHub fields:

    assignee = 'https://github.com/terryjreedy'
closed_at = None
created_at = <Date 2011-06-22.17:59:58.252>
labels = ['easy', 'expert-IDLE', 'type-bug', '3.7']
title = 'IDLE save keyboard shortcut problem'
updated_at = <Date 2022-04-02.01:39:59.903>
user = 'https://github.com/jvanburen'

    bugs.python.org fields:

    activity = <Date 2022-04-02.01:39:59.903>
actor = 'dpg'
assignee = 'terry.reedy'
closed = False
closed_date = None
closer = None
components = ['IDLE']
creation = <Date 2011-06-22.17:59:58.252>
creator = 'Jacob.VB'
dependencies = []
files = ['25226', '35592']
hgrepos = []
issue_num = 12387
keywords = ['patch', 'easy']
message_count = 14.0
messages = ['138828', '138842', '138843', '158303', '158309', '158312', '158354', '158368', '212611', '212612', '218776', '220331', '220332', '220338']
nosy_count = 10.0
nosy_names = ['rhettinger', 'terry.reedy', 'kbk', 'ned.deily', 'roger.serwy', 'westley.martinez', 'python-dev', 'Jacob.VB', 'Saimadhav.Heblikar', 'dpg']
pr_nums = ['32245']
priority = 'normal'
resolution = None
stage = 'patch review'
status = 'open'
superseder = None
type = 'behavior'
url = 'https://bugs.python.org/issue12387'
versions = ['Python 3.6', 'Python 3.7']

    Linked PRs

    Activity

    1. jvanburen commented on Jun 22, 2011

      @jvanburen
      jvanburenmannequin
      on Jun 22, 2011
      MannequinAuthor

      IDLE (for Python 3.2) fails to save using the ctrl-s keyboard shortcut when caps-lock is enabled, and instead only saves when ctrl-shift-s is pressed.
      When caps-lock is disabled, all shortcuts work normally.

    2. jvanburen
      added
      topic-IDLE
      type-bugAn unexpected behavior, bug, or error
      on Jun 22, 2011
    3. jvanburen
      changed the title [-]IDLE save hotkey problem[/-] [+]IDLE save keyboard shortcut problem[/+] on Jun 22, 2011

    4. terryjreedy commented on Jun 23, 2011

      @terryjreedy
      terryjreedy
      on Jun 23, 2011
      Member

      (The message I deleted was a duplicate of the original).
      Verified with 3.2.0 on WinXP (Jacob, I/O issues, including keyboard, especially need system specified. What is yours? If Windows, this might be Windows-specific.)

      With CAPS LOCK on, Cntl-N, Cntl-O, Cntl-P, Alt-M, Alt-C work.
      Cntl-S, Cntl-Shift-S, Alt-Shift-S, Cntl-Q do not.
      (All of above from File menu). So behavior is variable.

    5. jvanburen commented on Jun 23, 2011

      @jvanburen
      jvanburenmannequin
      on Jun 23, 2011
      MannequinAuthor

      I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, on an Alienware M17x (a laptop) using the built-in keyboard.

      It's definitely possible that the problem is Windows-specific; perhaps it has to do with the fact that when caps lock is on the shift modifier seems to invert the case back to lowercase; although I don't know how it would affect it in that way.

    6. serwy commented on Apr 15, 2012

      @serwy
      serwymannequin
      on Apr 15, 2012
      Mannequin

      I can confirm this issue on Linux.

      This issue is caused by not explicitly binding <Control-Key-S> to <<save-window>> in config-keys.def (and in configHandler.py's GetCoreKeys.) Presently, only <Control-key-s> binds to <<save-window>>.

      Should all the lowercase bindings without uppercase bindings be changed, or should only a few be changed?

    7. serwy
      added
      easy
      on Apr 15, 2012

    8. rhettinger commented on Apr 15, 2012

      @rhettinger
      rhettinger
      on Apr 15, 2012
      Contributor

      I would like to see them all changed.

    9. terryjreedy commented on Apr 15, 2012

      @terryjreedy
      terryjreedy
      on Apr 15, 2012
      Member

      I agree; lets be consistently lenient.

    10. serwy commented on Apr 15, 2012

      @serwy
      serwymannequin
      on Apr 15, 2012
      Mannequin

      Attached is a patch to fix the caps-lock issue with Windows key bindings in config-keys.def.

    11. terryjreedy commented on Apr 15, 2012

      @terryjreedy
      terryjreedy
      on Apr 15, 2012
      Member

      Changes look complete and correct as far as I can tell, except that I have some confusion about the relation of Shift and CapsLock key. For instance, Control-C and Control-Shift-C (using the key labels) both interrupt a loop whether or not CapsLock is on. In all, 4 combinations work even though only 2 are listed.
      interrupt-execution=<Control-Key-c> <Control-Key-C>

      However, this pair of specifications
      +save-window-as-file=<Control-Shift-Key-S> <Control-Shift-Key-s>
      +save-window=<Control-Key-s> <Control-Key-S>
      only makes sense to me if 's' and 'S' refer to the 'S' key without and with CapLock on as using Shift is meant to give a different meaning. It appears to split the 4 combinations into 2 pairs that do different things.

    12. westleymartinez commented on Mar 3, 2014

      @westleymartinez
      westleymartinezmannequin
      on Mar 3, 2014
      Mannequin

      I know that Tk has individual states for whether or not a key is pressed with Caps Lock or Shift or other modifiers, so maybe there is a way to have the shortcuts ignore Caps Lock entirely.

      More info: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/665502/status-of-shift-and-caps-lock-in-python

    13. ned-deily commented on Mar 3, 2014

      @ned-deily
      ned-deily
      on Mar 3, 2014
      Member

      See also "Modifier Keys" on the Tk Wiki:
      http://wiki.tcl.tk/28331

      There are both deliberate and accidental platform-specific behavior differences among Tk implementations.

    14. terryjreedy commented on May 19, 2014

      @terryjreedy
      terryjreedy
      on May 19, 2014
      Member

      Reading the Tk Wiki page, it appears that Shift undoes ShiftLock except on Mac, where it does nothing. So there is effectively only ^a and ^A, etc.

      Looking as the Get New Keys dialog, the Basic Key Binding Entry pane says "New keys .." plural, but as far as I can tell, only one new key can be entered. Moreover, Control-Key-a and Control-Shift-Key-A are possible, but not Control-Key-A. The latter is only possible with hand entry in the Advanced Key Binding Entry pane. This might be why some functions have a single key binding and some both. Perhaps the dialog should auto-augment Control-Key-x with Control-Key-X, where x is a lowercase letter.

    15. 3 remaining items

    16. terryjreedy
      added
      3.7 (EOL)end of life
      on Jun 30, 2017
    17. terryjreedy
      self-assigned this
      on Jun 30, 2017
    18. ezio-melotti
      transferred this issue fromon Apr 10, 2022
    19. terryjreedy
      added this to IDLE Issueson Jul 23, 2022
    20. erlend-aasland
      moved this to In Progress in IDLE Issueson Jul 27, 2022
    21. terryjreedy
      removed
      3.7 (EOL)end of life
      on Feb 26, 2024

    22. serhiy-storchaka commented on Sep 17, 2026

      @serhiy-storchaka
      serhiy-storchaka
      on Sep 17, 2026
      Member

      Tk does not fold the case of letter keysyms, so a binding has to exist for both cases. #157709 binds the other case automatically when the key sequences are applied to a window, for all keysets and extensions on all platforms; the keysets themselves are unchanged.

    23. terryjreedy
      added 4 commits that reference this issue on Sep 18, 2026

      Merge branch 'main' into pythongh-56596-capslock

      6a784de

      gh-56596: Make IDLE key bindings work with Caps Lock on (#157709)

      0b18efd

      [3.13] gh-56596: Make IDLE key bindings work with Caps Lock on (GH-15…

      7f968a9

      [3.14] gh-56596: Make IDLE key bindings work with Caps Lock on (GH-15…

      635e208
    24. serhiy-storchaka
      closed this as completedon Sep 18, 2026
    25. github-project-automation
      moved this from In Progress to Done in IDLE Issueson Sep 18, 2026

    26. terryjreedy commented on Sep 18, 2026

      @terryjreedy
      terryjreedy
      on Sep 18, 2026
      Member

      IDLE issues has an uncategorized draft issue for making and applying the 3.15 backport, after previous on-hold backports.

    27. terryjreedy
      added a commit that references this issue on Oct 9, 2026

      [3.15] gh-56596: Make IDLE key bindings work with Caps Lock on (GH-15…

      121ff77
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