Codeview & Preview window sync broken

Springbok · 07-30-2019, 04:16 AM

I have strange problem with the newly released version of Sigil 9.16. After a while of working with it I suddenly loose the possibility to sync from codeview to preview (the opposite works ok, i.e. after clicking anything in preview window codeview jumps to the correct location). The only way to work further is to close Sigil and open it again which is terribly frustrating.

Since nobody else seem to have this issue I suspect there is something wrong with my environment. This is Win 10 system. I have tried to uninstall Sigil and install it again from fresh couple of times but without any success, problem comes back. I'd appreciate any hints what I should be looking for in the environment to change and fix it.

BetterRed · 07-30-2019, 05:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Springbok

I have strange problem with the newly released version of Sigil 9.16. After a while of working with it I suddenly loose the possibility to sync from codeview to preview (the opposite works ok, i.e. after clicking anything in preview window codeview jumps to the correct location). The only way to work further is to close Sigil and open it again which is terribly frustrating.

Since nobody else seem to have this issue I suspect there is something wrong with my environment. This is Win 10 system. I have tried to uninstall Sigil and install it again from fresh couple of times but without any success, problem comes back. I'd appreciate any hints what I should be looking for in the environment to change and fix it.

You're not the first, see ==>> Sigil-0.9.16 Released - Post 78

BR

DiapDealer · 07-30-2019, 05:53 AM

There's got to be something you do that most people don't that's been overlooked. The trouble will be in tracking it down. Could also be some interfering software. Let me first rule out how Sigil is being launched. Are you launching Sigil "normally" or via the Open With feature of calibre?

General preference settings changed from the default could also prove useful.

Springbok · 07-30-2019, 06:20 AM

90% of times I launch Sigil via "open with" option from windows explorer or launch Sigil empty and then open recent file. In both situations I encounter the same issue and yet haven't found a pattern to reproduce the problem straight away.
Most of the time I have Chrome browser opened and that's about all from the list of active window applications (besides antivirus s/w and other running in the background).

Springbok · 07-30-2019, 06:28 AM

I missed this post, thanks.
I lost track because in my opinion there was to many subjects under one thread. And many of them related to the kill of bookview and subsequent "Page Edit" solution which I find as the quite elegant compromise.

DiapDealer · 07-30-2019, 06:29 AM

I doubt if it's the Chrome browser. I always have it open on my Windows and Linux systems as well. I rarely close it.

For what it's worth, I would never recommend running another fullblown antivirus protection suite in addition to Windows' Defender on Windows 10, but I'm not going to fight that battle. Can you at least exempt Sigil's program and preference directories from your second antivirus software long enough to rule it out?

Springbok · 07-30-2019, 07:08 AM

Will do.

This is basically what I am trying to do right now - isolate the problem and by eliminating environment conditions, one by one. I would welcome though any suggestions to narrow down the areas of search of possible conflict.

BetterRed · 07-30-2019, 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Springbok

Will do.

This is basically what I am trying to do right now - isolate the problem and by eliminating environment conditions, one by one. I would welcome though any suggestions to narrow down the areas of search of possible conflict.

Can you recreate the problem?

If you can, then disable everything in Startup. If you do it via Task Manager you'll have to disable individual tasks, but if you use CCleaner you can select and disable the whole lot. if the problem persists you'll at least have eliminated that avenue. If the problem goes away you can progressively re-enable tasks until the problem resurfaces - one hopes.

And unplug any devices like phones and cameras etc.

KevinH · 07-30-2019, 08:53 AM

It would help to know when the problem occurs, does closing the codeview tab and reopening it fix the issue? What about simply switching to a different codeview task and back.
?

Springbok · 07-30-2019, 10:08 AM

No, unfortunately closing the tab and reopening it does not fix the issue. All codeview tabs seem to be just dead as far as sync to preview is concerned. I have to relaunch sigil and this is why is so irritating.

KevinH · 07-30-2019, 10:31 AM

Wow! All of the syncing code is restarted when a new tab is loaded (both ways: cv->pv and pv->cv). Therefore something is preventing Qt signals from being delivered from cv to pv but not pv to cv.

Very strange indeed. Cv -> pv is done via a javascript that creates a element path from CodeView and applies it to PV. This is fundamental.

So something you are doing is triggering a code path that we are obviously not seeing/testing with.

So restarting Sigil with a junk epub and systematically try doing editing operations you typically do and testing cv->pv syncing after each one, and reporting back what you find out would be a huge help.

If we can recreate it on even one platform, we have a good chance at fixing it.

KevinH

Quote:

Originally Posted by Springbok

No, unfortunately closing the tab and reopening it does not fix the issue. All codeview tabs seem to be just dead as far as sync to preview is concerned. I have to relaunch sigil and this is why is so irritating.

Mister L · 07-30-2019, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Springbok

No, unfortunately closing the tab and reopening it does not fix the issue. All codeview tabs seem to be just dead as far as sync to preview is concerned. I have to relaunch sigil and this is why is so irritating.

Exactly the same situation here. I'll continue my discussion here too from the previous thread to keep it all together.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinH

Can you tie this breakage to a specific sequence of events? What happens if you close that specific CodeView tab and reopen it by double clicking in the BookBrowser? What happens if you simply switch to another tab in CodeView and then switch back?

Does either work to get syncing functioning again?

Are you sure this is the latest Sigil version?

KevinH

I am sure this is the latest version of Sigil (9.16).

Here are my specs again from my original post on the other thread:
Sigil 9.16, Qt 5.12.3, windows 8.1.
I'm not using PageEdit but I do have it installed, if that's relevant at all (latest version, I'm pretty sure, although I don't see anywhere to find the version number).

Like Springbok I haven't found any way to fix it other than closing Sigil and re-launching. If I go to a different tab sync is also broken on that tab. Closing the tab and re-opening it does not help. It does not seem to be linked to a specific series of events, it just happens when it happens.

I launch Sigil by double-clicking on the file I want to work on (epub files are attributed to Sigil on my computer).

Also running:
- frequently but not always Adobe Acrobat Reader next to Sigil with frequent focus switching (if I'm working on a complex conversion).
- Chrome in the background
- windows bloc notes also with relatively frequent focus switching for working out my regexes and keeping notes.
- Toggl Desktop to track my time on projects.
- a few background utilities like f.lux, dropbox, screenpresso, things like that.

This may or may not be linked to a weird image bug I just noticed: if I click on an image in the Preview panel, the code view does not sync to that image even if I try to select it and drag it a little in preview so I'm sure it knows I clicked on it. Clicking on text still syncs both before and after but images no. Not sure if the two are linked but it would be great to fix that as well as I frequently need to find the code for a specific image out of many and the easiest way is clicking on it and syncing to it.

Mister L · 07-30-2019, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinH

So restarting Sigil with a junk epub and systematically try doing editing operations you typically do and testing cv->pv syncing after each one, and reporting back what you find out would be a huge help.

If we can recreate it on even one platform, we have a good chance at fixing it.

KevinH

I will try to test after each operation on the book I'm working on and see if I notice a pattern.

KevinH · 07-30-2019, 10:53 AM

It could be that clicking exactly on an image does not send the mouse click event to PV itself so it can not ask CV to sync. Could clicking on an image in PV doing something similar to what clicking on an internal link did which ended up blocking all running javascripts? If so please try clicking on images directly in PV to see if that is the culprit?

Springbok · 07-30-2019, 11:03 AM

So I am not the only one...

I will keep on testing myself and try to find the trigger. Somehow I get the feeling that this environment, not the content related problem. I have tried many different books and after some they all ended up with the same result. Something in the system breaks the communication pipe that Sigil uses.

It is a pity that Sigil does not have any debugging or tracing utility. If it was, it would be easier to understand the sequence of events.

07-30-2019, 04:16 AM	#1
Springbok Enthusiast Posts: 30 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2018 Device: Kindle Touch	Codeview & Preview window sync broken I have strange problem with the newly released version of Sigil 9.16. After a while of working with it I suddenly loose the possibility to sync from codeview to preview (the opposite works ok, i.e. after clicking anything in preview window codeview jumps to the correct location). The only way to work further is to close Sigil and open it again which is terribly frustrating. Since nobody else seem to have this issue I suspect there is something wrong with my environment. This is Win 10 system. I have tried to uninstall Sigil and install it again from fresh couple of times but without any success, problem comes back. I'd appreciate any hints what I should be looking for in the environment to change and fix it.

07-30-2019, 05:53 AM	#3
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 27,549 Karma: 193191846 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	There's got to be something you do that most people don't that's been overlooked. The trouble will be in tracking it down. Could also be some interfering software. Let me first rule out how Sigil is being launched. Are you launching Sigil "normally" or via the Open With feature of calibre? General preference settings changed from the default could also prove useful. Last edited by DiapDealer; 07-30-2019 at 06:07 AM.

07-30-2019, 06:29 AM	#6
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 27,549 Karma: 193191846 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	I doubt if it's the Chrome browser. I always have it open on my Windows and Linux systems as well. I rarely close it. For what it's worth, I would never recommend running another fullblown antivirus protection suite in addition to Windows' Defender on Windows 10, but I'm not going to fight that battle. Can you at least exempt Sigil's program and preference directories from your second antivirus software long enough to rule it out? Last edited by DiapDealer; 07-30-2019 at 06:52 AM.

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07-30-2019, 06:20 AM	#4
Springbok Enthusiast Posts: 30 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2018 Device: Kindle Touch	90% of times I launch Sigil via "open with" option from windows explorer or launch Sigil empty and then open recent file. In both situations I encounter the same issue and yet haven't found a pattern to reproduce the problem straight away. Most of the time I have Chrome browser opened and that's about all from the list of active window applications (besides antivirus s/w and other running in the background).

07-30-2019, 06:28 AM	#5
Springbok Enthusiast Posts: 30 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2018 Device: Kindle Touch	I missed this post, thanks. I lost track because in my opinion there was to many subjects under one thread. And many of them related to the kill of bookview and subsequent "Page Edit" solution which I find as the quite elegant compromise.

07-30-2019, 07:08 AM	#7
Springbok Enthusiast Posts: 30 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2018 Device: Kindle Touch	Will do. This is basically what I am trying to do right now - isolate the problem and by eliminating environment conditions, one by one. I would welcome though any suggestions to narrow down the areas of search of possible conflict.

07-30-2019, 08:53 AM	#9
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 7,644 Karma: 5433388 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	It would help to know when the problem occurs, does closing the codeview tab and reopening it fix the issue? What about simply switching to a different codeview task and back. ?

07-30-2019, 10:08 AM	#10
Springbok Enthusiast Posts: 30 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2018 Device: Kindle Touch	No, unfortunately closing the tab and reopening it does not fix the issue. All codeview tabs seem to be just dead as far as sync to preview is concerned. I have to relaunch sigil and this is why is so irritating.

07-30-2019, 10:53 AM	#14
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 7,644 Karma: 5433388 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	It could be that clicking exactly on an image does not send the mouse click event to PV itself so it can not ask CV to sync. Could clicking on an image in PV doing something similar to what clicking on an internal link did which ended up blocking all running javascripts? If so please try clicking on images directly in PV to see if that is the culprit?

07-30-2019, 11:03 AM	#15
Springbok Enthusiast Posts: 30 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2018 Device: Kindle Touch	So I am not the only one... I will keep on testing myself and try to find the trigger. Somehow I get the feeling that this environment, not the content related problem. I have tried many different books and after some they all ended up with the same result. Something in the system breaks the communication pipe that Sigil uses. It is a pity that Sigil does not have any debugging or tracing utility. If it was, it would be easier to understand the sequence of events.