Middle click paste in XFCE? <>SOLVED>

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jimallyn
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Middle click paste in XFCE? <>SOLVED>

Post by jimallyn »

I recently installed Mint 17.1 XFCE on an older computer for a friend of mine. This is my first experience with XFCE, and I notice there seems to be one thing missing: using the middle button, or both left and right buttons simultaneously, to paste text. I looked through the Settings, but couldn't find anything to enable this. Will XFCE even do this?
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xenopeek
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Re: Middle click paste in XFCE?

Post by xenopeek »

It's an X11 feature, with works on all desktop environments. If it's not working, that's either because mouse is kaput or because you've used xmodmap or similar to remap mouse buttons. Perhaps there can be another reason.

You could test if the button is working correctly with xev:

Code: Select all

xev
Or a little easier by limiting output:

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xev | grep -A 2 ButtonPress
When I click left, middle, right (button 1, 2, 3) in the test window this is the output of that command:

Code: Select all

ButtonPress event, serial 36, synthetic NO, window 0x1a00001,
    root 0xa3, subw 0x0, time 1695877, (72,96), root:(112,201),
    state 0x0, button 1, same_screen YES
--
ButtonPress event, serial 36, synthetic NO, window 0x1a00001,
    root 0xa3, subw 0x0, time 1696538, (72,96), root:(112,201),
    state 0x0, button 2, same_screen YES
--
ButtonPress event, serial 36, synthetic NO, window 0x1a00001,
    root 0xa3, subw 0x0, time 1696988, (72,96), root:(112,201),
    state 0x0, button 3, same_screen YES
--
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jimallyn
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Re: Middle click paste in XFCE?

Post by jimallyn »

Nope, haven't used xmodmap. (Never heard of xmodmap until now.) The mouse works fine for everything else, and it all checks out in xev. It just doesn't work to paste text.

...

Hmmm. Just tried it again, and it worked. Well, middle click worked, but both left and right buttons simultaneously doesn't work. I wonder what is going on?
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xenopeek
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Re: Middle click paste in XFCE?

Post by xenopeek »

Middle click emulation with left+right click is probably configurable somewhere in Xfce settings. I don't think that would be enabled by default if you have a physical middle button/clickwheel.
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Gerapa
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Re: Middle click paste in XFCE?

Post by Gerapa »

I have no solution, but i have tried that in my LM 17.1 Xfce :
Middle click pastes, but left and right click have no effect.
I have'nt changed anything in the configuration.
richyrich

Re: Middle click paste in XFCE?

Post by richyrich »

LM 17 Qiana Xfce here, and I can highlight text with a left mouse drag, and a middle-click pastes the highlighted text to another location as expected.
Wiikend

Re: Middle click paste in XFCE?

Post by Wiikend »

Gerapa wrote:I have no solution, but i have tried that in my LM 17.1 Xfce :
Middle click pastes, but left and right click have no effect.
I have'nt changed anything in the configuration.
You should have a setting called "Emulate middle click by clicking both left and right buttons" in your settings. I have Linux Mint 17.1 Cinnamon, and I can find it under "Mouse and Touchpad".
Mouse settings.png
I wish I could trade the middle-mouse-paste behavior for just having universal scroll everywhere, lol.
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Re: Middle click paste in XFCE?

Post by Buzzsaw »

Wiikend wrote:You should have a setting called "Emulate middle click by clicking both left and right buttons" in your settings. I have Linux Mint 17.1 Cinnamon, and I can find it under "Mouse and Touchpad".
Thanks for your tip, but Xfce doesn't have that setting.
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Re: Middle click paste in XFCE?

Post by MtnDewManiac »

xenopeek wrote:Middle click emulation with left+right click is probably configurable somewhere in Xfce settings. I don't think that would be enabled by default if you have a physical middle button/clickwheel.
I've never encountered such a setting, but have always assumed it to be enabled by default (as it appears to have been on the laptops/distros I've used since I found out about it a few years ago).

Might this be something that depends on the application/situation? If I "middle-click" (tap both buttons at the same time) on my desktop, it opens the workspace switcher(?) menu. If I do the same on a link on a web page (or my bookmarks list) in Firefox, it opens the link in a new tab. OtOH, if I have previously copied some bit of text and "middle-click" in Firefox's address bar, it pastes the text. But when I did so just now in this message entry box, nothing happened. Nothing happens when I do it in gedit, either.

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MDM
Mint 18 Xfce 4.12.

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Re: Middle click paste in XFCE?

Post by jimallyn »

“If the government were coming for your TVs and cars, then you'd be upset. But, as it is, they're only coming for your sons.” - Daniel Berrigan
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