445449 - When copying cell contents, a tab character (ASCII 9) will be added to the clipboard

Status: RESOLVED INCOMPLETE

(Core :: Widget, defect)

Description

[Pekka Gaiser]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; de; rv:1.9) Gecko/2008052906 Firefox/3.0
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; de; rv:1.9) Gecko/2008052906 Firefox/3.0

Probably identical with https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=87651 but I felt it deserved a new ticket. Please forgive me if it didn't.

When selecting the (textual) contents of a table cell with the mouse and copying it to the clipboard, a TAB character (ASCII 9) will be added to the selection if the cell has a neighbour to the left and the mouse crossed into it during selection (without actually selecting anything in the neighbouring cell). 

This additional TAB character is invisible when working within Windows applications but leads to a bizarre behaviour when being inserted into a DOS command line. The TAB key there inserts the name of the first file in the current directory. So copying something from a cell in Firefox, and inserting it into the DOS Command line, can lead to something like this:

62.141.56.94

copied from firefox and inserted into the command line becomes

Application Data62.141.56.94

I regard this as a bug because whether the TAB key is inserted or not is decided by the position of the mouse at the end of the selection process, and no visual confirmation is given.



Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Using your mouse, select text from a table cell that has a neighbor to the left
2. While selecting, move your mouse into the left-hand neighboring cell, but so that no content is selected in the neighboring cell. Release the mouse button while in the neighboring cell.
3. Copy the selection
4. Analyze the selection using a HEX editor or insert it into a DOS command line. The name of the first file in your current directory will precede the inserted selection.
Actual Results:  
The selection contains the TAB character (ASCII 9).

Expected Results:  
The selection should not contain the TAB character.

I believe this Bug exists since the dawn of Firefox.

Comment 1

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

do you see this problem also in version 3.5 or newer?

Comment 2

[Pekka Gaiser]

(In reply to comment #1)
> do you see this problem also in version 3.5 or newer?

Yes, with a freshly downloaded 3.5.7 german, both on Windows 7 and its built-in Windows XP virtual machine.

Comment 3

[Justin Kerk]

I get this frequently in current Minefield as well.

Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.2; en-US; rv:1.9.3a1pre) Gecko/20100120 Minefield/3.7a1pre (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)

Comment 4

[Ed Morley [:emorley]]

Reporter, please can you confirm whether this issue still occurs using Firefox 4.0.1 (http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/new/) or higher, in Firefox safe mode (http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Safe+Mode) and/or with a clean profile (http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Basic+Troubleshooting#w_8-make-a-new-profile). Ideally, also check using the latest nightly: http://nightly.mozilla.org/

If this issue no longer occurs, please close as "Resolved Worksforme".

It it in fact still occurs, please provide as much extra information as possible, including what versions tried, whether safe mode/new profile tested etc. Thanks! :-)

(Template reply to inactive UNCO bugs)

Comment 5

[Loic]

Reporter, could you answer comment #4, please. Attach a testcase if necessary.

Comment 6

[Pekka Gaiser]

I'm afraid I can't try at this time, as I'm abroad with a OS X system.