Bug 437003

Summary: xsel "crashes" when run from custom shortcut, but not terminal
Product: [Applications] systemsettings Reporter: kdebugs
Component: kcm_khotkeysAssignee: Michael Jansen <kde>
Status: RESOLVED UNMAINTAINED    
Severity: normal CC: nate, plasma-bugs-null
Priority: NOR    
Version First Reported In: 5.21.4   
Target Milestone: ---   
Platform: Kubuntu   
OS: Linux   
Latest Commit: Version Fixed In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description kdebugs 2021-05-12 22:59:51 UTC 
SUMMARY

If I run the demo script below in a terminal, it works as expected. If I run it triggered by a custom shortcut (configured via settings -> Shortcuts -> Custom Shortcut) it stops after the xsel command and generates no further output.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE

Make this script in /tmp/ and chmod ug+x :

#!/bin/bash
rm /tmp/got_here /tmp/xsel.txt > /dev/null 2>&1
xsel -b > /tmp/xsel.txt 2>&1
touch /tmp/got_here

OBSERVED RESULT

If run from a terminal, /tmp/xsel.txt and /tmp/got_here both appear as expected.

If you associate a hotkey to this script via System Settings -> Shortcuts -> Custom Shortcuts -> Edit -> New -> Global Shortcut -> Command/URL (e.g. Action = "/tmp/myscript") and use the hotkey, you will see that /tmp/xsel.txt appears, but /tmp/got_here does not appear.

This implies to me that something is crashing, as there is no error output in xsel.txt?

EXPECTED RESULT

In both cases, /tmp/xsel.txt and /tmp/got_here should appear.

If I substitute xclip in place of xsel, it works as expected: both files appear.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Linux/KDE Plasma: 21.04 (also happened in 20.10)
KDE Plasma Version: 5.21.4
KDE Frameworks Version: 5.80.0
Qt Version: 5.15.2

I don't see anything obviously awry in journalctl, there is no error in the stdout or stderr in /tmp/xsel.txt, so this seems to fail "silently" which is disturbing, and hence I file this bug report.
Comment 1 Nate Graham 2024-03-04 19:41:58 UTC 
As announced in https://pointieststick.com/2023/07/26/what-we-plan-to-remove-in-plasma-6/ and https://community.kde.org/Plasma/Plasma_6#Removals, I'm afraid KHotKeys has reached end-of-life in Plasma 6. Accordingly, all bug reports and feature requests for it must be closed now.

Most of what KHotKeys could do can already be done with the newer KGlobalAccel system in Plasma 6. A few features such as mouse gestures and triggering conditions based on changes to window states are not yet implemented in the new system. These will be added in the future if and when resources materialize for them, and/or when a kind soul submits patches to implement them! :) Meanwhile, the 3rd-party "Mouse Actions" app (https://github.com/jersou/mouse-actions) may be usable for implementing your own mouse gestures again.

Thanks for your understanding, everyone.
Comment 2 kdebugs 2024-03-04 20:19:52 UTC 
Thanks Nate -- does my description above imply that this is perhaps more likely a bug in xsel? If so, maybe I should post this elsewhere?
Comment 3 Nate Graham 2024-03-05 15:34:33 UTC 
Unknown, but it's not something we care about anymore from a KDE perspective. I might recommend asking for help with it on https://discuss.kde.org