Bug 508002 - Ability to double click to highlight words while using a highlighter annotation tool
Summary: Ability to double click to highlight words while using a highlighter annotati...
Status: CONFIRMED
Alias: None
Product: okular
Classification: Applications
Component: general (other bugs)
Version First Reported In: unspecified
Platform: Ubuntu Linux
: NOR wishlist
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Okular developers
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2025-08-07 22:46 UTC by daphne.amigo
Modified: 2025-08-20 15:47 UTC (History)
6 users (show)

See Also:
Latest Commit:
Version Fixed In:
Sentry Crash Report:


Attachments
attachment-2093593-0.html (2.05 KB, text/html)
2025-08-12 20:08 UTC, daphne.amigo
Details

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Description daphne.amigo 2025-08-07 22:46:45 UTC
FOR OKULAR

SUMMARY
 
I would really like you to implement "double click" on PDFs to highlight and features like that.

OBSERVED RESULT

"Double click" does not work when highlighting is on, only when selecting with the mouse.

EXPECTED RESULT

Make double click work when highlight is enabled and features like that.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS

LINUX

# System Details Report

## Hardware Information:
- **Hardware Model:**                              Dell Inc. Inspiron 15 3520
- **Memory:**                                      8.0 GiB
- **Processor:**                                   12th Gen Intel® Core™ i3-1215U × 8
- **Graphics:**                                    Intel® Graphics (ADL GT2)
- **Disk Capacity:**                               256.1 GB

## Software Information:
- **Firmware Version:**                            1.30.0
- **OS Name:**                                     Ubuntu 25.04
- **OS Build:**                                    (null)
- **OS Type:**                                     64-bit
- **GNOME Version:**                               48
- **Windowing System:**                            Wayland
- **Kernel Version:**                              Linux 6.14.0-27-generic

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Your editor PDF is the best in Linux for me, but the double click is essential for performance.
Comment 1 Nate Graham 2025-08-08 00:06:09 UTC
Can you clarify what it is what you want?
Comment 2 daphne.amigo 2025-08-08 20:02:49 UTC
(In reply to Nate Graham from comment #1)
> Can you clarify what it is what you want?

When highlighting is turned on, instead of selecting the word with the mouse (from left to right, for example), simply click twice and the word will be highlighted (or underlined for example).
Comment 3 Nate Graham 2025-08-08 20:18:06 UTC
That works for me in Okular built from today's git master.

Any chance you could attach a screen recording or phone video that shows you encountering the problem?
Comment 4 Simone Gaiarin 2025-08-09 07:15:38 UTC
The reported behavior is present in 25.04.3 (didn't test on master). When yellow highlighter is selected, and a word is double clicked, the word is not highlighted and nothing happens.
Comment 5 daphne.amigo 2025-08-09 14:11:00 UTC
(In reply to Nate Graham from comment #3)
> That works for me in Okular built from today's git master.
> 
> Any chance you could attach a screen recording or phone video that shows you
> encountering the problem?

Sure, but how do I attach it here?
Comment 6 daphne.amigo 2025-08-11 18:44:41 UTC
What I did

I removed the Okular installed via apt:
I used sudo apt remove --purge okular and then sudo apt autoremove to clean up dependencies.

I prepared to compile Okular directly from the Git master branch:
I cloned the official Okular repository:

git clone https://invent.kde.org/graphics/okular.git
cd okular

I created the build folder and tried to compile with cmake and make:

mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr
make -j$(nproc)
sudo make install

I got an error saying Qt6 was not installed (qtpaths6 not found).

I tried to install Qt6 and KDE Frameworks 6 (KF6):
I ran the command to install Qt6 and KF6 packages, but several packages like libkf6activities-dev were not found in the official repositories.

I used apt build-dep okular:
To install dependencies for the stable Okular version that comes with Ubuntu:

sudo apt build-dep okular
I noticed this does not include the newer KF6 packages used by the master branch.

I considered using Flatpak:
To avoid the hassle of manually installing dependencies and compiling, I decided the simplest and most updated way is to install Okular via Flatpak:

flatpak install flathub org.kde.okular

Problems and errors I encountered

CMake failed to configure because Qt6 was not installed or configured:

No Qt6 qtpaths executable found. Can't check QT_INSTALL_PREFIX as required
Error trying to install KDE Frameworks 6 packages like:

Error: Unable to locate package libkf6activities-dev
indicating those packages don’t yet exist in the Ubuntu repositories I use.

Old dependencies may be accumulated in the system and are not automatically removed.

The command apt build-dep okular only installs dependencies for the official repository version, not for the master branch Okular with Qt6/KF6.

An important issue: in the versions I tested (both the apt-installed and Flatpak versions), double-clicking to quickly highlight a word does not work.
(Note: double-click works in the “text selection” mode, but not for the HIGHLIGHTER tool.)

Notes for the Okular developers

The Okular master branch heavily depends on Qt6 and KDE Frameworks 6, but many of these packages are not available in official Ubuntu repositories.

This makes compiling the master branch directly on Ubuntu distributions difficult without using PPAs, manual builds, or Flatpak.

The double-click quick word selection problem is a limitation present in the versions I tested.

Comment: I asked ChatGPT to summarize what I tried to do, and it created this text.
Comment 7 Nate Graham 2025-08-11 19:05:46 UTC
Don't use AI to try to help you with bug reporting or even troubleshooting. It will cause more problems that then need solving.

There's no indication of a defect within Okular here, so I'm closing the bug report. If you need further support, please use https://discuss.kde.org, and also try to avoid AI there too.
Comment 8 Nate Graham 2025-08-11 19:29:00 UTC
That may have been too hasty; re-opening.
Comment 9 daphne.amigo 2025-08-12 20:00:09 UTC
(In reply to Nate Graham from comment #8)
> That may have been too hasty; re-opening.

Yeah, that's too hasty! If you said this feature exists, it's not working there, and the problem hasn't been resolved. 

I asked how to attach a video here, but with no answer, I will send it in your email.
Comment 10 daphne.amigo 2025-08-12 20:08:38 UTC
Created attachment 183998 [details]
attachment-2093593-0.html

The video was automatically sent from my other email
________________________________
De: Nate Graham <bugzilla_noreply@kde.org>
Enviado: terça-feira, 12 de agosto de 2025 17:05
Para: DAPHNE ROCHA AMIGO <daphne.amigo@uvvnet.com.br>
Assunto: [okular] [Bug 508002] Ability to double click to highlight words while using a highlighter annotation tool

https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=508002

Nate Graham <nate@kde.org> changed:

           What    |Removed                     |Added
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     Ever confirmed|0                           |1
             Status|REPORTED                    |CONFIRMED

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