macOS / Mac OS X keyboard input gotcha

Codebook Issues
1

I got surprised by Codebook’s keyboard input behavior (version 3.7.3 (613) running under Mac OS X 10.11.6 El Capitan).

When I typed in a pre-existing password that could not be copy/pasted, I hit the correct keys, but entered an incorrect string.

Codebook is respecting the Mac’s System Preferences regarding smart quotes and dashes. Single or double prime characters entered into a data field from the keyboard auto-convert to curly quotes. Two hyphens in a row become an em-dash.

Smart quotes and dashes (also spelling auto-correct) are globally enabled by default, in System Preferences –> Keyboard –> Text.

In contexts where it could be harmful (Terminal, plain text editors, data entry form fields) automatic text substitution is normally disabled, either by the user’s choice or by an app developer’s.

I’m suggesting that it might be good for Codebook on the Mac to disallow substitutions on keyboard input. Especially because, in many fonts at size 10, straight primes and curly quotes are not very different to look at.

1 Like
2

Hi @jtclayton

Thanks for using Codebook and posting to the discussion forum with this suggestion.

We agree that it’s best to disallow substations on keyboard input within Codebook for macOS as it could lead to confusion.

This will be resolved in the next update of Codebook for macOS. We’d be happy to have you try out a beta version prior to release to confirm the issue is resolved on your end. If this is something you’d be interested in, please shoot me a pm and I can provide you with the beta information. Thanks!

Cheers,
Micah