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General discussion

Accidental keystrokes causing posts to be submitted

Feb 25, 2011 7:05PM PST

before typing is complete. I've not been able to deliberately duplicate this to provide evidence but I know I'm not the only one experiencing this. I've tried to use the test forum to find the scenario that will cause this but haven't so far. Will keep trying.

Discussion is locked

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Is this a laptop or Desktop
Feb 25, 2011 7:10PM PST

I know that on my laptop with that ridiculous tracking pad thingy, I was always brushing it with my hands when typing. These things can have 'gestures' built in, and mine would do all sorts of things, like deleting whole paragraphs, refreshing a page, going 'back' a page, and submitting forms prematurely.

I disabled it and moved to a USB mouse.

If yours is a Desktop however, then it's the forums! Sad

Mark

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Desktop
Feb 25, 2011 8:57PM PST

and with nice USB Cherry keyboard made in Germany. These kbs are popular in POS, industrial and medical settings. I use these in my work and like them enough to pay more to have one at home. They still make typos and grammar mistakes though. Happy I believe its a combination of keystrokes that might include the non-character keys. I don't use custom keys or macros because I'm too stupid to figure out how to use them. I don't have any problems with accidental loses of text. I'm wondering if the "Submit Reply" button has some sort of keystroke combination such as Windows dropdowns use. I'll figure this out eventually.

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(NT) Ok, I know that Tab + Enter will do it
Feb 25, 2011 9:49PM PST
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I've just seen it happen again to you Steven
Feb 26, 2011 4:39AM PST

I was watching the Real-Time Activity page when I saw your post in the Storage forum.

Am I right it only seems to happen either when you are typing in a Subject line, or when you have completed the subject and are preparing to type in the main body?

I know it does happen of course and I've done it myself on occasion, but I've not seen it happen this often as it is with you.

Mark

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I believe it happens in both subject and body
Feb 26, 2011 6:06PM PST

It could be me as I don't watch the keyboard except for a few keys and tend to type fairly fast at times. I make lots of typos. I know the tab key causes the cursor to go away and pressing the tab and then the enter key causes the post to submit but I wouldn't normally use the tab key....or at least without looking. Maybe I need to slow down or try a different coffee brand.

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You sound a bit like me
Feb 26, 2011 7:20PM PST

I type fast, but I am not accurate by any means. I can't touch type and if I try I get all sorts of spelling errors. Even when I look and type, I still get them!

EG. I just watched myself as I attempted to type Even. It came out as Ecen! And I was watching my fingers at the time! *sigh*.

All I can say is that this does not seem to be a commonly reported error, and it might be difficult to diagnose the problem.

... After a little testing of my own. I contributed to your Test forum thread. My own findings are here;
http://forums.cnet.com/7726-6622_102-5089955.html

But I'm not sure how they help.

Mark

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(NT) REsponse
Feb 27, 2011 5:14AM PST
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Response
Feb 27, 2011 5:18AM PST

If I enter something in the subject line and touch the Enter key It will Post the Subject with NO text in the Body. (that's what happened in my above post)

IF I go to the Test Forum and do the same thing...I get an Error message and requires some text in the body of the message.

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Noticed that but
Feb 27, 2011 6:17AM PST

That seems to be only when originating a message. I can reply to a test post without a message body by typing something into the subject box, pressing tab and then enter. But, yes, it does seem that the test forum is the only one that requires anything of substance to be posted. Wink

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Error mesage is displayed when posting OP because
Feb 27, 2011 8:41AM PST

they don't want any "one liners" for an Original Post?

When responding to a post one liners are permitted = NT Post

I chalk it up to hitting the Enter key, instead of moving the cursor from the Subject Line Box into the Message Body Box.

I have no idea why/when I started hitting the Enter Key instead of moving the cursor to the message box.

I seem to recall it started shortly after the latest forum changes....Why THAT would affect MY typing habits...I have no idea

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I know it happens when I go for the shift key but
Feb 27, 2011 7:14PM PST

hit the enter key either accidentally or simultaneously. I can duplicate that. I think it's when I see a typo and go back to correct it such as to change from lower case to caps or add a non alpha/numeric character that needs the shift key. I hit the enter key by accident and the post gets sent without asking for any confirmation. I think the old forums may have required two keystrokes or mouse clicks to submit a post. I suppose I can't blame the forum software for my own mistakes or failing to catch them.