Eclipse is Blocking My Sunshine
Over the course of a 7 day week I may only have 10 - 15 hours of "working time". My working time is what most people would call their "spare time". So any distraction or obstacle I face is a relatively HUGE waste of time.
I never thought this would be an obstacle.
There is something wrong with my computer. Something very very very wrong.
I program in the IDE, Eclipse (version 3.0.2). I have a plugin installed called, MyEclipse, to give Eclipse added functionality (JSP editing, DB tools, etc...). I live in this application. When I start working I open Eclipse, and it doesn't get closed until I'm done for the night.
What's wrong you ask?
A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that after working in Eclipse for a few hours typing a quotation mark (") would produce the at symbol (@). I could then type @ and " would appear. Then I would try and type in other characters, and different characters would appear!
I closed Eclipse and reopened it. Everything was fine.... For about 10 minutes.
My first thought was that my keyboard has grown tired of my dictatorship-like-rule over it and is now trying to overthrow me . So I reinstalled the drivers. No love.
Then I switched keyboards and did the Windows-driver-dance again. Still, no love.
My next attempt at regaining control of my key-pressing was to install a clean version of Eclipse with no plugins. It worked for a couple of hours, but Eclipse started acting up again.
I downloaded the latest milestone of Eclipse 3.1. I really don't like to use unfinished software for my work, but since the "finished" software I was using (Eclipse 3.0.2) wasn't working I figured I didn't have anything to lose.
Eclipse 3.1 is a fantastic update. I like the changes they've made to it. But after 3 hours of work I typed a " and the @ appeared!!!
I have a theory about the problem.
Around the same time Eclipse freaked out on me I upgraded to Gaim 1.3. Gaim is an IM client that supports AIM, MSN, ICQ, etc.... Gaim 1.3 installed "GTK 2.6.7 rev a". I honestly can't remember if I upgraded before or after I started noticing the problem in Eclipse.
One night I had both Eclipse and Gaim open. I started to have the problem with Eclipse and a friend IM'd me. I was whining to him about my problem and weird characters started showing up in my message!
I have only had this problem in Eclipse and Gaim.
I tried uninstalling Gaim and GTK. Hoping that would undo any damage. But I continued to experience the problem in Eclipse.
I'm not sure if the GTK installation has anything to do with my problem, but uninstalling it didn't solve my Eclipse problem. (I've since reinstalled Gaim/GTK. I really like the application. :( )
I'm completely distraught over the situation.
I'm considering formatting my hard drive and reinstalling Windows. But if I do that it will be at least 2 "work shifts" wasted with the reinstallation and configuration of everything. And what if I do the reinstall and the problem comes back?
I don't know what else to try in Eclipse.
I guess my next step will be one of the following.
Option 2 would take an hour or so getting my project setup in the new environment. I'll have a productivity slow down as I learn the new IDE, and I may end up HATING it. I'm not even sure if it has support for refactoring. The refactoring support in Eclipse is something I can't live without. Another problem with Netbeans is the lack of a Spring plugin. Which will be another productivity slow down.
Option 3 can only take place if $2,000 falls from the sky. Considering I've never witnessed nor heard of money literally falling from the sky, I don't think I will be getting an Apple.
Needless to say I've already lost a lot of time on this problem. If anyone out there has any advice please leave it in a comment below. Or send me a $2,000 check. ;)
I never thought this would be an obstacle.
There is something wrong with my computer. Something very very very wrong.
I program in the IDE, Eclipse (version 3.0.2). I have a plugin installed called, MyEclipse, to give Eclipse added functionality (JSP editing, DB tools, etc...). I live in this application. When I start working I open Eclipse, and it doesn't get closed until I'm done for the night.
What's wrong you ask?
A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that after working in Eclipse for a few hours typing a quotation mark (") would produce the at symbol (@). I could then type @ and " would appear. Then I would try and type in other characters, and different characters would appear!
I closed Eclipse and reopened it. Everything was fine.... For about 10 minutes.
My first thought was that my keyboard has grown tired of my dictatorship-like-rule over it and is now trying to overthrow me . So I reinstalled the drivers. No love.
Then I switched keyboards and did the Windows-driver-dance again. Still, no love.
My next attempt at regaining control of my key-pressing was to install a clean version of Eclipse with no plugins. It worked for a couple of hours, but Eclipse started acting up again.
I downloaded the latest milestone of Eclipse 3.1. I really don't like to use unfinished software for my work, but since the "finished" software I was using (Eclipse 3.0.2) wasn't working I figured I didn't have anything to lose.
Eclipse 3.1 is a fantastic update. I like the changes they've made to it. But after 3 hours of work I typed a " and the @ appeared!!!
I have a theory about the problem.
Around the same time Eclipse freaked out on me I upgraded to Gaim 1.3. Gaim is an IM client that supports AIM, MSN, ICQ, etc.... Gaim 1.3 installed "GTK 2.6.7 rev a". I honestly can't remember if I upgraded before or after I started noticing the problem in Eclipse.
One night I had both Eclipse and Gaim open. I started to have the problem with Eclipse and a friend IM'd me. I was whining to him about my problem and weird characters started showing up in my message!
I have only had this problem in Eclipse and Gaim.
I tried uninstalling Gaim and GTK. Hoping that would undo any damage. But I continued to experience the problem in Eclipse.
I'm not sure if the GTK installation has anything to do with my problem, but uninstalling it didn't solve my Eclipse problem. (I've since reinstalled Gaim/GTK. I really like the application. :( )
I'm completely distraught over the situation.
I'm considering formatting my hard drive and reinstalling Windows. But if I do that it will be at least 2 "work shifts" wasted with the reinstallation and configuration of everything. And what if I do the reinstall and the problem comes back?
I don't know what else to try in Eclipse.
I guess my next step will be one of the following.
- Dig deeper into the GTK installation process. I could try to figure out if it is overwriting any system files, and start debugging from there.
- Bit the ugly Swing bullet and start using Netbeans.
- Buy an Apple computer.
Option 2 would take an hour or so getting my project setup in the new environment. I'll have a productivity slow down as I learn the new IDE, and I may end up HATING it. I'm not even sure if it has support for refactoring. The refactoring support in Eclipse is something I can't live without. Another problem with Netbeans is the lack of a Spring plugin. Which will be another productivity slow down.
Option 3 can only take place if $2,000 falls from the sky. Considering I've never witnessed nor heard of money literally falling from the sky, I don't think I will be getting an Apple.
Needless to say I've already lost a lot of time on this problem. If anyone out there has any advice please leave it in a comment below. Or send me a $2,000 check. ;)
posted by Michael Sica at
7:52 PM
9 Comments:
Is this happening strictly with Eclipse and Gaim ?
If Gaim installed some bad version of GTK, wouldn't it affect every other app that uses it?
Also, while you're using Linux, and viruses of that type are rare in Linux, possibly you've got some parasite that swaps key presses?
Also, check the keys that get swapped, is ther some relationship between them, like a fixed offset in their ascii/unicode value?
Just a random thought. Might be no help but you never know: @ and " are different on UK and US keyboards. Could it be that you have some different keyboards set up with some kind of shortcut key setup to switch between them? I had this when I was trying out typing on a Dvorak keyboard, and it would seemingly randomly switch between my 2 keybaord layouts, causing several lines of garbage before I realised.
Miki,
Yes, so far I have only witnessed the behavior in Eclipse and Gaim. I'm using Windows, not Linux. I had my anti-virus software do a full scan and it didn't turn up anything.
Anonymous,
It's funny that you mentioned the UK/US keyboard situation. While I don't think it's related, I have been working with Locales a lot in my PM web application. The 2 that I'm using for testing have been the UK and US. Without going into the details of what I've been doing (really boring), I don't think the problem is related. (I'm haven't switched my system Locale.) But it is something to keep in mind.
As a faithful Mac user I'm compelled to tell you to end your struggles and purchase a mac. Whereby you'll be able to avoid any unnecessary downtime, have a better working environment, never need to reinstall the OS, avoid spyware, and live a happier and more productive life.
Ha ha, Thanks for the advice, Ian.
Like I said, unless $2,000 falls from the sky, it's not happening anytime soon.
I do plan on eventually getting a Mac, but it won't be until at least January.
If $2000 does fall from the sky, tell me where to stand so that I can go out and buy a powerbook for myself. :)
I uninstalled Gaim 1.3 and GTK "2.6.7 rev a", and installed the previous versions, Gaim 1.2 and GTK "2.6.2 rev a". I worked for about 3 and half hours yesterday with no problem.
I'm afraid to say, "it's fixed". The moment I do I'll probably see @'s showing up all over the place. :(
Just in case anyone finds this page through a search engine and wants to know what the resolution to the problem was, read this:
http://www.michaelsica.com/ataraxissoftware/2005/05/eclipse-problem-solved-by-man-named.html
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