To get out of stuck SHIFT KEY hp prime emulator on Mac

[tcab]

I just ran across this long standing bug again today and found my notes on how to fix it - thought I'd share.

After using the HP Virtual Prime for a while sometimes the Shift key in hp prime emulator on Mac is stuck down - visually its not apparent, but everything you do on the virtual prime is changed because the shift is 'internally' locked - this can be quite a distressing situation. E.g. If you are in the editor and trying to ESC out, the prime prompts if you want to clear all text instead! I've lost my work several times because of this, and been locked in the program editor with no way to get out.

Solution: hold the mac keyboard Command key down and then double click with the mouse on the HP Virtual Prime Shift key.

[Albert Chan]

When emulator do get a stuck shift (how?), it might be too unstable to continue.
Instead of "releasing" shift, a better option may be close emulator, and start over.

[tcab]

The stuck shift problem happens regularly, on different Mac machines. After the ‘fix’ the emulator runs fine and is not unstable - till it happens again, which unfortunately won’t be too long.

If I’m regularly jumping in and out of the editor and testing a program, it probably happens every 10mins. Restarting the emulator will often lose my work (e.g. if the stuck shift happens inside the editor and I can’t get out with ESC to save) and has no benefit, as the problem just happens again anyway in the rebooted hp prime calc emulator.

[jte]

I’ve noticed something like this in the past (and would describe it much as it was described here). I’ve created a related ticket on the bug tracker I’ve set up for the project.

The sequence of actions I found that can recreate an interaction like this is to release the ⌘ key (on the Mac keyboard) while the focus is not on the HP Prime application. An example sequence is as follows:
1. press and hold ⌘,
2. switch applications while ⌘ is held down (e.g., by using tab, or by clicking on an app in the dock)
3. release ⌘, (while in another application) and then
4. click on virtual keys in the HP Prime application — it now acts as though Shift is down even though ⌘ is not pressed and the ↑S indicator is not showing in the virtual HP Prime’s title bar.

However, the Shift key is still being drawn in a pressed state. (So there is some visual indication.) Clicking on it does not release it, but pressing and releasing ⌘ does.

I thought I’d write here to ask if there is another issue / sequence of interactions that lead to similar issues. (/ If an interaction can lead to the interface acting as though Shift is pressed without the Shift key being drawn in a pressed state.) (This can be recreated on the Windows version, but with the Ctrl key instead of the ⌘ key. I’ve also created a ticket suggesting that the ⌘ key not be used to control the virtual Shift key on macOS as Ctrl is a better choice on Macs for that.)