Reverse Text .txet esrever si sihT

[polyphenol]

In the past few days, since 14.6, partner has seen a curious text effect.

Occasionally, when using Safari (Version 17.6 (19618.3.11.11.5)) to access a single website, and using particular sets of steps, when she starts typing, it comes out in reverse.

Checking it out, I've found the same happens for me too. One iMac, one mac mini.

If I copy the text from the website's text box, and paste it (e.g. into Pages) it is still reversed. Have pasted it below but no guarantee it will remain reversed when posted:

.txet esrever si sihT​

And this is a screenshot:

It remains reversed when posted on the website, and even when the same text item is opened in another browser such as Firefox (e.g. to edit a message). And machine restarts make no difference.

Doing a Refresh and retyping, all is well. And most text on the website works as usual - it only happens in after a couple of specific but very normal series of steps. So, despite it being a nuisance, it is not of major impact.

Of course I have raised it with the website support people. But hoping someone here might recognise the issue and help to fully resolve it.

 

[Bigwaff]

Why don’t you enlighten us with the web site in question and the “couple of specific but very normal series of steps” to reproduce.

 

[polyphenol]

Why don’t you enlighten us with the web site in question and the “couple of specific but very normal series of steps” to reproduce.

The site requires membership so didn't seem much point. https://healthunlocked.com/

The specific steps are:

Go to the message exchange part (chat), select an existing conversation, start a reply.

Or a slightly different path involving starting a new message (rather than replying to an existing message).

 

[splifingate]

Checking it out, I've found the same happens for me too. One iMac, one mac mini.

Probably some erroneous code in the chat <textarea> .js messing with bidi.

Most of the .js blobs that are used for user input these days are hideously compacted/complex, and all it takes is to have one erroneous character in some preg replace like:

text = text.replace(/^[ ]{0,3}\[(\d+)\]:[ \t]*\n?[ \t]*<?(\S+?)>?[ \t]*\n?[ \t]*(?:(\n*)["(](.+?)[")][ \t]*)?(?:\n+|$)/gm,

to make a user's/developer's life miserable.

I had a long stint with a blog developer early this Spring where the .js blob was adding x0D0A at the end of every newline (it should only have been x0A), and said addition traveled like a worm into each subsequent edit.

Something erroneous in the <textarea> .js blob

Only way to stop the weird addition was to add a post-entry global filter to the .php; luckily this was a smallish project, with a very responsive developer.

Be persistent, and provide lots of examples to the person/s working the back-end, and you'll probably get it sorted

 

[HDFan]

Probably some erroneous code in the chat <textarea> .js messing with bidi.

Yes. Contact the website.

 

[polyphenol]

Yes. Contact the website.

That was my first action on proving the issue exists. Have made several contacts with them and they are perplexed.

I posted here largely in the hope that if this issue is known to occur in certain circumstances - release of macOS, language and keyboard settings, odd keyboard combinations, particular hosting systems, etc., - those circumstances might be identified.

Or, if someone has had this, or similar, and found a way of avoiding it happening, they could say so.

Just seen something vaguely related which identified having Hebrew installed as an editing language (in Office on Windows) as their cause.

I had a long stint with a blog developer early this Spring where the .js blob was adding x0D0A at the end of every newline (it should only have been x0A), and said addition traveled like a worm into each subsequent edit.

Something erroneous in the <textarea> .js blob

Only way to stop the weird addition was to add a post-entry global filter to the .php; luckily this was a smallish project, with a very responsive developer.

Be persistent, and provide lots of examples to the person/s working the back-end, and you'll probably get it sorted

As an old hand used to prehistoric EBCDIC, I was so well aware of carriage return, line feed, and newline, multi-newline, ...

Used to embolden on line printers by using CR (without LF) and send the same line again. Oh the fun!!!

 

[splifingate]

found a way of avoiding it happening, they could say so.

I really like the editor in the XenForo MR is using . . . always works, and I never find a glitch.

Other editors, on other sites *cough*Red..*cough*, are often a hot mess.

I have never had my input text reversed 🤷‍♂️

One strategy I have adopted over the years--especially when I am composing a largish response or subject--is to compose it in a local text editor, then copy it over to the text input area before submitting.

This provides me with a backup, and it also allows me to avoid all the "I could have sworn I just spent two hours typing a thousand words of utmost eloquence, but they're now gone" type scenarios

 

[polyphenol]

I really like the editor in the XenForo MR is using . . . always works, and I never find a glitch.

Other editors, on other sites *cough*Red..*cough*, are often a hot mess.

I have never had my input text reversed 🤷‍♂️

One strategy I have adopted over the years--especially when I am composing a largish response or subject--is to compose it in a local text editor, then copy it over to the text input area before submitting.

This provides me with a backup, and it also allows me to avoid all the "I could have sworn I just spent two hours typing a thousand words of utmost eloquence, but they're now gone" type scenarios

This saving of text before posting is obviously a good idea! But I'm sure we all fail to do so at times.

It would be quite a neat browser enhancement to save keystrokes as they are passed from the keyboard to a text box. Thus always allowing the contents of last few text boxes to be recovered/re-pasted.

Though security issues might render any simple implementation rather difficult. (Not that things like this MR reply would have any security implications.)

 

[splifingate]

This saving of text before posting is obviously a good idea! But I'm sure we all fail to do so at times.

I am continually lulled into complacence by the functional sites, but I still get my shins bit, at times!

Still, we don't all write 'Hamlet' on the daily