Clicking outside of Blockly area doesn't update the field value inside the block

[Joost-Jens-Luminis]

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Description

When the user is editing a field, and clicks outside of the blockly area, the CHANGE event is not fired.

I expect the change event to be fired, or for there to be a way to request blockly to lose focus of the text field and update it's value in the block. The behaviour should be similar to how Blockly works if you click inside the workspace.

Reproduction steps

1. There is a block on in the Workspace with a text field.
2. The user begins editing the text field (it select the field)
3. When the user is done editing, it clicks outside the blockly area (for example on a button)

Result:
The text field is still shown as being edited and the internal block is not yet updated with the new value. No CHANGE even is fired either.

Stack trace

Screenshots

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[Joost-Jens-Luminis]

I have come up with the following workaround. I am not sure if this is acceptable usage though.

function ForceWorkspaceUpdate() {
    // The best way to force blockly to update the values is to use the pointerdown event.
    // But as that gives focus to the workspace and makes the user move it around we have to follow it up with a pointer up event.
    const pdEvent = new PointerEvent('pointerdown', {
        bubbles: true,
        cancelable: true,
        pointerId: 1,
        pointerType: 'mouse'
    });
    const puEvent = new PointerEvent('pointerup', {
        bubbles: true,
        cancelable: true,
        pointerId: 1,
        pointerType: 'mouse'
    });

    workspace.svgBackground_.dispatchEvent(pdEvent);
    workspace.svgBackground_.dispatchEvent(puEvent);
}

[Teruk15]

Hi @Joost-Jens-Luminis, is this still open? Can I work on this?

[Joost-Jens-Luminis]

@Teruk15 I have a workaround which works for me. But it would be better if this was natively/automatically supported in Blockly.
So yes, you can work on it if you want. Far be it for me to tell you what to do though :)

Note: I am on vacation next week so I will not be able to respond until the 23rd.

[maribethb]

Hi @Teruk15 this bug isn't a great choice at the moment because it's affected by some in-progress work we're doing with focus management. I'd recommend checking the help wanted label :)

[maribethb]

@BenHenning This is related to RaspberryPiFoundation/blockly-keyboard-experimentation#563 and our discussion around it fyi. Further support for making the behavior between clicking the workspace & clicking outside it consistent.

[BenHenning]

Confirming #9175 doesn't directly fix this, but I think it makes it possible to fix with some additional work.

Once #9175 is merged it will be possible for widget div to be updated to automatically dispose of itself when focus is lost (in much the same way #9175 updates drop-down div to auto-hide). I think doing that will cause the field editor to, in turn, close and update the field result (and fire the change event).

[rachel-fenichel]

Marking for re-triage as this needs verification of whether the issue still exists.