How to delete curve points in color zones module

Software darktable
1

In a most modules that have editable curves (like tone curve), you can remove points from the curve by dragging them off to the left or the right. However, I can’t figure out how to delete points from the curves in color zones, other than by double-clicking to reset the entire curve. It’s kind of annoying to have to throw away all of my work just because I regret one point on the curve… Is there some way to delete a single point on the curve in this module without changing the rest of the curve?

(I know these curve modules are display-referred, but until color equalizer comes out, I just need something easy for a few color tweaks at the end of the pipeline.)

2

Right click on the point?

3

Nope. Tried that before posting. Right clicking just brings up the preset menu for the whole module.

4

Right clicking the point to remove works for me (dt 4.6.0). Any mapping of keyboard or mouse events on your side?

5

You have to right click exactly on the point, so the point gets highlighted first. If you miss it, you’ll get the preset menu.

6

Hmm, I’m also using darktable 4.6.0, but it doesn’t work for me. I’m using the fvwm3 window manager, which is pretty old, but right clicking works in other contexts, like when editing mask paths.

I made a tiny video demonstrating it, but it won’t seem to upload.

7

I just tried with the awesome window manager instead of fvwm3, and it works. That’s very sad. I wonder if this is a bug in fvwm3 or in darktable.

8

If it works with a different window manager then it’s obviously no darktable issue.

9

That’s not 100% obvious. For instance, if an application’s pop-up menus break with a non-compositing window manager (as sometimes happens), it’s usually a bug in the application that nobody noticed because most people run more modern window managers or desktop environments with compositors, but that shouldn’t be necessarily for basic menu functionality.

That said, I also tested with fluxbox with no compositor running, and darktable worked fine. So let’s call it 70% likely to be an fvwm bug. I suppose it’s a losing battle to want to run 30-year-old software. But X applications from the 1990s just run so fast on modern hardware that I love it, as well as the stripped-down aesthetic. Oh well.

10

Okay, for anyone who stumbles on this, yes it’s a arguably bug in darktable, but lots of other applications have the same bug, including chromium. Most window managers work around the bug, but fvwm hasn’t.

The workaround is to disable any mouse bindings that capture clicks on the window, even with modifiers. I added hotkey C-Win-A to disable these mouse bindings, and Win-A to re-add them. The configuration looks like this (I call Function Bindings in StartFunction:

DestroyFunc Bindings
AddToFunc Bindings
	+ I Mouse 1 FTSW	4	Move-or-Raise
	+ I Mouse 2 FTSW	4	Iconify
	+ I Mouse 3 FTSW	4	Resize-or-Lower
	+ I Mouse 1 FTSW	M	Move-or-Raise
	+ I Mouse 2 FTSW	M	Iconify
	+ I Mouse 3 FTSW	M	Resize-or-Lower
	+ I Key A   	A	C4	Function AltBindings

DestroyFunc AltBindings
AddToFunc AltBindings
	+ I Mouse 1 FTSW	4	-
	+ I Mouse 2 FTSW	4	-
	+ I Mouse 3 FTSW	4	-
	+ I Mouse 1 FTSW	M	-
	+ I Mouse 2 FTSW	M	-
	+ I Mouse 3 FTSW	M	-
	+ I Key A   	A	4	Function Bindings

So now when I’m using color zones or the retouch module (which also has some weird problem with clicking on sliders), I just press Ctrl-Win-A, then Win-A when done. Not the most elegant solution in the world, but at least I can use darktable without switching window managers.