chore: 1.3.0

A browser no longer shows the "unsupported command-line flag" bar. It is given
--enable-features=MiddleClickAutoscroll, which asks for the same feature
without being on the list of flags Chromium warns about; everything that embeds
an older Chromium keeps the flag that works there, and shows no bar either way.

Helium gets its own name for the feature alongside it, so autoscroll works
there for the first time.

An installation from 1.2.0 or earlier is taken back and written again on the
next apply.

Makefile

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 # Overridable so a packager can pass the version it is actually building
 # (`make VERSION=$pkgver`). The literal below is the fallback for builds
 # straight from a checkout, and is what a release tag has to carry.
-VERSION      ?= 1.2.0
+VERSION      ?= 1.3.0
 
 PREFIX       ?= /usr
 DESTDIR      ?=

README.md

@@ -1,21 +1,27 @@
 # middleclick-autoscroll
 
-Middle-click autoscroll for Linux. Hold the middle mouse button, move the
+Middle-click autoscroll is a CLI for Linux that enables autoscroll in every application that supports it.
-mouse, the page scrolls — like on Windows. Works with browsers, Electron apps,
+Works with browsers, Electron apps like Discord and Spotify, Steam, and anything else that runs on Chromium under the hood.
-Flatpaks, snaps, Steam, and anything else that runs on Chromium under the hood.
 
-No app list to maintain. The program looks at what's actually installed, figures
+There is no app list. My tool just looks at what uses chromium under the hood and applies the necessary steps to get it working.
-out what's Chromium-based, and handles it.
 
-## Installing
+## How to install
 
-**Arch, CachyOS, EndeavourOS, Manjaro**
+**Arch**
 
 ```bash
-paru -S middleclick-autoscroll
+yay -S middleclick-autoscroll
 ```
 
-**Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Pop!_OS**
+**Fedora**
+
+```bash
+sudo curl -fsSL -o /etc/yum.repos.d/middleclick-autoscroll.repo \
+  https://felitendo.github.io/middleclick-autoscroll/middleclick-autoscroll.repo
+sudo dnf install middleclick-autoscroll
+```
+
+**Debian**
 
 ```bash
 sudo install -d -m 0755 /etc/apt/keyrings
@@ -26,14 +32,6 @@ echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/middleclick-autoscroll.gpg] https://felit
 sudo apt update && sudo apt install middleclick-autoscroll
 ```
 
-**Fedora, RHEL, CentOS Stream**
-
-```bash
-sudo curl -fsSL -o /etc/yum.repos.d/middleclick-autoscroll.repo \
-  https://felitendo.github.io/middleclick-autoscroll/middleclick-autoscroll.repo
-sudo dnf install middleclick-autoscroll
-```
-
 **openSUSE**
 
 ```bash
@@ -43,30 +41,80 @@ sudo zypper addrepo --gpgcheck --refresh \
 sudo zypper install middleclick-autoscroll
 ```
 
-Then run `middleclick-autoscroll enable`. That's it — nothing else to configure.
+## How to use
 
-Updates come through your package manager like anything else. Without a package,
+Just run `middleclick-autoscroll`. This will open the configuration TUI that looks like this:
-build [from source](#building-from-source) or grab a `.deb`/`.rpm` from the
-[releases page](https://github.com/Felitendo/middleclick-autoscroll/releases).
 
-Run `middleclick-autoscroll disable` before removing the package — it undoes
+```
-everything.
+  Middle-Click Autoscroll
+
+  Autoscroll                     ON
+
+  Applications covered           11 of 13
+  Not identified                 1 - see the applications list
+  Steam                          ON
+  New applications               ON
+  Last applied                   2 minutes ago
+
+  Applications pick this up the next time they are started.
+
+  [1] Turn autoscroll on or off
+  [2] Re-apply everything
+  [3] Applications
+  [4] Settings
+  [q] Quit
+
+  >
+```
+
+`[1]` is all you need for the normal case. `[3]` lists every app that was found
+and what is being done with it, so you can leave a single one out or switch on
+an AppImage that couldn't be identified:
+
+```
+  Applications
+
+  ▸ Steam                              on (Steam)
+    Chromium                           on (launcher)
+    Discord                            on (flag file)
+    Obsidian                           on (launcher)
+    Spotify                            on (launcher)
+    Slack                              off
+    Cursor                             cannot tell
+
+  Anything not identified is left alone until it is turned on here.
+  Up/Down select - Space turns one on or off - q goes back
+```
+
+`[4]` has the same switches per category - browsers, Electron and CEF apps,
+Flatpaks, snaps, autostart entries, Steam, Spotify - plus a field for extra
+Chromium arguments.
 
 ## How it works
 
 Blink (the engine in Chromium, Electron, and CEF) already has autoscroll, but
-it's off on Linux because middle click does primary-selection paste there. One
+it's off on Linux because middle click does primary-selection paste there. This
 flag turns it on:
 
-```
 --enable-blink-features=MiddleClickAutoscroll
-```
 
-Doing that for one app is a five-minute job. Doing it for *all* of them — across
+But doing that for every app is kinda bothersome and it also might break with updates.
-flag files, desktop entries, Flatpaks, snaps, autostart entries, Steam — so it
+That's why I created this small tool to automate that.
-survives upgrades, is not. That's what this does.
 
-New apps are picked up within a second by a systemd path unit that watches the
+Browsers get the same thing asked for differently:
+
+--enable-features=MiddleClickAutoscroll
+
+Both mean the same feature - Blink generates a matching feature name for each of
+its runtime flags - but the first one is on Chromium's list of flags worth
+warning about, so a browser started with it shows a yellow "unsupported
+command-line flag" bar over every page. The second one is not on that list, so
+there's no bar. It only works from Chromium 124 on, which is why apps that
+embed something older (Steam's CEF, older Electron) keep the first one - they
+have no such bar to begin with. Helium, which carries the feature under its own
+name, is asked for `HeliumMiddleClickAutoscroll` alongside it.
+
+New apps are picked up by a systemd path unit that watches the
 relevant directories. Without systemd, `middleclick-autoscroll apply` does the
 same thing manually.
 
@@ -75,15 +123,12 @@ same thing manually.
 Steam's web UI supports autoscroll but has no way to pass extra arguments to its
 helper, so the program patches the script that starts it. Steam checks its own
 files at every start and repairs whatever looks changed, so the patch is written
-to look unchanged: the bytes the argument costs come back out of the script's
+to look unchanged.
-comments and the timestamp is restored, leaving a file exactly as long and as old
-as Steam left it. It survives however you start Steam — the menu, a desktop
-shortcut, a game launcher, a terminal.
 
 As a fallback, for the case where that isn't possible, `-noverifyfiles` goes on
 everything that starts Steam: its launcher, its autostart entry, and the
 shortcuts it writes for single games. That one means Steam won't auto-repair
-damaged files on its own — you can turn it off separately in the settings.
+damaged files on its own just so you're aware of that.
 
 ## Commands
 
@@ -97,8 +142,6 @@ damaged files on its own — you can turn it off separately in the settings.
 | `… status` | What's covered |
 | `… list` | All apps and how they're handled |
 
-See `man middleclick-autoscroll` for more.
-
 ## Building from source
 
 ```bash

doc/middleclick-autoscroll.1.scd

@@ -18,7 +18,18 @@ on the command line.
 
 *middleclick-autoscroll* finds every Chromium-based application on the system
 and puts that argument somewhere the application will actually read it, then
-keeps doing so for anything installed later. It works on any distribution:
+keeps doing so for anything installed later.
+
+A browser is given *--enable-features=MiddleClickAutoscroll* instead. It asks
+for the same feature - Blink generates a feature of that name for each of its
+runtime flags - but it is not on the list of flags Chromium warns about, so the
+browser does not put a bar reading "You are using an unsupported command-line
+flag" above every page. That spelling only works from Chromium 124 onwards,
+which is why everything else keeps the first one: an application that embeds an
+older Chromium, such as Steam's CEF, has no such bar to show anyway. Helium
+knows the feature under a name of its own and is asked for
+*HeliumMiddleClickAutoscroll* as well; a name a browser does not know is
+ignored. It works on any distribution:
 which of the routes below an application takes is read off its launcher, not
 assumed from where the launcher came from.
 
@@ -71,10 +82,10 @@ Two ways, chosen per application.
 	Where the launcher reads extra arguments from
 	_$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/<name>-flags.conf_. This is the preferred route: it is
 	the supported way to pass arguments, it survives package upgrades, and it
-	applies to a launch from a terminal as much as one from the menu. An
+	applies to a launch from a terminal as much as one from the menu. A
-	*--enable-blink-features* line that is already in the file is extended
+	feature list that is already in the file is extended rather than
-	rather than duplicated - Chromium keeps only the last occurrence of that
+	duplicated - Chromium keeps only the last occurrence of such an option, so
-	option, so a second one would switch the first one off.
+	a second one would switch the first one off.
 
 	Arch's Electron and Chromium packages all wrap their binaries this way, and
 	so do a number of individual vendors' launchers elsewhere. Whether a given

src/lib/apply.sh

@@ -66,6 +66,15 @@ mca_apply() {
 	MCA_N_ON=0; MCA_N_OFF=0; MCA_N_UNKNOWN=0
 
 	mca_config_load
+
+	# An installation that was set up by a version whose answer was a different
+	# flag still has that flag where it put it, and nothing below would touch it
+	# again: a file that is already marked as patched is left alone. Taking
+	# everything back once, here, is what carries such an installation over.
+	if [[ "$(mca_state_read flag_scheme 1)" != "$MCA_FLAG_SCHEME" ]]; then
+		mca_revert_all
+	fi
+
 	mca_scan
 
 	for i in "${!MCA_IDS[@]}"; do
@@ -87,10 +96,11 @@ mca_apply() {
 
 		case "$route" in
 			flags)
-				mca_flags_apply "$prog" || mca_desktop_apply "$id" "$file"
+				mca_flags_apply "$prog" "$kind" \
+					|| mca_desktop_apply "$id" "$file" "$(mca_flags "$kind")"
 				;;
 			desktop)
-				mca_desktop_apply "$id" "$file"
+				mca_desktop_apply "$id" "$file" "$(mca_flags "$kind")"
 				;;
 			steam)
 				mca_steam_desktop_apply "$id" "$file" "$packaging"
@@ -143,6 +153,7 @@ mca_apply() {
 	fi
 
 	mca_state_write last_apply "$(date +%s)"
+	mca_state_write flag_scheme "$MCA_FLAG_SCHEME"
 	return 0
 }
 

src/lib/common.sh

@@ -13,11 +13,42 @@ MCA_PRETTY="Middle-Click Autoscroll"
 # The whole point of the package. Blink implements Windows-style autoscroll
 # behind a runtime flag that Chromium does not turn on for Linux, because
 # middle click is taken by primary-selection paste there.
+#
+# There are two ways to ask for that flag, and which one is right depends on
+# what is being started:
+#
+#   --enable-blink-features=MiddleClickAutoscroll is the one that works
+#   everywhere, and the only one that works in the Chromium versions embedded
+#   applications ship - Steam's CEF, an Electron a few years old, anything
+#   before Chromium 124. A browser started with it puts a yellow bar above the
+#   page saying an unsupported command line flag is in use, because Chromium
+#   keeps a list of flags worth warning about and this is on it.
+#
+#   --enable-features=MiddleClickAutoscroll is not on that list, so a browser
+#   started with it says nothing. Blink generates a feature of the same name
+#   for every one of its runtime flags, which is what makes the two the same
+#   request - but only since Chromium 124. Before that the name means nothing
+#   and is ignored without a word.
+#
+# So a browser, which is the only thing that shows the bar and the one thing
+# that keeps itself up to date, is given the quiet one; everything else keeps
+# the one that always works.
 MCA_FLAG="--enable-blink-features=MiddleClickAutoscroll"
 
-# The Blink feature name on its own, for merging into an --enable-blink-features
+# Helium ships the feature under its own name and does not answer to the
-# list that an app (or the user) already carries.
+# Chromium one, so browsers are asked for both. A name a browser does not know
+# is ignored, which is what makes one list safe to hand to all of them.
+MCA_BROWSER_FLAG="--enable-features=MiddleClickAutoscroll,HeliumMiddleClickAutoscroll"
+
+# The feature names on their own, for merging into a list that an application
+# (or the user) already carries, and for taking them back out again.
 MCA_FEATURE="MiddleClickAutoscroll"
+MCA_BROWSER_FEATURES="MiddleClickAutoscroll,HeliumMiddleClickAutoscroll"
+
+# Bumped when the flags above change. An installation that was set up by a
+# version with a different answer is taken back and done again once, because a
+# file that is already patched is otherwise left alone. See mca_apply.
+MCA_FLAG_SCHEME=2
 
 MCA_LIBDIR="${MCA_LIBDIR:-@LIBDIR@}"
 MCA_LOCALEDIR="${MCA_LOCALEDIR:-@LOCALEDIR@}"

src/lib/config.sh

@@ -154,10 +154,18 @@ mca_config_load() {
 	CFG_SKIP="$(mca_config_get Skip '')"
 }
 
+# mca_flags [kind]
 # The full argument string that gets injected. Kept in one place so the flag
 # file writer and the desktop entry writer cannot drift apart.
+#
+# A browser gets the flag that leaves it without a warning bar; everything else
+# gets the one that works in every Chromium there is. See MCA_FLAG.
 mca_flags() {
-	printf '%s' "$MCA_FLAG"
+	if [[ ${1:-app} == browser ]]; then
+		printf '%s' "$MCA_BROWSER_FLAG"
+	else
+		printf '%s' "$MCA_FLAG"
+	fi
 	[[ -n ${CFG_EXTRA_FLAGS:-} ]] && printf ' %s' "$CFG_EXTRA_FLAGS"
 	printf '\n'
 }

src/lib/patch.sh

@@ -29,6 +29,40 @@
 MCA_MARK_BEGIN='# >>> middleclick-autoscroll'
 MCA_MARK_END='# <<< middleclick-autoscroll'
 
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Feature lists
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Both --enable-features and --enable-blink-features take a comma separated
+# list, and Chromium keeps the last one it is given and drops the rest. A
+# second one of the same kind would therefore silently switch off whatever the
+# first one turned on, so an option that is already there is extended instead.
+
+# _mca_list_merge <list> <wanted>
+# The two lists as one, in the order they came and without repeating anything.
+_mca_list_merge() {
+	local out="$1" item
+	for item in ${2//,/ }; do
+		[[ ",$out," == *",$item,"* ]] && continue
+		out="${out:+$out,}$item"
+	done
+	printf '%s' "$out"
+}
+
+# _mca_list_strip <list> <unwanted>
+# The list without any of the named entries.
+_mca_list_strip() {
+	local out='' item
+	for item in ${1//,/ }; do
+		[[ ",$2," == *",$item,"* ]] && continue
+		out="${out:+$out,}$item"
+	done
+	printf '%s' "$out"
+}
+
+# The two options, as a regular expression branch, for the places that have to
+# recognise either of them.
+MCA_FEATURE_OPTS='--enable-blink-features|--enable-features'
+
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Command lines
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -70,28 +104,32 @@ _mca_exec_after_program() {
 # Prints nothing and returns 1 when there was nothing to change, so callers can
 # tell a real edit from a no-op without diffing.
 #
-# An --enable-blink-features that is already there is extended rather than
+# A feature list that is already on the line is extended rather than repeated.
-# repeated: Chromium keeps the last occurrence of the option and drops the
+# See _mca_list_merge.
-# rest, so a second one would silently disable whatever the first turned on.
 mca_exec_inject() {
 	local line="$1" flagstr="${2:-}" where="${3:-before-fields}"
-	local flag value existing at changed=0
+	local flag opt value existing merged re at changed=0
 	local -a flags
 
 	[[ -n $flagstr ]] || flagstr="$(mca_flags)"
 	read -r -a flags <<< "$flagstr"
 
 	for flag in "${flags[@]}"; do
-		if [[ $flag == --enable-blink-features=* ]]; then
+		case "$flag" in
-			value="${flag#--enable-blink-features=}"
+			--enable-blink-features=*|--enable-features=*)
-			if [[ $line =~ --enable-blink-features=([A-Za-z0-9,_-]*) ]]; then
+				opt="${flag%%=*}"
-				existing="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
+				value="${flag#*=}"
-				[[ ",$existing," == *",$value,"* ]] && continue
+				re="(^|[[:space:]])$opt=([^[:space:]]*)"
-				line="${line/--enable-blink-features=$existing/--enable-blink-features=${existing:+$existing,}$value}"
+				if [[ $line =~ $re ]]; then
-				changed=1
+					existing="${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
-				continue
+					merged="$(_mca_list_merge "$existing" "$value")"
-			fi
+					[[ $merged == "$existing" ]] && continue
-		fi
+					line="${line/$opt=$existing/$opt=$merged}"
+					changed=1
+					continue
+				fi
+				;;
+		esac
 
 		[[ " $line " == *" $flag "* ]] && continue
 
@@ -117,12 +155,12 @@ mca_exec_inject() {
 # Flag files
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-# mca_flags_apply <program>
+# mca_flags_apply <program> [kind]
 # Writes the flags into the file the program's launcher reads. Returns 0 when
 # the program has such a file (whether or not anything needed changing), 1 when
 # it has none and the desktop entry route has to be used instead.
 mca_flags_apply() {
-	local prog="$1" name target='' existing_target=''
+	local prog="$1" kind="${2:-app}" name target='' existing_target=''
 	local -a candidates=()
 
 	mapfile -t candidates < <(mca_flags_candidates "$prog" | awk '!seen[$0]++')
@@ -133,7 +171,7 @@ mca_flags_apply() {
 	for name in "${candidates[@]}"; do
 		if [[ -f "$MCA_XDG_CONFIG/$name" ]]; then
 			existing_target="$name"
-			_mca_flags_write "$MCA_XDG_CONFIG/$name"
+			_mca_flags_write "$MCA_XDG_CONFIG/$name" "$kind"
 		fi
 	done
 	[[ -n $existing_target ]] && return 0
@@ -143,19 +181,21 @@ mca_flags_apply() {
 	# creating that one also covers every other application using the same
 	# shared Electron.
 	target="${candidates[-1]}"
-	_mca_flags_write "$MCA_XDG_CONFIG/$target"
+	_mca_flags_write "$MCA_XDG_CONFIG/$target" "$kind"
 	return 0
 }
 
-# _mca_flags_write <file>
+# _mca_flags_write <file> [kind]
-# Adds the flags as a marked block, or merges into an --enable-blink-features
+# Adds the flags as a marked block, or merges into a feature list that is
-# line that is already in the file.
+# already in the file.
 _mca_flags_write() {
-	local file="$1" content='' line flag value existing merged=0 block=''
+	local file="$1" kind="${2:-app}"
+	local content='' line flag opt want existing merged=0 block=''
 	local -a flags
+	local -A merged_opts=()
 	local created=0
 
-	read -r -a flags <<< "$(mca_flags)"
+	read -r -a flags <<< "$(mca_flags "$kind")"
 
 	[[ -f $file ]] || created=1
 	if (( ! created )); then
@@ -166,16 +206,23 @@ _mca_flags_write() {
 		fi
 	fi
 
-	# Merge into a blink-features line the user (or a distribution) put there.
+	# Merge into a feature list the user (or a distribution) put there, rather
-	if [[ $content == *--enable-blink-features=* ]]; then
+	# than write a second line of the same option further down.
+	if [[ $content == *--enable-* ]]; then
 		local out=''
 		while IFS= read -r line; do
-			if [[ $line =~ ^[[:space:]]*--enable-blink-features=([A-Za-z0-9,_-]*)[[:space:]]*$ ]]; then
+			if [[ $line =~ ^[[:space:]]*($MCA_FEATURE_OPTS)=([^[:space:]]*)[[:space:]]*$ ]]; then
-				existing="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
+				opt="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
-				if [[ ",$existing," != *",$MCA_FEATURE,"* ]]; then
+				existing="${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
-					line="--enable-blink-features=${existing:+$existing,}$MCA_FEATURE"
+				want=''
+				for flag in "${flags[@]}"; do
+					[[ $flag == "$opt="* ]] && want="${flag#*=}"
+				done
+				if [[ -n $want ]]; then
+					line="$opt=$(_mca_list_merge "$existing" "$want")"
+					merged_opts["$opt"]=1
+					merged=1
 				fi
-				merged=1
 			fi
 			out+="$line"$'\n'
 		done <<< "$content"
@@ -183,7 +230,7 @@ _mca_flags_write() {
 	fi
 
 	for flag in "${flags[@]}"; do
-		(( merged )) && [[ $flag == --enable-blink-features=* ]] && continue
+		[[ -n ${merged_opts["${flag%%=*}"]:-} ]] && continue
 		block+="$flag"$'\n'
 	done
 
@@ -218,7 +265,7 @@ _mca_flags_drop_block() {
 
 # mca_flags_revert <file> <detail>
 mca_flags_revert() {
-	local file="$1" detail="$2" content line out='' existing new
+	local file="$1" detail="$2" content line out='' opt existing new
 
 	[[ -f $file ]] || return 0
 
@@ -238,12 +285,13 @@ mca_flags_revert() {
 
 	if [[ $detail == merged* ]]; then
 		while IFS= read -r line; do
-			if [[ $line =~ ^[[:space:]]*--enable-blink-features=([A-Za-z0-9,_-]*)[[:space:]]*$ ]]; then
+			if [[ $line =~ ^[[:space:]]*($MCA_FEATURE_OPTS)=([^[:space:]]*)[[:space:]]*$ ]]; then
-				existing="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
+				opt="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
-				new="${existing//$MCA_FEATURE/}"
+				existing="${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
-				new="${new//,,/,}"; new="${new#,}"; new="${new%,}"
+				# Either name, whichever version of this program put it there.
+				new="$(_mca_list_strip "$existing" "$MCA_BROWSER_FEATURES")"
 				[[ -z $new ]] && continue
-				line="--enable-blink-features=$new"
+				line="$opt=$new"
 			fi
 			out+="$line"$'\n'
 		done <<< "$content"
@@ -419,15 +467,17 @@ _mca_entry_patch_inplace() {
 			*)       mca_is_chromium "$prog" || return 0 ;;
 		esac
 
+		mca_desktop_is_browser && kind=browser || kind=app
+
 		if [[ $gate == autostart ]]; then
 			[[ $CFG_AUTOSTART == yes ]] || return 0
 		else
 			id="${file##*/}"; id="${id%.desktop}"
-			mca_desktop_is_browser && kind=browser || kind=app
 			mca_kind_wanted "$kind" "$id" "$packaging" || return 0
 		fi
 
-		content="$(_mca_desktop_transform "$file" "$MCA_MARK_INPLACE")"
+		content="$(_mca_desktop_transform "$file" "$MCA_MARK_INPLACE" \
+			"$(mca_flags "$kind")")"
 	fi
 
 	[[ -n $content ]] || return 0