Disable WASAPI by default

[seanbudd]

Link to issue number:

Changes to handle #15150
Follow up to #14697, #14896, #15038, #15097, #15145

Summary of the issue:

WASAPI usage is known to cause intermittent crashing in #15150.
Generally, WASAPI code has not been proven to be stable.
Due to this, it should not be enabled by default in 2023.2.
WASAPI can be re-enabled by default once it is proven to be stable.

Description of user facing changes

Disable WASAPI by default, preventing intermittent crashing #15150

Description of development approach

Turn the WASAPI checkbox into a feature flag, so that it can easily be re-enabled in future.

Testing strategy:

Manual testing
Upgrading the profile: Test starting NVDA with the WASAPI config value set to "True/False" instead of a "enabled/disabled/default".

Test the various controls related to WASAPI - ensure they are saved, applied and respected correctly.

Known issues with pull request:

None

Change log entries:

Refer to diff

Code Review Checklist:

• Pull Request description:
  • description is up to date
  • change log entries
• Testing:
  • Unit tests
  • System (end to end) tests
  • Manual testing
• API is compatible with existing add-ons.
• Documentation:
  • User Documentation
  • Developer / Technical Documentation
  • Context sensitive help for GUI changes
• UX of all users considered:
  • Speech
  • Braille
  • Low Vision
  • Different web browsers
  • Localization in other languages / culture than English
• Security precautions taken.

[AppVeyorBot]

• PASS: Translation comments check.
• PASS: Unit tests.
• PASS: Lint check.
• FAIL: System tests (tags: installer NVDA). See test results for more information.
• Build (for testing PR): https://ci.appveyor.com/api/buildjobs/egjqgxo021u52bwm/artifacts/output/nvda_snapshot_pr15172-28713,d58596b5.exe
• CI timing (mins):
  INIT 0.0,
  INSTALL_START 0.9,
  INSTALL_END 0.9,
  BUILD_START 0.0,
  BUILD_END 23.7,
  TESTSETUP_START 0.0,
  TESTSETUP_END 0.3,
  TEST_START 0.0,
  TEST_END 19.5,
  FINISH_END 0.1

See test results for failed build of commit d58596b5ea

[CyrilleB79]

General remark: the User Guide has not been updated; it still indicates that wasapi is enabled by default.

[AppVeyorBot]

• PASS: Translation comments check.
• PASS: Unit tests.
• PASS: Lint check.
• FAIL: System tests (tags: installer NVDA). See test results for more information.
• Build (for testing PR): https://ci.appveyor.com/api/buildjobs/75un58yrn1cnuuci/artifacts/output/nvda_snapshot_pr15172-28714,d58596b5.exe
• CI timing (mins):
  INIT 0.0,
  INSTALL_START 0.8,
  INSTALL_END 0.8,
  BUILD_START 0.0,
  BUILD_END 23.8,
  TESTSETUP_START 0.0,
  TESTSETUP_END 0.3,
  TEST_START 0.0,
  TEST_END 19.5,
  FINISH_END 0.2

See test results for failed build of commit d58596b5ea

[AppVeyorBot]

• PASS: Translation comments check.
• PASS: Unit tests.
• PASS: Lint check.
• FAIL: System tests (tags: installer NVDA). See test results for more information.
• Build (for testing PR): https://ci.appveyor.com/api/buildjobs/5p7x630vjm4tpher/artifacts/output/nvda_snapshot_pr15172-28719,030d4876.exe
• CI timing (mins):
  INIT 0.0,
  INSTALL_START 0.8,
  INSTALL_END 0.9,
  BUILD_START 0.0,
  BUILD_END 24.7,
  TESTSETUP_START 0.0,
  TESTSETUP_END 0.3,
  TEST_START 0.0,
  TEST_END 22.0,
  FINISH_END 0.1

See test results for failed build of commit 030d4876e0

[AppVeyorBot]

• PASS: Translation comments check.
• PASS: Unit tests.
• PASS: Lint check.
• FAIL: System tests (tags: installer NVDA). See test results for more information.
• Build (for testing PR): https://ci.appveyor.com/api/buildjobs/pb4840w1268bmoea/artifacts/output/nvda_snapshot_pr15172-28726,eddb1f2c.exe
• CI timing (mins):
  INIT 0.0,
  INSTALL_START 0.8,
  INSTALL_END 0.8,
  BUILD_START 0.0,
  BUILD_END 23.8,
  TESTSETUP_START 0.0,
  TESTSETUP_END 0.3,
  TEST_START 0.0,
  TEST_END 18.8,
  FINISH_END 0.1

See test results for failed build of commit eddb1f2c4f

[Qchristensen]

Userguide change is good. Some users will be disappointed, but the option is still there in advanced until the issues are ironed out.

[CyrilleB79]

@seanbudd, I am a bit concerned with the restart dialog for WASAPI option.

If we change both the language in General Settings and the WASAPI combobox in Advanced settings:

• If we choose to restart later for language, we get a second dialog for WASAPI; this seems an unpleasant UX IMO.
• If we choose to restart now when asked for language, may it cause GUI issue. E.g. is there another dialog for WASAPI below? Is this a problem? ((just asking...)

Also, at least one other advanced option requires restart (although not documented in the GUI as reported in #13505): "Registration for UI Automation events and property changes". It would make sense to have it managed the same way.

IMO, WASAPI and Registration of UIA events and prop changes are "real" advanced options. Specifying "(requires restart)" in the label should be enough for an advanced user using these options and the dialog is not required. If a beginner has to modify these options, he/she should do it under instructions of a more advanced user. So my proposal is to remove the restart dialog for advanced options provided "(requires restart)" is correctly specified in the option's label.

At last, it's worth noting that the new restart dialog would also be impacted by #10288.

[XLTechie]

Shouldn't we keep the note in the user guide, but encourage people to test it or some such? How _do_ we encourage testing of these disabled now, but intended to be enabled after testing, advanced options?

[seanbudd]

@XLTechie - we can re-enable this by default for 2023.3 once this is merged.
This feature is buggy - I think we should be keeping it primarily to alpha testing.
However, we may encourage testers to opt-in to test it in beta/rc/2023.2 via our typical comms channels.

[seanbudd]

The feature is in advanced settings because we consider it to be experimental and don't encourage wider testing of it (e.g. users who won't report issues or can't recover well from a crash/freeze).