[Oberon] Mouse interface

[Skulski, Wojciech]

I took the liberty to change the title. The discussion moved away from the previous one.

Richard Hable [informujo at aon.at] wrote:

> In System 4 there is the PopupElems module implementing a text element
> which can be inserted into arbitrary text, including menus. It can
> contain one or more commands to be executed via the middle mouse button.

I used these quite a lot. They are great. However, the Commander also has its merits. It is a very light-weight addition to the TUI. All the Tool texts can stay as they are now. There is no need to setup the button. In BlackBox, you just put the cursor where you want the commander to be, hit CTRL-Q, and it appears. The same could work under the Oberon TUI. Those who do not like the Commander can stay away from it.

The Commander will be light-weight in the user sense, though not in the programming sense. Implementing the Commander still needs the Elements machinery. If the machinery is in place, then all the other Elements can be used as well. Buttons, the Sisyphus, moving clocks, paragraph control, and all the other stuff too.

Gadgets enthusiasts will probably say "forget Szyperski, Hannes did it much better". It may be true. But the difficulty with the mouse is the same under both Systems. The solution can be the same. A Commander will be an Element under V4, or a new gadget under S3. It would be beneficial if it looked the same and acted the same under both the V4 and S3. My proposition is not to fix any particular system. The proposition is to fix the mouse.

> IMO, the other clicks and interclicks are easy enough to remain the
> same, even when a scroll wheel has to be pressed instead of a middle
> mouse button.

Depends which mouse you are using and how good are your fingers. May be easy enough for you, but I am having a problem.

Again, BlackBox can be taken as a guide. They defined the "mouse modifier keys" which are CTRL, SHIFT, ALT. These keys require both hands, one for the key and one for the mouse. This might seem bad. After trying the present mice I say "modifier keys are better than interclicks with the wheel".

That's just me and my fingers. Yours may be different.

W