Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!caesar.cs.montana.edu!blake!ogccse!littlei!omepd!iwarpr0!pcm From: pcm@iwarpr0.intel.com (Phil Miller) Newsgroups: comp.os.minix Subject: Re: Almost a mouse driver Message-ID: <5308@omepd.UUCP> Date: 3 Dec 89 16:28:27 GMT References: <1989Nov16.003710.19533@comp.vuw.ac.nz> <7040@ficc.uu.net> <5264@omepd.UUCP> Sender: news@omepd.UUCP Reply-To: pcm@iwarpr0.UUCP (Phil Miller) Distribution: comp Organization: Intel Corp., Hillsboro Lines: 47 In article lloyd@comp.vuw.ac.nz (Lloyd Parkes) writes: >> It would also be nice to make the `middle button menu' user-definable, say >> with a file `.mouserc' in the home directory of the user. This would >> provide some fairly simple mechanism for extending the functionality of the >> mouse, like for example, walking menus. It would be nice to incorporate >> a similar mechanism into `elle' and other interactive programs. >Groan, someone has to write this you know (me) and I don't even have >all three types of mouse, to test it on. Not only that I am supposed >to be writing an interpreter tool kit for the University (instead of >reading the news :-) and I did want to build a home brew system over >the summer (southern hemisphere) break. Not a chance of me getting >half that lot done, let alone writing windowing stuff as well. > Lloyd >Lloyd | lloyd@comp.vuw.ac.nz | Now all I have to do is write X >Parkes | ...!uunet!vuwcomp!lloyd | window & segment swapping The point is that *it would be nice* to have these features. You should in ANY event keep your design open ended. Why? MINIX will eventually support more sophisticated user interfaces which we cannot presently envision; mouse support is a part of most contemporary user interface packages. Perhaps if your mouse software is designed to be open-ended, it will EVOLVE into what I was talking about above. If the design is NOT open-ended, someone will have to start from scratch later, and your design will have a short life. WRT the problem of not having all three (?) types of mouse, I can't really see this as a major obstacle. There are a number of books on the market which describe the behavior of mice; use them. If you don't know the books, e-mail me and I'll send you a list. I would think it a terrible waste of your time to develop a mouse driver which only supported ONE type of mouse. BTW, it is nice of you to volunteer to contribute a mouse driver. I think probably other people will be happy to X and segment swapping. Sounds like your summer is spoken for ;-) ;-) ;-). Phil Miller pcm@iwarp.intel.com