Xref: utzoo comp.sys.mac:55119 comp.sys.mac.programmer:15175 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!att!cbnewsl!rubin From: rubin@cbnewsl.att.com (Mike Rubin) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac,comp.sys.mac.programmer Subject: Re: Help! Anyone know how to force the mouse to a location? Message-ID: <1990Jun6.190840.23732@cbnewsl.att.com> Date: 6 Jun 90 19:08:40 GMT References: <1990Jun5.091419.14219@portia.Stanford.EDU> <16995@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Summit, NJ Lines: 29 In article <16995@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> bskendig@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Brian Kendig) writes: >In article <1990Jun5.091419.14219@portia.Stanford.EDU> canuck@portia.Stanford.EDU (William Stocker) writes: >>I'm writing a Mac program in THINK Pascal 3.0, and need to force the >>mouse to a particular screen location.... >>but there's a good purpose for it -- trust me! > >Besides, to have a program move the pointer for you is like having a >robot grab your hand and move it around for you. The pointer is the >user's `hand': he should have free, unconstrained movement of it at >all times. > >Tell me what, exactly, this `good purpose' is that you've thought up, >and I and millions of other Netters will help you come up with a more >proper way of doing it. Well, X-Windows has a call to "warp" (as in warp drive) the mouse pointer. Most X-based user interfaces think that if you put up a modal dialog box, you should move the mouse pointer into the dialog (probably over the default button) and restore its old position after the dialog goes away. This is a religious question and should really be user-settable behavior. (Hmm... it could probably be coded as an INIT, but it's beyond my skill. Any takers?) The Mac OS was designed for a small screen where one swipe of the mouse could always get you to a dialog box in the middle of the screen. X was designed for big displays where moving across the screen is more tedious. --Mike Rubin