Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!mcsun!ukc!canon!smith
From: smith@canon.co.uk (Mark Smith)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Help! Anyone know how to force the mouse to a location?
Message-ID: <1990Jun8.082550.14629@canon.co.uk>
Date: 8 Jun 90 08:25:50 GMT
References: <1990Jun5.091419.14219@portia.Stanford.EDU> <16995@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> <1990Jun6.083741.4740@canon.co.uk> <3645@rodan.acs.syr.edu> <1990Jun7.090438.10194@canon.co.uk> <17054@phoenix.Princeton.EDU>
Organization: Canon Research Europe, Guildford, UK
Lines: 31

bskendig@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Brian Kendig) writes:

>If you need to use the mouse as an analog input device for something,
>just make the pointer invisible.  If you can't because you need the
>pointer, then you should probably rethink your application -- you're
>trying to have the mouse do too many things at once.

Brian, I'm not sure that you understood the main reason I was whining.
The problem is that when using the mouse as a relative motion device,
the actual position of the pointer on the screen is still a problem,
because if you move the mouse such that the pointer (whether visible
or not) reaches the edge of the screen, you won't get any more mouse
movements events in that direction. The only way around this problem
is the admittedly inelegant method of throwing the pointer back to
the middle of the screen, so that it never hits the edge. This is what
you can't do *legally* on the Mac, and this (I assume) is why the
pointer is visible in Lode Runner. This added challenge really doesn't
enhance the game.

BTW, it occurred to me after posting last time that Crystal Quest is
probably the best example of precise non-linear control with the
mouse. It's a very impressive use of a not very sophisticated input
device, and I contend that it would be *impossible* with a keyboard.

====================================================================
 Mark Smith                            Canon Research Centre Europe
 smith@canon.co.uk                         19 Frederick Sanger Road
 ..ukc!uos-ee!canon!smith                       Guildford Surrey UK
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 "We always planned to ease ourselves into pure research anyway..."
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