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From: rudd@calvin.tmc.edu (Kevin Rudd)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system
Subject: Re: The Mouse -- What is its History?
Message-ID: <1123@helens.Stanford.EDU>
Date: 11 Oct 90 04:35:30 GMT
References: <21056@dime.cs.umass.edu>
Sender: news@helens.Stanford.EDU
Reply-To: rudd@calvin.UUCP (Kevin Rudd)
Organization: Stanford University
Lines: 62

In article <21056@dime.cs.umass.edu> leban@par3.cs.umass.edu (Bruce Leban) writes:
>> From: rudd@calvin.tmc.edu (Kevin Rudd)
>> Is there any logical reason (other than Apple's GUI Police) that a standard
>> three button mouse could not be implemented in the Mac with the mouse
>> driver (or mouse hardware) selectable to return either:
>[rest deleted]
>
> From: Leban@cs.umass.edu  @amherst.mass.usa.earth
>
>The GUI police are (is?) a good reason to implement extra-button mice in some
>standard way [stuff deleted]
>
>So here is IMHO the "right way to do it":
>

Im pleased that someone else wants more buttons.  However, my suggestions
were only conceptual.  Having Lisp-like key bindings is nice and could
certainly be supported IN APPLICATIONS when it was relevent, but in
the general case would most likely be a BAD IDEA, and particularly against
the "Macintosh" feel...

The requirement to have mouse support in some standard way IS the most
important thing.  The "right way to do it", however, is not something which
should be instantly decided.  Having a "standard" method of KLUDGING mouse
clicks and keyboard clicks is only useful for a system which Apple willfully
blinds itself to and which is restricted to an add-on item to the system.
The ideal method would be for Apple to include the appropriate
button information (whatever that is decided to be) to be available in
the event code or in a followup call to the event manager and would be IN
ADDITION to the standard mouse event.  Thus, an application could either
support the buttons in some standard way (per the GUI Police) or just use
single buttons.  However, the kludge should only be a last resort (and will
probably be of limited use as different applications treat modifiers and
multi-clicks differently...

Chording should also be considered be included in the standard---
just as in the multiple video modes:  We aren't implementing it now,
but when we do it will look like THIS.  Even though there does not
appear to be much use for chording a three button mouse AT THE PRESENT
TIME due to it's complexity (ok for two, but there are
more chords possible with three, four, ... mice) this is is the same
kind of decision Apple made unilateraly years ago IRT a one button mouse.
(Moral: Never lock yourself into a limitation unless there is no reasonable
way around it).  With the original mouse it would have required more
wires to be defined and used.  However, with the ADB there is no
reason why mice couldn't have keypads, etc.

Before implementing ANY kind of interface, a lot
of consideration (both Ivory Tower and from "The Rest") would have to be
done.  Quick solutions and no solution are equally bad.  More buttons
SHOULD be available if wanted and Apple has the responsibility to provide
a clean method for doing this as well as guidelines so that the GUI police
may be avoided.  The standard argument that "its best
for you to have what we want you to have" just won't cut it anymore.

I'm all for a standard mouse interface --- lets come up with one which
FITS with the standard interface philosophy.  Forcing it to fit into
the CURRENT interface and not a logical extension is like saying that
we should still be using system 1.0 with only the bugs fixed...  And I'm
certainly looking forward to System 7.0...

  -- Kevin