Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!decwrl!uunet!ora!bloom-beacon!dont-send-mail-to-path-lines
From: dshr@eng.sun.COM (David Rosenthal)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Re: Moving pointer in software ?
Message-ID: <9103131557.AA10051@devnull.Eng.Sun.COM>
Date: 13 Mar 91 15:49:18 GMT
Sender: daemon@athena.mit.edu (Mr Background)
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 30

> Is it possible to change the position of the mouse pointer through software?
> 
It is possible to do so,  but doing so is strongly deprecated.
Section 6.2 of the ICCCM (page 545 of the Digital Press 2nd
edition):

	In general,  clients should not warp the pointer.  Window managers,
	however,  may do so.  ......

			Conventions

	1.	Clients should not warp the pointer.

	2.	Clients that insist of warping the pointer should do so
		only with the src-window argument of the WarpPointer
		request set to one of their windows.

The point here is that the pointer is a shared resource between all the
clients.  You may think its just fine for your client to randomly warp
the pointer.  I may think so too.  The user who ends up running your
client and mine together sees chaos as they both fight over where the
pointer should be.  So,  don't warp the pointer.  Leave it to the user
to decide where it should be.

There is an exception for toolkit writers implementing scroll-bars and
popups which grab the server while they are warping.  But grabbing the
server except under tightly controlled situations is just as anti-social
as warping the pointer.

	David.