Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!psuvax1!hsdndev!cmcl2!adm!lhc!lhc!warsaw From: warsaw@nlm.nih.gov (Barry A. Warsaw) Newsgroups: comp.human-factors Subject: Re: Track ball on a keyboard? Message-ID: Date: 13 Jun 91 17:54:00 GMT References: <91163.083144CJS@psuvm.psu.edu> Sender: usenet@nlm.nih.gov (usenet news poster) Reply-To: warsaw@nlm.nih.gov Organization: Century Computing, Inc. Lines: 51 In-Reply-To: spinner@wpi.WPI.EDU's message of 12 Jun 91 15:45:11 GMT >>>>> On 12 Jun 91 12:31:44 GMT, CJS@psuvm.psu.edu said: CJS> I understand that users of track balls find them superior to CJS> mice. They are now readily available as mice replacements. >>>>> "Bevan" == Bevan R S Wang writes: Bevan> Gads, track balls superior! I for one find track balls Bevan> not as accurate as to a mouse. Also there seems to be Bevan> less "fluid-motion" in a track ball rather than a Bevan> mouse. I have a trackball from Evergreen systems on my Sun SS1+ which I like very much. I find it highly superior to the standard Sun mouse for positioning. I don't have much desk real estate and rarely have use for a mouse anyway, preferring the keybindings I've set up for window traversal, etc. The few times I need a "mouse" (e.g., for menu interactions, window movements or resizes, graphics), I find the trackball positioning at least as easy if not easier than with a mouse, since 1. I don't have to worry about 2 orientations -- the optical mouse with the underlying pad, and the pad/mouse to screen directional orientation; and 2. continually picking up the mouse when I reach the side of the pad. Also, for large screen distances, the trackball is great. One quick spin and my cursor goes exactly where I want it. I'm *much* faster now (with a little practice) at cursor absolute positioning with my trackball. The trackball I've got has 4 buttons -- 3 for the standard Sun mouse buttons and a 4th for a hold button(*). This is an essential feature, though IMO *slightly* mis-designed on the Evergreen. Say I want to popup a menu on the (standard) right mouse button, do some pull-rights and eventually select an item. I can click the 3rd and 4th button on the trackball (chord) and its just as if I'm holding down the mouse button. The problem (and bad design) is that I must click the 3rd button (or whatever "mouse" equivalent button I've clicked) to release. However, sometimes its difficult to remember just what button I pressed! For example, on my X root window, I pop up menus for all 3 buttons. Am I holding on the third button or first button? I *know* that I've pressed the hold button, so I would like to see clicking on the hold button itself release the hold. Alas this trackball doesn't grant me that. (as a sidenote, does anyone know of other good trackballs for the Sun that may do this?) Just a thought for all you trackball designers out there :-). -Barry (*) actually the hold button is programmable to be the leftmost or rightmost of the 4 buttons, with the other 3 mapping onto the standard 3 button mouse. This is another nice feature.