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From: schoet@ernie.Berkeley.EDU.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Re: Exotic Interface Query
Message-ID: <18342@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: Wed, 15-Apr-87 19:52:25 EST
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.18342
Posted: Wed Apr 15 19:52:25 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 17-Apr-87 23:38:39 EST
Sender: usenet@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Reply-To: schoet@ucbvax (Steve Schoettler)
Distribution: world
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Lines: 32
Summary: Take a look at Amiga


     This may not be the answer you wanted, but the Commodore Amiga
has the ability to do with the keyboard ANYTHING you can do with the
mouse.  This takes advantage of two extra keys on the keyboard and a
very generalized input handler.

     I have also seen (for the Amiga) a "light pen" equipped with a lens
that replaces the mouse.  This thing is about the size of a pen and has
such good optics that you can stand across the room and point at the screen
to move the mouse.  It is also equipped with two microswitch buttons for
mouse buttons.  The company that produced it is working on some handicapped
applications including attaching it to some kind of headpiece.  If you want
more information on this, respond to me and I can find out the company name
and how to get in touch with them.


     There are people working on an X port to the Amiga, so your favorite
application might still be available.


     I don't have experience with the X system, but it occurs to me that
a way to simulate mouse movements with the keyboard would be to write a
keyboard handler that filtered out special control codes and sent messages
to whatever port would have been getting messages from the mouse.  The special
keyboard handler would then pass all other keystrokes to the regular keyboard
handler.  In other words, you send messages from your new handler to make
the system think the mouse did something.
     I don't even know if this is way off base, but from the brief scanning
of the Xlib documentation I've done, it seems like a potential solution.(?)

replies to ...ucbvax!schoet
Steve Schoettler