Xref: utzoo comp.misc:7711 comp.cog-eng:1486 Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!pilchuck!dataio!aez From: aez@Data-IO.COM (Adam Zilinskas) Newsgroups: comp.misc,comp.cog-eng Subject: Re: Multi-button mice (Re: Xerox sues Apple!) Message-ID: <2253@dataio.Data-IO.COM> Date: 18 Dec 89 20:23:19 GMT References: <172@comcon.UUCP> <7326@ficc.uu.net> <9320@hoptoad.uucp> <1989Dec18.081450.28019@psuvax1.cs.psu.edu> Reply-To: aez@dataio.Data-IO.COM () Organization: Data I/O Corporation; Redmond, WA Lines: 90 In article <1989Dec18.081450.28019@psuvax1.cs.psu.edu> flee@shire.cs.psu.edu (Felix Lee) writes: >Tim Maroney wrote: >> I have *never* seen a non-techno-jock user who could keep the mouse >> buttons straight. Multi-button mice are brain-damaged. > >The problem with multi-button mice is confusion of buttons. My prime > >A partial fix is to use visual cues. Label the buttons on the screen I worked on a project between MIT and Harris-ATD that tried this. It was called Schema (no not the PC-based schematic editor) and we were building CAE applications for the Symbolics Computer. The Symbolics had a three-button mouse and software scannable control keys on the keyboard (control, meta, hyper, super, [shift counted as a double click]). The mouse, keyboard usage was suggested by Buckminster Fuller and Richard Zipple (project leader) called them "Bucky Keys". Always on the bottom of the screen was a line with three sections denoting what the mouse buttons would do if you pressed them. Without pressing any control keys, the mouse help line said something like: " Select Select-more Help" (pressing left mouse key would select anything under the mouse arrow, middle sould addd to the selected items [for grabbing two or more objects], and right was a help menu of all key combinations [more later]) Holding down control the help lin changed to: " Move Rotate Delete" Similar commands would show up for meta, hyper and super. The system also accepted chords like control-hyper, hyper-meta-super .... The effect was that each mouse key would provide 16 functions. Most of our commands to the applications in Schema were mapped into a bucky-key. The control keys were grouped in a line on the keyboard in the lower right and lower left corners. The method of using the system (for a right handed person) was to place the four left finger on the left corner control keys and the right hand controlled the mouse. The system, once learned, was quite efficient as the left hand never moved off the control keys and all commands were a mouse-movement and a click away (the commands were action verbs, the subject of the command was always under the mouse). The only problem was in the learning and mapping of the commands. We spent a great deal of time figuring out the correct placements of commands for all our applications. We placed the often used and common commands like select and move always in the same simple bucky-key pattern, the more esoteric commands were given harder buckey-keys like control-super-hyper middle-mouse-button for "add-simulation probe at point". The less often used commands were hard to remember so one would either strum the left hand through all 16 control key patterns reading the mouse help line or hit the help sequence (right mouse button, no control keys) which gave us the table of all the commands. The ad-hoc rules (never really written down, just memorized) were: 1. obvious and non-destrctive commands (like select, help) were given the simplest sequence (just mouse keys). 2. commands that were reversible (like move, rotate...) were one control key and a mouse button. 3. destructive commands (like delete, cut ...) were on the least used mouse button (right-mouse) and a different control key so they would not be confused with move and copy. 4. Almost all our applications had select, move, copy, delete commands, they were always in the same buckey-key pattern. What I would like to know is if there is anybody else that has used such a mouse-keyboard scheme in a system (we built the system but it did not get into general use). 1. What has been the acceptance of multiple functions on the mouse buttons? Do piano players and chord keyboard users prefer it rather than the Joe User? 2. Is there a better system that minimizes the age-old time wasting problem of find/grab orient the mouse, click, grab and home up on the keyboard, type and repeat? Adam Zilinskas A person who once did more things than figure out how to blow fuses with style. Data I/O corp. P.S. Most of the work was started by Richard Zippel who I last heard was working for Symbolics. If he is on the net, I hope that my explanation of buckey keys agrees with yours.