Mice

Mice are the most common input devices for graphical user interfaces (GUIs). They come in different shapes and are equipped with one, two, or three buttons which are used for positioning and selection tasks. Mice can work either mechanically or optically. Within this report, the method of construction is not as interesting as the functionality of the mouse.

Only three of the above mentioned operations are possible with the mouse:

1. Action On schreen some action buttons are displayed like OK or CANCEL. Moving the mouse pointer to these buttons and clicking the mouse button starts the desired action.
2. Mode change This can be performed by clicking check-boxes or radio-buttons. But also the clicking on windows to select them, can be seen as a mode change.
3. Navigation This is the most natural use the mouse is meant for.

   But through software the mouse can do more:

   • Dragging. Selecting an item, keeping the mouse-button down. Moving the mouse to a new locationg and release the mouse button. The effect of this is moving or copying the item to a new location.
   • Numerical ('Value') input: By selecting a scroll bar and dragging it, windows can be scrolled. Using sliders, a continuous input value can be given by dragging the slider control.

Esprit Project 8579/MIAMI (Schomaker et al., '95)
Thu May 18 16:00:17 MET DST 1995