This application is FREEWARE. It is NOT Public Domain. I retain full copyright at all times. You amy however distribute unmodified copies of the contents of the directory !MouseStep to whomsoever you wish, provided that no charge is made other than the cost of the disc if a disc is supplied. You may modify this application in any way you wish, but it may then not be distributed any longer.
DISCLAIMER
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This Application is supplied "as is". I make no claim that it is suitable for any purpose whatsoever, either implicit or explicit. I will not be held responsible for any loss or damage sustained in any way, whether directly or indirectly, by the use or misuse or inability to use this application.
PURPOSE
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A convenient way to alter the speed of the mouse pointer from the Desktop.
I like my pointer to scurry rapidly around the Desktop so I have it set at around 4. This means that a small movement of the mouse in my hand will cause a proportionally large movement of the pointer on the screen -- moving the mouse about one inch causes the pointer to move from one edge of the screen to the other.
I do a fair amout of image scanning, and such scans often need retouching. Sometimes a mouse step size of 4 is not convenient, as I can't seem to get the pointer to exactly the right spot on the screen. In such instances I need to set the step size to 1 or maybe 2.
This can easily be done by pressing F12 to get to the Supervisor prompt (*), and typing
BASIC <RETURN>
MOUSE STEP 1 <RETURN>
QUIT <RETURN>
<RETURN>
and then when you want a faster mouse, you repeat the process, substituting (say) 4 for the 1 in the above. You can, incidentally, use any value you wish. The value 1 produces the slowest speed, and 127 the fastest. Values between 128 and 255 translate to -127 to -1, which produces a rather disconcerting opposite movement (right is left, up is down, etc.).
I find this method very cumbersome. So I wrote this little utility to provide me with a number of ways in which I could conveniently change the mouse speed.
STARTING UP
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Double-click SELECT on the filer !MouseStep icon to install it on the iconbar as usual. The icon bar icon has the number "4" below it when first run. This is your new mouse step. At this stage, this is not user-configurable. It might be so later. Right now I can't find out where the mouse multipliers are stored. Any offers? I'd like to be able to read the current mouse step size, and have that appear start-up, instead of my own personal predilection.
Click MENU on the iconbar icon to open a menu containing the usual Info & Quit options.
USE
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There are four ways of doing it.
1. Press cursor up/down arrow keys. The number below the icon bar icon shows the new step size. Hold the è/ï keys down, and the number will change rapidly.
2. Press the left ALT button. A tiny window appears with the current step
size in the top icon, and two arrow icons (ï & è) immediately below. The window always opens so that the dividing line between the two arrow icons falls behind the mouse pointer's sharp end. A tiny movement left or right with the mouse puts the pointer in either the up or the down arrow icon. Click SELECT to increment/decrement the step value. Hold SELECT to change the number rapidly. Or put the mouse pointer inside the top icon, press SELECT, and type in your new value. You may run into trouble if your step size is set so large that you cannot get at either è/ï or the writable icon. Why did you do such a silly thing?
The one-second timer is reset if you click SELECT inside the tiny window, or if you press a key while the cursor is in the writable icon.
3. Press left ALT and one of the number keys. The new step size is that of the number key you pressed (i.e., 1--9).
4. Move the pointer to the extreme bottom left of the screen. Hold down SELECT, and (surprise!) drag a little window out. Press on the numbered icons for the specified step size.
I have limited step size values to the range 1--127, because in this context they are not useful (see earlier for a description of what happens out this range).
Other applications may grab the keys, so that only method 4 produces any useful results.
HISTORY & ENHANCEMENTS
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?? Aug 1992: version 0.10
Didn't work.
?? Aug 1992: version 0.20
Worked.
02 Sep 1992: version 0.30
Added a keyboard shortcut. Holding CONTROL while pressing a numeric key sets the mouse step to the value on the numeric key. The ibi must have been clicked to enable the program to grab hot keys. Keys are grabbed by windows, not by applications as such. You gotta have a window open, even if it is off the screen.
13 Sep 1992: version 0.40
Justin wanted to be able to change the mouse speed with the cursor ï and è keys, so now it does that. At first I used *FX 4 2, but when I read the Book, I found that the Wimp reconfigures some keys -- see the PRM, page 1198.
13 Sep 1993: version 0.50
Trouble with the cursor key wossname is that you never know how fast your mouse is actually moving. So I redid the icon bar icon. It now tells you what the mouse step is.
13 Sep 1992: version 0.60
This was a busy night.
Changed the CONTROL-key shortcut. Using CONTROL caused too many problems (Ctrl-2 actually is the same as Ctrl-@, which results in an ASCII code of zero; so also is Ctrl-6 actually Ctrl-^). I felt that it was more natural to use ALT key combinations. At first I couldn't figure out how to do it, as the key-pressed Wimp_Poll event returned only ASCII codes, and ALT keys mostly don't produce ASCII codes. I couldn't find anything relating to INKET(-X). Then it occurred to me to use the null Wimp_Poll event. Should I have used Wimp_PollIdle? Who knows? Who cares? It seems to work, anyway.
29 May 1993: version 0.70
Added Method 1 (above).
05 May 1993: version 0.71
Bugfix.
CONTACT
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If you have any ideas, I would be happy to hear from you.
