Most modern mice are featured with a scroll wheel these days.
In some cases the scroll wheel is combined with the middle mouse
button. Under RISC OS, pressing the wheel would then reveal the Menu.
By default, RISC OS makes only limited use of the scroll wheel,
but !HID allows you to dynamically scroll any window currently
under the mouse pointer. Unlike under some other operating systems,
the window doesn't have to be selected (i.e. have the input focus)
for this to work. Scrolling is possible for any window with a vertical
scroll bar, including long menus.
Support for horizontal scrolling is also included, although not many
mice have a horizontal scroll wheel. Alternatively, you may setup
one of the extra mouse buttons as a toggle between horizontal and
vertical scrolling.
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Setting the default scrolling method
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In order to make a window scroll, !HID has to 'talk' to the application
that owns the window. Not all programs respond in the same manner to such
requests, so !HID may have to be optimised for some applications.
Several different scrolling methods have been implemented, so that you
may select the method that is best suited for your application.
The default method can be configured in Choices. Click Choices...
from the iconbar menu and select the Scroll TAB,
or select File -> Choices from the menu in the
Scroll wheel window of !HID. A window similar to this one will open.
In this window, you can set the default scrolling methods for both
vertical and horizontal scrolling. All options are explained in
the description of this configuration window.
By default the method Part of visual area is selected, which
works best with most windows.
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As explained before, some application may not behave as expected
with the default scrolling method. Such applications can be added
to a list of exceptions and an alternative method may be setup.
Select Scroll wheel from the iconbar menu to open the scroll wheel
exceptions list. A window similar to the one shown below will open.
A new application can be added to this window quite easily.
Ensure that the application is running and then select
Edit -> Insert new line from the menu inside the window.
A new (empty) line will be inserted at the position of the
mouse pointer. Alternatively select Add new line at top
or Add new line at bottom to add a new line at the top
or bottom respectively.
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Once a new line is inserted, the window Edit mouse wheel will open.
By default, the first field (application name) is left blank and
No scrolling will be selected. Click the menu icon to the right
of the Application field and select the required application.
The menu is devided in two parts separated by a dashed line.
The top part shows the currently active tasks, whilst the lower part
shows any module tasks.
If you are uncertain about the name of an application, you may click
the Learn... button and follow the instructions. This allows you to
use the mouse to 'point' at the required task and press Enter to
confirm.
Next select the required scrolling method and the (optional) value.
Once you are satisfied, click OK to confirm your settings. Please
note that the new settings will only become active after you've
saved the new contents of the Scroll wheel window. Until you've done
so, a star (*) will be visible in the window's title bar.
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As explained before, some applications may not behave as expected with
the default scrolling method. For this reason, a number of different
scrolling methods have been implemented in !HID. The available methods
are explained below:
0. No scrolling
This option will protect the window against scrolling with the mouse
wheel. It may be used for applications in which wheel mouse scrolling
is not desired or in which it causes unexpected results.
1. Part of visual area
This is the default method and will work well with most windows and
applications. The scrolling distance (for each click of the mouse wheel)
is depending on the size of the visible part of the window. The smaller
the window is made, the slower it will scroll. The parameter is used to
determine the relation between the visible size and the scroll speed.
E.g.: when set to 4, each click of the mouse wheel will scroll 1/4th
of the visible area.
2. Fixed distance
As an alternative to the above method, a fixed distance may be used.
In this case the scroll speed is independant of the visible area.
This method is preferred e.g. in text editors such as StrongEd.
The parameter specifies the scrolling distance with each click of the
mouse wheel (in OS units).
3. Arrow up/down key
This method sends a series of ArrowUp or ArrowDown key press events
to the application.
4. Ctrl-Shift-Arrow up/down key
This method is an alternative to the above one. This time, the Control
and Shift keys have to be held down whilst pressing the ArrowUp or
ArrowDown key. In most editors, this method is used to scroll the screen
up or down by a single line.
5. PageUp/PageDown key
If the application doesn't support the use of the Arrow keys, you might
want to try using the PageUp and PageDown keys instead.
6. Eureka mode
Eureka was the most difficult application to be supported by the scrolling
software. Although a Eureka window looks exactly like a standard window,
all of its window gatgets and buttons are implemented by the application
itself rather than by the window manager. Furthermore, Eureka supports
split-screen operation, which means that the window can be split in two
independant parts both horizontally and vertically. For these reasons,
a special Eureka mode has been implemented. It is unlikely that this
emthod can be used for any other application.
7. Scroll request
This method works by sending a Wimp_ScrollRequest to the application via the
window manager. Although this would naturally be the preferred method, it
requires the assistence of the application itself. Most applications do not
support the scroll request message and the effect is undetermined (i.e. it's
up to the application to scroll a single line, a full page, etc.).
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© Copyright Paul Reuvers
X-Ample Technology bv
usb@xat.nl
Last changed: Last changed: Thursday, 12 August 2004 - 16:18 CET.
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