Here's a mail that's been sitting in my outbox for a while: its' still relevent so forwarding to Xfree86 Devel.
-----Original Message----- From: Rob Taylor [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: 04 February 2003 13:49 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [Xpert]2 mice -> 2 pointer ?!? I'm replying to this a bit late on in the day, but i thought i'd give a more concrete example where more than one on-screen pointer is needed. We have a product that can have up to 4 touch screens and has a track-ball controlled pointer. Iften people operate the product in a two-handed manner, and occasionally more than one operator will use the product at a given time. the upshot of this is that ideally there would be a pointer for the trackball that isn't effected by touchscreen presses, and separate invisible pointers for each of the touchscreens. The setup is currently impossible in Xfree86. Another concrete example is when implementing a collaborative decktop in whcih you want a separate pointer for each of the users remotely viewing that desktop. Yours, Rob Taylor mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] FPS http://www.flyingpig.com > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf > Of Dr Andrew C Aitchison > Sent: 03 December 2002 18:05 > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: [Xpert]2 mice -> 2 pointer ?!? > > > > > From: Dr Andrew C Aitchison <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > Where does the pointer come in ? > > > > > > I'm not saying that for a flight simulator it isn't useful to have > > > more than one mouse or trackball; I'm all in favour of an X > > > extension for that (I wouldn't be suprised to hear that there > > > already is one) but that is 2 mice, not 2 pointers. > > > I've been looking at > xc/doc/hardcopy/Xi/lib.PS.gz > the X Input Device Extension Library, which is implemented by XFree86 > and some other X servers. Is the request for 2 pointers based on page > 2, where it says "All extension input devices are treated like the > core X keyboard in determining their location and focus" ? > I think the next line, about explict focus, is your answer. > As I understand it, an application can grab an input device and make > it control anything it wishes. > > > maybe I can add some examples: > > > > I am working on a container terminal simulation (might be any robotic > > type simulation in that regard...) where I visualize the crane movement > > during waggon loading and unloading movements (4 degrees of freedom: > > along tracks, transverse to tracks, lifting/lowering, rotation about > > z-axis). > > > > I'm using both a SpaceMouse _and_ a regular mouse for my user > > interface which already introduces the notion of distint foci: > > Spacemouse for crane interactive movement, 2D-Mouse for viewpoint > > manipulation at the same time. > > I can see why you want lots of degrees of freedom, and lots of inputs, > but I don't really see why more of them are "pointers" in the sense I > understand. It may be appropriate to show "cursors" for these independent > actors, but they are application specific. > In this case I think the fact that they are likely to be 3D is > significant. > I'm familiar with the idea of a mouse moving cross-hairs to rotate an > object in 3D, but I'm not sure that I'd expect to see the cross-hairs > if I had a track-ball - I'd just move the ball and expect the object > to follow. > Anyway, an application can take a device and draw its own cursor. > > I see an X pointer being as much connected with a keyboard as a mouse; > what should the X server do with 2 pointers ? Shouldn't it leave the > control of foci within an app up to that app. > > I don't know anything more about XInput, so I'll stop here, > but I hope that I've given you a feeling for why some of us don't > understand > the request for more than one pointer as well as more than one mouse ? > > -- > Dr. Andrew C. Aitchison Computer Officer, DPMMS, Cambridge > [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.dpmms.cam.ac.uk/~werdna > > > _______________________________________________ > Xpert mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/xpert > _______________________________________________ Devel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/devel
