The Be FAQs

The Be FAQs
Developing for BeOS

How fast should I poll the mouse for position changes? Should I just sit in a tight `GetMouse(...)` loop?

Developing for BeOS:
BeOS Internals

FAQ Number:
FAQ-0171

Last Modified:
2/3/98

Keywords:
BeOS, Developing, Internals, interrupt, mouse, position, GetMouse

If you poll the mouse position, do use a sleep time somewhere in the loop, otherwise you will waste a full CPU getting the mouse position 10,000 times per second!

For example:

while(xyz) [Macro error: Can't compile this script because of a syntax error.]

As a rule of thumb, polling about 50 times a second (i.e., every 20,000 +/- microseconds) seems about right.

Does the BeOS allow for a preemptable kernel and nested interrupts?

Can I get source code for the mouse driver?

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The Be FAQs

How fast should I poll the mouse for position changes? Should I just sit in a tight GetMouse(...) loop?

How fast should I poll the mouse for position changes? Should I just sit in a tight `GetMouse(...)` loop?