USEMOUSE(C) UNIX System V
Name
usemouse - maps mouse input to keystrokes for use with non-
mouse based programs
Syntax
usemouse [ -f conffile ] [ -t type ] [ -h horiz_sens ] [ -v
vert_sens ]
[ -c cmd ] [ -b ] parameters
Description
This utility allows you to use a mouse with any program that
would otherwise accept only keyboard input.
For example, you can use a mouse with vi(C) to move the
cursor around the screen and generate your most commonly
used vi commands. The usemouse(C) command translates mouse
input into specific keystrokes required by a program. You
can use any of several predefined mouse keystroke sets
(called maps) that correspond to different popular programs.
You can also define your own maps with keystrokes that match
different mouse movements and mouse buttons.
Options
The options are:
-f conffile
The -f flag may be used to select an alternate
configuration file. The alternate configuration file,
conffile, should use the format of
/etc/default/usemouse and be entered as an absolute
pathname on the command line. For example:
usemouse -f /u/daniel/mouseconf
is the correct form to specify an alternate configuration
file. The -f and -t flags are mutually exclusive.
-t type
The -t flag may be used to select a predefined
configuration file. type can be the name of any file
in /usr/lib/mouse, such as vi, rogue, or any others the
system administrator chooses to place there. These
files are identical in format to /etc/default/usemouse.
-h horiz_sens
Defines the horizontal sensitivity. Horizontal mouse
movements smaller than this threshold are ignored.
Mouse movements that are multiples of this value
generate multiple strings. The sensitivity defaults to
5 units. The minimum value is 1 unit, and the maximum
is 100 units. The lower the value, the more sensitive
your mouse is to motion. Note that setting a high
value may cause your mouse to behave as though it is
not functioning, due to the large motion required to
generate a signal.
-v vert_sens
Defines the vertical sensitivity. Vertical mouse
movements smaller than this threshold are ignored.
Mouse movements that are multiples of this value
generate multiple strings. The sensitivity defaults to
5 units. The minimum value is 1 unit, and the maximum
is 100 units. The lower the value, the more sensitive
your mouse is to motion. Note that setting a high
value may cause your mouse to behave as though it is
not functioning, due to the large motion required to
generate a signal.
-c cmd
This option selects a command for usemouse to run. This
defaults to the shell specified in the SHELL
environment variable. If SHELL is unspecified, /bin/sh
is used. Note that the command given with this flag can
contain blank spaces if the entire command is placed
within double quotes. For example:
usemouse -c ``vi /etc/termcap''
is valid.
-b Suppresses bell (^G) for the duration of mouse usage.
Useful with vi(C).
parameters
These are name=value pairs indicating what ASCII string
to insert into the tty input stream, when the given
event is received. Valid parameters include:
rbu=string String to generate on right button up
rbd=string String to generate on right button down
mbu=string String to generate on middle button up
mbd=string String to generate on middle button down
lbu=string String to generate on left button up
lbd=string String to generate on left button down
rt=string String to generate on mouse right
lt=string String to generate on mouse left
up=string String to generate on mouse up
dn=string String to generate on mouse down
ul=string String to generate on mouse up-left
ur=string String to generate on mouse up-right
dr=string String to generate on mouse down-left
dl=string String to generate on mouse down-right
hsens=num Sensitivity to horizontal motion
vsens=num Sensitivity to vertical motion
bells=yes/no Whether to remove ^G characters
Parameters may be specified in any order. They may contain
octal escapes. They may be quoted with single or double
quotes if they contain blank spaces. Any parameters may be
omitted and their value, if any, is taken from the
configuration file.
The usemouse(C) Command
To start using the mouse with a text program, enter the
command:
usemouse
This command sets the mouse for use with the default map,
which is found in /etc/default/mouse. Alternate map files
can be found in the directory /usr/lib/mouse. You can
create your own alternate map files and place them in this
directory or in your own custom map file directory. The
default map file has the following values:
__________________________________________________
| Mouse Keystroke |
|_________________________________________________|
| Left Button vi top of file (1G) command |
| Middle Button vi delete character (x) command|
| Right Button vi bottom of file (G) command |
| Up Up Arrow Key |
| Down Down Arrow Key |
| Left Left Arrow Key |
| Right Right Arrow Key |
| Up and Left not defined |
| Up and Right not defined |
| Down and Left not defined |
| Down and Right not defined |
| Bells no |
|_________________________________________________|
Invoking the usemouse command without specifying any options
makes the mouse ready for use with a wide variety of
programs or applications. Invoking usemouse with no options
causes the mouse to use the default keystroke map. Invoking
the mouse in this way creates a new command shell. You can
continue to use the mouse for the duration of the shell. To
terminate usemouse, simply enter Ctrl-D.
You can also invoke usemouse for the duration of a specific
command:
usemouse -c command
This puts you in the program specified by command using the
mouse. When you leave the program, mouse input is
terminated.
Using the Mouse with Specific Programs
You can use any of several predefined maps that are set up
specifically for use with different programs. (These maps
are found in /usr/lib/mouse.) For example:
usemouse -t vi
This invokes the vi-specific map, which includes mapping the
traditional h-j-k-l direction keys to the mouse movements.
The terminal bell is automatically silenced by the vi map
entry bells=no. This is done to prevent the bell being
activated continuously when the user generates a spurious
command with the mouse. (There is also a -b option that can
be used on the usemouse command line to do the same thing.)
You can combine a command with a selected map file by
putting both on the command line. For example:
usemouse -t vi -c vi filename
This invokes the vi map along with the command; when you
quit out of vi the mouse disengages.
Setting Up Abbreviated (Aliased) Mouse Commands
If you plan to use the mouse frequently, you can substitute
short, easy to use commands that will call up the longer
command lines. This is known as command aliasing. For more
information on command aliasing, consult the section ``Using
Aliases'' in the ``C-Shell'' chapter of the User's Guide.
Specifying Map Keystrokes on the Command Line
You can also specify the characters to be generated by mouse
motions on the usemouse command line. You can specify button
actions or motion actions to supplement or replace a
definition from a map file. For example, assume you want to
use the default usemouse file, but you want to redefine the
middle mouse button mbd (middle button down) as the vi ``i''
(insert) instead of the ``x'' (delete character) command.
The following command line does this:
usemouse -c vi mbd=i
The mouse operations are defined by a series of acronyms
that are the same as used in the actual map file:
_______________________________________________
| Parameter Mouse Operation Default |
|______________________________________________|
| |
| rbu right button up not used |
| rbd right button down 1G |
| mbu middle button up not used |
| mbd middle button down x |
| lbu left button up not used |
| lbd left button down G |
| ul mouse up-left \033[A\033[C|
| ur mouse up-right \033[A\033[D|
| dr mouse down-left \033[B\033[C|
| dl mouse down-right \033[B\033[D|
| rt mouse right \033[C |
| lt mouse left \033[D |
| up mouse up \033[A |
| dn mouse down \033[B |
| hsens horiz. sensitivity 5 |
| vsens vert. sensitivity 5 |
|______________________________________________|
Creating Customized Maps
You can create your own personal map files for use with the
mouse. The easiest way to do this is to copy the default
map in /etc/default/usemouse and edit it. You can use quoted
strings or the octal sequences found in the ascii(M) page.
The mouse direction/button parameters are defined in the
usemouse table above. For example, after placing a
customized file, mine, in your home directory, you would
invoke the following command to use it with the program
prog:
usemouse -f mine -c prog
How usemouse Works
usemouse merges data from a mouse into the input stream of a
tty. The mouse data is translated to arrow keys or any other
arbitrary ASCII strings. Mouse movements up, down, left
right, up-left, up-right, down-left, and down-right, as well
as individual up and down button transitions, are
programmable. This permits the mouse to be used with
programs that are not designed to accept mouse input.
By default, the usemouse utility gets value configurations
from the file /etc/default/usemouse .
After running the utility, provided a mouse is available,
the user will be running a command with mouse motions and
button events translated to ASCII strings and merged into
their tty input stream. By default, the command is a shell.
Files
/dev/mouse Directory for mouse-related special device files.
/dev/mouse/bus[0-1] Bus mouse device files.
/dev/mouse/vpix[0-1] vpix-mouse device files.
/dev/mouse/microsoft_ser Microsoft serial mouse device files.
/dev/mouse/logitech_ser Logitech serial mouse device files.
/dev/mouse/mousesys_ser Mousesys serial mouse device files.
/dev/mouse/ttyp[0-7] Special pseudo-tty files for mouse input.
/dev/mouse/ptyp[0-7] Special pseudo-tty files for mouse input.
/etc/default/usemouse Default map file for mouse-generated characters.
/usr/lib/event/devices File containing device information for mice.
/usr/lib/event/ttys File listing ttys eligible to use mice.
/usr/lib/mouse/* Alternate map files for mice.
See Also
mouse(HW)
(printed 2/15/90) USEMOUSE(C)