[Sugar-devel] future of the grab key?

[pgf at laptop.org]

eben wrote:
 > On Tue, Feb 24, 2009 at 3:31 PM,  <pgf at laptop.org> wrote:
 > > but what i'd done was different:  when one's finger moved on the
 > > touchpad, the _scrollbars_ moved.  the mouse pointer stayed
 > > stationary with respect to the window edges, and the window
 > > contents moved in the _opposite_ direction from the finger on
 > > the touchpad.
 > >
 > > since i wasn't sure what to make of this frame-of-reference
 > > reversal, i did the obvious thing:  i reversed the behavior, but
 > > added a commandline option to put it back, just in case.  (the
 > > original "backward" behavior still feels more correct on the
 > > joystick pointer of my original project, for instance.)
 > 
 > Yes, I believe that reversing the events as you have is the correct default.

okay -- thanks for the confirmation.

 > > since the mouse cursor remains stationary on the screen, it still
 > > doesn't feel like you're "grabbing" the contents, but it's may be
 > > more intuitive than the way it was.  any thoughts on this?
 > 
 > Right.  This is a subtle problem anyway, since naturally it's
 > undesirable to require one to release the grab key, move the pointer
 > back, press the grab key again, and repeat in order to continue
 > scrolling.  One option is to move the cursor in accordance with the
 > finger on the touchpad, but automatically slide it back to the point
 > of the initial grab when the finger loses contact, as though on a
 > spring.
 > 
 > That solution doesn't seem particularly ideal either, though.  Perhaps
 > a stationary cursor is fine, and certainly any working behavior is
 > better than a useless button.  What would be nice, though, is some
 > feedback in the form of a cursor change.  We have hand cursors (both

ah, good point.

currently the daemon intercepts the grab keys completely (so
there's no indication to X that the cursor shape should change),
but i suppose that's not necessary.  if they were passed through,
then the WM could surely do something clever with the cursor.

paul
=---------------------
 paul fox, pgf at laptop.org