newbie disk image suggestion

Whilst building a pi image using systemdisc for a talk at WROCC next month, I realised that if a newbie comes to RISC OS – chances are they don’t have a three button mouse.
The keyboard mouse I have for the TV (for which I use my Pi as xmbc) doesn’t have a scrollwheel – it’s a two button affair.
Would it be possible to add an option to the Configuration section for a two button mouse.
I know there’s a module that allows you to configure the menu button as a key, but I think it would be nice to be included (perhaps default on? say as windows key?)

chances are they don’t have a three button mouse.

They will probably have a scroll wheel mouse where pressing the wheel down is the middle button (I’ve yet to come across one that doesn’t!)

It would be nice if support was built into the OS for mouse replication of movement and buttons! With an immediate effect configuration e.g. *KeyMouse ON

I reckon that the menu and adjust button functions might be better swapped nowadays to be inline with the design of the modern mouse, and also, Linux (and from memory Windows) both use the right button for menuish functions. Is there a utility that can do this?

This swaps the mouse buttons, will be most useful for left handed people, or maybe practical jokers ;-) It is supplied with instructions for swapping between other buttons, so any button can be changed to give any effect.

http://www.duffell.riscos.me.uk/software/smouse

http://www.duffell.riscos.me.uk/software/smouse

RO5 says it is not 32 bit compatible.

A quick check says the module needs a new style header but the code appears clean. Probably not much effort to “clean” things up.

A quick check says the module needs a new style header but the code appears clean. Probably not much effort to “clean” things up.

Since John supplied a BASIC source you could do this.

Original

 [OPT pass%
EQUD 0:EQUD init:EQUD fin:EQUD 0:EQUD title:EQUD help:EQUD 0
.title EQUS "SMouse":EQUB 0:ALIGN
.help EQUS "Program Buttons"+CHR$9+"1.10 (02 Apr 2002)":EQUB 0:ALIGN

Reformat it a bit for clarity

[OPT pass%
EQUD 0                ; start code              (original - there ain't any)
EQUD init             ; module initialise code  (original)
EQUD fin              ; Final code              (original)
EQUD 0                ; service handler         (original there ain't one)
EQUD title            ; Module title (name)
EQUD help             ; Module help string (modify to state RO5/32bit compliant see below)
EQUD 0                ; command table (no commands in this)
EQUD 0                ; SWI base                    <==== new
EQUD 0                ; SWI handler                 <==== new
EQUD 0                ; SWI table                   <==== new
EQUD 0                ; SWI decoder                 <==== new
EQUD 0                ; Msg filename                <==== new
EQUD &34              ; Module flags word pointer   <==== new
EQUD 1                ; Flags                       <==== new

.title EQUS "SMouse":EQUB 0:ALIGN
.help EQUS "Program Buttons"+CHR$9+"1.10-32 (01 Jan 2014)":EQUB 0:ALIGN

bloody textile…

MouseKey worked well for me I seem to remember.
But I was more taking about integrating it (or something like it) into the configure option.
i.e. to be able to select (But maybe not adjust ;-) ) the behaviour of the mouse buttons.
e.g. Say I have a two button mouse, it is likely I want Left and right as select and adjust and a key as menu. Or maybe I want left as select and right as menu, and a key as adjust – or maybe no adjust at all (unmapped).
If it was done from the !Boot configure option, it would make life a lot easier for people insist on not having three button mice.

Thankfully I have a three button mouse with a separate scroll wheel :-D

People can still buy two button mice these days? The ones I have collected have scroll wheels and pressing them is the middle button – I use a glowy-red ball-less one on my RISC OS setup. Salvaged it from a bin at work when they ditched box computers for laptops and hence no longer needed mice. Well, the company wants to have a policy on recycling, so…. ;-)

bloody textile…

<nods in sympathy>

… textile…

What’s the problem you can do your post in textile.

What’s the problem you can do your post in textile.

I like plain text – the highlight for a quote is fine. The rest I can do without.

But I was more taking about integrating it (or something like it) into the configure option.
i.e. to be able to select (But maybe not adjust ;-) ) the behaviour of the mouse buttons.

In which case KeyMapper would be what you want.
A module which allows you to use a simple obey file, or indeed a Configure plugin if you put one together, and swap any key or mouse button with any other. On a mad day you could no doubt map every key onto one obscure character key.

EQUD &34 ; Module flags word pointer <== new EQUD 1 ; Flags <== new

You shouldn’t put the flags immediately after the flags offset word, as that prevents the module header from being trivially extended in the future (as it was to add the flags word itself).
Also – &34 is pretty opaque – use a label name!

You shouldn’t put the flags immediately after the flags offset word, as that prevents the module header from being trivially extended in the future (as it was to add the flags word itself).
Also – &34 is pretty opaque – use a label name!

Quite likely – hack¹ as opposed to program.
What were you thinking could be added to a module header?

¹ A rather rough one at that.

Yes, I spotted that and felt “grrrrr!” inside. You’re lucky I was reading on a mobile phone with sucky countryside reception or you’d probably have been lightly toasted.

Something like this isn’t hard (and “hack” is no excuse!):

EQUD flags            ; Module flags word pointer   <==== new
.flags
EQUD 1                ; Flags                       <==== new

What were you thinking could be added to a module header?

Maybe in the future RISC OS will strive to move the RMA out of SVC32 mode so the kernel can run with a higher privilege than other components (should make it more resilient). There is a USR-mode-with-better-access mode available now that I think a lot of modules would be quite happy in (though this would likely require many major changes to many modules due to the baked-in assumptions that there is USR and SVC and nothing else).
If such work is undertaken, maybe there would be a flag to say “this module is cool running in SYS mode” with those that don’t have the flag being loaded in SVC mode like before.
And, yes, you could add an extra flag to the current flags word. It is just an example of the sort of things that might happen in the future. I cannot predict the future, so I can’t tell you. I can only say, we’ve only added two words since the module header was devised in Arthur, so it isn’t something that happens with the rapidity of Firefox version changes. That’s still no excuse for embedding a magic number in preference to using a label… :-)

Steve, thanks for the fresh link to keymapper, I have tried it once before for changing keys for a program, but it didn’t work out for other applications. In this case, for a system wide change it is ideal. The new !Boot can run an application for setting variables and loading modules, so it can be turned on and off from the Boot config easily.
While on the subject of desktop tweaks, I have noticed a problem with Druck’s MoveWind module, since 5.20 Ctrl Shift Select no longer raises a window to the top.