% jfig/doc/mouse-buttons.txt (16.07.2001)


Using and configuring the mouse in jfig:


The user interface of jfig is optimized for a three-button
mouse. For most drawing commands, pressing the left button
will execute the command (e.g., creating a new polyline)
and the right button cancels it, while the middle mouse
button is used both for options and to "finish" the command.

Also, most object attribute controls use all three buttons,
left to select a value, middle to decrement a value, and
right to increment a value.

Many Unix/Linux systems have a three button mouse, and the
user interface works well and allows for very fast editing.
However, most Windows systems have a two-button mouse only.
Even with a three-button or wheel-mouse, the middle button 
usually needs to be configured by a special mouse driver. 
Even worse, Macintosh systems only have a 1-button mouse.

Therefore, jfig allows to emulate a three-button mouse with
a single-button mouse via modifier keys. Just hold down the
modifier <shift> or <alt> or <meta> modifier key while
clicking the left mouse button:

 jfig, xfig,       emulation with a    emulation with a 
 3-button mouse:   1-button mouse:     2-button mouse:

 left              click               left 

 middle            <alt>+click         <alt>+left
                   <shift>+click       <shift>+left

 right             <meta>+click        right, <meta>+left

With a little bit of practice, this works quite well.


---


Unfortunately, the <meta>+click combinations are a little
awkward on some keyboard layouts, especially when trying
to use them with the left hand only. Therefore, jfig also
allows the <shift>+click combination to emulate the middle
mouse button. 

Because this is non-standard, activating this combination 
can be controlled via the
"jfig.utils.MouseMapper.ShiftClickIsMiddleClick" (true/false)
property in the .jfigrc configuration file. 

For efficient editing on Windows systems, you may want to set
this property to true. The only drawback of this setting is
that you lose the ability to use <shift>+click to select
stacked (layered) objects for some commands.


---



As explained above, the standard xfig mouse mapping is 
somewhat inconvenient on Windows systems, because the right 
mouse button is mapped to the 'cancel' operation and the
very important 'finish' command on the middle button is
not available (except via the <alt>+click modifier).

Therefore, jfig allows to toggle the role of the middle
and right buttons via the startup configuration file
("jfig.utils.MouseMapper.Remap" property) or the editor 
menu via "menu->special->toggle middle button".

Leave this switch in its default "false" position, if you
are accustomed to xfig. If not, you might want to change
this to "true" on Windows systems.



