<sect1 id="mouse">
<sect1info>

<authorgroup>
<author>
<firstname>Mike</firstname>
<surname>McBride</surname>
</author>
</authorgroup>

<date>31/01/2001</date>
<releaseinfo>1.00.00</releaseinfo>

<keywordset>
<keyword>KDE</keyword>
<keyword>KControl</keyword>
<keyword>mouse</keyword>
</keywordset>
</sect1info>
<title>Mouse</title>

<para>This module allows you to configure your pointing device. Your
pointing device may be a mouse, a trackball, a touchpad, or another piece
of hardware that performs a similar function.</para>


<para>This module is divided into 2 tabs: <link
linkend="mouse-general">General</link> and <link
linkend="mouse-general">Advanced</link></para> <sect2 id="mouse-general">
<title>General</title>

<FormalPara><title>Button Mapping</title><para>If you are left-handed, you may
prefer to swap the functions of the <mousebutton>left</mousebutton> and
<mousebutton>right</mousebutton> buttons on your pointing device by choosing the
'left-handed' option. If your pointing device has more than two buttons, only
those that function as the <mousebutton>left</mousebutton> and
<mousebutton>right</mousebutton> buttons are affected. For example, if you have
a three-button mouse, the <mousebutton>middle</mousebutton> button is
unaffected.</para></FormalPara>

<FormalPara> <title>Use double-click to activate or open</title> <para>When this
option is checked, icons will be activated/opened with a double click of the
<mousebutton>left</mousebutton> button on your pointing device
(e.g. mouse), while a single click will only select an icon or file. This is the
behavior you may know from other desktops or operating systems. When this option
is disabled, icons will be activated/opened using a single click. This default
behavior is consistent with what you would expect when you click links in most web
browsers.</para></FormalPara>

<FormalPara> <title>Automatically Select Icons</title> <para>If you check this
option, pausing the mouse pointer over an icon on the screen will automatically
select that icon.  This may be useful when single clicks opens icons, and you
only want to select the icon without opening it.</para></FormalPara>

<tip><para>You can still select an icon or file without opening it, even when
<guilabel>Single Click Opens</guilabel> is checked.  This is done by either
holding down the <keycap>Ctrl</keycap> key and then clicking, or by dragging a
box around the icon(s) or file(s) which you wish to select.  </para></tip>

<para> If you have activated this option, you can use the slider to select how
long the mouse pointer must rest on an icon before it becomes selected.</para>

<FormalPara><title>Pointer shape changes when over an icon</title> <para>When this
option is checked, the shape of the mouse pointer changes whenever it is over an
icon.</para></FormalPara>

<tip><para>This option should be checked in most situations. It gives more
visual feedback and says, in essence, if you click here, something will
happen.</para></tip>

<FormalPara><title>Visual feedback on activation</title> <para>When this option is
checked, KDE gives you visual feedback whenever you click on something and activate it.</para></FormalPara>

<FormalPara><title>Large Cursor</title> <para>This will give KDE a larger mouse cursor.</para></FormalPara>

<note><para>The large cursor will not be seen until &kde; is restarted.</para></note>
</sect2>

<sect2 id="mouse-advanced">
<title>Advanced</title>
<FormalPara id="peripherals-mouse-acceleration">
<title>Pointer Acceleration</title>
<para>This option allows you to change the relationship
between the distance that the mouse pointer moves on the
screen and the relative movement of the physical device
itself (which may be a mouse, trackball, or some other
pointing device.)</para></FormalPara>

<para>A high value for the acceleration multiplier will lead to large
movements of the mouse pointer on the screen, even when
you only make a small movement with the physical device.</para>

<tip><para>A multiplier between <guilabel>1x</guilabel> and
<guilabel>3x</guilabel> will works well for many systems.  With a multiplier
over <guilabel>3x</guilabel> the mouse pointer may become difficult to
control.</para></tip>

<FormalPara> <title>Pointer Threshold</title> <para>The threshold is the
smallest distance that the mouse pointer must move on the screen before
acceleration has any effect. If the movement is within the threshold, the mouse
pointer moves as if the acceleration were set to
<guilabel>1x</guilabel>.</para></FormalPara>
					
<para>Thus, when you make small movements with the physical device (&eg; mouse),
you still have fine control of the mouse pointer on the screen, whereas larger
movements of the physical device will move the mouse pointer rapidly to
different areas on the screen.</para>
				
<para>You can set the threshold value by dragging the slider button or by
clicking the up/down arrows on the spin-button to the left of the slider.</para>
				
<tip><para>In general, the higher you set the <guilabel>Pointer
Acceleration</guilabel> value, the higher you'll want to set the <guilabel>Drag
Threshold</guilabel> value.  For example, A <guilabel>Drag Threshold</guilabel>
of <guilabel>4pixels</guilabel> may be appropriate for a <guilabel>Pointer
Acceleration</guilabel> of <guilabel>2x</guilabel>, but
<guilabel>10pixels</guilabel> might be better for
<guilabel>3x</guilabel>.</para></tip>

<FormalPara> <title>Double Click Interval</title> <para>This is the maximum
amount of time between clicks for &kde; to register a double click.  If you
click twice, and the time between those two clicks is less than this number,
&kde; recognises that as a double click.  If the time between these two clicks
is greater than this number, &kde; recognises those as two
<emphasis>seperate</emphasis> single clicks.</para></FormalPara>

<FormalPara> <title>Drag Start Time and Drag Start Distance</title> <para>If you
click with the mouse, and drag within the time specified in <guilabel>Drag Start
Time</guilabel> and you move a distance equal to or greater than the number (of
pixels) specified in <guilabel>Drag Start Distance</guilabel>, &kde; will drag
the text.</para></FormalPara>


</sect2>
<sect2 id="mouse-author">

<title>Section Author</title>

<para>Ellis Whitehead <email>ewhitehe@uni-freiburg.de</email></para>
<para>Updated by: Mike McBride <email>mpmcbride7@yahoo.com</email></para>

</sect2>

</sect1>
