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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: RFC: Restricting mouse in popup menus
From:       Maurizio Colucci <maurizio.colucci () gmail ! com>
Date:       2005-05-18 15:06:49
Message-ID: e919163f0505180806100283ed () mail ! gmail ! com
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2005/5/17, Lubos Lunak <l.lunak@suse.cz>:
> 
>  Hello,
> 
>  I'd like to get some feedback on the attached Qt patches :). The idea is
> based on a feature from the window manager called WindowLab (ggl:windowlab).
> In short, when a popup menu is open, the mouse movement is restricted only to
> the area of the popup - this allows navigating in the menus only using
> vertical movement and clicking.
> 
>  In not so short: When a popup is opened, the mouse area is restricted to its
> geometry plus 2 pixels above. The mouse pointer is initially positioned in
> that area above the popup, and clicking there closes it. Submenus don't open
> automatically, they always have to be clicked. The patch also significantly
> increases the mouse acceleration threshold, so that the mouse is less
> sensitive in the popup.
> 

This improvement is not only good, it is a paradigm shifter. The
reason is that, with your idea, popup menu become so cheap
(cognitively) that it starts to make sense to _abolish_ the right
mouse button, relying on popup menus alone.

I'll explain myself better. Imagine a listbox, such as the one in
konqueror file browser. Currently, left-clicking on a listbox item
executes the default action (select or open), whereas right-clicking
gives more options (shows the popup menu). As we know, this creates
major discoverability problems (people do not try to right-click). The
obvious solution would be to make the popup menu appear when you click
the LEFT mouse button, but then it becomes too expensive to execute
the common action. With your technique, however, it is no more
expensive. Imagine: you left-click, the popup menu appears, and the
mouse is positioned on the default action. So, another click executes
it. If you don't like the default action, you can move much more
easily due to the vertical constraint.

Maurizio
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