Using the mouse

The basic mouse actions performed by the user include clicking, double-clicking, pressing, and dragging.

Clicking

Clicking means to press down and quickly release the mouse button while the mouse remains stationary. The user clicks the mouse, for example, to select an object, to choose a menu item, to move the insertion point, or to press a button.

Double-clicking

Double-clicking entails two mouse clicks in a row, the second immediately following the first. If the two clicks are close enough in terms of time and screen location, a program interprets them as a double-click.

Double-clicking is often used as a shortcut for operations--for example, the user opens an object by double-clicking the object's icon. In text, double-clicking selects the word, and triple-clicking selects the paragraph. Some users find double-clicking difficult, however, so it should never be the sole way to perform an operation.

Pressing

Pressing means to hold down the mouse button while the mouse remains stationary. A common use of pressing is in a scrolling list or window: the user holds the mouse button down over a scroll arrow to scroll continuously down or up, left or right.

Dragging

Dragging means to hold down the mouse button, move the mouse to a new location, and release the mouse button. The effects of dragging are dictated by the current context. Depending on the context, for example, dragging is used to select, move, or resize objects. (For information on the use of dragging in selection, see "Selecting" on page 17.)

Dragging is used for these operations on Workspace objects:

To move an object, the user positions the cursor over the object, holds down the mouse button, moves the mouse to drag the object, and releases the mouse button.

To copy an object from one container to another, the user moves the cursor over the object, presses and holds down the Control key and the mouse button, moves the mouse to drag the object, and releases the mouse button.

NOTE

For a copy to take place instead of a move, the user must press Control before releasing the mouse button. Because the modifier key binding occurs at mouse up, the user can change a move operation to a copy at any time before the mouse up.

When the user drags an object, an outline of the object appears under the cursor to provide visual feedback that dragging is underway. The selected object itself remains in its original position. When the user releases the mouse button, the selected object either:

Disappears and reappears in its new position, if the operation was a move

Remains at the original location and a copy appears in the new location, if the operation was a copy

When the user drags an object to a closed icon, the icon darkens to indicate acceptance. When the user drags an object to an open folder, the folder's outline deepens to indicate acceptance.

When the user drags a menu to move it, the menu itself appears under the cursor and remains solid to indicate that the user cannot drag the menu to a target object such as the trash. Similarly, the user cannot drag an open window to a container object.

NOTE In the current release, an outline appears when the user drags a window, but the window will appear solid in a future release.

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