Clicker Version 1.1D Release Notes January 23, 1995 ---------------------------------------------------------------- About Clicker ---------------------------------------------------------------- This is version 1.1D of Clicker, a mouse-button utility for Microsoft Windows NT version 3.5. Clicker lets you assign a number of different functions to the middle and right buttons of your mouse or trackball. To install Clicker, simply put the files clicker.exe and mouhook.dll in the same directory, then run clicker.exe. If you are upgrading from a previous version, please make sure you delete or overlay both of the old files. Clicker is freeware. You may distribute Clicker freely, as long as you include these release notes in unmodified form. When you run Clicker for the first time, it will pop up a configuration dialog. Double-clicking on the Clicker icon will also bring up the dialog. You can assign the following functions to the middle and right buttons: - Double-click - Close application - Maximize - Minimize - Restore - Show task list - Cut - Copy - Paste - Enter - Backspace - Delete - Escape - Undo - Page Up - Page Down - F1 through F12 Once you have selected the button assignments you want and hit enter, the selections are stored in the Windows NT registry. The registry values are under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ Nemesis Consulting Group\Clicker as MiddleButtonFunction and RightButtonFunction. The values are stored as numbers that correspond to the order that functions are displayed in the configuration dialog. (For example, (Unassigned) is 0, Double-click is 1, Close application is 2, etc.) Since the values are stored under HKEY_CURRENT_USER, each user will have their own Clicker settings. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Changes from Version 1.1C to 1.1D ---------------------------------------------------------------- Alpha binaries are now included, thanks to Dean Troyer! (troyer@saifr00.ateng.az.honeywell.com) The distribution now has a tree structure, with separate ALPHA and I386 directories. A few more bug fixes: - Problems with activation of MDI child windows in File Manager were fixed. - Cut, Copy, Paste and Undo now work properly almost everywhere. Unfortunately, one of the places it doesn't work is Microsoft Word. - Clicker now checks for and silently ignores attempts to start more than one instance of itself. A cosmetic touchup: - Icon was modified slightly to look better on a white background. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Changes from Version 1.1B to 1.1C ---------------------------------------------------------------- A number of bugs have been fixed in 1.1C: - Double-clicking in Program Manager now works properly on inactive program group windows. - Crashes that were reported when restoring Netscape and other applications from an iconized state were due to a general problem with applications that call PeekMessage. This has been fixed in 1.1C. - The close application function is now much more reliable. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Changes from Version 1.1A to 1.1B ---------------------------------------------------------------- Version 1.1A was distributed with a corrupt clicker.exe executable. Version 1.1B is a functionally identical bug-fix. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Changes from Version 1.0A to 1.1A ---------------------------------------------------------------- Version 1.0 was extremely primitive -- it only generated a double-click from the middle button. Version 1.1A adds a configuration dialog, multi-user registry support, many new mouse button functions, and the ability to program both the right and middle buttons. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Requested/Proposed Enhancements ---------------------------------------------------------------- - Program-specific settings "like mouseky." This is under development and tentatively planned for release in version 1.2. - Ability to assign settings to meta-keys plus buttons, for example Alt+Button, Ctrl+Button and Shift+Button. This is also under development and tentatively planned for release in version 1.2. - Ability to arbitrarily swap mouse buttons so that the middle button can act as the right or left button or the right button can act as the middle button. This is not feasible based on the current implementation of Clicker, unfortunately. To do this properly would really require driver-level support. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Current Bugs and Limitations ---------------------------------------------------------------- - Double-click doesn't work on the system menu of maximized MDI child windows. - Button clicks on the desktop do not work, nor do button clicks on command windows (DOS prompts.) See the "Why Doesn't Clicker Always Work?" section that follows. - Cut, Copy, Paste and Undo work better, but don't work everywhere. This is still not acceptable to me, but is low priority at this point. - No PowerPC or MIPS binaries are included. If you have a PowerPC machine and have a compiler, and want Clicker, please contact me and we'll try to work something out. MIPS binaries are in the works and should be available for version 1.2 or a 1.1E release if 1.2 is delayed. - Requires that the mouse driver generate middle-button events to use the middle button functions. The Logitech driver for NT does, I don't know about others. The right button can be programmed, but use of the right button can be a problem right now with some applications and will be a major issue once the Windows 95 interface gets added to NT. --------------------------------------------------------------- Why Doesn't Clicker Always Work? --------------------------------------------------------------- Clicker works by installing a system "hook" procedure that monitors the mouse messages going to applications on your system. Because of NT's multitasking model and multiple message queues, Clicker is "attached" to applications and executes within an application's memory space. If the application process does not attach itself to Clicker's hook, Clicker can't function. There are at least two kinds of processes that refuse to allow themselves to be hooked in this way. One is the Desktop and the other is command-line or DOS prompt windows. This means that when you try to use Clicker on the Desktop or on command windows, nothing happens. Another cause of strange behavior is that fact that applications can and do install their own hooks. NT gives these application hooks first crack at the messages in the message queue. These hooks can delete messages from the queue so that Clicker never gets them. How can these problems be addressed? The proper way to implement something like Clicker is with support at the device-driver level. This would mean a special device-driver/control panel pairing, like Logitech and Microsoft do for their 16-bit Windows driver software. Until then, applications that try to work without device driver support, like Clicker, will have some limitations. --------------------------------------------------------------- Mailing List --------------------------------------------------------------- Send me your email address and I'll notify you by mail when new versions of Clicker are released. Please include the address in the text of the message or your sig, since one of the mail systems I use strips message headers. --------------------------------------------------------------- Where To Get New Versions Of Clicker --------------------------------------------------------------- Announcements of new versions are posted to the newsgroup comp.os.ms-windows.nt.misc and will be mailed to those who ask to be on the mailing list. (New NT newsgroups have been proposed and are going through the Usenet debate/vote process. If and when a comp.os.ms-windows.nt.announce is created, I will post there instead.) New versions of Clicker are posted to ftp.cica.indiana.edu and to the newsgroups alt.binaries.misc and comp.binaries.ms-windows. Since CICA and comp.binaries.ms-windows can take some time to make postings available, Clicker is also available via anonymous FTP at ftp.onramp.net in the pub/IBM/General directory. If all else fails, and sometimes it does, I can mail it to you. --------------------------------------------------------------- Reports and Comments --------------------------------------------------------------- You can send bug reports or comments to me at the following email addresses: msusrtsp.rick@eds.com rick@onramp.net Rick Brown