left handed mouse

[canarch]

anyone out there using VW with their mouse in their left hand.

i'm suffering from a broken right hand, and the splint / cast renders my right hand useless for the mouse so i've switched to the left. not easy going as most would appreciate but if anyone does use this configuration i'd appreciate any input, specifically on keystroke keyboard shortcut setup etc.

wishing for the impossible i think

alistair

[Alexandre Villares]

I wish you a fast recovery Alistair.

If you are on Windows, have you tried a control panel setting that will switch the right & left mouse buttons?

On a more general note, I have for many times tought about how to improve VW use by people with disabilities.

My girlfriend, also an architect, has limited mobility on her right hand. I wonder if someone with good C++ skills could write a small floating pallete utility that could fool Windows into thinking some modifier key is pressed (shift, control, alt, space bar). A Mac version would also be welcome.

[ 02-10-2003, 07:13 PM: Message edited by: Alexandre B A Villares ]

[Kevin]

Some mice have software that allows the assigning of buttons. I have a microsoft mouse that allows me to do just that. I am using a Mac.

[canarch]

thanks for the responses, i to am on a mac and have switched the button's on my mouse what i've found to be the most difficult is all the key short cuts and while i know i can assign them to whatever i want i was curious if someone had done this and found a comfortable set up (not necessarily saying the base VW is comfortable but does seem to utilise the left side of the keyboard)

alistair

[jan15]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Alistair Kirkwood:

anyone out there using VW with their mouse in their left hand.

---

I've been mousing with my left hand ever since I started using a mouse.

After a week of practice, I found that I could mouse as well with the left as with the right. But the numeric keypad really seems to need the right hand, and that's why I use the left for the mouse (I'm right-handed).

I never take my left hand off the mouse, except for typing texts.

My right hand moves back and forth between the numeric keypad (for coordinate entry) and the letter and function keys (for tool selections and commands), at the same time as the mouse is moving around the screen.

But if I could only use one hand, I think I would probably use the tool palettes and the command pull-down menus. They clutter the screen and waste time, but that still seems better than constantly moving the hand back and forth between mouse and keyboard.

I reassigned many of the tool shortcut keys, but only to make them easier to remember, not to make them easier for the right hand.

[ 02-12-2003, 09:43 AM: Message edited by: jan15 ]

[jan15]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Alexandre B A Villares:

...fool Windows into thinking some modifier key is pressed (shift, control, alt, space bar)...

---

Start>Programs>Accessibility>Accessibility Wizard includes an option to have all the modifier keys be press-and-release rather than press-and-hold, so Ctrl, Alt, and Shift key combinations can all be done with a single finger. If your system doesn't have the Accessibility Wizard installed, you can add it with Start>Settings>Control Panel>Add/Remove Programs>Windows Setup tab and the Windows Setup CD.

The Macintosh has this option also. I can't remember what it's called. A Control Panel or Extension, I think.

Another easy way to issue commands from the keyboard is to use a Macro utility to assign the commands you use most often to the Function keys. I use one called mgSimplify, $30 after a free trial period. Another one that I know works with VectorWorks is EZ Macros, which I think is only $15 now, and there are dozens of others. On the Mac I used Quickeys.

And I use a Focus FK-8200 keyboard, which has 24 function keys (the FK-9200, with trackball, also does). I macro all 24 function keys, plus the Tilde key, the Insert key, and the Backslash key, so I have 27 commands that can each be issued with a single key.