Using the Mouse

You use a mouse to move the pointer to a location on the screen, a process called pointing. Everything you do with a mouse is accomplished by combining pointing with these techniques: »

Clicking

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Double-clicking

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Dragging

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Right-clicking

On the screen, the pointer moves in relation to the mouse. Push the mouse forward, and the pointer moves up. Push the mouse to the left, and the pointer moves to the left. To point to an object or location on the screen, you simply use the mouse to place the pointer on top of the object or location. The mouse that comes with IBM-compatible computers usually have two buttons, but techniques such as clicking, double-clicking, and dragging are usually carried out with the left mouse button. In multi-button mouse, one button must be designated as the “primary” button, referred to as the mouse button. To click an item with the mouse, you move the pointer to the item on the screen. When the pointer touches the object, quickly press and release the primary mouse button once.

Clicking

or single-clicking, as it is also called— is the most important mouse action. To select any object on the screen, such as a menu, command, or button, you click it.

Double-clicking

an item means pointing to the item with the mouse pointer and then pressing and releasing the mouse button twice in rapid succession.

Dragging

an item means positioning the mouse pointer over the item, pressing the primary mouse button, and holding it down as you move the mouse. As you move the pointer, the item is “dragged” along with it across the screen (see Fig. 1). You can then drop the item in a new position on the screen. This technique is also called drag-and-drop editing, or just drag and drop. Dragging is a very handy tool. In a wordprocessing program, for example, you can drag text from one location to another in a document. In a file-managemcnr program, you can drag a document's icon and drop it onto a printer's icon to print the document.

Right-clicking

Windows and many Windows programs support right-clicking, which means pointing to an item on the screen, then pressing and releasing the right mouse button (see Fig. 2). A

wheel mouse

has a small wheel nestled among its buttons. Not all applications and operating systems support the use of the wheel.