[kde-linux] Anyway to have KDE hide mouse pointer when keyboard in use?

[david]

Boyd Stephen Smith Jr. wrote:
> On Thursday 26 July 2007, James Richard Tyrer <tyrerj at acm.org> wrote 
> about 'Re: [kde-linux] Anyway to have KDE hide mouse pointer when keyboard 
> in	use?':
>> david wrote:
>>> I once used a Mac on which the mouse pointer politely disappeared
>>> while you were using the keyboard. Can I get the same functionality in
>>> KDE?
>> This sounds like an interesting idea.  However, I think that it would be
>> X11 that would have to do this since it controls the mouse and keyboard
>> when you are running in graphics mode.
> 
> Well, konsole is smart enough to hide mouse cursors that are over it while 
> you are typing into it.  (So, what the OP wants is most likely possible.) 
> However, if you move keyboard focus off the main widget (e.g. into the 
> toolbar) the mouse pointer comes back.  (But, you can't rip the code 
> straight from konsole because it behaves differently.)  It changes how the 
> menus work at little bit -- the initially selected item after the menu is 
> dropped down is the one under the mouse pointer -- but navigating them 
> works fine as long as you mouse pointer doesn't move.  (So, what's wrong 
> with the mouse pointer being active even if it is hidden?)

When the pointer is hidden, it should not be considered active - at 
least for clicks or highlighting items.

>>> insist on moving the highlight to 
>>> whatever item is under the mouse pointer (if there's even the
>>> slightest movement of the mouse).
> 
> If your mouse moves when you don't want it to, you need a new mouse, not 
> better software.

Sorry, I must correct my phrasing. The mouse (trackball, in my case) 
doesn't really move at all. Here's what happens:

1. Mouse pointer sitting at arbitrary location.
2. Keystroke combo brings down menu that happens to come down in the 
same area the pointer is.
3. System (application or window manager or whatever) sees that mouse 
pointer is now over the menu.
4. System highlights whatever item happens to be under the mouse pointer.
5. Problem 1: Some applications then proceed to ignore my efforts to 
move the highlight using keystrokes (it seems they give the mouse 
pointer priority).
6. Problem 2: If keystrokes aren't being ignored and I use one to open 
up a submenu - and in the process make the mouse jitter even the tiniest 
bit (for example, simply by typing on the keyboard beside my trackball) 
- the system thinks the mouse pointer moved and so it again highlights 
whatever item was originally under the pointer, making any submenu 
disappear completely.

Nothing wrong with the pointing hardware, but all trackballs and (to 
some extent) mice are sensitive enough to vibration to generate a tiny 
"pointer moved" event due to vibration from nearby physical activities. 
Only pointing devices I've encountered that aren't sensitive like that 
are touchpads and graphics tablets ...

-- 
David
gnome at hawaii.rr.com
authenticity, honesty, community