Apple's Mighty Mouse & AC9

[MSotero]

My Apple Mighty Mouse arrived.... plug it in and it goes (my OS 10.3.9 does not allow for "customizing" mouse options.... one needs Tiger for that and one needs to install their mouse software for Tiger).
Apparently it works with Windows 2000 & XP without additional software too, but it is unclear exactly which functions are avaiable as the manual says to see the Mouse control panel for that.

Ergonomics:
Overall it feels very natural in the hand.
I've never been attracted to the multi-button mice due to feeling so clunky.
The Scroll Ball and left/right button/sensors are very smooth and unobtrusive and for me intuitive.

Using it in AC9:
The Scroll ball activates pan & zoom commands in the plan & 3d views in AC9 automatically & simultaneously.
Up/down or left/right ball movements will zoom in/out.
The position of the cursor on screen will be the center of the zoom (does not require one to press down on anything, just move the cursor where you want the center).
If you press & hold down the scroll ball, then it Pans. If you move the ball while holding it down, then you can Pan & Zoom simultaneously.

The "default" right click does what the Control/Click does with a basic apple mouse.
I don't necessary see this as an advantage over Control/Click as it all seems to be personal preference. But accommodating personal preference is a good thing.
Further you can override exactly what right clicking does if desired (see below).

Expose:
Expose is a nice way for viewing or changing which plan/section/3d window you are using.
In 10.3.9 one can control the Expose activation for Mighty Mouse choosing System Preferences... and clicking Expose.

The Mouse settings at the bottom of the dialog work differently depending on the "exact combination" you use. It seems strange.
You'll need to experiment as I can't find any written explanation why it works as it does.
Also you can use modifier keys such as Command, Control, Option or Shift to change what happens.

For instance the following setting combination does this:
All Windows: Mouse Button 4 (will spread out all open application windows when squeezing the side buttons)
Application Windows: Right Mouse Button (will spread out only current application windows, e.g. AC9) note if you use a modifier key here with the right button, then you can maintain the default right click action too.

I was surprised at how much I like using the mouse to activate Expose and the scroll ball does seem to make it much quicker to move around.

[Anonymous]

MSotero,

I just received my Mighty Mouse. In AC9 when I press the scroll button I indeed get the pan function. However, moving my finer on the scroll button has no effect, nor does pressing the side buttons. They are set at 3 and 4 respectively.

thanks for any light you can shed.

[MSotero]

brian wrote:
MSotero,

I just received my Mighty Mouse. In AC9 when I press the scroll button I indeed get the pan function. However, moving my finer on the scroll button has no effect, nor does pressing the side buttons. They are set at 3 and 4 respectively.

thanks for any light you can shed.

First see if this apple tech doc helps
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302063
Also, if you are using Tiger, it seems to make since to use the Software Update from the apple menu to make it 10.4.2 so you are current and able to use the provided mouse software which seems to give greater control.

At the same time, I tried what I think you meant my your combination and had strange results. Again the result of combinations do seem strange. However, if you try 4 and 4 (versus 3 and 4) for the 1st 2 mouse options pan/zoom works for me (using 10.3.9). On the other hand, try 4 and right click and you might be surprised at how quick it is to see/move to various windows. If you want a standard right mouse click, then try 4 & control/right. Just hold down the control key in the Expose settings and the menu changes to provide the desired key.

As a side note, I will say that using the scroll ball in a zoomed in Photoshop document is similar to panning around in 360º and is a pretty cool ride. Also, the left/right movement is cool in things like the Finder column view mode.

[Anonymous]

Michael, thanks for the reply. I am using 10.4.2. I do not understand your suggestion of using 4 and 4 - the scroll button allows only 3 to be assigned and the side buttons allow only 4. There is nothing in AC that allows mouse button assignments. I must not be doing something wrong. I am on 9.0 btw.
TIA, Brian

[MSotero]

brian wrote:
Michael, thanks for the reply. I am using 10.4.2. I do not understand your suggestion of using 4 and 4 - the scroll button allows only 3 to be assigned and the side buttons allow only 4. There is nothing in AC that allows mouse button assignments. I must not be doing something wrong. I am on 9.0 btw.
TIA, Brian

Brian,
Sorry, your ArchiTalk Signature says 10.4.1 and I jumped to a wrong assumption.

If you look at the tech doc I referred to in my last message it shows settings the the 10.4.1 "Dashboard & Expose" preference setting that I assumed worked as the "Expose" settings in 10.3.9 (also shown).

In my 10.3.9 "Expose" dialog box (not the Keyboard & Mouse dialog box) I must set,
"All Windows" to "Mouse Button 4" and for some reason the "Application Windows" can NOT be "Mouse Button 3" but must be something else in order to funtion properly in AC9.
Exactly how that relates to your 10.4.2 options I don't know.
I'd recommend playing with your preferences for "Keyboard & Mouse" and "Dashboard & Expose" to see what you get.

Also, in my last message I sort of mentioned using the Control/Right click combination which I guess would be pointless as that would do the same thing as Control/Left click. So a bad example.

Hope that helps.

[Fra]

Brian, confirm the problem: i'm using ArchiCAD 9 (2045) on X 10.4.2 and the scroll button the migthy mouse has no effect: only function is pan
As with PlotMaker...
But this is strange.... because on my Mac G5 I also installed ArchiCAD 8.1 and ArchiCAD 8.0.3 with plotMaker and the scroll button of Mighty Mouse is go!!!! pan and zoom +/- functions are great!!

It's necessary a patch for ArchiCAD 9 ?

Fra

[Anonymous]

Fra, I have the scroll button set to 'button 3' and the side grip buttons to 'button 4'. The scroll button only pans and the side buttons act as a clumsy pick button. I purchased this mouse because I could not get the software to work for my Microsoft optical mouse (USB Uverdrive did not work with the MS mouse either), but at least I could zoom with the basic mouse drivers of 10.4. Incidentally, in 10.3 the pan function of the MS mouse worked but in 10.4 the holding down the scroll wheel starts application switcher. All of this is very frustrating.

Anyone out there suggest a good input device?
TIA

[MSotero]

Brian & Fra,

Even when I use button 3, it produces what Brian calls a "clumsy pick button" and disables things.

Can you get the side buttons to work properly with other applications? If not, it would seem that you need to try a different combination. But if you can, maybe it is AC9.

Ci Vediamo Tutti.

[MSotero]

Not to beat a dead mouse, but...........

Try looking at this concerning unexpected behavior as it seems to indicate that the exact "sequence" may be the problem and provides a solution:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302011

If the above does not solve it, this got me thinking:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302027
Could it be that one needs to set the scroll button to "Off" but leave the scrolling check boxes checked.
It just makes wonder if there are dual commands overriding each other if it is actually assigned to something.

Or check out these options for whatever use:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302107

If all else fails, what if one uninstalls their new mouse software.

[aahatimo]

does any of these help?
http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20050809005712615
http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?14@735.t0P5aWAU0mW.4@.68b66b52
sounds like it will be a great mouse, once it's worked out & made in a bluetooth version!
and a less than glowing review:
http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20050804.html