Re: Mouse-button names for southpaws

[Jack Shaw <jsh -at- SOFTWARE-AG -dot- DE>]

Being both confronted with this mouse button thing and also
being a leftie, I did a little informal coffee-break survey one
day and asked people of both hands, the following:

"Which mouse button is the primary mouse button?"

Righties and ambidextrous lefties answered, "this one..." and
indicated the left (default...) button. Hard-core lefties (like
me) with reversed button functions answered, "This one..." and
clicked or pointed to the right button (set up through the
Windows control panel or X-Windows command, or whatever, to suit
their needs...).

I also asked:

"Which button is the secondary mouse button?"

Those who had a need for it indicated the opposite side button.
A few said, "I only use one button..." or some such, indicating
to me that they weren't using second-button functions. When I
asked specifically, "Do you ever use 'another' mouse button?",
those with a three-button mouse answered by indicating the opposing
and only rarely the middle button.

The rare occasions when I found that someone would actually have and
use the middle button was usually heavy-duty "industrial" users
like CAD/CAM or whatever.

Bottom line: I came to the conclusion one could safely say,

* Primary button (left default or right when so defined)
* Secondary button (opposite side for three button; otherwise,
    the obvious second button.
* Middle button  (which was also understood by two-button types as the
    rare use of both buttons).

But I'm still waiting for my rat...

Cheers,

Jack Shaw
The opinions of whom in no way reflect those of...
Software AG

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