Mouse chording
Encyclopedia
Mouse chording is the capability of performing actions when multiple mouse buttons are held down, much like a chorded keyboard
Chorded keyboard
A keyset or chorded keyboard is a computer input device that allows the user to enter characters or commands formed by pressing several keys together, like playing a "chord" on a piano...

. Like mouse gestures, chorded actions may lack feedback and affordance
Affordance
An affordance is a quality of an object, or an environment, which allows an individual to perform an action. For example, a knob affords twisting, and perhaps pushing, while a cord affords pulling...

 and would therefore offer no way for users to discover possible chords without reference. A similar feature such as a context menu
Context menu
A context menu is a menu in a graphical user interface that appears upon user interaction, such as a right mouse click or middle click mouse operation...

 would require less training.

In the X Window System
X Window System
The X window system is a computer software system and network protocol that provides a basis for graphical user interfaces and rich input device capability for networked computers...

, and on some laptops with integrated 2-button mice, a three button mouse can be emulated using a chorded click from both the right and left buttons which is translated into a middle click. This middle-click emulation does not enable chords which involve the middle click. The Apple Mighty Mouse
Apple Mighty Mouse
The Apple Mouse is a multi-button USB mouse manufactured and sold by Apple Inc. It was announced and sold for the first time on August 2, 2005, and a Bluetooth version was available from 2006 to 2009...

 does not support mouse chording due to the design of the button sensors.

One common application of mouse chording, called rocker navigation, is found in Opera
Opera (web browser)
Opera is a web browser and Internet suite developed by Opera Software with over 200 million users worldwide. The browser handles common Internet-related tasks such as displaying web sites, sending and receiving e-mail messages, managing contacts, chatting on IRC, downloading files via BitTorrent,...

 and in mouse gesture extensions of Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite and managed by Mozilla Corporation. , Firefox is the second most widely used browser, with approximately 25% of worldwide usage share of web browsers...

. Rocker navigation typically involves the following two mouse chords:
  • Hold the left button and click the right button to move forward in the browser's history.
  • Hold the right button and click the left button to move backward in the browser's history.


The operating systems Plan 9
Plan 9 from Bell Labs
Plan 9 from Bell Labs is a distributed operating system. It was developed primarily for research purposes as the successor to Unix by the Computing Sciences Research Center at Bell Labs between the mid-1980s and 2002...

 and Oberon
Oberon operating system
Oberon is an operating system developed in the late 1980s at ETH Zürich using the Oberon programming language. It has an innovative visual text-based user interface for activating commands.- History :...

 and the acme
Acme (text editor)
Acme is a text editor and graphical shell from the Plan 9 from Bell Labs operating system, designed and implemented by Rob Pike. It can use the sam command language. The design of the interface was influenced by Oberon. It is different from other editing environments in that it acts as a 9P server...

 development environment make heavy use of mouse chording. OS/2
OS/2
OS/2 is a computer operating system, initially created by Microsoft and IBM, then later developed by IBM exclusively. The name stands for "Operating System/2," because it was introduced as part of the same generation change release as IBM's "Personal System/2 " line of second-generation personal...

 Presentation Manager
Presentation Manager
Presentation Manager is the graphical user interface that IBM and Microsoft introduced in version 1.1 of their operating system OS/2 in late 1988.-History:...

 can also use chording to copy and paste text using two buttons however Common User Access
Common User Access
Common User Access is a standard for user interfaces to operating systems and computer programs. It was developed by IBM and first published in 1987 as part of their Systems Application Architecture...

 key combinations are more frequently used.

Applications that support mouse chording

  • Microstation
    Microstation
    MicroStation is a CAD software product for 2- and 3-dimensional design and drafting, developed and sold by Bentley Systems. The latest versions of the software are released solely for Microsoft Windows operating systems, but historically MicroStation was available for Macintosh platforms and a...

     - CAD software, uses chording to snap to elements.
  • CATIA
    CATIA
    CATIA is a multi-platform CAD/CAM/CAE commercial software suite developed by the French company Dassault Systemes...

     - CAD/CAM
    Cam
    A cam is a rotating or sliding piece in a mechanical linkage used especially in transforming rotary motion into linear motion or vice-versa. It is often a part of a rotating wheel or shaft that strikes a lever at one or more points on its circular path...

    /CAE
    CAE
    CAE may refer to:In aviation:* CAE Inc., a Canadian maker of flight simulators* Columbia Metropolitan Airport, in West Columbia, South Carolina, United States...

     software, uses middle and left mouse button chording to zoom, pan and rotate screen representation
  • Acme
    Acme (text editor)
    Acme is a text editor and graphical shell from the Plan 9 from Bell Labs operating system, designed and implemented by Rob Pike. It can use the sam command language. The design of the interface was influenced by Oberon. It is different from other editing environments in that it acts as a 9P server...

     and Wily
    Wily
    Wily is a text editor created by Gary Capell for Unix computer systems. It is based on Acme, the mouse-centric editing environment for the Plan 9 operating system....

  • Opera
    Opera (web browser)
    Opera is a web browser and Internet suite developed by Opera Software with over 200 million users worldwide. The browser handles common Internet-related tasks such as displaying web sites, sending and receiving e-mail messages, managing contacts, chatting on IRC, downloading files via BitTorrent,...

  • Maxthon
    Maxthon
    Maxthon is a free web browser for Microsoft Windows. The latest release, Maxthon 3, supports both the Trident and the WebKit rendering engines....

  • Blender 3D
    Blender (software)
    Blender is a free and open-source 3D computer graphics software product used for creating animated films, visual effects, interactive 3D applications or video games. The current release version is 2.60, and was released on October 19, 2011...

  • Plan 9 from Bell Labs
    Plan 9 from Bell Labs
    Plan 9 from Bell Labs is a distributed operating system. It was developed primarily for research purposes as the successor to Unix by the Computing Sciences Research Center at Bell Labs between the mid-1980s and 2002...

  • Oberon operating system
    Oberon operating system
    Oberon is an operating system developed in the late 1980s at ETH Zürich using the Oberon programming language. It has an innovative visual text-based user interface for activating commands.- History :...

  • Sketchup
    SketchUp
    SketchUp is a 3D modeling program marketed by Google and designed for architectural, civil, and mechanical engineers as well as filmmakers, game developers,...

  • Valve Hammer Editor
    Valve Hammer Editor
    Valve Hammer Editor, formerly known as Worldcraft and now commonly called Hammer, is Valve Software's map creation program for their game engine, Source. Old versions of Worldcraft also supported Quake and Quake II. Versions prior to 4 supported exclusively GoldSrc, Source's predecessor. The...

  • Celestia
    Celestia
    Celestia is a 3D astronomy program created by Chris Laurel. The program is based on the Hipparcos Catalogue and allows users to travel through an extensive universe, modeled after reality, at any speed, in any direction and at any time in history...

     - Pressing both mouse buttons allows the user to adjust distance from an object.
  • Minesweeper (Windows)
    Minesweeper (Windows)
    Windows Minesweeper is a variant of the computer game Minesweeper, created by Curt Johnson, originally for OS/2, and ported to Microsoft Windows by Robert Donner, both Microsoft employees at the time...

     - Pressing both mouse buttons clears around a square after the correct number of flags have been placed in the surrounding squares.
  • UDE
    UDE
    In computing, UDE, the Unix Desktop Environment, is a desktop environment for the X Window System. Given its efficient and lightweight design it can be used on almost any Unix-like operating system, mostly without any porting effort....

  • World of Warcraft
    World of Warcraft
    World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994...

  • Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
    Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
    Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a 2004 open world action video game developed by British games developer Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third 3D game in the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise, the fifth original console release and eighth game overall...

     - The weapon aiming system in the PC version of San Andreas implements mouse chording, as it requires the user to hold the right mouse button to aim while clicking or holding the left button to fire a weapon or use an item, such as a camera
    Camera
    A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...

    .
  • Eve Online
    EVE Online
    Eve Online is a video game by CCP Games. It is a player-driven, persistent-world MMORPG set in a science fiction space setting. Characters pilot customizable ships through a galaxy of over 7,500 star systems. Most star systems are connected to one or more other star systems by means of stargates...

     - Pressing both the left and right mouse buttons allows for an alternative method of camera control.
  • Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
    Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
    Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 is the sixth installment in the Rainbow Six series. It is a first person shooter video game and the sequel to Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas. It was announced by Ubisoft on November 20, 2007...

    - On the PC version of the game, by default the right mouse button must be held to take cover and the left mouse button to fire a weapon.

External links

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