BRACKENRIDGE@USC-ISIB@sri-unix.UUCP (10/01/83)
From: Billy <BRACKENRIDGE@USC-ISIB> We just received our first shipment of Mouse Systems Mice for the IBM-PC. These are optical three button mice which use a RS232 port. Mouse Systems has covered all the bases as far as software is concerned as the mouse can be used in a variety of modes. Raster Graphics Mode: Mouse Systems sells for a modest $40.00 a complete Raster Graphics package for the IBM-PC. It is geared to be Pascal callable but could be easily used with C or IQLisp or whatever. This package needs a bit mapped display and currently has files set up for the IBM Graphics adaptor card and the Hercules card. It looks pretty simple to modify it to operate under any of the newer bit mapped display cards we may be seeing in the future. "ProKey" Mode: Mouse Systems currently supports several popular programs in what I call ProKey mode. (ProKey is a program that allows an arbitrary mapping of the keyboard to arbitrary strings of characters. Rumor has it ProKey can make even Wordstar appear to be a civilised program.) Left and right and up and down arrow key commands get inserted in the BIOS input character stream in response to mouse movement. Various keys bring up a tree structure of pop up menus. Selecting a menu item puts the appropriate command in the input character stream. I have used this with Lotus 123 and the IBM Personal Editor. 123 was designed from the start to be used with a mouse. The Prokey style interface is sort of a crock in that Mouse ahead (like type ahead) tends to make one overshoot the mark when aiming for a particular cell. The 123 Help menus are really nice with the mouse. I am sure that with practice one could operate a spread sheet really quickly with this arrangement. A little closer coupling of the mouse to the program rather than using the character interface would make this an outstanding combination. The Personal Editor is a good choice of word processor in that it can be customized easily. Mouse Systems replaces the help file with a mouse help file. All the commands are explained in terms of which mouse button to push. Again I still would rather wait for an editor like the Microsoft Bravo clone Multi Word Tool that was designed from the beginning with the mouse in mind. Currently there is no way to write your own menu package for a given program, but on calling Mouse Systems I found out they expect to be releasing such a package soon. Microsoft Mode: Of course Microsoft is the Other Mouse company. I understand Mouse Systems has a Microsoft compatability package. I don't know the differences between the two Mice but Mouse Systems claims there need be no compatibility problems. The documentation is first class. Installation is simple. They suggest "if you are familiar with computers, a glance at Figure 1 below is perhaps enough to get you started". I can't say I bothered to look at the rest of the chapter as the picture was sufficient.