[comp.windows.x] Two X-servers/displays but one keyboard/mouse?

EYRING@cc.utah.edu (04/10/91)

Two X-servers but one keyboard/mouse?

We are looking at designing a station which
has two displays, but only one keyboard and mouse for 
input. The net effect is to move the mouse to the far
right of the screen and then the mouse would appear on
the second terminal display. Keyboard focus would follow.
I have seen products that do this for the macintosh 
with a second screen, but can this be done in X windows?

mouse@lightning.mcrcim.mcgill.EDU (der Mouse) (04/11/91)

> We are looking at designing a station which has two displays, but
> only one keyboard and mouse for input.  The net effect is to move the
> mouse to the far right of the screen and then the mouse would appear
> on the second terminal display.  Keyboard focus would follow.  I have
> seen products that do this for the macintosh with a second screen,
> but can this be done in X windows?

Certainly.  In X terms, the display would have two screens.  (As for
"Keyboard focus would follow", that is not for the server to say; that
is the window manager's business.)

Anyone with a Sun with two framebuffer cards (and two monitors) can do
this with MIT server (provided the framebuffers are different, eg a
bwtwo and a cgtwo).  Someone with a cg4 can get similar effects, only
the single monitor is effectively multiplexed between the screens so it
always displays the screen the mouse is on.  Software to deal with
multiple screens has existed for quite a while.

					der Mouse

			old: mcgill-vision!mouse
			new: mouse@larry.mcrcim.mcgill.edu