Several weeks ago I wrote:
>Date: Thu, 30 Jul 92 09:07:35 EST
>
>Gd'day guys, gals and gurus.
>
>I have a client who has a GKS 3.0 application which is running in
>SunView compatability mode under OW2. They wish to use their
>Summagraphics tablet instead of the mouse. We were able to do
>this way back when in SunView by invoking it with the
> -m alternate_mouse_device
>option.
>
>Q1. Can I use a graphics tablet concurrently with a mouse?
>Q1a. Can I tell the GKS application to get it's input from an
> alternate device to the mouse, and use the mouse for the other
> windows?
>Q1b. Can I run both at once, and have a the GKS application use the
> tablet with/without reprogramming?
>Q2. Can I use a graphics tablet instead of a mouse (for all windows)?
>Q3. Have the old Sun Consult specials been upgraded for OpenWindows?
>Q4. We have been trying to get them to upgrade the application to a
> new version of GKS for ages. Would the version of GKS make a
> difference? (other than bring the application into OpenWindows
> properly.)
>Q5. There is no Q5.
I also mailed this query to consult@sun.com, and posted it to
"comp.sys.sun.admin" and "comp.windows.open-look".
Much to my amazement, I only got three replies! Thanks go to:
wilsonw@roses.dny.rockwell.com (Wendy M. Wilson)
kalli!kevin@fourx.Aus.Sun.COM (Kevin Sheehan {Consulting Poster Child})
rallan@ohgpu.hydro.on.ca (Rob E. Allan)
Unfortunately, one of these was a RFI, and Rob and Kevin (contrary to the norm
:-) couldn't shed much light. Kev suggested talking directly to Sun consult,
but noone from Sun Consult answered the message.
Lots of digging by ourselves and the local Sun graphics ambassador (thanks to
Rich Baxter) was required to uncover the name of someone to talk to.
After a few calls to the States, and several lost email messages, we managed
to get hold of a Sun Consult special called MSIOSAMPLE, which allows a user
program to inject events into the mouse stream. We then had to write software
to drive the graphics tablet (not difficult, but those bloody termio settings
are a pain in the ****) and write a little program to take tablet reports and
feed them into the mouse stream. A success!
So, you can use a tablet as an alternative input device to the mouse by using
the Sun consult special and this code I whipped up (Summagraphics or compat.).
The software works at the mouse stream level, so is well below Sunview, OW2,
X11, etc. and should work with just about anything. I'm not sure about the
distribution of the Sun Consult special, though, so if anyone needs this I'll
have to check into it.
Thanks for your help.
Geoff.
===============================================================================
F U L C R U M ()
_______________________________________________________________________________
Geoff Halprin /\
Technology Director ""
The Fulcrum Consulting Group,611 Brunswick St,North Fitzroy VIC 3068, Australia
Telephone: +61-3-481-6188 geoff@fulcrum.oz.au Fax: +61-3-482-4161
===============================================================================
Panic: Can't find /
Excerpts from the messages received:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: kalli!kevin@fourx.Aus.Sun.COM (Kevin Sheehan {Consulting Poster Child})
Date: Sun, 2 Aug 1992 13:06:09 EST
>
> I have a client who has a GKS 3.0 application which is running in
> SunView compatability mode under OW2. They wish to use their
> Summagraphics tablet instead of the mouse. We were able to do
> this way back when in SunView by invoking it with the
> -m alternate_mouse_device
> option.
Hmmm, this is all based on the behavior of the CONSULT-GTCO and SUMMA
stuff, but I'll take a crack. Have you sent mail to consult@sun.com?
>
> Q1. Can I use a graphics tablet concurrently with a mouse?
Yes - we usually didn't, but it was possible. What you had to
decide was the style of interaction between the two - switched
or both active.
> Q1a. Can I tell the GKS application to get it's input from an
> alternate device to the mouse, and use the mouse for the other
> windows?
Dunno GKS.
> Q1b. Can I run both at once, and have a the GKS application use the
> tablet with/without reprogramming?
Ditto.
> Q2. Can I use a graphics tablet instead of a mouse (for all windows)?
Yep - this is the typical configuration. Both specials found that
more then three buttons needed some work, SunButtons cleared up some
of it, but the X stuff plans for 5 anyway. All you have to do is
make sure the events appear, and it works just like a mouse. Nicer
actually, they are easier to position.
> Q3. Have the old Sun Consult specials been upgraded for OpenWindows?
I know the work was done, dunno if they ever released them. Have you
checked with consult@sun.com, or one of the conslutants via Email?
> Q4. We have been trying to get them to upgrade the application to a
> new version of GKS for ages. Would the version of GKS make a
> difference? (other than bring the application into OpenWindows
> properly.)
Dunno.
> Q5. There is no Q5.
:-) I'm off to Japan, but try contacting Kevin Fox (Kevin.Fox@sun.com) about
this stuff. He may not be the one working on it, but he'll know who is.
l & h,
kev
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 1992 07:56:27 -0400
From: rallan@ohgpu.hydro.on.ca (Rob E. Allan)
We have a summagraphics tablet on a Sparc 2 for autocad 11.
I wanted to use it to replace the mouse but people from
Autocad told me there was no way for them to program this
feature into autocad. They then told me to complain to sun
about it.
There may be a way around this using X, but I'm not an expert
in such things. Let me know if you get a fix.
rob allan
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