Mouse control

[Lionel Pinkhard <lionelpi@mweb.co.za>]

Hi,

Can somebody tell me how to use a mouse? I know, I know, but you know what I mean. I've been thinking about reading from the communications port (of course I'll let the user pick which one), or 0011 1111 1000, whatever you prefer :-). But I don't know what to expect. Can somebody try to explain the format of the mouse or something? An example program would be appreciated. And, is a mouse more complicated than a modem? Also, I assume that this would not be operating system dependent. But what about other programs that use the mouse? Such as gpm, Windows, etc. Is it possible to share with these programs (don't think so)? Or can I termporarily disable them and re-enable them when returning control to the operating system?

Also, can somebody tell me how to do the same with a joystick? I think it should be simpler, there's nothing that could interfere (AFAIK anyway). But what about force-feedback? I know that DirectX can handle this, but what about operating systems other than Windows? I'm sure that if DirectX can do it, that it can be done manually.

Kind regards,

Lionel Pinkhard
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