How to Poll MOUSE(0) to Detect Single, Double, Triple Click (40951)

SUMMARY

Mouse programming is very dependent on timing between mouse clicks. The System Control Panel is used to set the current mouse click timing rate.

This article contains a sample program that shows how to poll the MOUSE(0) function in a loop. The program detects single, double, and triple clicks in Macintosh QuickBASIC Version 1.00, BASIC Compiler Version 1.00, and BASIC Interpreter for the Macintosh Versions 2.00, 2.10, and 3.00.

The following is a code example:

PRINT "Click in right window border to quit"
WHILE x < 490   ' Quits if you click beyond 490 pixels to right.
   WHILE MOUSE(0)=0 : WEND   ' Wait for mouse button to go down.
   GOSUB delay   ' Delay long enough for user to triple click.
   waitup:
      buttonstatus=MOUSE(0)  ' Read current mouse status.
      x=MOUSE(1)   ' Returns X coordinate of mouse.
      IF buttonstatus < 0 THEN GOTO waitup   ' Avoids down status.
   PRINT "buttonstatus=",buttonstatus
   IF buttonstatus=1 THEN PRINT "Single clicked"
   IF buttonstatus=2 THEN PRINT "Double clicked"
   IF buttonstatus=3 THEN PRINT "Triple clicked"
WEND
END

REM   Please note:   If the mouse is clicked three times at a rate that
REM                  nearly exceeds the system time period for a triple
REM                  click, the program may report a double and a
REM                  triple click.

delay:
   PRINT "Now waiting for clicking to finish . . ."
   ' If compiled, then use a longer loop:
   IF SYSTEM(4) THEN      ' SYSTEM(4) returns "true" if compiled.
     FOR I=1 TO 7000 : NEXT
   ELSE  ' Use shorter loop if run in interpreter:
     FOR I=1 TO 1100 : NEXT
   END IF

REM   The SYSTEM(4) command is not supported in the Macintosh BASIC
REM   Interpreter or Compiler products.  When using either product,
REM   comment the IF...END IF loop and uncomment the loop that follows.

REM   FOR I=1 TO 7000 : NEXT 'Use a shorter loop if run in interpreter

   PRINT " . . . time is up."
   RETURN
				

Program notes:

The delay loop in this program has different timing on a Mac Plus than it does on a Macintosh II. To make the program behave the same on different Macintosh computers, replace the program's loop with another loop based on calling the ToolBox statement to invoke the TickCount ROM function. (Query on the word "tickcount" in this database for an example of a timer accurate to one-sixtieth of a second).