[mythtv-users] Mouse friendly myth?

[Bob Cunningham]

On 10/30/2009 08:53 AM, Raymond Wagner wrote:
> On 10/23/2009 05:47, LuKreme wrote:
>> I noticed that all the default myth GUIs are very mouse hostile, as in
>> they cannot be controlled with only a mouse. At the very least, it
>> appears that a mouse and an escape key are absolutely required as none
>> of the GUIs I looked at let you back track up the menu tree with the
>> mouse.
>
> MythTV has never been a program that followed feature requests.
> Development has always followed what direction developers and other
> contributors want to take it. Being programmed in unpaid spare time,
> myth will always be programmed for behavior the contributors want to
> use. With all of them having used mythtv for several years, they're all
> used to using remotes, and are not likely to see much utility in a mouse.
>
> If you want keyboard support, dive into the code, spend a few days, and
> write something. Write a MythUI widget that pops up when you left click
> on any non-button area of the screen. You probably don't want it
> triggered on movement, because it would get triggered just trying to
> access menu entries, and would be unusable by touchscreens. If you get
> lost, ask in the 'mythtv' mailing list, or on #mythtv at irc.freenode.net.
> Even a mostly functional if poorly coded patch will get far more
> attention than a feature request without one.

That sounds like the simplest way to go: Let the mouse invoke a scrollable list of the currently available actions, also showing the binding keystroke (if any).

I'm very slowly getting my MythTV system together, and the FE and BE are both running on my home office system, still without a remote control or even a real TV connected.  I keep forgetting the keyboard bindings!

An alternative would be a mouseable "soft remote" widget that would simulate a remote + IR receiver + lirc, so that remote configuration and full testing can be done without the hardware.  It could also allow various remotes to be tested virtually before making a purchase decision.

It may also be handy if the remote gets lost...