Skip to main content
Home Forums Silverlight Programming Programming with .NET - General Silverlight 3 - Mouse Right Click Support (also on a Mac)
16 replies. Latest Post by Cisjokey on November 17, 2009.
(0)
krumikaze
Member
31 points
11 Posts
03-19-2009 6:27 AM |
Hi any new about the right click support with SL3? Right now all the management I've seen around use javascript on windowsless=true (so no full screen support) and they are not cross-browser: Ie seems to support well, firefox less.. and if we go to Mac platform Safari (3 and 4) seems to have a buggy behavior (i've lost few weeks testing various approach) Firefox on mac doesn't support at all. So I'm also a Mac user. Noticed that there no SIlverlight 2 support for old PowerPC mac and that Mac Os x SUPPORT right click using both CTRL + Click but also mouse (for those who use it) and also gesture tu have right click (two finger tap or two finger click) my question is: why not support right click? The problem seems to be about crossbrowser support (that could be managed using plug-in on some major browser platform) and the mobile world (only few device support multitouch and "right click". For the browser support as always there aren't "right" choices.. the most common browser will be supported. For the mobile I think that NOONE will develop TRUE application in silverlight for both mobile and desktop browser world (apart banners) .. for real application there are plenty feature that could be implemented in application and that will be (IMHO) both usability (both windows and mac user USE the right click so it's common have some feature on the right click) and user experience plus, that could make silverlight better. About those that thinks that "could be a problem" of security (someone could make a context menu similar to system to make bad things) I ask eventually to make request to the user the first time the plug-in is executed to allow user to use the right click (if security could be compromised) -- Now.. if anyone has an answer about SL3 support... let me know :D -- Please. (also I appreciate other VISION about the support of the Right Click) Giorgio
fullsail...
Contributor
3699 points
829 Posts
03-19-2009 12:30 PM |
Hi! No right-click support in Silverlight 3.
dmcgloin
11 points
6 Posts
03-20-2009 2:51 AM |
Yes - right click, PLEASE.
The cross-platform argument doesn't make sense. Users on Windows expect right-click support. When they encounter the Silverlight configuration option, it's just confusing.
Why make developers hack around this with crazy JavaScript workarounds that break from release to release?
Montago
267 points
191 Posts
06-07-2009 12:20 PM |
100% agree... its stupid that right click is not available just like left click is. im trying to hack around SL3... but without success
bartczer...
4172 points
730 Posts
06-07-2009 5:36 PM |
Right-clicking breaks many new UI design patterns. For example, how are you going to "right-click" on a touch screen? Silverlight is not just about input from a mouse anymore. You have to realize that inputs in the very near term will be coming from touch/multi-touch screens (Windows 7 and Windows 7 Mobile both will support tihs) and Silverlight 3 support multi-touch input. Furthermore, Microsoft projects like Project Natal that use full body motion sensors are another example.
Right-clicking also "hides" certain parts of the UI from the user. If I can right-click on a canvas..can I right-click on a tab? can I right-click on the option menu? You can quickly see how right-clicking can evolve into a complet mess and the user scour the screen for an option.
Silverlight is a cross between web and desktop applications. Web applications rarely add right-clicking features. The only example I can think off the top of my head is a Ajax graphical application that I played with a few months ago that had this feature. Desktop applications pepper right-clicking everywhere. I think it is a mistake to surface a Silverlight application on the web and assume that the user will think it is second nature to right-click.
06-07-2009 6:11 PM |
Its wrong of you to assume that all SL applications are targeted at global audience. Its wrong to assume that all SL applications will take new input methods as their primary input.
Let the designer/developer deside what the input methods are - and let the buyers/designers/developers/companies handle what the best apporach for a program is.
Currently i work in a company which is a heavy in Silverlight solutions - We have 1 professional solution in the $200.000+ range. The main target is business to business costumers/buyers/sellers and the requirement for all users is to have a PC with IE7, with mouse and keyboard. Some design aspects COULD have involved secondary actions using a right-click. But being unable to use such a feature, we have worked around them.
in a 2nd solution the buyers was told no, to get a special right-click feature becuase SL doesn't provide such functionality out of the box.
in private, im developing a game in Silverlight, a RTS game with map/minimap and whatever such games have. Im struggleing to get right-click functionality into the game, because that's what's natual to such games --- its natual to move the map with a right-click-drag gesture.... SL is failing me
My advice: Let the consumers of SL API's decide whats the best appoach and not the limitations !
06-08-2009 2:57 AM |
I completely agree with Montago. To answer bartczernickj: ok, i see the point about UI patterns and other pointing system but there are other methods to simulate the same behavior (for example keeping the "click" / "touch" behavior for N millisecond could simulate the right click (it's obviously an "hack"). But the point is: we could accept that right click could be not crossed between all devices. There are in my opinion a lot of things that couldn't be executed all over (probably not all device could execute 3d for example - yes I know that it's not "real" 3d but is perspective 3d - ) but.. a good way could be to "tag" application in code using some "marker". If the marker is present that, if application is executed in a "non-capable" system, will advice the user.. for example.. I know is not a real solution, but it's a way to make silverlight more competitive - for gaming but also for businness application purposes. If 10 years from now, mouse will be obsolete, we could mind delete support in silverlight v11 but now is needed. (i'm writing from a mac, so if you don't see Carriage Return is because isn't supported by Microsoft website)
06-08-2009 3:26 AM |
Sidenote: Chrome / Webkit browsers / Safari isn't supported by this forum - only IE and Firefox will enable newline/carriage return
06-08-2009 3:35 AM |
Do you have right-click on the iPhone? Windows Mobile supports right click and I NEVER used it.
In true next generation UIs (think CSI, Minority Report), do you EVER see right-click demonstrated? It is simply a deprecated pattern.
Right-click obviously has its uses, however I would not say the sky is falling because we don't have right-click support. I rather have printing and web cam suport.
06-08-2009 4:40 AM |
In Minority Report user doesn't have Datagrid / Listbox and doesn't need to manage boring data.. In Sci-fi tools are cool because people are doing Cool things.. in real life work most of the time data needs to be showed as is.. Until I can connect my brain to a PC (and possibly i don't want any BSOD into my brain).. we have to stay on earch.. and on earth, in any Desktop OS that I know that use mouse/trackpad as pointer right click exists. Obviously if I need to make a wonderfull new interface, with cool feature, innovation a-go-go and so on, we could make it without any right click, but for businnes application that could be buy-able by a on-earth firm it's needed (or eventually we could use a magnifier to show all buttons in UI needed to access context menu feature). UI interaction should be based on what kind of apps you need to develop. For RIA application I think that is a must. I don't need that users access to my app on mobile (for this application) so eventually I could mind if I restrict my app to "Desktop-silverlight" -- and NO.. XBAP is not an alternative unfortunately..
06-08-2009 4:51 AM |
you like limitations... don't you ? - you little masochist ... CSI, Minority Report ... what planet are you from ?
06-08-2009 11:09 AM |
Keep thinking in traditional business apps and you will never see where the future is. Project Natal is not from Earth and neither is the iPhone.
Somehow a majority of business apps on the web survived without right-click. You guys make it seem like this doesn't allow you to do anything and right-click is an absolute must.
06-08-2009 3:47 PM |
I didn't think that Xbox will don't support Joypad from now on.. or Iphone doesn't allow to tap numbers now that have voice recognition-- future is made by step. It's a developer choice and frankly I think that should be respected. You don't want to use an "old" feature.. No one will make you do. But right now, right click is a standard de facto-- it's a joypad -- there are game (application) that could be used without joypad-- but some game will not be the same without it (try to make a game with me at tekken I will show you I joypad could make the difference -- while you could use natal and punching the air) -- obviously it's a joke :D -- but I hope that you could see our point of view . There are always alternative. But not always could be applied
06-08-2009 5:51 PM |
Don't get your hopes up for Project Natal in business applications ... its for games :-) ... also don't either get the hopes up for the iPhone, its produced by Apple who is not that fond of Microsoft...
who sais that all SL apps are business apps ?
SL is for media, rich browsing, games and businessmodel presentaion - lot's of scenarios were a right click might add a better experience or simplify the site.
anyhoo - i've managed to make the right click work ok in my SL app... using the windowless trick -- http://mdk2002.dyndns.org/tasilver (now has rightbutton-drag)
and using SharpGIS solution for mouse gestures, i think that developing just got a bit easier -- although Microsoft ought to provide all these gestures by default ! ... hacking isn't nice
06-09-2009 2:34 AM |
I hope that SL apps are not business -- I want to change sometimes :D Unfortunately hacks doesn't work on Mac and worse doesn't work in fullscreen mode (windowsless doesn't support it). But right now is the solution I adopted too..
krisoye
8 points
4 Posts
09-16-2009 3:26 AM |
I am annoyed by the lack of support for the right button, too. Silverlight, Windows 7, or whatever the host is should be able to differentiate between devices and their capabilities and as the developer I should be able to map input however I want. Millions of people have a mouse as a means of input and it is stupid to arbitrarily take that functionality away. I've actually seen more and more websites adopting right-click context menus lately (Yahoo mail!). Does that mean that keyboard support will be deprecated when we all get Windows 7 touch screens? :P
CisJokey
7 points
11-17-2009 10:31 AM |
What a lovely thread thank you all for this :-)Sounds like geeks versus users.
First, the Rightclick is not bad. No, it is not. NO IT IS NOT!
Users don't mind about design studies and geekstuff. Users dont mind if someone on earth is really using his fingers instead of a mouse. No they won't worry about, even about the Iphone.
Its so hard and (stupid) to explain a user that he can not right click because right click is evil.... because some geeks or designstudiers definded it as per se evil. He did it past 10 years, it always did what it should, execute a context related action. And they did it always in this way.
Don't get me wrong, the possibility to do it without a rightclick is so uber, of course. But being unable to do it is just a stupid limitation.
God, I would love to see a geek explaining a user why rightclick is evil.
@Edit
In my opinion, a mousewheel is stupid. Please drop support for it. And also native in the IE itself, because in my opinion its evil. And how should a finger tipper scroll the wheel?
Silverlight 3 - Mouse Right Click Support (also on a Mac)