[PD] labeling buttons for [hid]

[Macciza Macpherson]

Hi
I'd go with the numbering system if that is the USB HID Spec but I also  
like the idea of the descriptive names as well. How about using names  
but translating ultimately into numbers? Can OSC be worked in here  
somehow so we can deal with descriptive hierarchies and broadcast our  
actions easily?? Is there any way to query the devices and get them to  
tell you what the buttons do?? Just a few thoughts.
Cheers
Macca

On 14/11/2004, at 4:30 PM, pd-list-request at iem.at wrote:
>
> Message: 4
> To: PD List <pd-list at iem.at>
> From: Hans-Christoph Steiner <hans at eds.org>
> Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2004 18:02:43 -0500
> Subject: [PD] labeling buttons for [hid]
>
>
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>
> So I wanted to throw out an idea to see what people think.  I am
> working on a cross-platform scheme for naming the buttons on devices
> like mice, joysticks, tablets, etc.   Each OS has its own scheme, with
> some similarities.  But I am making a common scheme so that patches
> that use [hid] will work on all platforms.  Right now, I am wondering
> how I should label buttons.
>
> MacOS X HID Manager simply numbers the buttons, I think Windows does a
> similar thing since both are based on the USB HID spec.  The Linux
> input event system uses button names, like btn_left, btn_middle (mice);
> btn_trigger, btn_base (joysticks); btn_a, btn_select (gamepads);
> btn_tool_pen, btn_stylus (tablets);  with a different naming scheme for
> each device type.
>
> I started out just copying the Linux system outright for a number of
> reasons, but now I am thinking that button numbers probably make a lot
> more sense.  Here are some advantages/disadvantages that I see:
>
> button numbers:
> 	advantages:
> 		more efficient to use floats rather than symbols
> 		much easier to implement on MacOS X
> 		patches written for buttons on one device would work for other
> devices (i.e. a patch written
> 			for a mouse could be triggered by the buttons of a joystick, tablet,
> etc.)
> 	disadvantages:
> 		user has to test the device to find the numbering scheme, rather than
> reading the label
> 		slightly harder to implement on GNU/Linux
>
> Any thoughts, comments, feedback, etc would be appreciated.
>
> .hc
>
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