Using the Middle Mouse Button in X Windows

  • 7021813
  • 08-May-2009
  • 24-Mar-2018

Environment

Reflection X version 14.x
Reflection X Advantage version 2.0 through 4.0

Situation

This technical note provides suggestions for enabling middle mouse button function for use in your X client applications.

Note: Beginning in version 4.0.345, Reflection X Advantage supports middle mouse button functionality.

Resolution

Middle Mouse Button Functionality

If you are having trouble using the middle mouse button in your X client applications (such as pasting copied clipboard text into xterm), try the following:

Configure Mouse Driver

Depending on your hardware and system, you may be able to configure an OEM Mouse Driver or Microsoft IntelliPoint Driver.

OEM Mouse Driver

Open the mouse configuration utility provided with your system or mouse hardware (if available). Use this utility to configure the middle mouse button (or pressing of the mouse wheel) to function as a middle button click.

Figure 1. Example: Windows taskbar tray icon for Dell mouse utility Figure 1. Example: Windows taskbar tray icon for Dell mouse utility
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Figure 1. Example: Windows taskbar tray icon for Dell mouse utility
Figure 2. Example: Configuring middle button function in Dell mouse utility

Microsoft IntelliPoint Driver

If you do not have any hardware-specific mouse driver installed, or it does not support middle mouse button configuration, try downloading and installing the appropriate Microsoft IntelliPoint driver for your Windows operating system:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/results.aspx?pocId=&freetext=IntelliPoint&DisplayLang=en

After installing the IntelliPoint software, open Control Panel > Mouse and configure the wheel button to function as a middle click.

Figure 3. Configuring middle mouse button function in Microsoft IntelliPoint utility

Note: If you need your middle mouse button to perform a different function in other applications, enable program-specific settings.

Enable Middle Button Emulation in Reflection X or Reflection X Advantage

If your mouse does not have a middle button, you can enable middle button emulation in Reflection X settings.

After enabling this feature, when you press the left and right buttons simultaneously, the X Manager treats it as a middle mouse button click.

Note: This feature is not supported in Reflection X Advantage version 2.0 through 4.0. This feature is supported beginning in Reflection X Advantage 4.0.345 or higher.

Additional Information

Legacy KB ID

This document was originally published as Attachmate Technical Note 2442.