Secrets to Clicking Revealed...

A quick post today to expose something so essential about Myrtle you probably encounter it every time you use Myrtle. You may not have even noticed that it's happening. Specifically, I want to discuss how clicking works in Myrtle.

Myrtle's user interface was designed to be both simple and portable. That is, it should be simple to use and usable on a variety of different devices including mobile devices and tablets. To make browsing results and editing sheets and scripts easy on those kinds of devices that may not have a hand-held mouse, Myrtle uses 2-clicks. 

Unlike the standard double-click you may be used to, Myrtle's 2-click requires 2 separate clicks where the first click makes the item active. You will notice the active state of the item by it being highlighted. If clicked again, within a certain amount of time, the item will be edited, viewed, or whatever.

Controlling the 2-Click Sensitivity

 

If you click from Myrtle's main window to Help->Preferences you will see a preference called activecelltime. This activecelltime is the length of time in milliseconds (i.e. 1500=1.5 seconds) that a first click remains active before a second click will result in editing mode.

If, for example, you notice your spreadsheet cells are getting entered into edit mode more often that you'd want because of stray/unintended clicks, try increasing activecelltime. Conversely, if the action is too slow for your try decreasing activecelltime.Realize, that the same user on different devices may find different "sweet spots" for the value of activecelltime.

Hint: If you frequently use a number of different devices, you might consider creating a different preference set for each device you use.  Then in each of those preference sets, you can set the optimal activecelltime for that device.  Preferences can also be used to set the color, font sizes etc for your different devices.

Hold On, What About Standard Double-Click?

 

Don't despair.  If you are on a device that has a hand-held mouse and your system recognises standard double-click events you are in luck.  In Myrtle, a standard double-click is equivalent to a 2-click and will allow you to browse or edit just as easily.  Also, such systems typically have accessibility preferences that will allow you to control the sensitivity of the double-click in a manner similar to Myrtle's activecelltime.