Automatic Mouse Handling

The setting of the MOUSE-FLAGS configuration variable determines whether or not automatic mouse handling is used. By default, this is turned on.

Automatic mouse handling requires no changes to the COBOL program. It causes the runtime system to interpret any mouse actions that occur within a field that's being entered by an ACCEPT statement. The runtime system processes the mouse actions; your application doesn't have to do anything. Your application doesn't even have to be aware that a mouse action has occurred.

The user is able to do the following with the mouse:

Note: Automatic mouse support takes precedence over other settings. That means that if a mouse action can be handled by automatic support, it will be. If automatic support cannot handle the action, and you have unmasked the action, then your program dictates how it's handled.

In graphical environments, the mouse pointer can assume different shapes. Whenever the mouse cursor is placed anywhere within the current field, it is shown as an I-Bar. This is a vertical bar that's typically used to indicate that the cursor will be positioned at a particular character if you press the left button. If you desire, you may change this by using the MOUSE configuration variable described below, or by setting the ALWAYS-ARROW-CURSOR option in MOUSE-FLAGS. See Unmasking Mouse Actions for a description of ALWAYS-ARROW-CURSOR.