"Switch Task"-Menu and "Select Tab"-Menu via Mouse Wheel Scrolling

Probably this could also go to the bugs forum, as the mouse wheel doesn't work at all on my (and, it seems, on some other people's) WinXP.

These two improvements suggested:

1.) "Select Tab"-menu within tabbed browsers:
Mouse button (right or left) + scrolling the mouse wheel brings up the tabs selection menu (in Firefox = [Ctrl+Tab]). Scrolling the wheel highlights successively the tabs within the menu, and the last highlighted tab will be opened upon button release. This can already be done with browser mousegesture add-ons like "Firegestures". (Maybe this feature even works in StrokeIt for those for whom the mouse wheel works?)

2.) Windows "Task Switch"-menu as global feature:
Mouse button (right or left) + scrolling the mouse wheel brings up the Windows "Task Switch" menu (=[Alt+Tab]) from which one can select the task (by scrolling the mousewheel) as one can select the tabs in browsers, as described above.

At present, with StrokeIt, it seems only to be possible to switch from one task to the previous or next task, with the "Task Switch" menu not appearing at all or only for a fraction of a second. One can't scroll through the menu and select. Not sure whether this would be easy to implement in StrokeIt.

Anyhow, on my Win XP, in StrokeIt, the mouse wheel doesn't work at all. A few users on the forum have reported the same issue. Also, some people seem to have wanted to make proper use of the Windows "Task Switch" menu, but failed.

(BTW, as a workaround and replacement for the Windows Task Switch menu, I'm using "PowerPro's" built in task switching command and menu, but I can't "scroll" through it, as the wheel doesn't work at all, and I'm not sure whether, IF the wheel worked, I could scroll through the menu ;-))

2) You can enter it manually as I've outlined below (works great for me at least):

Use a temporary hotkey combo like Ctrl-Shift-Tab.
Export the configuration to a file (File->Export Config).
Open this file in a text editor and change the following:

[CTRL_DOWN][SHIFT_DOWN][TAB][SHIFT_UP][CTRL_UP]

to the following:

[CTRL_DOWN][ALT_DOWN][TAB][ALT_UP][CTRL_UP]

Now, save the file and import it back into StrokeIt (File->Import Config).

Thanks, just tried it, but it doesn't work here. Doesn't even switch the tabs. Even if it displayed the menu, it would still not give me that really convenient feature of scrolling through the menu with the mouse wheel, as the mouse wheel doesn't work for me in StrokeIt at all. I wonder whether it might have to do with the brand of the mouse (though I've tried two different ones).

Just tried Randomdude's suggestion on point 2, worked great for me, thanks! I wonder does this work with the Win + key combination too?

I found out now why the wheel scrolling didn't work on my computer. I'm using "KatMouse" (http://ehiti.de/katmouse), a little program that allows you to scroll in any window and field in the background without giving them focus first. Sometimes disabling KatMouse is enough to make the wheel work again in StrokeIt, sometimes KatMouse has to be exited.

I can now blindly scroll through the tabs in the browser and switch between two tasks in Windows. But the menus (to pick the proper tab or task) don't show up and I can't scroll through the menus.

As it is, I'm sticking with KatMouse. If scrolling through those menus should become available in StrokeIt, I'll have to find a replacement for KatMouse or use the, not as effective, "X-mouse" feature available in Tweak-UI.

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ADD:
Just tried "AlwaysMouseWheel" (http://www.softwareok.com/?Download=AlwaysMouseWheel) as a replacement for KatMouse. It blocks mouse scrolling in StrokeIt too.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/2012 06:41AM by wheeel.