Click-and-hold for Windows right-click?

October 28, 2005 10:08 AM

Windows utility that fakes right-click when you left-click-and-hold?

I recently got a Fujitsu LifeBook P1510D, a small notebook/tablet convertible laptop. Since it's not a true Tablet PC (the screen is touch-sensitive rather than having an active digitizer) it runs Windows XP Pro instead of XP Tablet. That's fine, as it came with its own handwriting recognition software and EverNote, except for one thing: right-clicking in tablet mode. Since the screen is passive, there's no button on the stylus for that, and since the machine's not running XP Tablet, the tap-and-hold function is not available. Instead, Fujitsu provided a taskbar icon that you tap to switch to "right-click mode" for the next tap. This is exactly as inconvenient as you'd imagine, and it's one of the few things I don't love about the machine. I'd really like to use tap-and-hold or, failing that, find a little program that, when you launch it, converts the next tap to a right-click (then quits) so I can assign it to one of the bezel buttons next to the screen. But if such software is out there, Google's having a hard time finding it, because search phrases like "click and hold" lead to pages about how to enable the function on true Tablet PCs. And you don't want to know how many useless "right click" results there are. Suggestions?

posted by kindall to Computers & Internet (8 answers total)

I don't have exactly your answer, but since there aren't any answers here, I'd suggest looking at MouseTool and perhaps contacting the author. His software clicks and right-clicks without you actually clicking, so presumably he'd know how to do what you want to do.
posted by callmejay at 11:43 AM on October 28, 2005

Response by poster: It occurred to me that I should be looking for a macro program of some kind. Using AutoHotKey I was able to create an EXE that simulates a right-click. It's a little bigger than I'd like (180K -- sheesh, that's more than you could fit on an entire Apple II floppy) but it does the trick well enough when assigned to one of the hard buttons next to the Fujitsu screen. Alternatively I could just install AutoHotKey on there and have it running the whole time, and have the hard button generate a keystroke to invoke a right-click through the AHK engine.

This'll work.
posted by kindall at 5:53 PM on October 28, 2005

Response by poster: Er. Well, it'll sorta work. I forgot the hard keys are only programmable when you hit the FN button first. Grr.
posted by kindall at 6:03 PM on October 28, 2005

Best answer: All right, now this is sick as hell. It turns out AutoHotKey can trigger a script when you click the left mouse button. So I wrote a script that, if you hold the left mouse button down for half a second within a 10x10 pixel area, it right-clicks for you. (Dragging with the left mouse button is not affected.) I've converted it to an EXE and uploaded it here in case anyone else ever stumbles across this thread.

Naturally this is the best answer. ;)
posted by kindall at 7:21 PM on October 28, 2005

Nice work, kindall. :)
posted by callmejay at 8:36 PM on October 28, 2005

Response by poster: I've improved the script so you can now invoke the right-click by pausing at the end of a drag (i.e. to right-click after making a selection), added some readme, etc. Same URL as above.
posted by kindall at 8:56 PM on October 28, 2005

Response by poster: And yeah, source is included.
posted by kindall at 8:58 PM on October 28, 2005

Response by poster: Updated it again after playing with it some more. Now it doesn't de-select your selection if you tap-and-hold and it works somewhat better with dragging.
posted by kindall at 1:11 AM on October 29, 2005