Double-click

A double-click is the act of pressing a computer mouse button twice quickly without moving the mouse. Double-clicking allows two different actions to be associated with the same mouse button. It was developed by Tim Mott of Xerox Palo Alto Research Center.[1][2][3] Often, single-clicking selects (or highlights) an object (eg the space between two characters) while a double-click selects the next object up in the selection hierarchy (eg a word),[4] or executes the function associated with that object (eg open a file folder). Following a link in a modern web browser is accomplished with only a single click, requiring the use of a second mouse button, "click and hold" delay, or modifier key to gain access to actions other than following the link. On touchscreens, the double-click is called "double-tap"; it's not used as much as double-click, but typically it functions as a zoom feature. ("triple-tap" sometimes used to zoom the whole screen.)

  1. ^ Designing Interactions, Page 65, Bill Moggridge, MIT Press 2007, https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262134743/designing-interactions/.
  2. ^ Tesler, Larry oral history, part 1 of 3, Computer History Museum, Description. https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102717252
  3. ^ A Personal History of Modeless Text Editing and Cut/Copy-Paste Larry Tesler, Timelines, July + August 2012, Page 74. https://worrydream.com/refs/Tesler_2012_-_A_Personal_History_of_Modeless_Text_Editing_and_Cut-Copy-Paste.pdf.
  4. ^ GYPSY: THE GINN TYPESCRIPT SYSTEM, April 20, Page 11, 1975, Larry Tesler and Timothy Mott. http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/xerox/alto/memos_1975/Gypsy_The_Ginn_Typescript_System_Apr75.pdf