[OS X TeX] Skim and other apps: disabling rubber band effect with Magic Mouse

[Richard Seguin]

> On Nov 15, 2014, at 11:42 AM, Richard Koch <koch at math.uoregon.edu> wrote:
> 
> 
>> On Nov 15, 2014, at 9:28 AM, Richard Seguin <riseguin at earthlink.net> wrote:
>> 
>> To disable the rubber band effect in some applications, run this in the terminal:
>> 
>> defaults write -g NSScrollViewRubberbanding -int 0
>> 
>> I’m running Yosemite. A quick check of some apps shows that this stops the rubber band effect in Skim and Pages, but not not in TeXShop, Safari, or Preview.
>> 
> 
> TeXShop has a hidden defaults setting to stop the rubber band effect:
> 
> 	defaults write TeXShop SourceScrollElasticity NO
> 
> See recent changes at
> 
> 	http://pages.uoregon.edu/koch/texshop/changes_3.html
> 
> Dick Koch

The terminal command

defaults write TeXShop SourceScrollElasticity NO

seems to affect the source code window only. The PDF viewer still had the twitchy elastic effect, even with full page views with no scroll bars. 

It’s the horizontal elastic effect that’s disturbing to me, and I finally found a solution. As I’ve noted, the terminal command 

defaults write -g NSScrollViewRubberbanding -int 0

completely removes elasticity from some applications, such as Skim and Pages, but not all. 

I found a free utility called MagicPrefs at www.magicprefs.com .  (I’m not sure if this is available via the App Store.) This utility modifies many characteristics of the Magic Mouse, the Magic Trackpad, and MacBook Trackpads.  Install it in Applications, and run it. It puts an icon in the finder menu area. Click on the icon and select preferences. In its preferences pane, click on the Magic Mouse preferences on the top of the window. Then on the bottom right click on Configure Scrolling. This drops down a sheet. In the One Finger Scrolling row, un-check Diagonal and Horizontal, leaving Vertical checked. This completely disables one-finger horizontal scrolling while still allowing vertical scrolling and leaving the option to scroll horizontally with two fingers. This completely cures the horizontal twitch that I get with my nervous finger hovering over the mouse. It works with the TeXShop preview window, Safari, and other applications. The application seems to use minimal resources of the computer.  If, from the same pull down menu, you select Enable autostart, this application activates automatically any time the Magic Mouse is connected, so you don’t have to manually activate it each time you boot the computer. This isn’t an obscure utility. There are many references to it on the internet.

Richard Séguin