Hi Tom - thanks, I think that's exactly what it is. Many thanks for the detailed explanation, and as you mentioned in the bug report, I think adding a short note to the docs explaining the mac specific quirks might be worthwhile (if only so I don't forget this conversation two years from now and bother you again! 😅)

Cheers
Oli

On Apr 1, 2024, at 3:09 PM, Tom Goddard <goddard@sonic.net> wrote:

Hi Oliver,

  I believe what is tripping you up is that the ctrl key must be pressed after the Mac trackpad is pressed.  In other words you would use Option-click-Ctrl to do z translation, not Option-Ctrl-click.  I realize this is idiotic.  It is a problem specific to the Mac which always treats ctrl-click as a right click.  Because ChimeraX uses ctrl-left-click for selection, ChimeraX is forced to assume every ctrl-right click on the Mac is in fact a ctrl-left click so that selection works.  More details of this ugly Mac-specific limitation are described in your bug report


  Also the drag should be vertical, not horizontal.

Tom



On Mar 11, 2024, at 9:46 AM, Oliver Clarke via ChimeraX-users <chimerax-users@cgl.ucsf.edu> wrote:

I'm on a MBP with M2-Max chip and running Sonoma (14.1).

If I activate move models for right-mouse using the GUI "move models" button, then adding a ctrl modifier does not translate in Z, I just get a selection box even with Ctrl-right-drag - same is true if I activate translation from the GUI.

Cheers
Oli

On Mar 11, 2024, at 12:41 PM, Elaine Meng <meng@cgl.ucsf.edu> wrote:

I'm on a Macbook Pro with M1 chip running Monterey 12.7.3.  I guess we would also be interested whether the Z-translation works with the regular "translation" mode in your situation, as it did for me in my tests this morning.  You would also need to use the ChimeraX 1.7 release or newer, of course, since Z-translation wasn't added until last September, according to the Change Log:

https://www.rbvi.ucsf.edu/trac/ChimeraX/wiki/ChangeLog

Elaine

On Mar 11, 2024, at 9:18 AM, Oliver Clarke <olibclarke@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Elaine,

Thanks for the explanation! Yes I am on a mac using a trackpad. I did explicitly assign it (mousemode alt left "translate selected models"). It still doesn't work reproducibly for me (in either daily or stable build), even with vertical motion and after translating in X-Y first... I will report it as a bug, thanks!

Cheers
Oli
On Mar 11, 2024, at 12:00 PM, Elaine Meng <meng@cgl.ucsf.edu> wrote:

Hi Oli,
Short answer is that (at least in my hands) the horizontal motions don't elicit much Z-translation -- try moving the cursor vertically.  In all my tests below that worked with translation assignment +Ctrl to give Z-translation.

Long answer with several rounds of testing:

I don't know if this applies to you, but since I work on a Mac with a trackpad most of the time, I avoid explicitly assigning anything to alt-left or command-left because these emulate the middle and right mouse buttons.  
<https://rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimerax/docs/user/commands/ui.html#touchpad>

I don't know whether you actually assigned alt-left to translate, but the factory default assignment for middle mouse ( = alt-left if you call trackpad click-drag "left") is translation, so it's effectively the same as what you said.
<https://rbvi.ucsf.edu/chimerax/docs/user/commands/ui.html#mousemode>

Using the factory defaults (translation nominally assigned to middle mouse), the Z-translation with alt-left-drag-Ctrl is working for me on a Mac with trackpad and UCSF ChimeraX version 1.7.1 (2024-01-23) as well as recent daily build 1.8.dev202403072314 (2024-03-07).

Next I tried it with two models open, one selected, and the "translate selected models" assigned to right mouse button (= Mac trackpad command-left) and it works fine to XY- and Z-translate (with added Ctrl) the selected model only.

If I actually assign

mousemode alt left "translated selected models"

That also works alt-left to XY translate and Z-translate (with added Ctrl) the selected model only.

However, I usually have to try a little XY-translation first before attempting Z-translation because it is a little persnickety and/or I am not coordinated enough to use these multiple keys at the same time.  And again, I don't know what exactly is going on in the video you sent, but, horizontal cursor motion doesn't seem to do much Z-translation for rme, only vertical.

If you can't get it to work, please use Help.. Report a Bug so we will know your exact version and platform details.

I hope this helps,
Elaine
-----
Elaine C. Meng, Ph.D.                       
UCSF Chimera(X) team
Resource for Biocomputing, Visualization, and Informatics
Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry
University of California, San Francisco

On Mar 11, 2024, at 7:33 AM, Oliver Clarke via ChimeraX-users <chimerax-users@cgl.ucsf.edu> wrote:

Hi,

I can't seem to get the mousemode "Z-translate selected models" to work properly. I have "translate selected" set to Alt+left-drag, so per the docs ("assigned button + Ctrl (in that order) switches to Z-translation instead"), Alt+Ctrl+left-drag should translate the selected model in Z. It does not, or at least in any reproducible manner.

Watch the selected yellow marker in the side view here on the right hand side:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/vds0cwu0zizclg64vlxqc/z_translate_bug.mov?rlkey=md4320j5vvjrwgwkkd6rae8a5&dl=0

1. Initially I translate in x-y using Alt-drag - works fine.
2. I try to translate in z using alt-ctrl-drag - nothing happens
3. I keep trying translate in z, and eventually it "works" - but if you look closely you will see that the movement of the marker is not synced up with the direction/speed of the mouse cursor.

Is this a bug? I remember testing this when it was initially implemented and I thought it worked fine so I suspect so...?

Cheers
Oli






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