Wish : Assign command with mouse button 4 & 5 for standard mouse

Rhino Rhino for Windows
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1

Hi,

I’m using a standard 5 buttons mouse from Xftfry and it works without any specific driver or software.
I would like to assign some command to button 4 and 5 like when we are navigating on internet using these for previous page / next page.
I know we have options for button 3 (mouse middle) and I wish we could have the same options for button 4 and 5.
I would like to use _Undo / _Redo or ZoomExtend / _ZoomSelected.

Thank you

2

Hi, @Corentin_Ferbus. We always appreciate wishlist additions. Thank you.

I did a quick search and found two software that may help.
PC | X-Mouse Button Control: https://www.highrez.co.uk/downloads/XMouseButtonControl.htm
Mac | SteerMouse: SteerMouse

Method 1: Using External Mouse Configuration Software

Many mice come with driver software that allows custom button assignments. While Xftfry doesn’t have proprietary software, you can use third-party software solutions such as X-Mouse Button Control (Windows) or SteerMouse (Mac). These applications allow you to remap the extra mouse buttons to keyboard shortcuts or even specific commands.

Here’s how you can do this on Windows using X-Mouse Button Control:

  1. Download X-Mouse Button Control from their official website.
  2. Install the software and open the X-Mouse Button Control interface.
  3. Find the profile for Rhino or create a new one:
  • To create a new profile for Rhino, open Rhino, switch back to X-Mouse, and click “Add” in the profile section. Select Rhino’s executable file (Rhino.exe).
  1. Assign button 4 and button 5 to your desired commands:
  • Choose the action for button 4 and assign it to Undo. In this case, you can map button 4 to the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Z.
  • For button 5, assign it to Redo, mapped as Ctrl + Y.
  • Alternatively, you can map other commands such as Zoom Extents or Zoom Selected to a custom keyboard shortcut in Rhino and use these keyboard shortcuts in X-Mouse.

Method 2: Using Macros in Rhino and External Software

If you’d like more control over the commands, you can also create macros within Rhino and trigger these through your mouse buttons using the same third-party software mentioned above.

  1. Create Macros in Rhino for the desired commands. For example:
  • _Undo → ! _Undo
  • _Redo → ! _Redo
  • _ZoomExtents → ! _ZoomExtents
  • _ZoomSelected → ! _ZoomSelected
  1. Then, assign these macros to keyboard shortcuts in Rhino (via Tools > Options > Keyboard).

NOTE: ChatGPT was used to document both methods above. Take the suggestions for what they are worth. They are untested with these software recommendations on my end.

1 Like
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Hi Steve,

Thank you for your fast reply.

I’m very glad to announce your method worked perfectly using a third party software to assign macro. It works perfectly in Rhino and in Grasshopper aswell.

My suggestion to add this kind of customization might be too crazy, but because there are more and more users with 5 buttons mice, it would be easier to control it directly into Rhino and assign anything you want just like mouse button 3.

But maybe I’m expecting too much.

Thanks again

2 Likes
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Excellent. Thank you for the feedback. I discovered the mouse I am using is also 5-button, so I’m going to be giving this solution a try. Cheers!!

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I too have a gamer mouse and this might be a welcome addition for those with no software.

Though I found out that the mouse I use has software for it, so I installed that and it not only allows customization it also has schemes so you can have button assignments for rhino and a different sets/schemes to match your other programs, quite nifty.

It might be nice to have these mouse button options for people who don’t want to use 3rd party plugins.

Also I would love to use my wacom pen in Rhino but it doesn’t work nicely even with various buttons customized. The way 3dcoat works with the pen and rotates the view is how Rhino should work. I wish that Rhino would get a nice pen interface that really works.
RM

2 Likes
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One of my favorite addons to Rhino is a Loupedeck with customized buttons (both graphically with your own images/icons AND obviously macros, keystrokes, etc.). I use it for technical support all the time, too. It’s also AI-enabled and can link to any software or website you want per button customization. It’ll even play a custom sound when you use a button!

I have the Loupedeck CT, but any of them would work well.

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That’s cool, looking at it now.
Thanks,
RM

1 Like