This article is about how the mouse-pointer is used in Scratch. For other uses, see Mouse (disambiguation).

The mouse-pointer is an icon showing the location of the computer mouse. In Scratch, the mouse-pointer can sometimes act as a sprite, as it can sense touch and has position values.

As a Sprite

The mouse-pointer is available as an option in some sprite-chooser arguments, such as Go to (), Point Towards (), Touching ()?, and Distance to (). It is counted as a sprite in these cases because it has a position on the stage, and can be sensed.

Position

Being an object on the screen, the mouse has a position on the coordinate system.

Readout

Archive.png This article or section documents something not included in the current version of Scratch (3.0). It is only useful from a historical perspective.

On the right, directly beneath the stage, is the mouse position readout. It shows the X and Y positions of the mouse-pointer. Unlike sprites, these positions can be off of the coordinates of the stage.

Blocks

There are also blocks to access the position of the mouse: Mouse X and Mouse Y. These are accompanied with the Mouse X and Mouse Y values.

Clicking

Scratch also has two blocks to sense when the mouse is pressed down: the Hat Block, When I am Clicked, and the Boolean Block, Mouse Down?. Each functions in the normal manner of blocks of its type.

Changing the Cursor

To change the cursor, open a Squeak Workspace and use the following code:

Cursor (name) showWhile: (some-action)

For example:

Cursor crossHair showWhile: [Sensor waitButton]

The cursors available are:

  • Normal
  • Square
  • None
  • Working
  • Read
  • Write
  • Execute
  • Crosshair
  • Eyedropper
  • Fill
  • Marker
  • Stamp
  • Right arrow
  • Down arrow
  • Up arrow
  • Move
  • Question mark
  • Menu
  • Hand
  • Fist
  • Origin
  • Corner
  • Resize diag
  • Resize horiz

The Scratch modifications Bingo and Insanity have blocks to change the cursor.

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