Help needed from Linux geek

[watervole]

Henry's been struggling with this one for days... Help appreciated, as it's important to solve it.

System: A Linux kiosk type application - running Firefox and little else with a touchscreen. (Currently running Fedora 8 + X windows)

Problem: How to remove the pointer from the screen, there is no mouse, it just gets in the way. Many methods have been tried none so far have worked.

Comments

[topbit.livejournal.com]

There's a couple of ideas at http://stackoverflow.com/questions/660613/how-do-you-hide-the-mouse-pointer-under-linux-x11 - or otherwise, try asking a new question on Stack Overflow. I've found the people there to be full of useful information.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

No luck with the ideas there, but thanks for the suggestion.

[cdybedahl.livejournal.com]

Write a small script or C program that uses the XWarpPointer call to move the cursor to the lower right corner of the screen. While not leaving it entirely invisible, it'll at least be very hard to spot. If the corner is outside any application window, you can also use the xsetroot program to set the pointer appearance to entirely transparent (by making up the right bitmap and mask).

[alexmc.livejournal.com]

How did he do with "unclutter"?

[waveney.livejournal.com]

Tried this a long time ago...

[kerravonsen]

Okay, it's a touchscreen, right? Does that mean that one uses the touchscreen to interact with the computer? Touch the screen, get menus, click on links and so on? If that is the case, the system WILL NOT WORK if you actually succeeded in getting rid of the pointer, and thank goodness you didn't succeed.

This is because the pointer... points. It indicates where on the screen you are pointing to. Yes, there is no mouse, but the touchscreen is the "effective" mouse. It is a pointing device, and thus uses a pointer on the screen as part of its operation. Any time someone touches the touchscreen, that pointer will be right under their finger (and if it isn't, something is broken).

If all this is the case, then I think Calle's second suggestion is the one to use: create a transparent pointer image, and use xsetroot (before the application starts) to set the pointer (cursor) to that. Or just track down an Xcursor theme which is either very small or semi-transparent, so that, while it isn't invisible, it's less visible.
See http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/X11_Cursors for some useful info.

I use the Chrome Glass Xcursor theme myself, I like it because it's semi-transparent, a lovely glass look.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

Thanks. This may be the way to go.