Middle button drag no longer scrolls

[toshiki]

Hi, after updating the app, I found that I can no longer scroll the document by pressing the mouse wheel and dragging it. Instead, it pans the document. Now, I can only middle click once and move the cursor a bit to scroll. This is very inconvenient as I can't control the scroll speed and when to start/stop scroll precisely.

How do I restore the original behavior. This is really impacting my workflow.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, toshiki

Yes, this change was intentional to being additional flexibility to the software.

- If you quickly middle click and release, you can use the old drag-scroll system that is popular in many places like web browsers (middle click a second time to end this).
- If you middle-click and hold/drag, you will instead switch to a specialized version of the hand tool, for panning the document without any interaction of page objects.

This was designed to offer the best of both worlds, giving those who need more precision in their movements like those working on technical drawings, and those editing at a very high zoom level, while still retaining the previous functionality in a familiar way.

Kind regards,

[toshiki]

Hi, the current behavior is different from the browser, which follows PDF-XChange's old behavior. Just holding left mouse button can already pan, although with the possibility of selecting things. The new behavior may be convenient for some people, but it's really inconvenient for me. As I mentioned, only the old behavior allows precise control of the scrolling speed and timing.

I reverted the app to the previous version and is looking for alternatives. There should be an option for this core behavior, like a new type of hand tool.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, toshiki

I am sorry, this was changed due to very large user demand, and with the best will in the world, we cannot simply add more choice options for a very small number of individuals. If we were to do this for every instance of a disagreement, the software would be so complex no one would be able to navigate the menu's to configure it to their liking in the first place.

As such, we make changes as needed, and if there is a equally high amount of demand in both directions on a topic, those are the cases where an option is added. If we see extensive demand pushing against this change now that it is in place, we may reconsider and add an option to control this. For the time being, I am afraid that this is the new norm for the MMB.

Practically speaking, there is no difference in the precision you can achieve with a "click-hold-release" method, than what you can achieve with the "click/release - move - click again" method I mention here, beyond some small time span needed to adapt your habits. Note that the panning stops on MMB press, not mmb release, so there is no "delay" to worry about here either.
This second method has always been around, both in our Editor, and most web browsers, and we do plan to keep it here.

The new press and drag handling allows for more precise movement without any need to manually switch the active tool, which is a major improvement for the vast majority of our users, especially those in the review/editing, and engineering/planning fields, who need to zoom in and out, and carefully pan their view, while actively using commenting tools throughout the day.

Regarding a new type of hand tool, that would be needless, since the hand tool was always able to do this, simply by enabling exclusive mode. The problem, was always the need to switch the tool in use, or activate a keyboard shortcut to use it.

Kind regards,

[TorontoWill]

I don't understand this decision, it really irritates me as well. No other software I've ever used has the middle-click as a grab tool, and it works the opposite of the scroll tool that I'm familiar with from things like web browsers, Adobe PDF reader, and PDF X-change until this update.

I don't care if grab is an option, but at least let me toggle back to scroll. Allowing users to chose between both options by tapping vs holding M3 is a bad solution, because it requires the mouse to be perfectly while you tap M3. If the mouse is moving at all its treated as a grab. It's very awkward and unintuitive, I hate it.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, TorontoWill

Thank you for adding your voice to this topic. It is appreciated to know if there are more who care deeply about any changes we make. As I mentioned already, if we do see enough support the dev team will take another look at this.

While I cannot promise a change today, I would implore you all to give it a fair chance. A short few weeks is not enough to re-train the human brain on an item, especially if you are intentionally viewing it in a negative light. Humans need time to make the most of new capabilities, and this is one of those functions.
I view it much like the change to using Ribbon tabs back in V7, which despite the controversy, undeniably breathed new life into the software. Yes, for some long time users, it took some getting used to, and these days there are only a very small handful of holdouts who still prefer the classic UI mode. Once you do get used to these changes, I am sure you will find the ability to easily switch between quick scrolling and precision adjustments simply with your intent and use of the mouse is highly beneficial, and proves itself very helpful in a number of situations.

Kind regards,

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello again,

After consulting with the team further, while there have not been many other requests, the Dev team aware of the dismay, and had already begun work on an option for this before my previous post.

Whether it comes along as a true UI item, or something that can be toggled with JavaScript, I am not yet sure, but I can at least assure you that we will be seeing continued action in this area in a future build.

Kind regards,

[20364655]

Hello team,

I'm having the same issue & I too don't like the new update. Previous version had that drag option which was very convenient to use. Now it is very uncomfortable to use this app only because of this reason. Better this new version can be kept as an option. whomever needs this, they can enable from settings. Please plan accordingly.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, 20364655

For added clarity to anyone reading this in the future, the option in question is located in the preferences menu (Ctrl_K) here:

image.png

Kind regards,

[toshiki]

Hi, I tested the new version, but this is not what I was asking for. The option only disables panning, but it doesn't restore the ability to scroll by pressing down the middle mouse button (without releasing) and moving up/down. I still have to click the middle mouse button once to scroll.

The desired behavior is the one in previous version and in the browser.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, toshiki

I see what you mean, I have passed this up to the Dev team for further refinement. I do not believe we have any more short term releases coming, so it may be a while before version 10.6 comes along with these improvements. I am sorry for the inconvenience in the meantime.

Kind regards,

[Jariuz]

Hi.


Just joined the Forum to search a solution for this problem, but it seems to be a new function . Please bring back the hold and scroll function.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, Jariuz

Do not worry, it is a new function, however, the option mentioned above will fix this in an upcoming release. There is currently a bug in the handling whereby this option only prevents middleclick-hold from working at all, however, it should restore the old "middleclick-hold to auotscroll" functionality.

The dev team is aware of this bug, and a fix is incoming.

Kind regards,