Cursor (user interface): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 13:08, 10 May 2025

Revision as of 01:24, 26 June 2025

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The blinking of the text cursor is usually temporarily suspended when it is being moved; otherwise, the cursor may change position when it is not visible, making its ___location difficult to follow.

The concept of a blinking cursor can be attributed to Charles Kiesling Sr. via US Patent 3531796,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kiesling |first1=Charles |title=US Patent 3531796: Blinking cursor for crtCRT display |url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US3531796 |website=US3531796A - Blinking cursor for crt display - [[Google Patents]] |access-date=6 January 2022 |ref=patent}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Text size comment share tweet email Print Charles A., Sr. Kiesling obituary |url=https://www.startribune.com/obituaries/detail/13986254/ |website= Star Tribune |access-date=6 January 2022 |ref=obituary}}</ref> filed in August 1967.<ref>{{cite web |title=Who invented the blinking cursor |url=https://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/33640/who-invented-the-blinking-cursor/33644 |website=mouse - Who invented the blinking cursor - User Experience Stack Exchange |publisher=Stack Exchange |access-date=6 January 2022 |ref=discussion}}</ref>

Some interfaces use an underscore or thin vertical bar to indicate that the user is in [[insert mode]], a [[mode (user interface)|mode]] where text will be [[insert key|inserted]] in the middle of the existing text, and a larger block to indicate that the user is in [[overtype]] mode, where inserted text will overwrite existing text. In this way, a block cursor may be seen as a piece of selected text one character wide, since typing will replace the text ''in'' the cursor with the new text.