animation with opengl

you should use glutMouseFunc( ) to handle mouse events, and glutKeyboardFunc( ) for keyboard events. Use double buffer (and swap them) if you need to. Using glutIdleFunc( ) to handle drawing is a very bad idea, because you would slow down the response time for other events. glutIdleFunc() should contain the less code the better. What you can do is to do the computational stuff when you handle the mouse/keyboard events. To be able to draw more efficiently (faster - less flickering) you can use display lists and double buffer (and the depth buffer if need be).

To use a mouse function:

void OnMouseClick(int btn, int state, int x, int y) {
   if(btn == GLUT_LEFT_BUTTON && state == GLUT_DOWN)
   {
   }
   if(btn == GLUT_LEFT_BUTTON && state == GLUT_UP)
   {
   }
   if(btn == GLUT_RIGHT_BUTTON && state == GLUT_DOWN)
   {
   }
   if(btn == GLUT_RIGHT_BUTTON && state == GLUT_UP)
   {
   }
  //or middle button etc.
}

and in main

glutMouseFunc(OnMouseClick);
glutKeyboardFunc( ) is very similar.

You can keep track of the mouse motion while the mouse is being dragged by glutMotionFunc( ).
Quite fundamental stuff! There are many OpenGL tutorials/examples out there you can learn a lot from.

For your idle function, the best way is to have something like:

int ypos, isMouseClicked;

void myIdle() {
   if(isMouseClicked) { //you can modify this to distinguish between left and right.
      ypos += 2; //going up
      glutPostRedisplay(); //request your redraw.
   }
}

something like that. If you don't know how to create a display list just ask.

hmm.... I guess I wasn't very clear with my question:

here's my basic code structure:

int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
// basic initialization stuff
      GLint windowW=DEFAULT_WINDOW_WIDTH, windowH=DEFAULT_WINDOW_HEIGHT;
      glutInit(&argc,argv);
      glutInitDisplayMode(GLUT_DOUBLE | GLUT_RGB);
      glutInitWindowSize(windowW, windowH);
      glutCreateWindow("my window");

      init();
      createMenus();

      glutDisplayFunc(display);
      glutReshapeFunc(reshape);
  // here are my keyboard and mouse event handlers
      glutKeyboardFunc(keyboard);
      glutMouseFunc(mouse);
      glutMainLoop();

      return 0;
}


// callbacks.c (pseudocode)
void keyboard(unsigned char key, int x, int y)
{
      switch(key)
      {
      case 's':
      case 'S':
            glutIdleFunc(ball);
                }
}
void mouse(int button, int state, int x, int y)
{
      switch(button)
      {

      case GLUT_LEFT_BUTTON:  // move paddle up
            if (state == GLUT_DOWN)
                glutIdleFunc(moveUp);
            else if (state == GLUT_UP)
               glutIdleFunc(NULL);
            break;
      case GLUT_RIGHT_BUTTON: // move paddle down
            if (state == GLUT_DOWN)
                glutIdleFunc(moveDown);
            else if (state == GLUT_UP)
               glutIdleFunc(NULL);
            break;
      default:
            break;
      }
}

ball()
{
    change translation parameters;
    glutPostRedisplay();
}

moveUP()
{
    change translation parameters;
    glutPostRedisplay();
}

moveDown()
{
    change translation parameters;
    glutPostRedisplay();
}


So when I press "s" the ball gets going. Now I need to move my rectangle up or down with the mouse. When I press and hold the left button it should move up, when I release it should stop. (similarly with right button).  BUT, when the mouse button is pressed the ball() function stops executing and moveUp() starts instead. Is there a way for both of them to keep executing or do I have to do my animation some other way. If so, then how do I get my rectangle to move without using glutIdleFunc(). The way you described it above it only moves by one translation parameter at each click. I need it to keep moving when the button is held down.

One thing I forgot to call glutPostRedisplay() in myIdle( )