Method and apparatus for activating buttons from a DVD bitstream using a pointing device

A DVD playback system in accordance with the principles of the present invention provides a method and apparatus in which a pointing device, such as a mouse, a joystick, or a stylus may activate "non-user" buttons while conforming to the DVD specification. The DVD playback system responds to the tentative selection of a non-user button, i.e., a target button by determining whether the target button would be a connectable destination, if any directional button were activated while the current button is selected. If the target button is accessible to the currently selected button via directional commands, the playback system determines whether there is a connectivity path between the currently selected button and the target button through one or more intermediate buttons. If such a path exists, the playback system selects each intermediate button until the target button is reached, at which point the target button is selected. If no such path exists, the system returns an error which may be used to generate an error feedback that indicates to a user that the button is not selectable by the pointing device.