Mouse input lag

[Pete]

Can I help it that I speak with authority? Not like some little whelp.

I have tried it as

DO:LOOP WHILE _MOUSEINPUT

But that tended to cause issues. Can't remember just what it did now though.

I vaguely remember issues with either that, or some other similar method. These days, I just stick to using WHILE:WEND.

Pete

DO: LOOP UNTIL SCREEN_0

[johannhowitzer]

Code: QB64: [Select]

1. sub update_inputs
2.  
3. call detect_devices
4.  
5. if dev_mouse = false then exit sub
6.  
7. dim mb(3)
8. for b = 1 to 3
9.    mb(b) = mouse_press(b)
10. next b
11.  
12. mouse_change = false
13. do while mouseinput <> false and mouse_change = false
14.    mx = mousex
15.    my = mousey
16.    for b = 1 to 3
17.       mb(b) = mousebutton(b)
18.       if mb(b) <> mouse_press(b) then mouse_change = true
19.    next b
20. loop
21.  
22. for b = 1 to 3
23.    mouse_hold(b) = mouse_press(b)
24.    mouse_press(b) = mb(b)
25.  
26.    if mouse_press(b) = true and mouse_hold(b) = false then
27.       mouse_press_x(b) = mx ' Store position mouse button was pressed
28.       mouse_press_y(b) = my
29.    elseif mouse_press(b) = false and mouse_hold(b) = true then
30.       mouse_release_x(b) = mx ' Store position mouse button was released
31.       mouse_release_y(b) = my
32.    end if
33. next b
34.  
35. end sub
36.  

After reading up on all this, here's the changes I made to the routine.  As I drain mouseinput, I stop it short whenever there's a change in one of the three button states, this way it keeps up, even in limit 60, but it also doesn't miss any clicks - which I read was a concern.  This appears to have no issues at all.

[SMcNeill]

The only clicks you really have to worry about missing are your scroll wheel events.  They update and clear almost instantly, so you need to track them inside your WHILE:WEND loop, but regular left/right mouse input should never be an issue for you.  ;)

[luke]

To demonstrate precisely why a simple Do: Loop While _Mouseinput is insufficient in some cases, consider the following two programs:

Code: [Select]

'Program A
$noprefix
Do
    Do: Loop While MouseInput
    If MouseButton(1) Then
        i = i + 1
        Print "Click"; i; "processing...";
        Delay 0.5
        Print "Done"
    End If
    Limit 30
Loop


Code: [Select]

'Program B
$noprefix
Do
    If MouseInput Then
        If MouseButton(1) = mouse_down Then 'Is the button still in the same position?
            Do While MouseInput
                If MouseButton(1) <> mouse_down Then Exit Do 'Process through the queue until the button changes state
            Loop
        End If
        mouse_down = MouseButton(1)
        'Do mouse processing here
        If mouse_down Then
            i = i + 1
            Print "Click"; i; "processing...";
            Delay 0.5
            Print "Done"
        End If
    End If
    Limit 30
Loop

In both cases, the intention is to capture each mouse click and perform some "processing" on it. Here our "processing" is just a delay to simulate some actual code. Run each program and do some clicks. You should see a new message printed for each click. Now try a double click (two clicks in rapid succession). Assuming you're reasonably quick, you'll notice that program A will only register the first click - any clicks done during the "processing" time are ignored. Program B avoids this by scanning through the input buffer to see if there were any click events that need to be processed.

[Pete]

@luke makes a good point about more advanced mouse usage such as double-clicks, and I'll add drag in that mix. @johannhowitzer  Personally, I strive for flow through code, so all my routines are free of _DELAY statements and continuously cycle back to the main. In the code I posted, you will notice the effects like double-click and drag are obtained by tracking time and mouse button states (pressed and released.) Frankly, I'd wish you'd change your code to the WHILE:WEND model, as it would be easier to help you implement these other features, including _MOUSEWHEEL, as @SMcNeill posted. Of course if you have all that you will ever need for this and other routines cooked into the code you posted, that's fine. I rank creativity over dogma most of the time.

Pete

[johannhowitzer]

I didn't put double click tracking in there yet, but my code does support dragging, as it not only tracks press and release, but where each happened.  This is partly so I can make sure both happened over the same hotspot - so if you click a button, hold, then release the mouse while not over the button, it won't activate it.

[Dimster]

I'm thinking this thread may have come to an end as interesting and helpful as it was.... but felt I needed to defend myself (ie @bplus .. on/off). Mark is correct, typically a light goes ON but the interchangeable use of ON/OFF is rampant in the English language .. ie "the gun when off" doesn't mean it was turned off and inactive, it means it was turned on and very active... same with the horse races "..and their off" doesn't mean the horses are off the track, it does mean they are very much on the race track and running.

And here's one which is very confusing but logical "..and the Dimster is Off, ON another of his rants."

[bplus]

I'm thinking this thread may have come to an end as interesting and helpful as it was.... but felt I needed to defend myself (ie @bplus .. on/off). Mark is correct, typically a light goes ON but the interchangeable use of ON/OFF is rampant in the English language .. ie "the gun when off" doesn't mean it was turned off and inactive, it means it was turned on and very active... same with the horse races "..and their off" doesn't mean the horses are off the track, it does mean they are very much on the race track and running.

And here's one which is very confusing but logical "..and the Dimster is Off, ON another of his rants."

Always nice to get a peek into how another thinks, very nice logical explanation, thankyou I am smiling.

[Pete]

I find this conversation to be on the whole, OFF topic.

The

.. ie "the gun when off" doesn't mean it was turned off and inactive, it means it was turned on and very active... same with the horse races "..and their off" doesn't mean the horses are off the track, it does mean they are very much on the race track and running.

 "the gun when off" Huh? How can the gun go off "when" the gun is off? Oh well, maybe a better question for that idiot actor, Alex Baldwin.

Pete

In Soviet Russia, to stay on top, you have to stay off bottom of things.

[Cobalt]

Mark is correct, typically a light goes ON but the interchangeable use of ON/OFF is rampant in the English language .. ie "the gun when off" doesn't mean it was turned off and inactive, it means it was turned on and very active... same with the horse races "..and their off" doesn't mean the horses are off the track, it does mean they are very much on the race track and running.

And here's one which is very confusing but logical "..and the Dimster is Off, ON another of his rants."

side note:
 When a gun discharges it is off, because it is safe at that point. Once a new round is chambered the gun is now "charged" or ON and is again very dangerous. as with a light bulb, when the line is unloaded(off[aka no power]) it is safe to change, how ever when the line is loaded(ON [aka has power]) you can fry yourself!

I would like to think of it as "Dimster is Off, ON another journey seeking enlightenment!"

[Dimster]

You're right @Pete, that should have read "went off" and not " when". Not sure how I missed that typo. Off my game I guess.
And @Cobalt, when it comes to the On and Off of light switches, I'm starting to hear the phrase "open/closed" with electricians, rather than On/Off. But I do agree with you, @blus called me on that use of On/Off for the proverbial enlightening light bulb.

[Dimster]

@Cobalt ... just to elaborate on that light switch "open/closed". I recently had an electrician install a water pump for me. Because there would be more people switching that switch I asked him to label the on/off positions. He labelled "pump on/ pump off". I suggested he could have just labelled on/off. He said a switch is like a circuit breaker which opens and closes but the object at the end of the line of the power will be either on or off. That phase "switched on" should in fact be "switched open"..

[bplus]

You're right @Pete, that should have read "went off" and not " when". Not sure how I missed that typo. Off my game I guess.
And @Cobalt, when it comes to the On and Off of light switches, I'm starting to hear the phrase "open/closed" with electricians, rather than On/Off. But I do agree with you, @blus called me on that use of On/Off for the proverbial enlightening light bulb.

Oh ha! I am blus now, I like it! I type that allot, @Dimster I guess you are On your game now by being Off a bit ;-))

[Dimster]

Freudian slip ... always felt it should be Aplus.