Feature suggestion, Changing Cursor icon

x64 Replacement/Alternative to Microsoft's IntelliMouse application.
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nabkawe
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Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Oct 04, 2018 9:31 am

Feature suggestion, Changing Cursor icon

Post by nabkawe »

First of all thank you, this app has made my work a lot easier and faster, you can't believe the hours I saved this month using this software, naturally I donated as soon as I could, I'm sure I'll continue to do so over time without expectations of support or updates.

I have small suggestions that'll go a long way towards making this application a bit more perfect and all of them involve Cursor icons.

* Button held is an amazing command it's what I use most, it's very versatile but lacks visual feedback.
I can't tell if the time set was passed sometimes and I end up with lots of trial and error, that why if you assign a unique cursor icons for each time stage it would make it a lot easier to utilize all three stages knowing I could cancel the command by moving the mouse anytime I mess my timing up.

* Simulated Key strokes, again to provide visual feedback it would be great if an hour glass cursor can be used as part of the simulated key strokes line like so {ShowCursorBusy} ---- commands --- {DisableCursorBusy}

* Layers and Cursor icon, Cursor icons can also be used to indicate the number of layer currently in use, making it a lot easier to navigate in apps that blocks the task bar.

Thank you so much for all of your hard work, I don't expect this feature to be implemented though I think you'll appreciate the usefulness it'll introduce to the app.
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phil
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Posts: 7627
Joined: Sun Apr 06, 2003 11:12 pm

Re: Feature suggestion, Changing Cursor icon

Post by phil »

Well, that's a good idea that I hadn't considered :). XMBC does use cursors when locking the axis and when changing movement to scroll so its something that can be done. My only concern is that changing the mouse cursor system wide is strangely very CPU intensive (I don't know why) so if I can figure out a way to do so without too much resource usage that introduces lag, then I will give it a go.

Consider it added to my todo list (no promises as to when I might get round to it :)).
--[ Phil ]--
--[ Administrator & XMBC Author ]--
Logitech G9/G604/M720/MX518, Microsoft Intellimouse, Trust 16341 BT Mouse
Windows 10 x64, AMD Ryzen 5900x, MSI x570 Tomahawk, 32GB DDR4,
nVidia RTX 2070s, Evo 970 1Tb NVME, 2x2TB WD Black (RAID1)
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phil
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Re: Feature suggestion, Changing Cursor icon

Post by phil »

One problem, I cant set animated cursors globally - that is, I have to change the system cursors when doing this, and MIcrosoft's SetSystemCursor API (which is the only way to do it as far as I can see) does not animate the cursors..

So setting the busy cursor from simkeys will show the hour glass/blue circle but it will not animate :(.
--[ Phil ]--
--[ Administrator & XMBC Author ]--
Logitech G9/G604/M720/MX518, Microsoft Intellimouse, Trust 16341 BT Mouse
Windows 10 x64, AMD Ryzen 5900x, MSI x570 Tomahawk, 32GB DDR4,
nVidia RTX 2070s, Evo 970 1Tb NVME, 2x2TB WD Black (RAID1)
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sukemaru
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Re: Feature suggestion, Changing Cursor icon

Post by sukemaru »

Instead of changing the entire cursor, I will suggest to let numeric-icons (symbols) or pop-up-hint appear near the normal mouse-pointer, additionally :?:

suke
Logitech AnywhereMX (7 Btn), M555b (5 Btn) w/ SetPoint v6.32
Microsoft WirelessLaserMouse8000 (5 Btn), WLM5000 (5 Btn) w/ IntelliPoint v6.30
XMBC: now Latest BETA as Portable (since v1.48, 2009)
OS: WinXP SP3 (32bit) / Locale: JPN
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phil
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Re: Feature suggestion, Changing Cursor icon

Post by phil »

Yes that would be nice, but unfortunately, while doing this in your own application may be relatively trivial, doing it system wide is less so, the only way I can think of doing it would be to create a new top level window that moves with the cursor - and goes above all other windows - effectively creating my own entire cursor view - and that might not play well with other top level windows, or in games (actually changing the cursor probably wont play well in games either).

The "simple" solution might be to add such glyphs to the cursor itself (maybe dynamically by merging the cursor image and an overlay image) and let Windows worry about displaying it, it just wont be animated while in this state.

Either way, its not a simple quick solution...
--[ Phil ]--
--[ Administrator & XMBC Author ]--
Logitech G9/G604/M720/MX518, Microsoft Intellimouse, Trust 16341 BT Mouse
Windows 10 x64, AMD Ryzen 5900x, MSI x570 Tomahawk, 32GB DDR4,
nVidia RTX 2070s, Evo 970 1Tb NVME, 2x2TB WD Black (RAID1)
PerArheim
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Joined: Thu Aug 29, 2019 12:05 pm

Layer status notification issue (Re: Feature suggestion, Changing Cursor icon)

Post by PerArheim »

Let me piggyback on that for an add-on request / workaround question:

Alternative 1: An optional, floating, passive x-mouse micro notification window in “on top” mode, just showing current layer selection icon or number/name info at x2 magnification or so.

Alternative 2: Any suggestion to some convenient software workaround like an x-mouse “layer info mode” for “lcd smartie”, or any kind of minimal window tool that can duplicate the x-mouse taskbar icon real time status, even when the taskbar is out of view while windows magnifying glass is active.

Reason for asking:

I do texts and edits with voice recognition, on triple monitors, with Windows magnifier at 300% or so. I need the taskbar out of view since it’s distracting and competes for space with the on-screen keyboard. Osk.exe works like a charm as a platform for layer shifts and volume control hovers, besides the core keyboard function at mouse level. But I move between 6 layers for editing commands and when I lose track of which layer is current, I don’t want to move around the magnified desktop each time for a reality check with the taskbar.

A program like DesktopZoom3.5 gets close for example, but conflicts with Windows native magnifier. I’m thinking I might be able to get there with a separate machine using teamviewer on a dedicated screen, but it would feel like overkill somehow.

On a side note to Phil - I just sent a small donation for my X-Mouse use. It’s not intended as that support sweetener you specifically ask to be spared from - just an overdue thanks for my long use of x-mouse.

Superfluous sys ref: two separate cases with Phenom II X4 965 and Pentium G3258 respectively, 16 GB and Win7 64, to the bitter end.

Cheers!
Polisson
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Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Jan 02, 2013 4:12 pm

Re: Feature suggestion, Changing Cursor icon

Post by Polisson »

Yep! Definitely needed feature. In my daily workflow, CAD apps, and few AHK scripts, would be nice to get feedback on held actions or switching layers.
In my thinking the best way to implement this is to make little executable/hooking method which takes default actual system cursors, adds some glyphs to them (reproduces), paces them on a drive and replaces those OS default ones.
... but just thinking.. :wink: :idea:
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