How can I trace mouse moves and ignore non moves

Report · Oct 08, 2015

I have a program that records the mouse position every 300 msec over an approximately 9 minute time period.

However, I need to know the mouse position ONLY when it is not the same as the previous moment (sometimes the user stops to talk. I don't want to record 5 minutes of the same mouse position)

Here's the original program

var drawTimer:Timer = new Timer(300, 500000);

drawTimer.addEventListener(TimerEvent.TIMER, timeSampler);

function timeSampler(evt:TimerEvent):void {

{ trace (+mouseX, "," +mouseY);

}

I tried creating a variable to capture the mouse position at a specific moment

var posMouseX:Number= mouseX;

var posMouseY:Number= mouseY;

and to add a conditional statement into the function

if ((mouseX != posMouseX) && (mouseY != posMouseY))
{ trace (+mouseX, "," +mouseY);}

but I am not doing this correctly because I either get all mouse moves or none

Can anyone suggest a better way to do this?

Thanks in advance

Report · Oct 08, 2015

use MouseEvent.MUSE_MOVE

var drawTimer:Timer = new Timer(300, 500000);

drawTimer.addEventListener(TimerEvent..TIMER_COMPLETE, timeSampler); // here you have to use TIMER_COMPLETE not TIMER cause TIMER will call the function each 300 msec means the mouse event listener will be removed after 300 msec only.

stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_MOVE, onMove);

function onMove(e:MouseEvent):void

{

//trace (+mouseX, "," +mouseY); //in your code there's a comma after mouseX you have to remove it.

trace(mouseX + ", " + mouseY);

}

// on time complete remove the event listener

function timeSampler(evt:TimerEvent):void

{

stage.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_MOVE, onMove);

}

drawTimer.start();

Report · Oct 16, 2015

Thank you.

I'm trying to follow the logic.

The software is trying to capture the effort to locate a hidden target by placing the mouse in the correct location.

As each mouse move is made, it is (1) traced into the output window and (2) uploaded into an Excel file to be looked at later (this is why the comma is present)

The timer samples his position every 300 msec

Sometimes, the person doing the task will stop to talk for 2 minutes.

But the software is sampling mouse position every 300 msec the whole time and the Excel file will contain a hundred repeats of the same mouse position.

So I don't need these duplicate values I want to get rid of them before they get put into the Excel matrix

But I don't want to stop the timer.

Once the person resumes the search, I still want to record the mouse moves

Thanks

Report · Oct 17, 2015

The above code can do what you're looking for

you'll get the values only when the mouse is moving, so there will not be duplicated values

stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_MOVE, onMove);

function onMove(e:MouseEvent):void

{

trace(mouseX + ", " + mouseY);

// add your code here to record the values, for example:

// myArray.push(mouseX, mouseY);

}

as the timer still counting down and on complete it'll remove the stage event listener.

var drawTimer:Timer = new Timer(300, 500000);

drawTimer.addEventListener(TimerEvent.TIMER_COMPLETE, timeSampler);

function timeSampler(evt:TimerEvent):void

{

stage.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_MOVE, onMove);

}

drawTimer.start();

Report · Oct 19, 2015

You're brilliant!

Thank you so much

I have one question, In the original code, I was sampling mouse position every 300 msec.

Does the new code also do this? It's hard to tell/

Thanks again immeasurably!

Report · Oct 20, 2015

Thank you too, No it'll record on enter frame during the mouse move event..

But you can control it as in the following code:

Edit:

var mouseMoves: Array = [];
var recordingArray: Array = [];
var dataIndex: int = 0;
var drawTimer: Timer = new Timer(1000, 1); //your delay value is: 150000000 i used 1000 only..

drawTimer.addEventListener(TimerEvent.TIMER_COMPLETE, timeSampler); // on complete time
stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_MOVE, onMove);

function onMove(e: MouseEvent): void {
    mouseMoves.push(mouseX, mouseY); // Now it's saving all the moves on enter frame inside the "mouseMoves" Array, (24 records of mouseX & mouseY each second) 24 is the frame rate per second (FPS).
}

function timeSampler(evt: TimerEvent): void {
    stage.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_MOVE, onMove);
    trace("Enter Frame Records: " + mouseMoves);
    trace(mouseMoves.length);
    // on complete it'll record 2 values and ignore 6 values, inside the "recordingArray" using "dataIndex" variable and "for" loop statement.
    for (var i: uint = 0; i < (mouseMoves.length / 8); i++)
    {
        //1000 msec / 300 msec = 3.3 | 24 fps / 3.3 = 7.2 , let's say 8, So we have saved 8 values each 300 msec in the "mouseMoves" array but we need 2 only
        recordingArray.push(mouseMoves[dataIndex], mouseMoves[dataIndex + 1]); // record 2 values
        dataIndex += 8; // ignore the next 6 values  (jump to the next 300 msec records in the next loop)
    }

    trace("Recorded Values: " + recordingArray);
    trace(recordingArray.length);
}

drawTimer.start();

Report · Dec 23, 2015

HI. Thank you so much for your kindness . Sorry for the delay . On top of everything else, I forgot my login information

I tried your suggestion. Using the following code (which I found on the internet), I come close to what I need, b-u-t

var switcher:int = 0;
var posXa:Number = stage.mouseX;
var posYa:Number = stage.mouseY;
var posXb:Number = stage.mouseX;
var posYb:Number = stage.mouseY;

this.addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, checkMovement);

function checkMovement(e:Event):void {

{
     if (switcher == 0)
     {
          posXa = stage.mouseX;
          posYa = stage.mouseY;
          switcher = 1;
     }
     else
     {
          posXb = stage.mouseX;
          posYb = stage.mouseY;
          switcher = 0;
     }

     if (posXa == posXb && posYa == posYb)
     {
        // trace("not moving");
     }
     else
     {
    trace("moving", mouseX, "," +mouseY, "time = ", +getTimer());
}
}}

This captures the mouse position into a form transferrable to an Excel matrix to graph which shows the search path for a square target

(below is a tiny sample of the data from the above program .

moving 153 ,353 time = 20797

moving 141 ,353 time = 20841

moving 137 ,345 time = 20881

In reality, a trial can last as long as 10 minutes, so the number of data points is potentially huge, unless I can use some strategy to record mouse position only about 3 times per sec. Nothing I;ve tried so far seems to work.

Do you know what to do? I'm trying to adapt your suggestion but don't know how

Report · Dec 24, 2015

Hi, you can use this code:

var recordsArray:Array = [];

//totalMSEC: 10*60*1000 // 10 minutes, 600,000 msec

// totalMSEC /300 = 2000

var drawTimer:Timer = new Timer(300, 2000); // repeat it every 300 msec for 2000 times (total = 10 minutes)

drawTimer.addEventListener(TimerEvent.TIMER, _record);

// the timer function will run every 300 msec and it'll check if the current mouse position is already recorded or not, if it's in the same position of the last mouseY value saved in the array then it'll not record it again, that means the mouse is not moving..

function _record(e:TimerEvent):void

{

if (recordsArray[recordsArray.length-1] != mouseY)

{

recordsArray.push(mouseX, mouseY);

trace("moving: " + recordsArray[recordsArray.length-2] +", "+ recordsArray[recordsArray.length-1]);

}

drawTimer.start();

// we can add the records time if you want, but now I don't want to confuse you, try that code first

Report · Dec 28, 2015

Thank you so much,

I added your code to the bottom of the program Dec 23 .6

It seems to be detecting mouse position less frequently (as I need), but gives two mouseY coordinates and not mouseX),

Do you know why

moving 353 ,674 time = 1051 // this is from the top part of the program. When the mouse is moving

moving 248 ,621 time = 1091

moving 233 ,608 time = 1131

moving 228 ,568 time = 1175

moving 227 ,529 time = 1215

moving: 529, 529 //this is from the part you added.

moving 224 ,511 time = 1258

moving 222 ,511 time = 1298

moving 208 ,517 time = 1342

moving 186 ,531 time = 1382

moving 171 ,553 time = 1423

moving 168 ,558 time = 1494

moving 193 ,606 time = 1506

moving: 606, 606 //this is from the part you added. So it gets one of the coordinates correct.

moving 220 ,614 time = 1550

moving 218 ,614 time = 1590

moving 206 ,612 time = 1634

moving 209 ,609 time = 1674

moving 205 ,601 time = 1714

moving 194 ,573 time = 1758

moving 175 ,528 time = 1798

moving 167 ,486 time = 1845

moving: 486, 486

moving 167 ,469 time = 1883

moving 172 ,459 time = 1926

moving 183 ,449 time = 1967

moving 200 ,445 time = 2006

moving 249 ,444 time = 2050

moving 296 ,453 time = 2092

moving 322 ,474 time = 2131

moving: 474, 474

Report · Dec 28, 2015

Check the index number I think you're using the same index in trace() method:

trace("moving: " + recordsArray[recordsArray.length-2] +", "+ recordsArray[recordsArray.length-1]);// the first one is the second last record "mouseX", the second one is the last record "mouseY".

Report · Dec 28, 2015

As you said you need about 3 records each second (if the mouse moving), if you want more you can change the timer delay and repeat properties:

//totalMSEC = 10*60*1000 // 10 minutes, 600,000 msec

// totalMSEC /100 = 6000 // 10 records per second for 10 minutes

var drawTimer:Timer = new Timer(100, 6000);

Report · Dec 28, 2015

I also tried this with your code from the top

stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_MOVE, onMove);

function onMove(e:MouseEvent):void

{

trace(mouseX + ", " + mouseY);

// add your code here to record the values, for example:

// myArray.push(mouseX, mouseY);

}

var recordsArray: Array = [];

//as the timer still counting down and on complete it'll remove the stage event listener.var recordsArray: Array = [];
var totalMSEC:Number = 10*60*1000; // 10 minutes, 600,000 msec

// totalMSEC /300 = 2000
var drawTimer:Timer = new Timer(400, 20000); // repeat it every 300 msec for 2000 times (total = 10 minutes)
drawTimer.addEventListener(TimerEvent.TIMER, _record);

//the timer function will check every 300 msec if the current mouse position has been recorded, it'll not record it
function _record(e:TimerEvent):void
{
    if (recordsArray[recordsArray.length-1] != mouseY)
    {
        recordsArray.push(mouseX, mouseY);
        trace("moving: " + recordsArray[recordsArray.length-1] +", "+ recordsArray[recordsArray.length-1], "time = ", +getTimer());
    }
}

drawTimer.start();

The data looks like this

2, 334

9, 335

15, 337

20, 338

24, 339

29, 340

30, 340

30, 341

30, 342

moving: 342, 342 time = 839

33, 342

35, 341

38, 340

56, 336

86, 324

131, 305

154, 293

181, 278

189, 273

192, 272

200, 266

209, 262

216, 257

223, 251

229, 246

234, 241

239, 236

244, 231

247, 228

248, 227

249, 224

250, 223

250, 222

250, 221

248, 220

247, 219

246, 219

243, 219

238, 217

234, 216

232, 215

226, 214

222, 214

215, 214

210, 213

202, 213

194, 213

188, 213

181, 213

176, 213

170, 213

166, 213

165, 213

moving: 213, 213 time = 1218

163, 214

161, 215

158, 216

155, 217

153, 218

150, 220

146, 220

143, 221

139, 222

136, 222

132, 223

128, 223

125, 224

122, 224

117, 224

110, 224

103, 224

96, 224

90, 224

81, 223

80, 223

78, 221

76, 221

70, 218

65, 215

58, 211

51, 206

45, 202

40, 197

36, 192

32, 188

28, 182

24, 177

21, 172

18, 166

16, 161

moving: 161, 161 time = 1635

0, 113

2, 112

3, 112

4, 112

5, 112 (there are over 23 pages of numbers for a relatively brief trial, so I still need to cut the data down)

When plotted, it looks like this. I wrote my name (Joyce) which came out upsidedown. I guess the mouseY must be -mouseY

Report · Dec 28, 2015

You're a genius! It works. I can't thank you enough. I wrote this upside down. Do you know how to turn mouseY into -mouseY

Do I do it here? recordsArray.push(mouseX, -mouseY); ?

Report · Dec 28, 2015

Thank you too )

yes you can use -mouseY and it'll return a negative value, but also change the mouseY value in the if statement:

if (recordsArray[recordsArray.length-1] != -mouseY)

{

recordsArray.push(mouseX, -mouseY);

}

Report · Dec 28, 2015

As you can use:

if (recordsArray[recordsArray.length-2] != mouseX || recordsArray[recordsArray.length-1] != -mouseY) // compare the mouse x & y with the last x & y records, if the mouse moved on x or y axis you'll get a new record

{

recordsArray.push(mouseX, -mouseY);

}

How can I trace mouse moves and ignore non moves

1 Correct answer