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DonationCoder.com Software => Older DC Contests and Challenges => N.A.N.Y. 2011 => Topic started by: anandcoral on December 28, 2010, 05:23 AM

Title: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: anandcoral on December 28, 2010, 05:23 AM

NANY 2011 (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?board=299.0) Entry Information

Application Name	Park Cursor Aside
Version	2.0.1
Short Description	Whenever you type on keyboard, the mouse cursor is automatically parked (moved) aside to a defined screen position. This way your view of the cocument is not blocked by the mouse cursor.
Supported OSes	Windows
Web Page	https://sites.google.com/site/parkcursoraside/
Download Link	https://sites.google.com/site/parkcursoraside/home/download/
System Requirements	WinXp or higher 512 or more RAM 1 MB or more free disk space
Version History	Version 2.0.1 New: Park relative to screen or active window. Useful in using with X-mouse behaviour. (requested by yksyks from USA and Mouser from USA) New: Park at middle of screen or active window. Useful in big monitor screen with four tiled windows. (requested by Peter Baum from Germany) New: Park after 9 keystrokes. Useful in delaying parking for some short text. (requested by Ath from NL) Version 1.1.0 New: "Disable" option in tray menu. You can select "Disable" to temporarily disable the mouse cursor parking. New: Auto changes tray icon color to green when mouse cursor is parked and to white when parking is disabled. This will help you in visually knowing the state of the application activity.
Author	Anand K Gupta

Description
1. I work mostly in text editor, coding application, and the mouse cursor shows as a bar some where on the codes, which makes it difficult to read the code behind it.
2. When I do searching on the browser, the mouse cursor creates same problem in troubling me reading the text and also some times enabling some mouse over activity on the web site, like auto menu drop down or auto image enlargement.
3. When I fill some text, number etc. in some form in a application or website, the same mouse covers the input field.

In all these above cases my vision to the text on which I am working, is obstructed by the mouse cursor. I have to lift my hand from the keyboard and physically move the mouse each and every time I am working on some text.

Features
Whenever you type on keyboard, the mouse cursor is automatically parked (moved) aside to a defined screen position. This way your view of the input field, document, where you are typing, is not blocked by the mouse cursor.

Planned Features
Depends on feedback

Usage
Installation
Unzip all the files into a folder you want, then launch the exe.

Using the Application
Run it at system start up. Work normally with your mouse and keyboard. When you start heavy use of the keyboard only, that is typing lots of text, you will notice that the mouse arrow cursor is at the edge of the screen, giving you clear view of your document.

Uninstallation
Delete the folder where you unzipped the files.

Known Issues
In some machine, the mouse cursor flickers if "Slide mouse..." is set higher than 4.

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: tomos on December 28, 2010, 06:42 AM

Sounds good anandcoral :up:

PS download link not working (but I got it from the other link...)

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: anandcoral on December 28, 2010, 12:24 PM

Yes, tomos, the template form is shortening the long download link. Please use the main link and click on "Download" on the web site.

Thanks for pointing it.

Anand

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: Ath on December 28, 2010, 02:49 PM

Just installed it and will try it for some time. Hope the White List makes it into the feature-set though :D

Thnx!

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: Ath on December 29, 2010, 08:07 AM

I've been using it for about 1 day now, and to my own surprise I even like the concept :o

A few adjustments would be nice though:
- Allow for more then 5 keystrokes before the cursor is moved away, ~140 would be nice so a quick tweet wouldn't move away the cursor, while scribbling in some code would. That makes my app white-list a bit more specific: A keystroke-count per app on the white-list, and -1 for infinite, effectively turning it off ;)
- Allow for non-ascii keys to not count as keystrokes (and maybe cursor-keys should be a special case also). I'm using keyboard navigation a lot in a lot of apps, and reading the next news/e-mail using Ctrl-U moves away the mouse cursor after 5 keystrokes.
- The cursor is always moved to it's parking-position on the main screen, even when working on a secondary monitor. It would be nice if it stayed on the same screen.
  But then I'd also like a location setting for each screen as well... (scenario: my secondary monitor is to the left of the main monitor, so I currently park the cursor on the left side (4), but when working on the second monitor I'd like to have it moved to the right side of that monitor. If I were to add a third monitor, that would be placed to the right of the main screen, and I'd park my cursor on the left side when working on that 3rd screen, and at the bottom when working on the main screen)
- A nice to have feature would also be if keystrokes where only counted when in some kind of editing mode/control

Looks like this has way more potential then I though at first sight :Thmbsup:

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: anandcoral on December 29, 2010, 10:21 AM

Thanks Ath for the feedback and suggestion   :).

I will look into them and implement as soon as possible, depending on code constraint if any. Like the dual monitor, I do not have such facility neither any of my colleague, so may have to go by the books and may need someone's help here in testing it.

Regards,

Anand

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: Ath on December 29, 2010, 10:26 AM

Thanks Ath for the feedback and suggestion   :).

-anandcoral (December 29, 2010, 10:21 AM)

You're welcome.

Like the dual monitor, I do not have such facility neither any of my colleague, so may have to go by the books and may need someone's help here in testing it.

-anandcoral (December 29, 2010, 10:21 AM)

Count me in 8)

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: mouser on January 07, 2011, 09:10 AM

this program opened my eyes to something very strange --

not using park cursor aside, just normal use, on my 2 computers running XP, it's almost impossible for me to get the bar cursor to NOT dissapear as soon as it even hovers over a text field(!)

i don't have the "hide cursor while typing" option checked in the mouse control panel, and i'm not sure where this option is being enabled, or whether it is even controllable.

i actually find this default windows behavior quite confusing and didn't realize it until i went to try Park Cursor utility and realized that my windows is doing something more extreme by default, and i don't know how to stop it.

it was only after testing, and then trying Park Cursor on a windows 7 machine that i realized this weird behavior isn't default on all windows machines..

any clues?

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: worstje on January 07, 2011, 09:48 AM

On normal Windows Edit controls, the cursor should disappear the moment you press the first key. No sooner than that, no later than that.

I am not sure what else could cause it. Have you tried making sure none of your other running apps cause this indirectly? I recall that you have an insane amount of apps running, and if any of them use a mousehook in some way, I could imagine them causing this.

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: wraith808 on January 07, 2011, 10:21 AM

Anand, I was using Park Cursor Aside while recording the screencast, and I noticed that when the cursor is parked, input focus is taken from whatever you're typing in.  Is this something that's happening on my installation, or is it a known thing?  And is it possible to put the focus back to whatever you're working on?  It's a pretty slick idea and implementation, but that bit with grabbing focus makes it not as useful as it could be.

Thoughts?

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: mouser on January 07, 2011, 10:33 AM

i didnt lose focus when using Park Cursor Aside -- wraith are you sure you dont have a different utility running that is set to move the focus to the application under the cursor at all times?  that should be easy enough to check just by moving cursor to various windows and seeing if focus follows it.

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: wraith808 on January 07, 2011, 11:29 AM

I know I don't have anything like that.. I hate such things.  Maybe it's some other interaction.... I'll have to check.

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: anandcoral on January 09, 2011, 05:43 AM

@wraith808, PCA moves the mouse cursor only and does not effect focus. Set "Slide mouse.." to 0 (zero) if it is higher, for quicker parking. Also you may try "Park at..screen edge' different values for different screen position and check. The "Park pixel..inward..", I made to not activate some toolbox which are normally at the screen edge, which get activated if mouse cursor comes near it. Let me know if it helped.

@mouser, to use the Windows option to "Hide pointer while typing", go to "Control Panel \ Printer and other.. \ Mouse \ Pointer option (tab) \ Hide pointer while typing (checkbox)" enable this check box. But this works only in MS Word, Excel etc. properly. Other applications either do not see it or do not use it.

Anand

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: Ath on January 09, 2011, 05:49 AM

I'm still using PCA, so probably it's going to stay for a while :)

Do you have something to test on dual-monitor setups, or added a white- or black-list already? (Didn't mention that last one before, but it's a possible alternative or addendum to a white-list ofcourse)

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: wraith808 on January 09, 2011, 10:32 AM

park cursor aside

@wraith808, PCA moves the mouse cursor only and does not effect focus. Set "Slide mouse.." to 0 (zero) if it is higher, for quicker parking. Also you may try "Park at..screen edge' different values for different screen position and check. The "Park pixel..inward..", I made to not activate some toolbox which are normally at the screen edge, which get activated if mouse cursor comes near it. Let me know if it helped.

-anandcoral (January 09, 2011, 05:43 AM)

Ah, I see... using that setting helped immensely!  Thanks!

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: anandcoral on January 10, 2011, 01:12 AM

wraith808,  :)

Ath, I am bit busy with my commercial project right now. Hope to get free time in a week or so, to take care of PCA and others.

Anand

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: anandcoral on January 11, 2011, 09:37 AM

Can I put the link of this "Donationcoder" page on the PCA web page ?

If yes, what image I can use of "Donationcoder" ? Also I request to put link of the main "donationcoder.com"

if no, no problem.

BTW, found in Google search, PCA got reviewed in "http://www.worthytips.com/13883/park-cursor-free-alternative-cursor.html" and "http://www.worthytips.com/13883/park-cursor-free-alternative-cursor.html"

Thanks guys.  :)

Anand

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: yksyks on January 11, 2011, 11:00 AM

I like the idea, because as mentioned above, the "Hide pointer while typing" option usually doesn't work. However, I even didn't try this app, as I'm completely addicted to the X-mouse behavior so I can imagine what would happen on all my machines—losing focus instantly.

Would it be possible to move the cursor relatively to the application's window, for example to its title bar?

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: mouser on January 11, 2011, 11:06 AM

Would it be possible to move the cursor relatively to the application's window, for example to its title bar?

that's a clever idea -- or to bottom or right edge of window.

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: Perry Mowbray on January 12, 2011, 11:56 PM

Can I put the link of this "Donationcoder" page on the PCA web page ?

If yes, what image I can use of "Donationcoder" ? Also I request to put link of the main "donationcoder.com"

-anandcoral (January 11, 2011, 09:37 AM)

Certainly: most other people do.

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: anandcoral on January 13, 2011, 12:07 PM

Thanks Perry. Will make required addition in the website soon.

yksyks, I know PCA do not work with x-mouse option, as the focus gets removed. But am thankful to you and Mouser, for the very good suggestion. Will definitely try to implement the same.

Hope to get some free time this weekend.

One request, if possible, please try to add the required feature suggestion in the feedback form, at the Feedback page of the website ( direct link https://sites.google.com/site/parkcursoraside/home/feedback ). This will help me to gather all points at one place and also to make the FAQ list.

Regards,

Anand

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: anandcoral on January 16, 2011, 10:38 AM

Hi friends,

Released Version 2.0.1

# New: Park relative to screen or active window. Useful in using with X-mouse behaviour. (requested by yksyks from USA and Mouser from USA)

# New: Park at middle of screen or active window. Useful in big monitor screen with four tiled windows. (requested by Peter Baum from Germany)

# New: Park after 9 keystrokes. Useful in delaying parking for some short text. (requested by Ath from NL)

These are the few which I managed, as of now, from my hectic schedules. Next priority is multi-monitor, which I feel is most important.

It is due to your feedback, I can make such a useful application, so keep sending them. I also added our donationcoder 2011 ribbon and the links of some review websites, in the PCA website.

Regards,

Anand

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: Ath on January 16, 2011, 11:42 AM

Hi Anand,

Thanks for the update.  :up:
I requested a higher number of keystrokes, before the cursor would be parked, and still think 9 is a very low number. The original request of 140 was no joke, but any limit removed would also be just fine, imho. It's just that a spinner wouldn't be needed any more then, just a suggestion that 5 to 10 keystrokes would be a nice default.
The other feature requests I'll wait for a bit more ;)

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: wraith808 on January 16, 2011, 11:44 AM

^ Let me echo his thanks, and the need for a higher number.  I really only want it to park when I'm in the middle of coding or writing... not when I'm filling out a field, as that makes it more trouble than it's worth.

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: anandcoral on January 18, 2011, 05:12 AM

Ath, have faith. There is some reason why I could not give more than 10 keystrokes.

I still have some steps to take, and need feedback to below queries,

1. Is the 'park relative to window' option working correctly ?
2. Is this option works perfectly with x-mouse behavior enabled ?
3. Is this option keeps the mouse cursor in the secondary monitor where it was originally, instead of moving to the primary monitor ?

Feedback on the above will help me fixing the logic for next version.

"I may give a smaller tomato but will never give a rotten one, as it is not the tomato people will remember but my name".

Regards,

Anand

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: Ath on January 18, 2011, 05:54 AM

Ath, have faith. There is some reason why I could not give more than 10 keystrokes.

-anandcoral (January 18, 2011, 05:12 AM)

Don't worry, but I was already afraid, when you didn't go past 9, it was something special...

1. Is the 'park relative to window' option working correctly ?
3. Is this option keeps the mouse cursor in the secondary monitor where it was originally, instead of moving to the primary monitor ?

-anandcoral (January 18, 2011, 05:12 AM)

Yup, it solves my dual-monitor request for now.

2. Is this option works perfectly with x-mouse behavior enabled ?

-anandcoral (January 18, 2011, 05:12 AM)

Don't use that, so can't comment on it.

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: Ath on January 18, 2011, 06:04 AM

Oh, and Skype hides the cursor when you are typing, so I'll add that to the ignore list when we have that ;)
The cursor is moved to the designated position, though, as expected :up:

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: anandcoral on January 20, 2011, 12:18 AM

yksyks, please give some feedback on PCA 2.0.1 useful in using with X-mouse behavior or not ?
Mouser, please ?

Now I myself am finding the park relative to window, better than relative to screen. You see, now the mouse cursor does not block my view of the document or field, but still is near by, specially on large monitor. Planning to make this as default for next version. But some more feedback on it will be appreciated.

Anand

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: Ath on January 30, 2011, 09:37 AM

More and more to my own surprise I'm beginning to love this tool. I've even enabled it at startup on my work-computer 8)
After some weeks of use I'm still not fed up with it, as I expected at first :-\

Now I myself am finding the park relative to window, better than relative to screen. You see, now the mouse cursor does not block my view of the document or field, but still is near by, specially on large monitor. Planning to make this as default for next version. But some more feedback on it will be appreciated.

-anandcoral (January 20, 2011, 12:18 AM)

I'd totally agree with this change, all I need now is the higher count of keystrokes and the black-list/white-list features. Don't rush, I understand you're busy with other stuff, but it would be really nice to have...

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: mouser on March 26, 2012, 05:43 PM

Featured on ghacks today:
http://www.ghacks.net/2012/03/26/park-cursor-aside-moves-the-mouse-cursor-when-you-start-typing/

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: dglp on April 06, 2012, 01:04 PM

This is a nice discovery!
Thanks!

Title: Re: NANY 2011 Release: Park Cursor Aside
Post by: TaoPhoenix on April 06, 2012, 05:30 PM

I am trying this out now!

It looks cute!
Go Anand! : )

Fun tip: Set the settings to push the mouse closest to the button you need to press like "Save" or "Post".