NANY 2011 Pledge: cursor mover (hider)

[anandcoral]

I like to pledge to make a freeware in the line of Cursor Hider (which is shareware). I found this utility useful for me, but expected it to be a freeware, as the logic seems obvious (as a programmer). After Google did not help in such freeware utility and also here at Donation-coder I could not find such, so I made a crude one which does similar job for me.  
I pledge to make it a proper utility so that user (non-programmers) can use it easily.

Since this is my first pledge in Donation-coder, please guide me if I am pledging wrong.

Another utility I found as pledge (teaser) which I am trying to make i.e. User-Editable Help Menu. I actually was planning in the line of a separate utility in tray, which will monitor all open programs and show some indication if any notes for the program is available, also allow to add/edit/view the notes for it. This I do not think, I will be able to make by Dec 2011 end. Hope some one else may make it.

Anand

[mouser]

Great! Welcome to the site Anand! 

[anandcoral]

Thanks Mouser for the encouragement 

I have nearly complete the application and also made a web site for download and feedback. I am using the application daily to iron out any problems detected.

Now what ? When do I send the link of the website and the details of the application ? Do I have to send it on the night of 31 December 2010 ? Also adding a message in this thread will do or I need to post somewhere else ? Please guide.

TIA

Anand

[Perry Mowbray]

Now what ? When do I send the link of the website and the details of the application ? Do I have to send it on the night of 31 December 2010 ? Also adding a message in this thread will do or I need to post somewhere else ? Please guide.

-anandcoral (December 18, 2010, 02:25 AM)

If you Modify your Original Post you can add the NANY Template (using the "Add Preset Text.." dropdown):

Just fill in the appropriate details as required. Check other Entries to see what other people have done, and check the instructions on NANY 2011 :: Announcement thread.

You can add details, or more details, of your application at any time, you can also add "Teaser" versions for people to try before the final release if you like.

If your application is finished you can add it to the Original Post at any time before December 31 (The title of the Thread should reflect what stage your Entry is at: Pledge -> Teaser -> Release.

 

[anandcoral]

Thanks Perry.

Dear All, I have made a web site and uploaded the application for some feedback, if any. The application is more or less complete, but as we all developer know, the software always works correctly on developer's machine. So I request you all to help me on this regard.

I have tried to get idea from many big and small web site and tried to make mine as simple and as complete as possible. May be here too someone will give me some valued advise.

Below are the details of the application. Check the web site for more.

Park Cursor Aside
Version 1.0.6
Dated 20 Dec 2010
Freeware
(c) 2010 Anand K Gupta
Web site: https://sites.google.com/site/parkcursoraside/

Description (of the application) :

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 is not
blocked by the mouse cursor.

Right click on tray icon and select Settings, to define the parking position and
other values.


Benefits (of using it) :

After you click on a input field and start typing, you will notice that the
mouse cursor is blocking your view to the input field. You have to move the
mouse to see the input field properly. Sometimes this creates irritation.

Further if you are reading a webpage and using up/down keys to scroll the page.
Now if the mouse cursor is somewhere on the middle of the page and a link
happens to come near the it due to up/down movement of the page, some poup may
open due to mouse over javascript, which you did not intended and distract you.
This again forces you to move the mouse cursor aside.

Park Cursor Aside does this all for you automatically.


Installation (on computer) :

Unzip all the files into a directory you want, then launch it.

Hope you will find it useful.

Regards,

Anand

[skwire]

Nice application.  Well done. 

You may want to consider disabling the movement function while the options dialog is present.  That way, the cursor doesn't go away if people decide to type values into the options instead of using the up/down controls.  Also, an enable/disable via a hotkey or tray menu would be nice, too. 

[skwire]

Hmmm...I did notice the mouse cursor stuttering (and CPU spikes) while using this app.  By chance, are you polling the mouse position constantly?

[worstje]

Description (of the application) :

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 is not
blocked by the mouse cursor.

...

Benefits (of using it) :

After you click on a input field and start typing, you will notice that the
mouse cursor is blocking your view to the input field. You have to move the
mouse to see the input field properly. Sometimes this creates irritation.

-anandcoral (December 21, 2010, 04:14 AM)

I haven't tried your app, but I wonder what is different compared to the builtin Windows support for mouse cursors? If I click on an edit box and start to type, my mouse cursor already becomes invisible. Admittedly, it doesn't go to some other spot, but it does go invisible.

I might try your app later, thanks for the entry!

[anandcoral]

Thank you all for the feedback.

Thanks for the suggestion, Skwire. We will try to implement the enable/disable option. Yes we are polling the mouse cursor and keyboard but no such visible flicker shows here. Anyway will try to add some delay in polling.

Worstje, before making this application, we tried built in Windows setting, in fact it is enabled still now, but it only work well in MS programs. Other programs like Chrome, auto re-enable the mouse cursor or ignores this setting.

Hope to see more feedback. Thanks again. 

Anand

[anandcoral]

Dear All,

The final version of Park Cursor Aside is released today.

https://sites.google.com/site/parkcursoraside/

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.
- Changed: Internal logic changed to speed up key trapping.

Please keep sending suggestion, to make it even better.

Anand

NANY 2011 Entry Information

Application Name	Park Cursor Aside
Version	1.1.0
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 input field is not blocked by the mouse cursor.
Supported OSes	WinXp and higher
Web Page	https://sites.google...ite/parkcursoraside/
Download Link	https://sites.google...raside/home/download
System Requirements	WinXp or higher 512 or more RAM 1 MB or more free hard disk space
Author	Anand K Gupta

[Ath]

A white-list of applications to enable this feature on would be quite helpful, as like you already noted, the mousepointer only hinders sight in some and not all applications, and it could automagically enable when needed.

[anandcoral]

Dear @Ath, "Park Cursor Aside" works with all applications.

Windows built in mouse hider do not work with all applications. Hence I made "Park Cursor Aside".

Anand

[worstje]

I think Ath's point is that there might be applications you don't want to use "Park Cursor Aside" on. Maybe an app will bug out since it wants to do its own thing with the mouse cursor, maybe the mouse cursor serves a purpose while typing, etc - an easy opt-in or the opposite, an opt-out principle on a per-application basis would be very useful I imagine. Manually turning PCA on and off each time I switch to an app I use often would piss me off really quickly and make me just leave PCA off all the time.

[Ath]

worstje couldn't have said better what I was trying to achieve...

[anandcoral]

Hmm. understood, "Exclude programs" list option is the suggestion.

I will need some time to implement the same, but let me tell you why I made PCA.

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 the program in use is not important, but my vision to the text on which I am working is important and the mouse cursor is creating hindrance to it. I want the mouse cursor to behave like my slave rather than I have to lift my hand from the keyboard and physically move the mouse each and every time I am working on some text.

So unless and until you face problem with the mouse cursor, PCA is useless. People do face the problem so much that there is a shareware application "Cursor Hider" available for some 20$. PCA was born because I expected this simple feature to be freeware.

Hope I have be able to clarify the purpose of the application.

Anand

[Ath]

anandcoral it's fully clear why you created PCA, you said that earlier. It's just that I (or possibly we) don't need it's services until we use an app that 'misbehaves'. Just then, and only then, I'd like to use the services of PCA to move away the cursor. So here's the reason I would like the opt-in list instead of an opt-out list, I'd be adding every app I use except the ones that are misbehaving/annoying...

[anandcoral]

Agreed.

I will request you to use PCA in your day to day activity and see in which application you want the mouse cursor to stay put where it is, while you are typing on the keyboard. Please note that when you use a editor, there are two cursors; one which stays at place of key entering (PCA do not touch it) and another which changes to 'bar' sign or arrow sign, depending on where it is (PCA moves this cursor). I may not have encountered any such application where I will want the 'bar' cursor to stay along with the 'key' cursor, but will like to check and definitely will make option to counter it.

If you use both mouse and keyboard, for say, clicking on object and pressing space to select, then obviously you will not want PCA to move the mouse cursor. Set "Park after <x> keystrokes" to say, 4 and you will notice that the mouse stays where it is required.

Only when you start typing a document, filling a form etc. you will need the mouse cursor to move aside, and PCA will handle it automatically.

Anand