Quark Forums

Hi, all,

wouldn't it be cool if you could have a blinking, moving, transparent mouse cursor that even differs per page, maybe displays the current page number?

Here's how:

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1. Create the mouse cursor as you like it. Go wild, make it transparent (with blends even), cut out elements, even use Animations.

2. Group all your objects (if you just have one, ignore)

3. Name the group as "MyMouse", make sure it is the top most object. To name a group, make sure your object tool is selected and you see the dashed line of the group.

4. Create a script, name it "Page 1 entry". This script needs to hide the current mouse cursor, move the object to the current mouse position and make the new object follow your mouse. Easy:
4.1. First action "Cursor > Hide" (easy to understand, right?)
4.2. Second action "Object > Set Position", object "MyMouse", method "X/Y coordinates", X: "Environment.GetXMouse()", Y: "Environment.GetYMouse()" (type the last two or use the Expressions Editor to easily create them)
4.3. Action "Object > Drag", Object "MyMouse"

5. Set the newly created script as the Page Entry script for page 1.
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You need to repeat that for each page where you want such a cursor. If not, just use the "Cursor > Show" as a page exit script to show a standard cursor.

Enjoy!
Matthias

P.S.: If you want to adjust your cursor, so that it is maybe a cross and the hit area is in the middle, use "Environment.GetXMouse()-20" (assuming your cross is 40 pixels wide).

Hi Matthias,

This sounds good! Is there any way you can designate an area within a page that allows this mouse action, but for anywhere else on the page it reverts to a normal pointer?

I was just thinking that this could be good to only activate when moved over a image for instance, and the cursor changes to information about that image - and disappears when it moves away.

Hi, Jonathan,

Jonathan:

This sounds good! Is there any way you can designate an area within a page that allows this mouse action, but for anywhere else on the page it reverts to a normal pointer?

sure, just use the script I described as a mouse over script.

If you want an area just put an (invisible) object where you want that behavior. Define two events and actions for this object:
1. Mouse enter -> Run Script (as described above)
2. Mouse exit -> Run Script (as described below)

To get your cursor to show as before again, create a script doing:
a) Object > Drop MyMouse (stops dragging)
b) Object > Set Position > MyMouse > 0/1024 (so just some xy-coordinates that are off the page to move object in invisble area of the page)
c) Show Cursor OS (to show the operating system mouse cursor)

Enjoy!
Matthias

Excellent! Thank you :D