Select a game object and perform actions using GUI.Button (EventTrigger) - button

I am currently working on a strategy game and I want to preform actions using GUI.Button on game objects. I am using ray cast and mouse click to select the object however when I click on GUI.Button to take out another action the button disappears. I want to use that button to open up another GUI.Box to show some descriptions.
I know why the button is disappearing, it is because I am projecting the ray cast to my button clicks in the update function but how can I avoid this? I also know that I have to use EventTrigger however I am not familiar with javascript event trigger, I searched online but I couldn't find any helpful javascript.
Screenshots:
Here is my script:
#HideInInspector
var isCalled:int = 0;
#HideInInspector
var scWidth:int = 0;
#HideInInspector
var scHeight:int = 0;
function Start () {
scWidth = Screen.width;
scHeight = Screen.height;
}
function Update () {
if (Input.GetMouseButtonDown(0)) {
var ray : Ray = Camera.main.ScreenPointToRay (Input.mousePosition);
var hit : RaycastHit;
if (Physics.Raycast (ray, hit)) {
if (hit.collider.tag == "House") {
isCalled = 1;
} else{
isCalled = 0;
}
}
}
}
function OnGUI(){
if(isCalled==1)
GUI.Button(Rect(scWidth/2,(scHeight/2)+(scHeight/4),120,120), name);
}
}

If I understood you right, the problem is that when you click on button the raycast is fired up before button click and you select different object or no object at all and button disappears or reappears but for another object, what you need to do is check if you clicked on GUI and if yes don't project the raycast that selects the objects. Here is how you are gonna do it.
var selectedUI : GameObject = EventSystem.current.currentSelectedGameObject;
if (Input.GetMouseButtonDown(0) && selectedUI) {
var ray : Ray = Camera.main.ScreenPointToRay (Input.mousePosition);
var hit : RaycastHit;
if (Physics.Raycast (ray, hit)) {
if (hit.collider.tag == "House") {
isCalled = 1;
} else{
isCalled = 0;
}
}
}
I work in C#, so I might have done some syntax errors, but the logic is right.

There is a good trick when using legacy GUI system to avoid raycast when mouse is over GUI elements. Using tooltip to controll if you may cast your ray =)
Something like this (I also don't work with US so may I it needs some work):
var hover : String;
function OnGUI(){
if(GUI.Button (Rect (10,10,100,20), "My Button"));
hover = GUI.tooltip;
function Update () {
if(hover != "") {
// raycast logic
}
}
If you need to avoid raycast when your "popUp" window/panel is shown but you don't want a tooltip on it you may approach using a MouseOverGUI manager too.
It is just a static or singleton holding a boolean that you will set true when your mouse is over some rect that you don't want to cast rays using Rect.Contains(Event.current.mousePosition) and to false whenever it runs out of this rect.
Use this bool with or without tooltip var to allow raycast:
if(!MouseManager.MouseOverGUI) {
// raycast logic
}
Note that creating your rect on each OnGUI cycle will difficult to catch it and control the MouseOveGUI. Also it is a bad practice for performance because OnGUI runs more than once per frame so I'll suggest you to create you rects just once (recalculate it just when needed) and pass it to your GUI elements ;)

I think the easiest way is to create a GameObject(input blocker) which is not visible but have a collider. Place it in between the camera and level objects and deactivate it. When you select a GameObject using Raycast you enable that input blocker GameObject and place it around the area of selected GameObject and GUI. Then you have to ignore the selection if raycast is collided with Input Blocker. When you deselect the Gameobject then you deactivate input blocker
You should also maintain current state of the game for example:
enum State
{
NothingSelected = 0,
GameobjectSelected,
BigMenuOpen
}
State currentState;
So according to state you can define the behavior on mouse click. Like if Full screen menu is Open then raycast does not fire.

Related

How can i optimize the creation of meshes?

I've added a functionality that let's you create meshes when you click on the ground. But for some reason when I walk near the mesh the browser lags a lot. It doesnt't happen with the meshes I make when i create the scene.
This is how i create the object
scene.registerBeforeRender(function () {
window.addEventListener("click", function (evt) {
var pickResult = scene.pick(evt.clientX, evt.clientY, evt.clientZ);
if (pickResult.hit) {
createBlock(pickResult.pickedPoint.x, pickResult.pickedPoint.y, pickResult.pickedPoint.z);
}
});
});
function createBlock(x, y, z) {
var box = BABYLON.MeshBuilder.CreateBox("box", { height: 3, width: 3, depth: 3 }, scene);
box.position.x = x;
box.position.y = y + 1;
box.position.z = z;
box.checkCollisions = true;
}
I believe It's something related to the onClick event as I tried the same method on a keyPush event and it works just fine
I have just found out. I deleted
scene.registerBeforeRender(function () {
and now it works fine
Just my two cents for this -
The reason it lagged is because you registered a click listener after every frame rendered. meaning, technically, 60 callbacks were registered every second. So when you clicked after a few seconds, hundreds of callbacks were called one after the other. No fun :-)
Your solution was the right thing to do - register the click even one time, and execute the box creation when you click.
To save a bit of work, and do it "the babylon way", you could instead do this:
scene.onPointerDown = function (evt, pickResult) {
// if the click hits
if (pickResult.hit) {
// do your thing here
createBlock(pickResult.pickedPoint);
}
};
function createBlock(pickedPosition) {
var box = BABYLON.MeshBuilder.CreateBox("box", { height: 3, width: 3, depth: 3 }, scene);
box.position.copyFrom(pickedPosition);
box.checkCollisions = true;
}
This way babylon takes care of handling the event registration for you, so pick and touch events are also registered (and not only clicks). It also takes care of removing the event listeners when the scene is disposed.

Redrawing the globe

When toggling the visibility of 3D KmlPolygons or modifying style properties the globe doesn't update directly afterwards. Rather, you need to trigger an update by moving your mouse around. There's an internal redraw function that's only called at certain times, but I don't know how to invoke it.
To get the map to update I've made this function:
redraw : function (ge) {
ge = setDefault(ge, this.ge);
if (typeof obj == 'undefined' && ge) {
Log.info('Earth redraw');
ge.getWindow().setVisibility(false);
ge.getWindow().setVisibility(true);
} else {
Log.error('Earth redraw failed');
}
}
It toggles the window visibility and forces an update, but this causes a flash on some computers and isn't too elegant. Is there an alternative?
Try to copy the camera and set it again. I don't know if this will work, but if it works it should not make any flash
var lookAt = ge.getView().copyAsLookAt(ge.ALTITUDE_RELATIVE_TO_GROUND);
ge.getView().setAbstractView(lookAt);

How to keep a list from scrolling on dataProvider refresh/update/change?

I have a simple list and a background refresh protocol.
When the list is scrolled down, the refresh scrolls it back to the top. I want to stop this.
I have tried catching the COLLECTION_CHANGE event and
validateNow(); // try to get the component to reset to the new data
list.ensureIndexIsVisible(previousIndex); // actually, I search for the previous data id in the IList, but that's not important
This fails because the list resets itself after the change (in DataGroup.commitProperties).
I hate to use a Timer, ENTER_FRAME, or callLater(), but I cannot seem to figure out a way.
The only other alternatives I can see is sub-classing the List so it can catch the dataProviderChanged event the DataGroup in the skin is throwing.
Any ideas?
Actually MUCH better solution to this is to extend DataGroup. You need to override this.
All the solutions here create a flicker as the scrollbar gets resetted to 0 and the it's set back to the previous value. That looks wrong. This solution works without any flicker and the best of all, you just change DataGroup to FixedDataGroup in your code and it works, no other changes in code are needed ;).
Enjoy guys.
public class FixedDataGroup extends spark.components.DataGroup
{
private var _dataProviderChanged:Boolean;
private var _lastScrollPosition:Number = 0;
public function FixedDataGroup()
{
super();
}
override public function set dataProvider(value:IList):void
{
if ( this.dataProvider != null && value != this.dataProvider )
{
dataProvider.removeEventListener(CollectionEvent.COLLECTION_CHANGE, onDataProviderChanged);
}
super.dataProvider = value;
if ( value != null )
{
value.addEventListener(CollectionEvent.COLLECTION_CHANGE, onDataProviderChanged);
}
}
override protected function commitProperties():void
{
var lastScrollPosition:Number = _lastScrollPosition;
super.commitProperties();
if ( _dataProviderChanged )
{
verticalScrollPosition = lastScrollPosition;
}
}
private function onDataProviderChanged(e:CollectionEvent):void
{
_dataProviderChanged = true;
invalidateProperties();
}
override public function set verticalScrollPosition(value:Number):void
{
super.verticalScrollPosition = value;
_lastScrollPosition = value;
}
}
I ll try to explain my approach...If you are still unsure let me know and I ll give you the source code as well.
1) Create a variable to store the current scroll position of the viewport.
2) Add Event listener for Event.CHANGE and MouseEvent.MOUSE_WHEEL on the scroller and update the variable created in step 1 with the current scroll position;
3) Add a event listener on your viewport for FlexEvent.UpdateComplete and set the scroll position to the variable stored.
In a nutshell, what we are doing is to have the scroll position stored in variable every time user interacts with it and when our viewport is updated (due to dataprovider change) we just set the scroll position we have stored previously in the variable.
I have faced this problem before and solved it by using a data proxy pattern with a matcher. Write a matcher for your collection that supports your list by updating only changed objects and by updating only attributes for existing objects. The goal is to avoid creation of new objects when your data source refreshes.
When you have new data for the list (after a refresh), loop through your list of new data objects, copying attributes from these objects into the objects in the collection supporting your list. Typically you will match the objects based on id. Any objects in the new list that did not exist in the old one get added. Your scroll position will normally not change and any selections are usually kept.
Here is an example.
for each(newObject:Object in newArrayValues){
var found:Boolean = false;
for each(oldObject:Object in oldArrayValues){
if(oldObject.id == newObject.id){
found = true;
oldObject.myAttribute = newObject.myAttribute;
oldObject.myAttribute2 = newObject.myAttribute2;
}
}
if(!found){
oldArrayValues.addItem(newObject);
}
}
My solution for this problem was targeting a specific situation, but it has the advantage of being very simple so perhaps you can draw something that fits your needs from it. Since I don't know exactly what issue you're trying to solve I'll give you a description of mine:
I had a List that was progressively loading data from the server. When the user scrolled down and the next batch of items would be added to the dataprovider, the scrollposition would jump back to the start.
The solution for this was as simple as stopping the propagation of the COLLECTION_CHANGE event so that the List wouldn't catch it.
myDataProvider.addEventListener(
CollectionEvent.COLLECTION_CHANGE, preventRefresh
);
private function preventRefresh(event:CollectionEvent):void {
event.stopImmediatePropagation();
}
You have to know that this effectively prevents a redraw of the List component, hence any added items would not be shown. This was not an issue for me since the items would be added at the end of the List (outside the viewport) and when the user would scroll, the List would automatically be redrawn and the new items would be displayed. Perhaps in your situation you can force the redraw if need be.
When all items had been loaded I could then remove the event listener and return to the normal behavior of the List component.

Flexlib scheduleViewer.. how to handle clicks on items

I'm trying to use a flexlib schedule viewer in my application.
I want to have it so that when I click on a scheduled event, it calls a function in my main app (that will allow me to edit the event). But there doesn't seem to be any specific function for anything like this built into the class ie no event dispatched when I click on an event.
I can use the 'click' function to detect that the item has been clicked on.. and have tried something like this:
private function exerciseClickHandler(event:MouseEvent):void{
if (exerciseSeries.selectedItem != null){
//code
}
}
<code:ScheduleViewer id="exerciseSeries" click="exerciseClickHandler(event)" />
This method isn't very reliable because if it only works the first time.. once an item is selected, it stays selected so all following clicks on the item fulfills the condition.
Is there any way to determine whether an event was being clicked on?
Or do I have to extend the component and add some sort of clickEvent when an event is clicked on.
Since exerciseClickHandler is firing up when you click on the component, wouldn't this work?
Instead of
private function exerciseClickHandler(event:MouseEvent):void{
if (exerciseSeries.selectedItem != null){
//code
}
}
write
private function exerciseClickHandler(event:MouseEvent):void{
switch (exerciseSeries.selectedItem)
{
//code
case xy:
break;
}
}
or
private function exerciseClickHandler(event:MouseEvent):void{
//do something with exerciseSeries.selectedItem
}
What I mean is that you wrote that everything stops after the first element is clicked. And according to the code you provided it has to stop, beacuse after the first click exerciseSeries.selectedItem won't be null anymore, since it's selected. So remove the conditional you wrote and use the instance.
I'd suggest you set up a ChangeWatcher to keep an eye on the selectedItem (or selectedItems if you are going to allow multiple selection at some point). Example:
protected exerciseSeriesCreationCompleteHandler(event:FlexEvent):void{
ChangeWatcher.watch(this,['exerciseSeries','selectedItem'], handleChange_SelectedItem);
}
protected function handleChange_SelectedItem(event:PropertyChangeEvent):void{
// Either
dispatchedEvent(//some custom event);
// Or
someDirectMethodCall();
}
An alternative would be to search for an instance of the the event class in the view hierarchy under the mouse coordinates whenever a user clicks.
//Attach this click handler to the component
private function handleClick(event : MouseEvent) : void {
var obj : *EventClass*= null;
var applicationStage : Stage = FlexGlobals.topLevelApplication.stage as Stage;
var mousePoint : Point = new Point(applicationStage.mouseX, applicationStage.mouseY);
var objects : Array = applicationStage.getObjectsUnderPoint(mousePoint);
for (var i : int = objects.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
if (objects[i] is *EventClass*) {
obj = objects[i] as *EventClass*;
break;
}
}
if(obj is *EventClass*){
//Dispatch some custom event with obj being the item that was clicked on.
}
}
Where EventClass is the class of the objects that represent events
I have had similar problems and sometimes you can get by with wrapping the object with a Box and putting the click event on the Box. If you have not already tried that, it's a cheap, easy fix (if it works for you).
<mx:Box click="exerciseClickHandler(event)">
<code:ScheduleViewer id="exerciseSeries" />
</mx:Box>

Flex: Popup Window - Get [ok] or [cancel]

I've done a lot of C# programming with both Winforms and WPF. I'm working on a Flex/Air app now for cross platform support. But this is my first flex project, so I'm learning as I go.
I've got a window that I want to popup, that the user will fill out a form, then hit OK or CANCEL. I set it up the same way I would've in C#, but it doesn't work, and I can't really see a way to make it do what I want.
EDIT:
So I'm trying events now, the events just don't seem to be handled...
EDIT again:
Oh, It's because the popup manager seems to create a new instance of the Form object, rather than using the one I created already.
so in the showWindow method, I put in this code rather than the popup manager:
parent.addChild(this);
then I remove it when I close it. The only problem is, it doesn't disable the rest of the parent like the popup manager does. Any suggestions on that?
PARENT:
private function btnAdd_Clicked():void
{
var form:Form = new Form();
form.addEventListener(CloseEvent.CLOSE, onFormClosed, false, 0, true);
recipeForm.showWindow(this);
}
private function onFormClosed(e:CloseEvent):void
{
//none of these Alerts are ever shown. I also tried breakpoints in debug to try an follow the code, with no luck
Alert.show("Closed");
if(e.detail == Alert.OK)
{
Alert.show("OK");
}
else if(e.detail == Alert.CANCEL)
{
Alert.show("Cancel");
}
}
CHILD:
private function btnCancel_Clicked():void
{
okClicked = false;
closeWindow();
}
public function closeWindow():void
{
var e:CloseEvent = new CloseEvent(CloseEvent.CLOSE);
e.detail = okClicked ? Alert.OK : Alert.CANCEL;
dispatchEvent(e);
PopUpManager.removePopUp(this);
}
public function showWindow(parent:WindowedApplication):void
{
var window:IFlexDisplayObject = PopUpManager.createPopUp(parent, RecipeForm, true);
PopUpManager.centerPopUp(window);
}
You can do this at least two different ways:
FIRST WAY: Using events
Let your Form class dispatch an event when either of the buttons is clicked. After Form is instantiated from the parent view, add an eventListener for the event(s) it's known to dispatch. When the Form dispatches the event, the eventListener will be invoked. You can even reuse Flex's CloseEvent and set the "detail" property to either Alert.OK or Alert.CANCEL before dispatching it.
In Form:
var e:CloseEvent = new CloseEvent(CloseEvent.CLOSE);
e.detail = okClicked ? Alert.OK : Alert.CANCEL;
dispatchEvent(e);
In parent:
var f:Form = new Form();
f.addEventListener(CloseEvent.CLOSE, onClose, false, 0, true);
...
private function onClose(e:CloseEvent):void
{
if (e.detail == Alert.OK)
// do something
else if (e.detail == Alert.CANCEL)
// do something else
}
SECOND WAY: Using callbacks
Add a public var of type "Function" to your Form class and supply a callback function from the parent. This does basically the same thing as #1 except with little less abstraction / indirection.
I would recommend #1 since the event model in Flex is pretty well-conceived and more flexible than the callback.
In Form:
var e:CloseEvent = new CloseEvent(CloseEvent.CLOSE);
e.detail = okClicked ? Alert.OK : Alert.CANCEL;
dispatchEvent(e);
In parent:
var f:Form = new Form();
f.addEventListener(CloseEvent.CLOSE, onClose, false, 0, true);
...
private function onClose(e:CloseEvent):void
{
if (e.detail == Alert.OK)
// do something
else if (e.detail == Alert.CANCEL)
// do something else
}
Not sure if this is still an open issue. I ran into this very same problem and I think I figured out what is wrong. At least I did for my problem.
I implemented things exactly as you did. I also have the close attribute set to closeWindow (I'm using a TitleWindow for my dialog).
So when the window is closed via the X at the top, it will call closeWindow, also if you click on the Cancel button, it will also call closeWindow.
The problem for me was that clicking cancel, dispatches a CloseEvent which seems to be caught by a Listener which calls closeWindow again (possibly via the close attribute which probably creates its own internal listener). I'm not sure if its an infinite loop but Flex does not like this.
My solution was to create two functions, one for the X close window to call and one for the Cancel button to dispatch a CloseEvent of its own. This seemed to work for me. Hope it helps you.

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