Help With Mouse Tracker App

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Level 1

5 points

Help With Mouse Tracker App

Hello Everyone,

I am an experienced (professional) software engineer, but totally new to OS/X development. I have problems with my eyesight, and I'm trying to write an application for the Mac that makes it easier to use the system. Keeping track of where the mouse pointer is is a common problem for most people with poor eyesight. I have hired someone to develope an application on windows that helps locate the mouse pointer. When a pre-configured hotkey is pressed, this app draws a line from the four corners of the screen to the current mouse pointer. I would like to develop the same app for OS/X, but I don't know where to begin.

I need some guidance/pointers from a patient and kind soul to help me out. In particular, I need to know:

* How to get the current mouse position

* How to draw lines on the root window (preferably using inverse colors)

* How to traps keyboard input when not the application with the mouse focus

* A basic skeleton on an application

One alternative to trapping hotkeys is to use the trackpad -- if the user taps and holds one finder for X seconds, the app will activate. If the user lifts his/her finger off of the trackpad, the lines are erased.

I assume the best way to write this app is in Xcode?

Any help would be grealy appreciated. I plan to make this app available to everyone who may need it. I have signed up as an Apple Developer and downloaded and installed Xcode for Lion.

Thanks,

Kory

Mac Pro

Posted on Feb 22, 2012 5:19 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

BobHarris

Level 9

53,315 points

Feb 22, 2012 6:22 PM in response to KoryH

May I suggest you look into using something like "MouseLocator"

Mouse Locator (free download)

<http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/17513/mouse-locator>

I like this Mouse Locator Graphic

<http://homepage.mac.com/douglasn/locatorexchange/AD/1/MouseLocator.png>

You can provide your own graphic if you like, and you can set the duration for as long as you like.

There is also MousePose

<http://boinx.com/mousepose/overview/>

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Answer 2

KoryH Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 23, 2012 9:34 AM in response to BobHarris

Thanks, Bob. I downloaded both of them, and I really like Mousepose. It doesn't do exactly what I want but it does solve my problem. How did you replace the Mouse Locator Graphic? I didn't see an option to do that.

Thanks,

Kory

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Answer 3

BobHarris

Level 9

53,315 points

Feb 23, 2012 10:34 AM in response to KoryH

How did you replace the Mouse Locator Graphic? I didn't see an option to do that.

MouseLocator looks for its graphic file to be at:

/Users/yourShortUserName/Pictures/MouseLocator.png

That is to say, whatever graphic file you want MouseLocator to use should be in a file named MouseLocator.png and stored in your home folder's Pictures folder.

The graphic image must be saved as a .PNG file. The MouseLocator image gallery is at:

<http://www.2point5fish.com/gallery.html>, and the Locator Exchange is at <http://www.2point5fish.com/locatorexchange.html>, where you can get some pre-built images, or you could download one, and modify it to suit your needs.

I've been running MouseLocator for years, including on Lion without any problems.

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