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and VPython: Introduction

A VPython tutorial

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Drag example

Here is the sequence of mouse events involved in dragging something:

1) m1.press is true when you depress the mouse button (it is 'left' if left button; any quantity that is nonzero is considered true in Python).

2) m1.drag is true when the mouse coordinates change from what they were at the time of m1.press.

At the time of the drag event, the mouse position is reported to be what it was at the time of the press event, so that the dragging can start at the place where the user first pressed the mouse button. If the mouse is in motion at the time of the press event, it is quite possible that the next position seen by the computer, at the time of the drag event, could be quite far from the click position. This is why the position of the drag event is reported as though it occurred at the press location.

3) No events occur while dragging; you continually use scene.mouse.pos to update what you're dragging.

4) m1.drop is true when you release the mouse button.

You can program dragging with the mouse simply by continually reading the current value of scene.mouse.pos. Here is a complete routine for dragging a sphere with the left button down. Copy this into an edit window and try it!

from visual import *
scene.range = 5 # fixed size, no autoscaling
ball = sphere(pos=(-3,0,0), color=color.cyan)
cube = box(pos=(+3,0,0), size=(2,2,2), color=color.red)
pick = None # no object picked out of the scene yet
while 1:
    if scene.mouse.events:
        m1 = scene.mouse.getevent() # get event
        if m1.drag and m1.pick == ball: # if touched ball
            drag_pos = m1.pickpos # where on the ball
            pick = m1.pick # pick now true (not None)
        elif m1.drop: # released at end of drag
            pick = None # end dragging (None is false)
    if pick:
        # project onto xy plane, even if scene rotated:
        new_pos = scene.mouse.project(normal=(0,0,1))
        if new_pos != drag_pos: # if mouse has moved
            # offset for where the ball was clicked:
            pick.pos += new_pos - drag_pos
            drag_pos = new_pos # update drag position

If you do a lot of processing of each mouse movement, or you are leaving a trail behind the moving object, you may need to check whether the "new" mouse position is in fact different from the previous position before processing the "move", as is done in the example above. For example, a trail drawn with a curve object that contains a huge number of points all at the same location may not display properly.

Most VPython objects can be "picked" by clicking them. Here is a more general routine which lets you drag either the tail or the tip of an arrow. Copy this into an edit window and try it!

from visual import *
scene.range = 8 # fixed size, no autoscaling
arr = arrow(pos=(2,0,0),axis=(0,5,0))
by = 0.3 # click this close to tail or tip
drag = None # have not selected tail or tip of arrow
while 1:
    if scene.mouse.events:
        m1 = scene.mouse.getevent() # obtain event
        if m1.press:
            if mag(arr.pos-m1.pos) <= by:
                drag = 'tail' # near tail of arrow
            elif mag((arr.pos+arr.axis)-m1.pos) <= by:
                drag = 'tip' # near tip of arrow
            drag_pos = m1.pos # save press location
        elif m1.drop: # released at end of drag
            drag = None # end dragging (None is False)
    if drag:
        new_pos = scene.mouse.pos
        if new_pos != drag_pos: # if mouse has moved
            displace = new_pos - drag_pos # moved how far
            drag_pos = new_pos # update drag position
            if drag == 'tail':
                arr.pos += displace # displace the tail
            else:
                arr.axis += displace # displace the tip

Here is general mouse documentation.