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skippy
Republic of Korea
3 Posts |
 Posted - 01/21/2012 : 19:32:17
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First off I think this has to do with my computer. I like mouse gesture programs and used strokeit for a long time. But when running on my primary laptop it would never draw the gesture. The option was on but never visible.
Now with strokeplus I find if I enable drawing gestures the grstures draw but the system and program stalls, stutters. Plus it refuses to draw straight. SOmetimes it will continue to draw the line even after I have released gesture button/key.
I think there might be a conflict with video drivers and that. Or I am missing some library or pack?
Some info of my system.
I am running Vista with up to date packs and updates.
I have dual monitors set up.
[Video chipset]
Video Chipset: Intel GMA 4500(M)(HD)
Video Memory: Unknown
[Video Card]
Video Card: Intel GM45/47 Chipset - Integrated Graphics 0 [B3] [Sony]
Video Bus: PCI
Video BIOS Version: 1654 PC 14.34 06/12/2008 00:41:38
[Performance]
Processor Clock: 88.0 MHz
Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2A42&SUBSYS_903F104D&REV_07 |
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Rob
USA
2615 Posts |
Posted - 01/22/2012 : 03:33:25
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StrokesPlus doesn't require any libraries outside of what Windows includes. The only reasons I can think of as to why you would experience these types of issues would be:
1. Poor system performance. StrokesPlus itself doesn't need much in the way of processing power, but drawing the gesture on the screen does. S+ creates an alpha-blended window the size of the entire desktop. When you start drawing a gesture, that window is made visible and the line begins to draw. If your system doesn't have sufficient power to perform the necessary blending, it would likely result in the behavior you're describing. Especially if the system isn't powerful and you have dual monitors, as that doubles the size of the gesture window and requires even more power to blend the even larger window.
2. There is another program running (like StrokeIt, for example) which has the mouse hooked. In order to function, StrokesPlus hooks the mouse (and keyboard), when the mouse is hooked, every single movement or click is passed through StrokesPlus. If S+ determines that you are starting to draw a gesture, it captures the mouse input, preventing other programs from receiving some of the mouse events (like clicking). If there were another program running which also had the mouse hooked, there could be conflicts.
Does S+ function as you would expect if you disable drawing the gesture line? If it works fine without the gesture being drawn, then it's simply that your system isn't powerful enough to handle the drawing of the gesture.
Before Windows Vista, it was possible to draw directly to the screen, which is how StrokeIt used to work, this was great for apps like S+ and SI as it was very efficient. But starting with Vista and the Aero desktop, you can no longer efficiently draw to the screen device context, it just lags and doesn't work right anymore (which is correct the way the Vista/7 window manager works). So you have to create a window which covers the entire screen and make it transparent using a color key (S+ uses 255,255,255). When the gesture line is drawn, Windows has to blend this huge window that covers the screen with the windows underneath it where the line is being drawn. If your system isn't very powerful, this could be a painful process and cause a lot of unpredictable behavior. |
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skippy
Republic of Korea
3 Posts |
Posted - 01/23/2012 : 18:57:51
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Hmm. It might be the dual monitors I am using. The program works fine when I do disable the draw gesture. I can live with out the gestures, but sometimes it would be useful to see. Dot not want to admit it but maybe my system is not the most powerful.
I unloaded strokeit before running S+. Did not want a dualing strokeit contest. Still I do notice some programs do not like gestures. Like "Fences" Gestures are a little sticky on the desktop.
Would be interesting if in the future the hidden window size could be set. Like make a gesture area.
Thanks for the insight.
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Rob
USA
2615 Posts |
Posted - 01/23/2012 : 19:09:21
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The line issue was one that I was really disappointed about with Vista/7, needing so much video processing power. Though I tried to ensure that under-powered systems could still use S+ by simply disabling the drawing. When I started S+ a few years ago, I had a very cheap laptop running Vista with dual monitors, and while it wasn't quite as bad as you what described, it was definitely noticeable. But try as I might, there just doesn't seem to be any way around it, while keeping S+ dependency-free and lightweight (like one could probably use DirectX in some fashion, but I have no intention of even investigating that for the aforementioned reasons).
What exactly do you mean by:
"Still I do notice some programs do not like gestures. Like "Fences" Gestures are a little sticky on the desktop"?
Are you saying some programs aren't responding to gestures? Are they interfering? Something else?
What are you referring to when you mention "Fences"?
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Rob
USA
2615 Posts |
Posted - 01/23/2012 : 19:14:42
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Also, by:
"Like make a gesture area."
Do you mean like a small area which functions the same as the whole desktop gesture window, but confined to a portion of the screen?
For example, say you selected a 256x192 (1024x768 1/4 scale) area of the screen in which the gesture is drawn while you're drawing it? |
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skippy
Republic of Korea
3 Posts |
Posted - 02/09/2012 : 06:06:43
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Sorry for the late reply. Plus the vague info.
Fences is a program that takes the desktop icons and fences them off. So you can have an box of Internet related programs. Well I think Fences has some right click functions hooked. So when I start to right click and do a gesture an icon is activated.
Other programs are tricky at times. But I think it has more to do with short cuts and key strokes. So a down slash top to left would minimize most windows but once in a while one will not. Just the way the programs are made. Not a big deal.
So S+ is working just have to turn off the draw gesture. Just some times would like to see when I am drawing a special symbol like a spiral I used once with the StrokeIt program.
As to the small windows/area. Like you said an area in the top left from like 12 to 3 o'clock would for gestures. Maybe somebody with a dual/multi screen system. One screen has a game or program like a video that does not need gestures. So S+ would be useable on the other screen. Or even for people that just want to make a short cut area/draw area.
Once again thanks for the reply. Will have to hit the donate button soon. Keep up the good work with the program. Ya in the end this is a NON-ISSUE. Keep S+ lean and mean. |
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Rob
USA
2615 Posts |
Posted - 02/21/2012 : 12:25:15
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Try the new option in 1.6.8 and see if it helps any. In Preferences window, Keep Gesture Draw Window On Top.
It keeps the draw window on top at all times, instead of showing and hiding it, which causes lag on slow systems. It's an experimental feature and hasn't been tested a lot, but let me know if it does anything to help your situation.
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[NON-ISSUE] Draw Gesture stall and slowdown
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