Scrawl Sample

Description

The Scrawl application demonstrates using the mouse in exclusive mode in a windowed application. It functions in the same way as a pencil tool in a paint program.

Path

Source: (SDK root)\Samples\Multimedia\DirectInput\Scrawl

Executable: (SDK root)\Samples\Multimedia\DirectInput\Bin\Scrawl.exe

User's Guide

To draw, hold down the left mouse button and move the mouse. Click the right mouse button to invoke a shortcut menu. From the shortcut menu you can clear the client window, set the mouse sensitivity, or close the application. If the mouse buttons have been switched through Control Panel settings, Scrawl will detect and mimic this behavior. Note that Microsoft® DirectInput® ignores Control Panel settings and the application itself must make the switch.

Programming Notes

The Scrawl sample program demonstrates many aspects of DirectInput programming, including the following:

• Using the mouse in non-exclusive mode in a windowed application.
• Releasing the mouse when Microsoft Windows® needs to use it for menu access.
• Reacquiring the mouse when Windows no longer needs it.
• Reading buffered device data.
• Deferring screen updates until movement on both axes has been fully processed.
• Displaying event notifications of device activity.
• Restricting the cursor to an arbitrary region.
• Scaling raw mouse coordinates before using them.
• Using relative axis mode.