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1.6 – 21st June 2010 www.touch-base.com\documentation\general UPDD features, functions and
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Some features and functions are referenced
in the UPDD documentation that requires further explanation. Here it is! Double Click issuesDouble clicking on a touch screen relies on double click related settings set to a tolerance that allows a touch screen to be used to generate the double click. In Windows, for example, there are 3 such settings, DoubleClickSpeed, DoubleClickWidth and DoubleClickHeight. These settings establish the width of the rectangle that Windows uses to detect double-clicks. If sequential clicks are positioned within the rectangle defined by DoubleClickHeight and DoubleClickWidth, and occur within the time specified by DoubleClickSpeed they are interpreted as double-clicks. Otherwise, they are interpreted as sequential single clicks. When UPDD is installed it sets these
internal settings (for the user performing the install) to values that cater
for finger double click usage. In our
old version 3 driver dialog we allowed these system setting to be
changed. However, our version 4 dialog
calls the system’s mouse dialog to change double click settings, as seen
below:
Most of these mouse dialogs allow the double click speed setting to be changed and this must be a slow (ish) setting to allow for touch double clicks. Too fast a setting will prevent double clicks. The other related settings can be found in the registry at HKCU\Control Panel\Mouse. The Width and Height default settings are 4 pixels and the speed is 500 milliseconds. UPDD sets these settings to 32 and 370 respectively. New user issueIf a new user logs in they will get the default Windows double click settings which may make it difficult to double click. With UPDD version 4.1.6, build 1156 and above, the UPDD daemon task monitors the users. When a new user logs in it automatically sets these settings. Settings changed by 3rd party softwareThere have been cases of double click
difficulties following the installation of mouse drivers that have set these
settings to values that prevent touch double clicks requiring the setting to
be reset to ‘touch’ values. Disabling double clickThis is not a driver issue but a system issue. If touch double click is to be disabled we suggest that the settings be set such that it is almost impossible to achieve a double click with touch. Try Height and Width = 1 and Speed = 200 – see below. Register settingsShould you need to manually set the
registry for the Double Click Settings these lines can be copied to a .reg
file and double clicked to update the registry settings: Windows
Registry Editor Version 5.00 On Windows XP the DoubleClickSpeed ranges
from 200 (Fast) to 900 (Slow) OS double click optionsOne potentially useful setting in Windows,
when using the desktop via touch, is to invoke icons, folders and files using
a single click rather than double click. This setting is located in the
folder options as shown below:
UPDD generated double click settingsFor a future release of UPDD we are considering processing our own double click setting for situations where it is still difficult to achieve a double click using system DC setting with certain touch devices such as slow infra red devices. In this case where UPDD DC setting deduce that a double click is required then two complete click sequences will be sent at the same location very quickly which will result in a double click. Serial port auto detectionSince UPDD 4.1.6, build 1156, a serial
controller can be set for auto-detection rather than set to a specific com
port. This option is only available,
and enabled, where a serial controller can receive and acknowledge a firmware
command. Controller commands are held
in UPDD macros. Typically a macro sequence used to detect a
controller would look like this: [HEX]0A0141 //Check Controller Activity [ In this example the driver sends 0A0141 to
the controller which is echoed by the controller by way of acknowledging
receipt. Some macros are needed for controller
initialization rather than just containing commands to illicit a response but
as long as the controller responds to the received commands then the macro
can be used to detect the controller. When the controller is set for Auto detect
the driver issues the macro to each com port in turn looking for the
response. If a response is received
then the com port is set accordingly. If no response is seen from any port
then the com port is set to ‘None’.
Each time UPDD is loaded it will automatically detect the device but
on 2nd and subsequent attempts the detection will initially check
the current port setting before checking thro each port in sequence. Setting serial controller for auto detectionThere are various ways to indicate a serial controller is to be auto-detected as follows:
Right Click processingIn the majority of cases touching a touch screen or similar device will normally be the equivalent of generating a mouse left click. However, in some cases it is also desirable to be able to generate a right click via touch. With UPDD there are three possible methods; the Event Selector (to indicate if the next touch should generate a left or right click), using Interactive Touch mode (which caters for both left and right clicks) or using the right click mechanism built into the operating system; as described below. It should be noted that when utilizing OS in-built right click functions any UPDD native right click processing is disabled. Event SelectorThe UPDD Event Selector, in its most simple terms is a user controlled trigger that indicates to the driver if the next touch should be a left or right click. Click the link for more details. Interactive Touch
Operating System featureThe operating system may cater for right click generation using a pen or touch device and in some cases this can be utilised by the driver, as discussed below: Windows If using UPDD 4.1.8 and above in touch enabled versions of Vista or Windows 7 there is a setting in UPDD, called Extended Touch, that passes touch data to the OS such that all touch features built into the OS are available to the touch user. In the Pen and Touch system settings you will find some settings specific to touch and you can associate a right click to one of the actions as shown in this Windows 7 example
Controller namingIn our controller definition database we allocate default controller names to help identify the manufacturer, model and interface, e.g XYZ Inc, M123, USB or a name as requested by the manufacturer or system integrator. In the UPDD Console there is a Device list entry that shows the currently selected device and, if more than one device is configured on the system, offers a dropdown list to select other devices.
If another controller of the same type is plugged in then the driver will allocate a unique name based on the name of the controller along with a bracketed number i.e. XYZ Inc, M123, USB (2), XYZ Inc, M123, USB (3) etc Each controller discovered on the system is allocated a unique bind key to help associate and identify UPDD controller settings with individual controllers as they are unplugged, replugged or rediscovered, such as after a reboot. In a 3 touch monitor device with all devices connected the device list would be seen as: XYZ Inc, M123, USB XYZ Inc, M123, USB (2) XYZ Inc, M123, USB (3) Any PnP devices that are unplugged would have their name displayed in red. So unplugging (2) would result in the device list as follows:
If the controller is subsequently reconnected, then the driver will calculate the bind key to find the previous entry and settings and re associate the device with its previous settings. However, if the device in red is deleted from the UPDD console (using the ‘Remove a device’ option), leaving two entries: XYZ Inc, M123, USB XYZ Inc, M123, USB (3) then the next time the device is connected no previous settings will be found and a new device entry will be created. Given (2) is the next unique device name then the device will reappear as XYZ Inc, M123, USB (2) but will be allocated default settings which may need manually adjusting. Our recommendation is to not delete
devices if they are to be reconnected at some future date. Controller renamingController names can be manually adjusted once the device is listed in the UPDD Console device list. Simply select the device, click on Properties and change the name. In a three touch monitor system you could name the controllers to reflect their position on the desk, say Left, Middle, Right as shown below:
In this instance, plugging in a 4th controller would result in the name of the new controller being XYZ Inc, M123, USB. Daemon taskUnder Windows desktop version of the driver the software utilizes a daemon (or background) task to implement certain functions related to the driver and user interface. The program is called TBdaemon.exe and resides in the UPDD application folder. In UPDD version 3 this program was called TBsystry.exe. The daemon task is invoked at system startup due to the
‘tbdaemon’ registry entry in the Windows run branch HKEY_LOCAL_M The daemon task is responsible for the following functions:
Pen up processingA pointer device generates data packets when in use, such as touch packets whilst a stylus is in contact with a touchscreen. When the device is no longer in use then obviously the data packets will stop being generated. A driver or application may need to perform a specific function at this point, such as pen up processing if the device is being used in mouse emulation in an appropriate mouse click mode. Most touch screen devices, but not all, will indicate in the last data packet that the stylus has left the screen. These data packets are often referred to as the pen up or lift off packet. If a device has a pen up packet defined in the UPDD controller configuration then there is a UPDD Setting called “Use Lift Off packet”. This setting can be set in the UPDD settings file as appropriate or via the UPDD Console, properties page and is enabled by default. UPDD will generate a pen up in mouse emulation mode when
either: · the ‘pen up’ packet is seen (and pen up processing is enabled) ·
and/or when data packets cease (if Lift off
time processing is enabled). This approach caters for all methods of ‘pen up’ detection: · The device generates pen up packets · The device does not generate pen up packets · The device generates pen up packets but due to communication error is not received or is corrupted. To generate a pen up where data packets cease there has to be a short wait prior to generating the pen up to ensure the data has stopped rather than being a gap between the packets. In UPDD this short wait period is referred to as the Lift Off time settings, as described below. Lift off time settingThe Lift off Time
value specifies the time interval required to register a stylus lift after
the last touch packet is received. Lift off time is defined in units of 20ms.
This value is used to perform a pen up if the ‘Use Lift off’ packet is
disabled otherwise Pen ups are generated as soon as the stylus leaves the
pointer device display. Delta mode considerations
Delta mode refers to a pointer device mode whereby data packets with
the same X and Y coordinate values (i.e. the stylus it stationary) are not
sent by the device. In this mode, UPDD
will generate a pen up when the stylus is held stationary. To cater for this
situation a lift off time value of zero is defined to disable pen ups based
on time. Settings
The ‘Lift off time’ and ‘Use pen up packets’ settings can be set via
the UPDD Console, Properties page or directly in the UPDD settings files:
If the console is not available the setting can be found in the UPDD
settings files as follows:
Within the files will be a branch ‘Parameters’. With UPDD 4.0.x this will be followed by a GUID number (a very large number). For each controller there will be a controller number 1,2 etc. Therefore the location for a single controller system will be:
liftofftime=0x0000000n (n = 0 = disabled or lift of time value in units of 20ms) use liftoff bit =0x0000000n ( n = 0 = disabled, 1 = enabled) Advance ConsoleWith release
4.1.10 we hope to release the first version of the UPDD Advance Console. The standard UPDD Console shows the basic driver settings
and allows them to be updated. However, there are many other settings that
may occasionally need to be updated and the Advance Console is being created
to offer a GUI interface to these settings.
Currently these settings need to either be set as required as default
or updated manually. Once this utility
is available a separate web document will be created to document features and
usage. Live AnnotationWith release 4.1.8
we have implemented Windows Live annotation function. This function allows a touch screen user to
annotate over a live desktop. Annotation can be enabled, disabled, paused and
erased. The line colour and width can also be defined. This functionality
came about from a project we undertook for a cable television company to
allow a presenter to annotate over a live Windows desktop showing financial
data. The presenter uses UPDD Toolbars at either side of the larger touch
display (with no desktop visual representation – so not seen by the viewer)
to invoke the annotate functions as required. Annotation
functions can be controlled via UPDD API calls and we have implemented two
user interfaces of our own, as discussed below: Toolbar interfaceThe UPDD toolbar
interface implements toolbar cell actions to control all annotate
functions. An example of an Annotate toolbar is described in full
in the toolbar documentation. UPDD Console interfaceThe UPDD Console, Extensions dialog, exposes a
simple UPDD interface to the Annotate functions. Annotate API callsThe annotate
settings: AnnotateThickness Annotate Color AnnotateMode Are set via the
standard api followed by TBApiApply e.g. TBApiSetSettingDWORD(0,
"AnnotateThickness",3); Color is a Windows
COLORREF value NOT RGB; example COLORREF cr = RGB(r,g,b); TBApiSetSettingDWORD(0,
"AnnotateColour", cr); There’s no API to
clear. This can be achieved as follows (C++ example) #define WM_DOCLEAR
4365 BOOL CALLB { char className[200]; GetClassNameA(hWnd,
className, sizeof(className)); if(!strcmp(className, "TBUPDD_Annotate_Class")) { :PostMessage(hWnd,
WM_DOCLEAR, NULL, NULL); } return true; } EnumWindows(_ClearPicture,
NULL); The values for
mode are 0=pause 1=annotate 2=stop If annotation is
in a stopped state then activedw.exe must be launched to activate annotation.
Setting stop will
cause activedw.exe to terminate. Touch loggingA primitive touch logging facility was added to UPDD 4.1.8
build 1784 to allow for the logging of touch data reported in screen co-ordinates (pixels) with
the origin (0,0) at the top left. This logs first and last touches. This
facility was added to allow for a customer to match touches against
application layout to help track what they considered to be a ‘user usage’
issue rather than an application issue. If any other coordinate data is
required (e.g. raw controller coordinates) please let us know. To enable
logging use the command: tbcalib
Device=0 /settingsz:logging=Y (to define and enable the logging setting in
tbupdd.ini) and restart the computer or reload the driver (UPDD Console,
Status, Reload driver settings) recording
starts as soon as the driver is loaded. reporting
starts as soon as the windows desktop is fully loaded and the screen is
touched (i.e. at least one touch is required on an active system to write the
log). use tbcalib Device=0 /settingsz:logging=N
to stop logging C:\Program
Files\UPDD>type upddlog_20100718_202531.log 2010-07-18
20:25:31 - left touch down @ x=688 y=619 2010-07-18
20:25:31 - left touch up @ x=688 y=619 2010-07-18
20:25:31 - left touch down @ x=688 y=618 2010-07-18
20:25:31 - left touch up @ x=674 y=438 2010-07-18
20:25:32 - left touch down @ x=475 y=316 2010-07-18
20:25:32 - left touch up @ x=465 y=383 2010-07-18
20:25:39 - left touch down @ x=1180 y=773 2010-07-18
20:25:39 - left touch up @ x=1179 y=771 The name of the log is based on the date and time the log file is created. Each entry is time stamped. ContactFor further
information or technical assistance please email the technical support team
at technical@touch-base.com |
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