4
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I've been having some difficulty with the aforementioned use of these three functions/options and would greatly appreciate some help.

I know that they're is probably an easy way of making a disk move across a square, but, as you may be able to guess, this is an abstraction of my real problem and thus I have to work with an object-oriented system (i.e., currying).

Let's say I wanted to make a disk move from the bottom left of a square to the top right, with enter as my play/pause control:

My code:

makeobject[name_String] := object[name]

(* Default values for position and velocity *)  
object[name_]["pos"] = {0, 0};  
object[name_]["vel"] = {.05, .05};

(* Return a graphic method *)  
(this : object[name_])["pic"] := {EdgeForm[Pink], Blue,  
Disk[this["pos"], .2]}

(* update *)  
tick[obj_] := ((obj["pos"] = obj["pos"] + obj["vel"] (.1)); obj)

(* Dynamic pictures *)
DynamicModule[{play = False, myobj = makeobject["myobj"]},
    EventHandler[
        Dynamic[
            EventHandler[
                If[play,
                    myobj = tick[myobj];
                    Graphics[{Black, Rectangle[{0, 0}, {50, 50}], myobj["pic"]}, 
                        PlotRange -> {{0, 1}, {0, 1}}],
                    Graphics[{Black, Rectangle[{0, 0}, {50, 50}], myobj["pic"]}, 
                        PlotRange -> {{0, 1}, {0, 1}}]
                  ],
                {"ReturnKeyDown" :> (play = False)}],
           UpdateInterval -> .01],
       {"ReturnKeyDown" :> (play = True)}
   ],
   Initialization :> ( myobj["pos"] = {0, 0})
]  

The site's not letting me put up any pictures of what's happening, but when I evaluate, you get an image of black rectangle with the quarter circle at the bottom. Pressing enter makes the disk move up and right.

But, while it's updating, if I press enter, nothing happens, and the disk keeps moving. This means that it's still calling tick[myobj] and therefore the "ReturnKeyDown":>(play=False) never worked.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Sorry if I am missing any kind of information, this is my first question. Please let me know if so.

MMA 8.0.1.0 for students
OS Windows 7 64-bit

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  • $\begingroup$ You cannot have two Eventhandlers interlocked and reacting to the same event with opposite effect play = False and play = True. What play will be will depend on what Eventhandler get executed last. See Rojo's answer below on how to code this. $\endgroup$
    – Matariki
    Jul 11, 2012 at 19:24
  • $\begingroup$ In my other code, I used PassEventsDown->False. Would that be acceptable with nested EventHandlers? $\endgroup$
    – VF1
    Jul 11, 2012 at 19:33

1 Answer 1

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I haven't looked in depth to see what's wrong in your code yet, but making the enter key toggle play works

makeobject[name_String] := object[name]

(* Default values for position and velocity *)  
object[name_]["pos"] = {0, 0};  
object[name_]["vel"] = {.05, .05};


(*Return a graphic method*)
(this : object[name_])["pic"] := {EdgeForm[Pink], Blue, 
  Disk[this["pos"], .2]}

(*update*)
tick[obj_] := ((obj["pos"] = obj["pos"] + obj["vel"] (.1)); obj)

(*Dynamic pictures*)
DynamicModule[{play = False, myobj = makeobject["myobj"]}, 
 EventHandler[Dynamic[If[play, myobj = tick[myobj];
    Graphics[{Black, Rectangle[{0, 0}, {50, 50}], myobj["pic"]}, 
     PlotRange -> {{0, 1}, {0, 1}}], 
     Graphics[{Black, Rectangle[{0, 0}, {50, 50}], myobj["pic"]}, 
      PlotRange -> {{0, 1}, {0, 1}}]], 
   UpdateInterval -> .01], {"ReturnKeyDown" :> (play = ! play)}], 
 Initialization :> (myobj["pos"] = {0, 0})]
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7
  • $\begingroup$ Also, why was the Refresh necessary? You're directly changing myobj's value, so it would give you the most up-to-date image anyway, right? $\endgroup$
    – VF1
    Jul 11, 2012 at 19:24
  • $\begingroup$ @Vlad, it is not necessary, it's a leftover from something I tested and I didn't realise it was there. I'll edit it out $\endgroup$
    – Rojo
    Jul 11, 2012 at 19:27
  • $\begingroup$ I just deleted my comment regarding the PassEventsDown thing because I just realized what was going on - I had a Checkbox[Dynamic[play]] on top of the actual image. Try doing that and it gets confused. I just removed it and everything works fine. Thanks. (But seriously, why does Column[{Checkbox[Dynamic[play]], EventHandler[(*...*)]}] fail? $\endgroup$
    – VF1
    Jul 11, 2012 at 19:31
  • $\begingroup$ @Vlad I am not sure what you mean, if you can find a minimal example of what confuses you post it $\endgroup$
    – Rojo
    Jul 11, 2012 at 19:35
  • $\begingroup$ It's no big deal. I'll try to figure it out on my own. Thanks for the answer. I can't upvote yet, though (not enough rep)! Also, do you mind letting me know why I have to keep on clicking on the image for EventHandler to recognize my keystrokes? It keeps on "de-selecting" itself. $\endgroup$
    – VF1
    Jul 11, 2012 at 20:00

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