Change Mouse pointer on the fly within Workbench?

[meynaf]

There is something like that called megapointer on Aminet.

[grond]

How about just moving some sprites that copy/magnify the current mouse pointer exactly to the place where the mouse pointer is? This way the only evil thing would be reading the current pointer data.

[Havie]

That's a good idea - just need to know how to actually replace the pointer and how to access pointer image.

[PerspexSphinx]

Hi,

I don’t think it’s a useless idea for a Tool at all…

In TV Paint I constantly lost the mouse pointer, until I came across a tip to use MarkMouse…

aminet:
util/cdity/MarkMouse.lha

This program draws "radar like" circles around the mouse pointer if a hot
key combination is pressed, to locate the position of the mouse pointer
easily…

it’s also kinda neat…

Unfortunately the download does not include the source code, so I don’t know how helpful this is?

[Thomas Richter]

This tool only draws on the screen, it does not modify the pointer at all, but the intention is exactly to make the pointer easier to spot temporarily. For that, it locks the layers of the screen and draws circles in COMPLEMENT around the pointer.

Other alternatives to improve visibility are to use the BIGSPRITE option of P96, this doubles the size of the pointer.

Anyhow, what's wrong with MarkMouse? Is there a particular reason why that program does not solve the problem? (This said, its sources are not lost, they are just not public).

[grond]

Originally Posted by Havie

That's a good idea - just need to know how to actually replace the pointer and how to access pointer image.

I am not sure I have explained my idea well enough. You'd just need to find the current mouse coordinates and its current image data, then you could use two of the remaining hardware sprites to display a bigger version of the mouse pointer in the place the mouse pointer is. No replacing the mouse pointer necessary.

I would assume you can find the pointer data and position by looking at the Workbench screen's copper list.

[Thomas Richter]

Just note that there may not be any additional sprites. Either because the hardware only has one sprite, or because display DMA starts early enough to leave sufficient cycles for the sprite DMA.

[Photon]

This is a problem on all OSes
Having a way of letting the pointer say "hello, here I am!" is very useful if you have many windows open, yet switch between them using keyboard shortcuts and use the programs with keyboard-only most of the time. (Chat, text editors, coding IDEs.)

Thin is invisible
The pointer can transform into a thin crosshair or thin text cursor, or similar shapes or colors that can be difficult to detect.

In the above case, the pointer is most usually left where you typed last, and has probably transformed into a thin vertical line. (How users with 14" 4K resolution laptop screens ever find where the next character will be inserted in a text editor, I have no idea.)

It really has nothing to do at all with how well you can see
The text cursor pointer is too small, too thin, and too dull to see, period. Nobody can see it. That why we waste time looking around for it, or press left-right-left-right. And do that a few times. Until we see that thing that is designed to be undetectable.

Such a pointer sprite is just a few pixels. There's not much you can do to increase visibility. Hence the option to mark it on demand - circle on Windows and huge size cursor if you shake your mouse violently on Mac. (In Windows, you can bind an extra mouse button to CTRL. It looks very ugly indeed, but it locates the cursor for you.)

And with multiple monitors it's ofc twice, three times as useful.

Flatscreen monitors
Some aspects of visibility are worse on flatscreens. These have motion blur that make especially small moving things like mouse pointers blurred and ghosted. Cue the pointer trail, which is another method.

Amiga OS
In native Amiga chipset modes, the resolution is lower. But even here, some programs can set the pointer image to one that is difficult to spot.

If you can edit each type of pointer image and their colors, you could try more muted WB colors as backdrop, then magenta as a good color that pops, and make all of them as large as you can.

With animated pointer support, you can see the pointer at all times: put e.g. a 3x3 dot that toggles between white and black in the middle of each pointer.

Pointer hacks
Hacking the standard mouse pointer is often messy and might not give the desired result. It's at the core of Amiga OS, and so many roads here are blocked. Which is sensible, too: if a program can do this too easily, a bug could render the entire OS unusable(!)

Less hacky hacks
That said, in native Amiga chipset modes*, you can get access to the Copper of the frontmost Screen on Kick/WB 1.3-3.1, and e.g. add a horizontal Copper bar using the background color, at the Y position of the pointer. This would then look like in a spreadsheet, where the current row is highlighted (or e.g. in some text editor, where the currently edited line is).

This might be enough to locate the pointer, because you could just move the mouse very slightly and still get a clear indication.

But even that modest mod comes with caveats: It must be able to handle dragging Screens without messing up the Copper waits. The simplest way would be to not show the bar if the left mouse button is down, but you must still handle CWAITS on the same line you want to start/end your bar. There might also be edge cases you can't envisage.

* Productivity mode is a special mode that is handled slightly differently.

[Thomas Richter]

Originally Posted by Photon

This is a problem on all OSes
Having a way of letting the pointer say "hello, here I am!" is very useful if you have many windows open,

Have you looked at or tried MarkMouse?

Originally Posted by Photon

In native Amiga chipset modes, the resolution is lower. But even here, some programs can set the pointer image to one that is difficult to spot.

You have tried the big sprite tool type of P96?

Originally Posted by Photon

But even that modest mod comes with caveats: It must be able to handle dragging Screens without messing up the Copper waits.

Note that user copper lists adjust the wait positions according to the VPort they are located on. So *that* is not a problem. Thus, in conclusion, there are already many options to solve that problem.