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Help on PixelLocation Property

I am trying to use the PixelLocation Property to select a pixel location on an image and return the coordinates of that location. I am struggling to craft the right construct to do this.

In image pro 7  I use something like the following code to return point

Dim MyDocID as Long
Dim myPt as POINTAPI
MyDocID = IpDocClick("Select Point", myPt)
If MyDocID <0 then
  Exit Sub
Else
  Debug.print myPt.x
End If

Can anyone help me?

Thanks

Best Answers

  • edited August 2017 Answer ✓
    Hello Sean,

    The command is Automate.ScriptingCommands.ClickOnWorkspace, demonstrated here in a macro created with the designer as well as a couple of plain functions.

    Pierre
        Public Function GetPixelLocation() As SimpleScript
            GetPixelLocation = New SimpleScript
            Dim window1, doc1
    
            With Application.WindowCommands.Active(GetPixelLocation)
                .Run(window1)
            End With
    
            With Automate.ScriptingCommands.ClickOnWorkspace(GetPixelLocation)
                .Prompt = "Please select an image location."
                .SelectDocuments = True ' The output can be a document or a window
                .Run(window1, doc1, Nothing)
                ' Display the document name and pixel location in the output panel once the command is done
                If .Status=McCommand.TaskStatus.IsProcessed Then
                    ThisApplication.Output.Show
                    ThisApplication.Output.PrintMessage .Output.Value.Name
                    ThisApplication.Output.PrintMessage .PixelLocation.Value.ToString()
                End If
            End With
    
        End Function
    
        ' Return the pixel location in the active window
        Public Function GetPixelLocation2() As System.Drawing.PointF
    
            With Automate.ScriptingCommands.ClickOnWorkspace(Nothing)
                .Run(ThisApplication.ActiveWindow, Nothing, GetPixelLocation2)
                Debug.Print GetPixelLocation2.ToString()
            End With
    
        End Function
    
        ' Return the pixel location and prompt in the image strip first
        Public Function GetPixelLocation3() As System.Drawing.PointF
    
            With Automate.ScriptingCommands.ClickOnWorkspace(Nothing)
                .Run(Nothing, Nothing, GetPixelLocation3)
                Debug.Print GetPixelLocation3.ToString()
            End With
    
        End Function
    
  • Answer ✓
    Sean,

    The function GetKeyState gives you the state of the button at the moment the function is called, so if you use a quick click, the button may already be up. Therefore I recommend using other keys, such as Ctrl and Shift to differentiate  clicks.

    Yuri

Answers

  • Thanks Pierre

    All three examples worked very well for me.
  • The examples above have worked well for me, but I now want to add an additional capability.

    I see that when I use either the right or left mouse button, it will return pixel location, but I want to perform different actions dependent on which button is clicked. Is there a way to return pixel location and which button was clicked?

    Thank you
  • edited March 2019
    Hi Sean,

    You can use GetKeyState function to check the state of Right Mouse button. Since the right mouse button is used to show context menu in Image-Pro, you may try to use other button combinations to differentiate clicks, for example Ctrl and/or Shift clicks. They are all handled by GetKeyState function (see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/api/winuser/nf-winuser-getkeystate for more details).
    Here is the macro that checks the states of the key and mouse buttons clicking on the image:

    Declare Function GetKeyState Lib "user32" (ByVal nVirtKey As Long) As Integer
    Const VK_CONTROL As Integer = &H11 'Ctrl
    Const VK_SHIFT As Integer= &H10'shift
    Const VK_RBUTTON As Integer =&H02'right mouse button
    
    Private Function IsDown(ByVal nVirtKey As Long) As Boolean
        Return (GetKeyState(nVirtKey) And &H8000) <>0
    End Function
    
    Public Function GetPixelLocation() As SimpleScript
            GetPixelLocation = New SimpleScript
            Dim window1, doc1
    
            With Application.WindowCommands.Active(GetPixelLocation)
                .Run(window1)
            End With
    
            With Automate.ScriptingCommands.ClickOnWorkspace(GetPixelLocation)
                .Prompt = "Please select an image location."
                .SelectDocuments = True ' The output can be a document or a window
                .Run(window1, doc1, Nothing)
                ' Display the document name and pixel location in the output panel once the command is done
                'Dim bCtrl As Boolean= GetKeyState(VK_CONTROL) < 0
                If .Status=McCommand.TaskStatus.IsProcessed Then
                    ThisApplication.Output.Show
                    ThisApplication.Output.PrintMessage "Ctrl is down = " & (IsDown(VK_CONTROL)).ToString
                    ThisApplication.Output.PrintMessage "Shift is down = " & (IsDown(VK_SHIFT)).ToString
                    ThisApplication.Output.PrintMessage "Right mouse button = " & (IsDown(VK_RBUTTON)).ToString
                    ThisApplication.Output.PrintMessage .Output.Value.Name
                    ThisApplication.Output.PrintMessage .PixelLocation.Value.ToString()
                End If
            End With
        End Function
    

    Yuri
     
  • Thanks Yuri

    That worked pretty well. However, I have to hold the mouse button down for it to be recognized. If I do a normal quick click, it is not recognized.

    I tried different McCommand.TaskStatus options to no avail. Do I need to use a timer or do you have some other suggestions to catch my quick clicks? 

    Sean
  • Thanks again Yuri. I ended up using Shift as you suggested and that works.

    Sean
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