timer and mousemove problems

[vbforever23]

Hi folks.

I am creating a screensaver app, using a timer to display a different picture every 10 seconds.

1. Why does my code result in an initial blank picturebox displayed for 10 seconds, and then the other pics are displayed after? I don't understand why the blank picturebox is displayed.

2. I want the form to close when the mouse is moved(the screensaver to stop running), so I set the mousemove event to close the form, but when I move the mouse, the form doesn't close. Why?

Thanks in advance.

Public Class Form1

    Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
        Timer1.Start()
    End Sub

    Private Sub Timer1_Tick(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Timer1.Tick
        Static ctr As Integer = 0
        Dim pics() As Image = {My.Resources._1, My.Resources._2, My.Resources._3, My.Resources._4, My.Resources._5, My.Resources._6}

        PictureBox1.Image = pics(ctr)
        ctr = ctr + 1
        If ctr > 5 Then
            ctr = 0
        End If
    End Sub

    Private Sub PictureBox1_Click(sender As Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles PictureBox1.Click
        Me.Close()
    End Sub

    Private Sub Form1_MouseMove(sender As Object, e As System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventArgs) Handles Me.MouseMove
        Me.Close()
    End Sub
End Class

[Niya]

I don't know what's the cause of your first problem but I'm willing to bet that you spread the PictureBox on the whole surface of the Form hence the cause of your second problem. The PictureBox and not the Form would receive the MouseMove. You need to trap PictureBox1's MouseMove.

[Shaggy Hiker]

As for the first problem, the simplest and least likely answer is that your first image is blank. If that isn't the case, try this right after you set the image:

Picturebox1.Refresh

This may have some negative impacts on the display, such as flickering, but it would be an interesting test to see whether it did cause the first image to show correctly.

[boops boops]

The only place you set the Image is in the Timer Tick sub. But if the timer interval is 10 seconds, the first tick will happen 10 seconds after you start it. So it's not surprising that the PictureBox stays blank for 10 seconds.

The answer is to set the first image in the Load sub, just before or after you start the timer: PictureBox1.Image = My.Resources._1. Then, in the Timer Tick sub, declare ctr = 1 instead of 0.

NN

[vbforever23]

Thanks for the replies.

The picturebox fills the form, and the form is maximised. When I set the mousemove for the picturebox, the form doesn't even load at all(or it loads and closes too fast to see). This is the same effect as mousehover(when the mouse is over the picturebox). I would like the screensaver to stop when the mouse is moved, not when the mouse is over the picturebox, which fills the whole screen. This results in the program stopping immediately after loading.

The first image is definitely not blank. The strange thing is, this also happens when I have an array of strings(instead of an array of pics) - a blank textbox is displayed, before the strings are displayed. So the reason has to do with the other bits of code. Is anyone else experiencing this? Very strange.

Thank you.

EDIT: Didn't see boops boops reply whilst I was typing this. Will change the code when I am on the other machine later, and will mark the thread resolved if necessary.

[vbforever23]

Adding mousemoves to the picturebox causes the program to immediately close - in the title bar of Visual Basic 2010 Express, "(running)" quickly displays, and then immediately disappears. Adding mousemoves to the form results in nothing happening when the mouse is moved. Help? :/

[GBeats]

if your using this as a screensaver,
why not just simple have the code to display the pictures and remove everything else, save your program as "program.SCR" and let windows handle when it apears and disapears,
just put it with the other SCR files in window DIR, or manually select it.
im assuming windows 7 handles screen savers just like XP.

[vbforever23]

if your using this as a screensaver,
why not just simple have the code to display the pictures and remove everything else, save your program as "program.SCR" and let windows handle when it apears and disapears,
just put it with the other SCR files in window DIR, or manually select it.
im assuming windows 7 handles screen savers just like XP.

Thanks, but that's above my level of experience.

This is the code in my mousemove handler. Picturebox fills the screen. I start the program with F5, and am not even touching the mouse, so I don't know why the program would run then close immediately. If I remove the mousemove handler and click the picturebox, then the program works as expected.

Public Class Form1

    Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
        Timer1.Start()
    End Sub

    Private Sub Timer1_Tick(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Timer1.Tick
        Static ctr As Integer = 0
        Dim pics() As Image = {My.Resources._1, My.Resources._2, My.Resources._3, My.Resources._4, My.Resources._5, My.Resources._6}

        PictureBox1.Image = pics(ctr)
        ctr = ctr + 1
        If ctr > 5 Then
            ctr = 0
        End If
    End Sub

    Private Sub PictureBox1_Click(sender As Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles PictureBox1.Click
        Me.Close()
    End Sub

    
    Private Sub PictureBox1_MouseMove(sender As Object, e As System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventArgs) Handles PictureBox1.MouseMove
        Me.Close()
    End Sub
End Class

[GBeats]

to let windows handle it is sooooo much easier all you need is this

Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
        Timer1.Start()
    End Sub

    Private Sub Timer1_Tick(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Timer1.Tick
        Static ctr As Integer = 0
        Dim pics() As Image = {My.Resources._1, My.Resources._2, My.Resources._3, My.Resources._4, My.Resources._5, My.Resources._6}

        PictureBox1.Image = pics(ctr)
        ctr = ctr + 1
        If ctr > 5 Then
            ctr = 0
        End If
    End Sub

save it
get your exe file from the project folder
change the name to <name>.SCR
and thats it

just set your screensaver on windows to your program and it will open and close automatically because windows will do that by itself.

[GBeats]

Sorry i just looked at a book i have here, you will still need to handle the mouse_move event to close it.

[Españolita]

I've had instances of unexpected methods for various controls being run on form Load too. Try this, it may or may not work. It is designed to prevent the sub from running if it is called by form Load.

Public Class Form1
Dim FirstTime as Boolean = True
    Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
        Timer1.Start()
    End Sub

    Private Sub Timer1_Tick(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Timer1.Tick
        Static ctr As Integer = 0
        Dim pics() As Image = {My.Resources._1, My.Resources._2, My.Resources._3, My.Resources._4, My.Resources._5, My.Resources._6}

        PictureBox1.Image = pics(ctr)
        ctr = ctr + 1
        If ctr > 5 Then
            ctr = 0
        End If
    End Sub

    Private Sub PictureBox1_Click(sender As Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles PictureBox1.Click
        Me.Close()
    End Sub

    
    Private Sub PictureBox1_MouseMove(sender As Object, e As System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventArgs) Handles PictureBox1.MouseMove
       If FirstTime= True Then
          FirstTime=False
       Else
          Me.Close()
       End If
    End Sub
End Class

[GBeats]

try using the windows.forms.threading.sleep 'i think its that namespace'

let it sleep for a second after you start the counter see if that helps

[vbforever23]

I've had instances of unexpected methods for various controls being run on form Load too. Try this, it may or may not work. It is designed to prevent the sub from running if it is called by form Load.

Public Class Form1
Dim FirstTime as Boolean = True
    Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
        Timer1.Start()
    End Sub

    Private Sub Timer1_Tick(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Timer1.Tick
        Static ctr As Integer = 0
        Dim pics() As Image = {My.Resources._1, My.Resources._2, My.Resources._3, My.Resources._4, My.Resources._5, My.Resources._6}

        PictureBox1.Image = pics(ctr)
        ctr = ctr + 1
        If ctr > 5 Then
            ctr = 0
        End If
    End Sub

    Private Sub PictureBox1_Click(sender As Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles PictureBox1.Click
        Me.Close()
    End Sub

    
    Private Sub PictureBox1_MouseMove(sender As Object, e As System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventArgs) Handles PictureBox1.MouseMove
       If FirstTime= True Then
          FirstTime=False
       Else
          Me.Close()
       End If
    End Sub
End Class

That got some results. The screensaver shows the first pic for about 3 seconds, and then the program closes. If I move the mouse any time before 3 seconds, then it closes, as expected. Now if only the program would keep running.

[vbforever23]

save it
get your exe file from the project folder
change the name to <name>.SCR
and thats it

just set your screensaver on windows to your program and it will open and close automatically because windows will do that by itself.

Thanks for the info. It really does seem easy. I'll still try to get it to work my way, so I can learn from it. Thanks.

[vbforever23]

The only place you set the Image is in the Timer Tick sub. But if the timer interval is 10 seconds, the first tick will happen 10 seconds after you start it. So it's not surprising that the PictureBox stays blank for 10 seconds.

The answer is to set the first image in the Load sub, just before or after you start the timer: PictureBox1.Image = My.Resources._1. Then, in the Timer Tick sub, declare ctr = 1 instead of 0.

NN

Works perfectly, thanks.

[vbforever23]

I am going to mark this thread as resolved. My first problem has been fixed, and this mousemove problem is confusing but I can just click the mouse or press a key to close the screensaver. Thanks for all the help.

[Españolita]

I'll still try to get it to work my way, so I can learn from it.

Then why are you abandoning this thread, it is not resolved.
You need to understand why it is doing what it is doing. The first step for that is to take out the Boolean that I suggested and replace the close statement with a beep and a counter(maybe displayed in a label, or in the form's title?) in the picturebox_Click event. You can then find out how often and how many times the event is firing.
With this information, you (we) can then investigate further.
I know that my suggestion is like putting a plaster on a broken bone and I certainly would like to know the reason why. The last thread this topic came up on was also abandoned.

[vbforever23]

You are right, it's not resolved. But I just don't care enough to spend any more time on this problem.

But I can see that you do. It would be easy for you to reproduce this problem and investigate it on your own. Just put a panel to fill a form, and put a picturebox to fill the panel. Then make the form TopMost = True. Then add a timer and pics to your project.

Is this a Net 4.0 problem? If so, is there a way to report Net 4.0 problems?

Public Class Form1
    Dim FirstTime As Boolean = True

    
    Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
        PictureBox1.Image = My.Resources._1
        Timer1.Start()
    End Sub

    Private Sub Timer1_Tick(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Timer1.Tick
        Static ctr As Integer = 1
        Dim pics() As Image = {My.Resources._1, My.Resources._2, My.Resources._3, My.Resources._4, My.Resources._5, My.Resources._6}

        PictureBox1.Image = pics(ctr)
        ctr = ctr + 1
        If ctr > 5 Then
            ctr = 0
        End If
    End Sub

    Private Sub PictureBox1_Click(sender As Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles PictureBox1.Click
        Me.Close()
    End Sub


    'Private Sub PictureBox1_MouseMove(sender As Object, e As System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventArgs) Handles PictureBox1.MouseMove
    '    If FirstTime = True Then
    '        FirstTime = False
    '    Else
    '        Me.Close()
    '    End If
    'End Sub
End Class

[boops boops]

Maybe you have a hypersensitive mouse which responds to whiffs of cheese in the vicinity. One thing you might like to try is to check if the mouse has moved more than a certain distance, say 2 pixels, since the previous mouse move. Here's how you could code it the MouseMove event:

	Static lastPosition As Point = MousePosition
	If Math.Abs(MousePosition.X - lastPosition.X) > 1 _
          OrElse Math.Abs(MousePosition.Y - lastPosition.Y) > 1 Then
		Me.Close()
	End If
	lastPosition = MousePosition

You probably won't need the FirstTime variable if you do that.

BB

[Shaggy Hiker]

I'd put a breakpoint on the line in the MouseMove event. I just recently found that altering the tooltip triggers a MouseMove event, even if the mouse isn't moving. I'm not sure what is causing that, but it strikes me as being somewhat similar to your changing the picturebox image, or something else of that sort. In short: There are things other than moving the mouse that can raise MouseMove events. You have probably found one. Putting a breakpoint in the MouseMove event, or changing the event to show some increasing count in a label rather than closing the form, may show you that you are getting LOTS of MouseMove events that you were not expecting. Doing something like what Boops suggested could solve that problem, and it is probably essential, though I think that the distance moved should be greater than 1. In fact, I'd suggest that it be greater than 10.

[vbforever23]

Maybe you have a hypersensitive mouse which responds to whiffs of cheese in the vicinity

I've got the same probem on 2 different machines, using 2 different mice.

Can I confirm if anyone else is experiencing this problem on their computer? Or is it just me? I can't tell from the replies if other people are having a problem with mousemove as well, making this a .NET problem(which should then be reported for fixing by Microsoft?). Thank you.

[Shaggy Hiker]

I've had problems with MouseMove and Tooltips. Why would a Tooltip trigger a MouseMove event? It could have something to do with painting, or it could be something else. At the very least, there are things that trigger MouseMove events other than just moving the mouse.