Just throwing my two cents worth in here... As others pointed out, drawing circles around selections is "doable", but isn't user-friendly. As I read through this the thought occurred to me. What about using a drawn oval path as a movie clip for the mouse pointer that the user clicks on a selection? This way you get the drawing selection that the client wants, and you can control the size, spacing, position, hit test, etc.
...Rob -----Original Message----- From: nik crosina [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2007 3:51 AM To: flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com Subject: Re: [Flashcoders] drawing with mouse / pen thx, rich, funnily enuogh this echos many of my concerns. there is really no faster nd more convenient way of making a choice then point the mouse (pen, etc) and click. stil figuring out what th emotivation for this request was from the client - if they aer looking for 'just a exciting new way' of eliciting user interaction they mght be barking up the worng tree with this idea .... nik c On 5/2/07, Lists <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Nik, if it can save you any energy, be sure you show a proof of > concept to your client/colleague before you get too hip-deep into > this. We've tried to do similar things in the past with little > success. The issue is not technical, it's more of a usability issue. > > If you provide a VISIBLE area in which to draw, the end result will be > that you're defeating the purpose of drawing freehand. You might as > well just click on the area you've dedicated. (Remember, these are > usability opinions, and your mileage may very. The crucial thing is > that, in what you've described, your opinion typically doesn't matter. > It's the collective opinion of your users and how well they > understand, and can complete, the task that matters.) > > If you want to draw anywhere, you can create an empty movie clip as a > canvas that allows you to draw over everything and, as you said, do a > stroke with no fill so you don't have to worry about closing the path, > and it looks more natural like a marker on a whiteboard. You can just > use lineTo and an interval if you want something simple, or smooth out > the line using curveTo and an interval. You can then determine the > geographical center of the circle and see if that coordinate matches > up with a hitTest on the answer clip. You can't use hit test between > circle and answer unless the answers are no where near each other. > But, you can say: center of circle is at 100,100, and > answerMC.hitTest(100,100,false) (No shape flag will be easier, I > think.) > > The problem will be one of user satisfaction. How hard is it to draw a > circle with the mouse? How accurately can they get it over the answer? > How many times do they have to do it? For example, doing this for a > five-question quiz is great. But for a 20 question quiz it is > unbearably tedious. You want to just click the answer and move on. > > Anyway, I suggest that you spend a little time with testers to see how > they react before committing. > > Rich > > > > _______________________________________________ > Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com > To change your subscription options or search the archive: > http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders > > Brought to you by Fig Leaf Software > Premier Authorized Adobe Consulting and Training > http://www.figleaf.com http://training.figleaf.com > -- Nik C _______________________________________________ Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com To change your subscription options or search the archive: http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders Brought to you by Fig Leaf Software Premier Authorized Adobe Consulting and Training http://www.figleaf.com http://training.figleaf.com _______________________________________________ Flashcoders@chattyfig.figleaf.com To change your subscription options or search the archive: http://chattyfig.figleaf.com/mailman/listinfo/flashcoders Brought to you by Fig Leaf Software Premier Authorized Adobe Consulting and Training http://www.figleaf.com http://training.figleaf.com
