Input Events

Input events are messages about input from the keyboard or from the mouse.

Distribution

All input events are stored in a central queue. The events are automatically sent to GeUserArea.InputEvent() if the user area is in focus. They can also be intercepted in GeDialog.Message().

Further, any code can either poll the event queue with GetInputEvent() or get the current input state with GetInputState().

Structure

Input events are stored in BaseContainer objects. The ID of the container is BFM_INPUT (this is also the ID to look for in GeDialog.Message()). The content of the container is:

BFM_INPUT_QUALIFIER	int	A bit mask with the qualifiers at the time when the event occurred:
	QUALIFIER_NONE	None.
	QUALIFIER_SHIFT	Shift key.
	QUALIFIER_CTRL	Ctrl key.
	QUALIFIER_MOUSEHIT	Indication in ObjectData.DetectHandle() that the user pressed the mouse.
		For instance if QUALIFIER_MOUSEHIT and QUALIFIER_CTRL are set, a new element could be created.
BFM_INPUT_MODIFIERS	int	Same as BFM_INPUT_QUALIFIER but also contains bits > 0xf. Private.
BFM_INPUT_DEVICE	int	Device:
	BFM_INPUT_MOUSE	Mouse.
	BFM_INPUT_KEYBOARD	Keyboard.
BFM_INPUT_ASC	str	Contains the Unicode input from keyboard.
BFM_INPUT_CHANNEL	int	Contains the key or button. See also KEY.
	BFM_INPUT_MOUSELEFT	Left mouse button.
	BFM_INPUT_MOUSERIGHT	Right mouse button.
	BFM_INPUT_MOUSEMIDDLE	Middle mouse button.
	BFM_INPUT_MOUSEX1	Fourth mouse button.
	BFM_INPUT_MOUSEX2	Five mouse button.
	BFM_INPUT_MOUSEWHEEL	Mouse wheel.
	BFM_INPUT_MOUSEMOVE	Mouse move.
BFM_INPUT_VALUE	int	Value of the input channel (Usually True/False or a int value, e.g. for scroll wheel data).
BFM_INPUT_VALUE_REAL	float	Channel value (e.g. pressure).
BFM_INPUT_X	int32	Mouse X position.
BFM_INPUT_Y	int32	Mouse Y position.
BFM_INPUT_Z	int32	Mouse Z position.
BFM_INPUT_TILT	int	Pen tilt.
BFM_INPUT_ORIENTATION	float	Pen rotation.
BFM_INPUT_P_ROTATION	float	Pen rotation around its own axis.
BFM_INPUT_FINGERWHEEL	int	Finger wheel.
BFM_INPUT_DOUBLECLICK	bool	Double click.

Note

The values for BFM_INPUT_DEVICE and BFM_INPUT_CHANNEL are used with GetInputState() and GetInputEvent() to get specific events only.

Continuous polling

There are no events for things like mouse-up or mouse-leave in Cinema 4D. The reason is that there is no reliable way to get such messages that is completely portable. Therefore it is sometimes necessary to enter a manual while loop that ends when the mouse is released. For example, to track how the user drags something with the left button down one would do:

state = c4d.BaseContainer()
while gui.GetInputState(c4d.BFM_INPUT_MOUSE, c4d.BFM_INPUT_MOUSELEFT, state):
    if state.GetInt32(c4d.BFM_INPUT_VALUE)==0:
        break

    x = state.GetInt32(c4d.BFM_INPUT_X)
    y = state.GetInt32(c4d.BFM_INPUT_Y)

    #x, y

Note

Needless to say, try not to get caught in any infinite loops during such polls! If sending BFM_ACTION messages, for example fom a custom slider control, set the BFM_ACTION_INDRAG flag to True in those messages while in the loop.