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libjstick README - dzimmer@magma.ca


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About the demo:

The demo only bothers with processing the XY axes of the joystick, and the first 
button, however defining DEBUG will print messages for other events... and the 
library has been tested for fully-featured joysticks.  Also, the 3D navigation 
code is limited, since the app is only designed for testing purposes.

FLTK-specific files

  jtest_fltk.cxx - fltk UI
  cb_fltk.cpp    - fltk callbacks
  cgfx_x.cpp     - fltk class for 2D window
  cgfx_gl.cpp    - fltk class for 3D OpenGL window

XFORMS-specific files

  jtest_xforms.c - xforms UI (also see jtest_xforms_add.c)
  cb_xforms.c    - xforms callbacks

The rest of the code is toolkit-neutral.

A single "window" test may be in order at some point, to demonstrate the simplicity 
and flexibility of the library.

If your joystick is not recognized under Linux, you may need to insert some 
modules (as root).  The following works for my Logitech Digital Extreme 3D 
(the last module is specific to the joystick):

  /sbin/insmod joydev
  /sbin/insmod gameport
  /sbin/insmod adi


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Bugs: 

In Windows XP, calling joyReleaseCapture() prevents successive calls 
to joySetCapture() from working, thus braking this library.

The program found under winxp_test_mmjoy demonstrates this using only 
the native win32 mmJoy calls.  I have assumed that this is a bug that 
Microsoft is not going to bother to fix, since DirectX has replaced winmm.

The only solution is to change this library to use DirectX.  If anyone would like 
to contribute some sample code using DirectInput for joysticks, please contact 
dzimmer@magma.ca


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Library design issues:

The XFORMS implementation is slower than that for FLTK, and events tend to pile-up.  
On slower machines, you can move the stick around, then sit back and watch the GUI 
catch-up.

For xforms and fltk under Linux, joystick events are read using a timeout callback.  
I am not convinced that this is the best way... it could be done with an idle 
callback, or listening to an fd.

The fltk WIN32 handler is much better since the joystick driver is integrated 
into the window manager.  This could be done with X-Windows by sending user 
defined events, and I am leaning towards rewriting the library to do this.

I would also like to be able to poll the state of the joystick under Linux, 
however I am not sure that this is possible using linux/joystick.h.  The 
documentation I have reagarding this is fuzzy.

Please send any useful solutions or comments regaring these issues to 
dzimmer@magma.ca


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