Detect any key press

Comments

• Josh

  February 2017

  Hi,

  You need to set the timeout parameter in the get_key() command; e.g., my_keyboard.get_key(timeout = 1). This collects a key over the course of 1ms, and thus collects a 'none' for every millisecond that no key was pressed.
  Then there's still the problem that if people type very very fast, you may lose a keypress or two. Is it necessary that people type as fast as possible? Otherwise you could ask your participants to try to type at a relaxed pace. The 1ms timeout should certainly be able to accommodate normal typing speeds.

  Cheers,

  Josh
• Lakshmi

  March 2017

  Hi,
  The problem of missing keypress was resolved once i switched the back end from xpyriment to legacy. I am collecting responses using keyboard and all keypresses are collected properly. I wanted to add something sort of a 'Next' button to move forward. I created a rectangle and monitored for mouse click in that rectangular region. Mouse clicks are getting detected properly now, but now the key presses are getting missed. The code I am using is shown below.

  ---

  from openexp.keyboard import keyboard
  from openexp.mouse import mouse
  from openexp.canvas import canvas
  
  my_keyboard = keyboard(exp) 
  my_mouse = mouse(exp)
  cv = canvas(exp) # initialize a canvas
  resp = "" # Here we store the response
  my_mouse.show_cursor(show = True)
  
  def timer2clock(timer):
      '''
      converts a plain integer representing the seconds left to a proper
      clock
      '''
      t = timer/1000
      t = int(t)
      min = t//60
      if min<10:
          min = '0'+str(min)
      else:
          min = str(min)
      sec = t%60
      if sec<10:
          sec = '0'+str(sec)
      else:
          sec = str(sec)
  
      clock = min+':'+sec 
      return clock
  
  task_done = False
  start_time = self.time()
  timer = 20000 # 20 seconds
  rest_time = 20000
  clock = timer2clock(timer)
  cv.text(clock, x  = 350, y = -300)
  cv.text('Question 1', x = -250, y = -350)
  cv.text('Write all the details that you can recall', x = -250, y = -300)
  cv.rect(-480, -280, 930, 450, fill=False)
  cv.rect(-120, 240, 160, 50, fill=False)
  cv.text('Next', x = -50, y = 265)
  cv.show()
  
  # update screen
  while (task_done == False and rest_time > 0):
  
      key, time = my_keyboard.get_key(timeout = 1)
      if key is not None: 
          if key == "backspace":
              resp = resp[:-1]    
          elif key == "space":
              resp += " "
          else:
              resp += my_keyboard.to_chr(key)
          if key == "return":
              resp = resp[:-6] 
          elif key == "left shift":
              resp = resp[:-10]
          elif key == "right shift":
              resp = resp[:-11]
          elif key == "caps lock":
              resp = resp[:-9]    
      cur_time = self.time()  # update time
      rest_time = timer - (cur_time - start_time)
      clock = timer2clock(rest_time)
      steps1 = range(0,len(resp),82)
      steps = map(lambda x: x/82, steps1)
      cv.clear()
      cv.text(clock,x = 350, y = -300)
      cv.text('Question 1', x = -250, y = -350)
      cv.text('Write all the details that you can recall', x = -250, y = -300)
      cv.rect(-480, -280, 930, 450, fill=False)
      cv.rect(-120, 240, 160, 50, fill=False)
      cv.text('Next', x = -50, y = 265)
      for i in steps:
          resp1 = resp[(82*i):min(82*(i+1)-1,len(resp))]
          cv.text(resp1, center=False, x = -470, y = -260+30*i)
  
      cv.show()
      button, position, timestamp = my_mouse.get_click(timeout=1) 
      if button is not None:
          (x,y), time = my_mouse.get_pos()
          if (x>-120 and x<40):
              if (y>240 and y<290):
                  task_done == True
                  break
  
  log.write(resp)
  

  ---

  When I comment the following portion all keypresses get recorded properly.

     button, position, timestamp = my_mouse.get_click(timeout=1)
  if button is not None:
      (x,y), time = my_mouse.get_pos()
      if (x>-120 and x<40):
          if (y>240 and y<290):
              task_done == True
              break
  

  With above portion included in the code, there is issues with collecting keypresses.

  Please help me resolving this issue.