# Psychtoolbox version of waitforbuttonpress **URL:** \ **Category:** Uncategorized\ **Created:** [July 29, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://psychtoolbox.discourse.group/t/psychtoolbox-version-of-waitforbuttonpress/1525 "2005-07-29T19:41:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Allen\_Ingling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Allen\_Ingling](https://psychtoolbox.discourse.group/u/Allen_Ingling)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://psychtoolbox.discourse.group/t/psychtoolbox-version-of-waitforbuttonpress/1525/1 "2005-07-29T19:41:19Z")
I was wondering if anyone knew of a psychtoolbox version of waitforbuttonpress. The function just pauses the program until a mouse button is clicked. So far, I have discovered ASK (which displays text in the top right corner, which I don't want) and getClicks (which pauses for a little while even after you click because its waiting to count additional clicks). I'm currently using getClicks, but I don't want to additional pause if there is a function that will do exactly what waitforbuttonpress does for figures. Thanks! Jessica Brandeis University ---
**Author:** ![dfencsik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dfencsik](https://psychtoolbox.discourse.group/u/dfencsik)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2005, 1:45am UTC](https://psychtoolbox.discourse.group/t/psychtoolbox-version-of-waitforbuttonpress/1525/2 "2005-07-30T01:45:21Z")
You can use GetMouse to check for a button press, but you have to check it repeatedly in a loop. I use the below function to wait for a mouse click in OS. It first waits until the mouse button is released (in case it's still down from a previous response), then waits for it to get pressed again. It's pretty minimalist, and doesn't return the mouse position, keys pressed, or any timing information. function MouseWait [x, y, button] = GetMouse; while any(button) [x, y, button] = GetMouse; end while ~any(button) [x, y, button] = GetMouse; end David > On 7/29/05, sabredanse \<[jmaryott@...](mailto:jmaryott@...)\> wrote: > \> I was wondering if anyone knew of a psychtoolbox version of > \> waitforbuttonpress. The function just pauses the program until a mouse > \> button is clicked. So far, I have discovered ASK (which displays text > \> in the top right corner, which I don't want) and getClicks (which > \> pauses for a little while even after you click because its waiting to > \> count additional clicks). I'm currently using getClicks, but I don't > \> want to additional pause if there is a function that will do exactly > \> what waitforbuttonpress does for figures. Thanks! > \> > \> Jessica > \> > \> Brandeis University > > -- > David Fencsik, Ph.D. > Research Fellow > > Visual Attention Laboratory > Brigham and Women's Hospital > 64 Sidney St., Suite 170 > Cambridge, MA 02139 > > Phone: 617-768-8812 > Email: [fencsik@...](mailto:fencsik@...) > Web: [http://search.bwh.harvard.edu/](http://search.bwh.harvard.edu/) ---
**Author:** ![Allen\_Ingling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Allen\_Ingling](https://psychtoolbox.discourse.group/u/Allen_Ingling)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 11:47pm UTC](https://psychtoolbox.discourse.group/t/psychtoolbox-version-of-waitforbuttonpress/1525/3 "2005-07-31T23:47:22Z")
Try waitforMouse, on my website. [http://csclab.ucsd.edu/~alan/vision/matlab\_code/](http://csclab.ucsd.edu/~alan/vision/matlab_code/) sabredanse wrote: > \> I was wondering if anyone knew of a psychtoolbox version of > \> waitforbuttonpress. The function just pauses the program until a mouse > \> button is clicked. So far, I have discovered ASK (which displays text > \> in the top right corner, which I don't want) and getClicks (which > \> pauses for a little while even after you click because its waiting to > \> count additional clicks). I'm currently using getClicks, but I don't > \> want to additional pause if there is a function that will do exactly > \> what waitforbuttonpress does for figures. Thanks! > \> > \> Jessica > \> > \> Brandeis University > \> > \> > \> > \> > \> Post your message to: [psychtoolbox@yahoogroups.com](mailto:psychtoolbox@yahoogroups.com) > \> Please indicate OS9, OSX, or WIN version, and include your full name. > \> Denis Pelli, David Brainard, and Allen Ingling. > \> [http://psychtoolbox.org](http://psychtoolbox.org) > \> > \> Yahoo! Groups Links > \> > \> > \> > \> > \> > \> > \> > \> ---
**Author:** ![sabredanse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@sabredanse](https://psychtoolbox.discourse.group/u/sabredanse)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 2:17pm UTC](https://psychtoolbox.discourse.group/t/psychtoolbox-version-of-waitforbuttonpress/1525/4 "2005-08-01T14:17:09Z")
Thanks, this will help, Jessica > --- In [psychtoolbox@yahoogroups.com](mailto:psychtoolbox@yahoogroups.com), David Fencsik \ wrote: > \> You can use GetMouse to check for a button press, but you have to > \> check it repeatedly in a loop. I use the below function to wait for a > \> mouse click in OS. It first waits until the mouse button is released > \> (in case it's still down from a previous response), then waits for it > \> to get pressed again. It's pretty minimalist, and doesn't return the > \> mouse position, keys pressed, or any timing information. > \> > \> function MouseWait > \> > \> [x, y, button] = GetMouse; > \> while any(button) > \> [x, y, button] = GetMouse; > \> end > \> while ~any(button) > \> [x, y, button] = GetMouse; > \> end > \> > \> > \> David > \> > \> On 7/29/05, sabredanse \ wrote: > \> \> I was wondering if anyone knew of a psychtoolbox version of > \> \> waitforbuttonpress. The function just pauses the program until a mouse > \> \> button is clicked. So far, I have discovered ASK (which displays text > \> \> in the top right corner, which I don't want) and getClicks (which > \> \> pauses for a little while even after you click because its waiting to > \> \> count additional clicks). I'm currently using getClicks, but I don't > \> \> want to additional pause if there is a function that will do exactly > \> \> what waitforbuttonpress does for figures. Thanks! > \> \> > \> \> Jessica > \> \> > \> \> Brandeis University > \> > \> -- > \> David Fencsik, Ph.D. > \> Research Fellow > \> > \> Visual Attention Laboratory > \> Brigham and Women's Hospital > \> 64 Sidney St., Suite 170 > \> Cambridge, MA 02139 > \> > \> Phone: 617-768-8812 > \> Email: fencsik@g... > \> Web: [http://search.bwh.harvard.edu/](http://search.bwh.harvard.edu/) ---
**Author:** ![sabredanse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@sabredanse](https://psychtoolbox.discourse.group/u/sabredanse)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 2:18pm UTC](https://psychtoolbox.discourse.group/t/psychtoolbox-version-of-waitforbuttonpress/1525/5 "2005-08-01T14:18:48Z")
Thank you - I'll be able to use a slimmed down version of this to do exactly what I need. Jessica --- In [psychtoolbox@yahoogroups.com](mailto:psychtoolbox@yahoogroups.com), Alan Robinson \ wrote: > \> Try waitforMouse, on my website. > \> > \> [http://csclab.ucsd.edu/~alan/vision/matlab\_code/](http://csclab.ucsd.edu/~alan/vision/matlab_code/) > \> > \> sabredanse wrote: > \> \> I was wondering if anyone knew of a psychtoolbox version of > \> \> waitforbuttonpress. The function just pauses the program until a mouse > \> \> button is clicked. So far, I have discovered ASK (which displays text > \> \> in the top right corner, which I don't want) and getClicks (which > \> \> pauses for a little while even after you click because its waiting to > \> \> count additional clicks). I'm currently using getClicks, but I don't > \> \> want to additional pause if there is a function that will do exactly > \> \> what waitforbuttonpress does for figures. Thanks! > \> \> > \> \> Jessica > \> \> > \> \> Brandeis University > \> \> > \> \> > \> \> > \> \> > \> \> Post your message to: [psychtoolbox@yahoogroups.com](mailto:psychtoolbox@yahoogroups.com) > \> \> Please indicate OS9, OSX, or WIN version, and include your full name. > \> \> Denis Pelli, David Brainard, and Allen Ingling. > \> \> [http://psychtoolbox.org](http://psychtoolbox.org) > \> \> > \> \> Yahoo! Groups Links > \> \> > \> \> > \> \> > \> \> > \> \> > \> \> > \> \> > \> \> ---
**Author:** ![Allen\_Ingling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Allen\_Ingling](https://psychtoolbox.discourse.group/u/Allen_Ingling)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2005, 8:08am UTC](https://psychtoolbox.discourse.group/t/psychtoolbox-version-of-waitforbuttonpress/1525/6 "2005-08-04T08:08:13Z")
Hi there, I have written code that simply flashes different ovals on the screen. If I do the ovals in color, frames are dropped (consistently 60 frames in the below demo), but if I do it in gray scale, it works fine (consistently drops 0 frames). I assume I am not using color optimally, but can't quite figure it out. My code for the colored circles is below. Does anyone have any advice? thanks a bunch, Maria Mckinley % MailListDemo % adapted from Psychtoolbox MovieDemo2 % show on main screen whichScreen=0; pixelSizes=Screen(whichScreen,'PixelSizes'); nFrames=round(.5\*FrameRate(whichScreen)); priorityLevel=MaxPriority(whichScreen,'GetSecs','WaitBlanking'); max(pixelSizes) % Open screen. Do this before opening the % offscreen windows so you can align offscreen [window,windowRect]=Screen(whichScreen,'OpenWindow',0,[],max(pixelSizes)); % Setting clut seems to make no difference. onClut=(0:255)'\*[1 1 1]; Screen(window,'SetClut',onClut); %%% THIS CODE IS JUST TO GET THE COORDINATES FOR THE RECTANGLE TO USE FOR THE OVAL % adapted from shadlendots % viewing width of monitor (cm) mon\_horizontal\_cm = 34; % distance from the center of the subject's eyes to the monitor (cm) view\_dist\_cm = 60; pixPerDeg = windowRect(3) \* ... (1 ./ (2 \* atan2(mon\_horizontal\_cm / 2, view\_dist\_cm))) \* ... pi/180; half\_width = windowRect(3)/2; half\_height = windowRect(4)/2; ppd = pixPerDeg/10; % the first circle will have diameter 30, centered xyd = [0 0 30]; d\_ppd = xyd(:, 3) \* ppd; x0 = half\_width + xyd(:, 1) \* ppd - 0.5 \* d\_ppd; y0 = half\_height - xyd(:, 2) \* ppd - 0.5 \* d\_ppd; destRect = [x0 y0 (x0 + d\_ppd) (y0 + d\_ppd)]; % the second circle will have diameter 30, to the left and up of the center xyd = [10 10 30]; d\_ppd = xyd(:, 3) \* ppd; x0 = half\_width + xyd(:, 1) \* ppd - 0.5 \* d\_ppd; y0 = half\_height - xyd(:, 2) \* ppd - 0.5 \* d\_ppd; destRect2 = [x0 y0 (x0 + d\_ppd) (y0 + d\_ppd)]; % Put images into offscreen memory. When we open an offscreen % window we specify which on-screen window it should be % aligned with, for fast copying. ow1=Screen(window,'OpenOffscreenWindow',0,windowRect); Screen(ow1,'FillOval', [255 0 0], destRect); ow2=Screen(window,'OpenOffscreenWindow',0,windowRect); Screen(ow2,'FillOval', [0 0 255], destRect2); % Set up string for Rush. You can make this as long as you like. % The initial call to WaitBlanking synchronizes the program with the display blanking. missed1=zeros(nFrames,1); missed2=zeros(nFrames,1); GetSecs; % Preload all functions. loop={ 'Screen(window,''WaitBlanking'');' 'startTime=GetSecs;' 'for i=1:nFrames;' 'Screen(''CopyWindow'', ow1, window,windowRect,windowRect,''srcCopy'');' 'missed1(i)=Screen(window,''WaitBlanking'');' 'Screen(''CopyWindow'', ow2, window,windowRect,windowRect,''srcCopy'');' 'missed2(i)=Screen(window,''WaitBlanking'');' 'end;' 'finishTime=GetSecs;' }; % Show the movie. The Rushed code does the timing. HideCursor; Screen('Screens');GetSecs; % Make sure all Rushed functions are in memory. Rush(loop,priorityLevel); ShowCursor; % Close up Screen('CloseAll'); % Print results fprintf('MovieDemo4\n'); s=sprintf('Movie is %.0f Hz.',FrameRate(whichScreen)); s=sprintf('%s Copied %.0f images/sec.',s,2\*nFrames/(finishTime-startTime)); s=sprintf('%s Missed %g frames.',s,sum(sum([missed1 missed2]))); fprintf('%s\n',WrapString(s)); RestoreScreen(whichScreen); % As of 7/31/02, FrameRate may leave CLUT in strange state. ---
**Author:** ![Allen\_Ingling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Allen\_Ingling](https://psychtoolbox.discourse.group/u/Allen_Ingling)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2005, 6:43pm UTC](https://psychtoolbox.discourse.group/t/psychtoolbox-version-of-waitforbuttonpress/1525/7 "2005-08-05T18:43:40Z")
On Fri, 5 Aug 2005, David Fencsik wrote: > \> Maria, > \> > \> In your sample code, the ovals are drawn to off-screen windows that > \> are the same size as the on-screen window. This means that you are > \> copying a whole lot of unnecessary bytes every time a stimulus is > \> copied to the screen. Try making the off-screen stimulus windows as > \> small as possible (i.e., the max radius of the ovals). > \> > \> David > \> Hi David, Thanks for the advice. The reason I did that is because I was having problems with the rectangles showing up when stimuli overlapped, if I didn't. Using the large off-screen window did not cause a timing problem in the black and white version, so I thought it should work with the color too. I really don't understand why it wouldn't, but if you have another idea of how to do this without the rectangles showing up, that would be great. I'm including some code that demonstrates what I mean about the rectangles. Tyi, this code will eventually be incorporated in a gui, in which the user is able to make the two circles any size, and put them anywhere on the screen (including one on top of the other, as in this demo). Sometimes they will both be shown at the same time, and sometimes just one at a time. thanks, Maria % MailListDemo2 % adapted from Psychtoolbox MovieDemo2 % show on main screen whichScreen=0; nFrames=round(0.5\*FrameRate(whichScreen)); priorityLevel=MaxPriority(whichScreen,'GetSecs','WaitBlanking'); % Open screen. Do this before opening the % offscreen windows so you can align offscreen % window memory to onscreen for faster copying. [window,windowRect]=Screen(whichScreen,'OpenWindow',0,[],8); onClut=(0:255)'\*[1 1 1]; Screen(window,'SetClut',onClut); imageRect=SetRect(0,0,200,200); imageRect2=SetRect(0,0,300,300); destRect=CenterRect(imageRect,windowRect); destRect2=CenterRect(imageRect2,windowRect); % Put images into offscreen memory. When we open an offscreen % window we specify which on-screen window it should be % aligned with, for fast copying. ow1=Screen(window,'OpenOffscreenWindow',0,imageRect,8); Screen(ow1,'FillOval', 100, imageRect); ow2=Screen(window,'OpenOffscreenWindow',0,imageRect2,8); Screen(ow2,'FillOval', 255, imageRect2); % Set up string for Rush. You can make this as long as you like. % The initial call to WaitBlanking synchronizes the program with the display blanking. missed1=zeros(nFrames,1); missed2=zeros(nFrames,1); GetSecs; % Preload all functions. loop={ 'Screen(window,''WaitBlanking'');' 'startTime=GetSecs;' 'for i=1:nFrames;' 'Screen(''CopyWindow'', ow1, window,imageRect,destRect,''srcCopy'');' 'missed1(i)=Screen(window,''WaitBlanking'');' 'Screen(''CopyWindow'', ow2, window,imageRect2,destRect2,''srcCopy'');' 'missed2(i)=Screen(window,''WaitBlanking'');' 'end;' 'finishTime=GetSecs;' }; % Show the movie. The Rushed code does the timing. HideCursor; Screen('Screens');GetSecs; % Make sure all Rushed functions are in memory. Rush(loop,priorityLevel); ShowCursor; % Close up Screen('CloseAll'); % Print results fprintf('MovieDemo3\n'); s=sprintf('Movie is %.0f Hz.',FrameRate(whichScreen)); s=sprintf('%s Copied %.0f images/sec.',s,2\*nFrames/(finishTime-startTime)); s=sprintf('%s Missed %g frames.',s,sum(sum([missed1 missed2]))); fprintf('%s\n',WrapString(s)); RestoreScreen(whichScreen); % As of 7/31/02, FrameRate may leave CLUT in strange state. ---
**Author:** ![dfencsik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dfencsik](https://psychtoolbox.discourse.group/u/dfencsik)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://psychtoolbox.discourse.group/t/psychtoolbox-version-of-waitforbuttonpress/1525/8 "2005-08-07T00:45:08Z")
Hi Maria, I think the reason you only observe dropped frames in color and not in black and white is that the computer has to copy three times as much information in color relative to b/w. There is only one byte per pixel in b/w vs. three bytes per pixel for color (one byte each for red, green, and blue levels). As for the visible rectangles, try specifying 'transparent' instead of 'srcCopy' as the last argument to Screen('CopyWindow'), and make sure your ovals are drawn on a white background. To make sure they have a white background, open your offsreen windows like this: ow1=Screen(window,'OpenOffscreenWindow',[],imageRect); The 'transparent' argument instructs 'CopyWindow' to skip any white pixels in the source window. Of course, it will also skip any white-colored pixels within the oval, so you need to draw them in off-white. I draw white stimuli using a color value of 254 instead of 255. Incidentally, does anybody have a better solution to transparently drawing white stimuli? Is there a method for specifying a different color to use as the transparent one? Hope that helps. David -- David Fencsik, Ph.D. Research Fellow Visual Attention Laboratory Brigham and Women's Hospital 64 Sidney St., Suite 170 Cambridge, MA 02139 Phone: 617-768-8812 Email: [fencsik@...](mailto:fencsik@...) Web: [http://search.bwh.harvard.edu/](http://search.bwh.harvard.edu/) > On 8/5/05, Maria McKinley \<[parody@...](mailto:parody@...)\> wrote: > \> > \> Hi David, > \> > \> Thanks for the advice. The reason I did that is because I was having problems with the rectangles showing up when stimuli overlapped, if I didn't. Using the large off-screen window did not cause a timing problem in the black and white version, so I thought it should work with the color too. I really don't understand why it wouldn't, but if you have another idea of how to do this without the rectangles showing up, that would be great. I'm including some code that demonstrates what I mean about the rectangles. > \> > \> Tyi, this code will eventually be incorporated in a gui, in which the user is able to make the two circles any size, and put them anywhere on the screen (including one on top of the other, as in this demo). Sometimes they will both be shown at the same time, and sometimes just one at a time. > \> > \> thanks, > \> Maria ---
**Author:** ![Allen\_Ingling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Allen\_Ingling](https://psychtoolbox.discourse.group/u/Allen_Ingling)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 9:19pm UTC](https://psychtoolbox.discourse.group/t/psychtoolbox-version-of-waitforbuttonpress/1525/9 "2005-08-07T21:19:17Z")
Thanks David, Silly me, I was thinking you still had to do 3 matrices, but of course they would be the same matrix, so would actually only be one. Should have thought that one through more before I asked. I guess I had assumed that it would handle these matrices more intelligently (ie, most of my screen is black, so Definitely making progress, but this introduces a new question. The way I was doing things previously, if I wanted to show a target that was up on the previous screen, I just made an offscreen window that has both targets. Now I don't know how to do this. Trying to make an image rectangle that is big enough for both targets seems silly (and if they are in opposite corners, is the same as copying the whole screen and will be just as slow), but trying to copy multiple, sometimes overlapping, windows to one screen seems to introduce weird visual glitches, and I can't make it do exactly what I want anyway. Maybe I shouldn't be trying to make a movie at all. I think I will test to see how fast filloval is when drawing directly to the screen. If anyone has any further ideas, I'm all ears... cheers, maria David Fencsik wrote: > \> Hi Maria, > \> > \> I think the reason you only observe dropped frames in color and not in > \> black and white is that the computer has to copy three times as much > \> information in color relative to b/w. There is only one byte per > \> pixel in b/w vs. three bytes per pixel for color (one byte each for > \> red, green, and blue levels). > \> > \> As for the visible rectangles, try specifying 'transparent' instead of > \> 'srcCopy' as the last argument to Screen('CopyWindow'), and make sure > \> your ovals are drawn on a white background. To make sure they have a > \> white background, open your offsreen windows like this: > \> > \> ow1=Screen(window,'OpenOffscreenWindow',[],imageRect); > \> > \> The 'transparent' argument instructs 'CopyWindow' to skip any white > \> pixels in the source window. Of course, it will also skip any > \> white-colored pixels within the oval, so you need to draw them in > \> off-white. I draw white stimuli using a color value of 254 instead of > \> 255. > \> > \> Incidentally, does anybody have a better solution to transparently > \> drawing white stimuli? Is there a method for specifying a different > \> color to use as the transparent one? > \> > \> Hope that helps. > \> > \> David > \> > \>