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InkCollector.CollectionMode Property

Gets or sets the collection mode that determines whether ink, gesture, or both are recognized as the user writes.

Namespace:  Microsoft.Ink
Assembly:  Microsoft.Ink (in Microsoft.Ink.dll)

Syntax

'Declaration
Public Property CollectionMode As CollectionMode
'Usage
Dim instance As InkCollector 
Dim value As CollectionMode 

value = instance.CollectionMode

instance.CollectionMode = value
public CollectionMode CollectionMode { get; set; }
public:
property CollectionMode CollectionMode {
    CollectionMode get ();
    void set (CollectionMode value);
}
public function get CollectionMode () : CollectionMode 
public function set CollectionMode (value : CollectionMode)

Property Value

Type: Microsoft.Ink.CollectionMode
The CollectionMode that determines whether ink, gesture, or both are recognized as the user writes.

Remarks

Note

The InkCollector object generates an error if you try to change the CollectionMode property while ink is being collected. To avoid this conflict, check the CollectingInk property before changing the CollectionMode property.

For a list of the modes that you can use, see the CollectionMode enumeration. However, when using the CollectionMode property on a system that has the Tablet PC SDK installed but that doesn't have recognizer installed, the mode cannot be set to GestureOnly or InkAndGesture.

The following behaviors occur for each of the CollectionMode values.

InkOnly mode

  • Only ink is collected; gestures are not.

  • The Gesture event interest is set to false (all other event interests remain as they were).

GestureOnly mode

  • Only gestures are collected; ink is not. The strokes are deleted after they are sent to the gesture recognizer.

  • The Gesture event interest is set to true (all other event interests remain as they were).

  • The InkCollector object does not fire the following stroke and packet related events: the CursorDown, Stroke, NewPackets, and NewInAirPackets events.

  • Cursor events fire.

  • Ink is always deleted.

InkAndGesture mode

  • Both ink and gestures are collected.

  • Only single-stroke gestures are recognized.

  • The Gesture event interest is set to true (all other event interests remain as they were).

  • The Gesture event fires first, allowing you to accept or cancel the gesture when the InkCollector object's OnGesture event handler is invoked. To cancel the gesture, set the inherited Cancel property of the InkCollectorGestureEventArgs object to true. Canceling the gesture forces the InkCollector object to collect the ink.

Changing the collection mode does not alter the status of individual gestures.

Unwanted behavior may occur when the CollectionMode property is set to InkAndGesture and an InkCollector object's interest in a known gesture is set (by calling the SetGestureStatus method). If you draw ink similar to the known gesture and the known gesture is in the recognizer's list of alternates, the Gesture event fires, causing the ink to disappear, even if the gesture is not the top alternate. To prevent the ink from disappearing when you want to collect the ink instead of the gesture, cancel collection of the gesture and set the inherited Cancel property of the InkCollectorGestureEventArgs object to true.

When the CollectionMode property is set to GestureOnly, the timeout between when a user adds a gesture and when the Gesture event occurs is a fixed value: it cannot be altered programmatically. Gesture recognition is faster in the InkAndGesture mode. To collect gestures only and prevent the collection of ink while in the InkAndGesture mode, you can:

Set the CollectionMode property to InkAndGesture.

  1. In the Stroke event, delete the stroke.

  2. In the Gesture event, process the gesture.

  3. Set DynamicRendering to false to prevent the flow of ink while gesturing.

Examples

This C# example displays gesture event information in the status bar of the main form window. Starting with a generic generated application, add a StatusBar control, statusBar1, to the main form and the following code.

//...
using Microsoft.Ink;

namespace CSGestureEvents
{
    public class Form1 : System.Windows.Forms.Form
    {
        private System.Windows.Forms.StatusBar statusBar1;
        // ... The generated code will be here.
        //Add this code following the implementation of Main():
        InkCollector theInkCollector;

        private void Form1_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
        {
            // Initialize the InkCollector object.
            theInkCollector = new InkCollector(Handle);
            theInkCollector.CollectionMode = CollectionMode.InkAndGesture;
            ClearAppGestures(theInkCollector);
            // Turn on interest in the ChevronDown application gesture.
            theInkCollector.SetGestureStatus(ApplicationGesture.ChevronDown, true);
            theInkCollector.SetGestureStatus(ApplicationGesture.ChevronUp, true);
            theInkCollector.Gesture += new InkCollectorGestureEventHandler(Gesture_Event);
            theInkCollector.SystemGesture += new InkCollectorSystemGestureEventHandler(SystemGesture_Event);
            theInkCollector.Enabled = true;
        }

        private void Gesture_Event(object sender,
            InkCollectorGestureEventArgs e)
        {
            Gesture theGesture = e.Gestures[0];
            statusBar1.Text = theGesture.Id.ToString();
            // Cancelling the gesture will cause the ink to remain.
            if (theGesture.Id == ApplicationGesture.ChevronDown)
                e.Cancel = true;
        }

        private void SystemGesture_Event(object sender,
            InkCollectorSystemGestureEventArgs e)
        {
            SystemGesture theGesture = e.Id;
            statusBar1.Text = "System: " + theGesture.ToString() +
                " " + e.Point.ToString();
        }

        // Set all of the ApplicationGestures' status
        // to false on the InkCollector object.
        private void ClearAppGestures(InkCollector theInkCollector)
        {
            ApplicationGesture test = ApplicationGesture.NoGesture;
            Array theGestures = System.Enum.GetValues(test.GetType());
            foreach (ApplicationGesture theGesture in theGestures)
            {
                theInkCollector.SetGestureStatus(theGesture, false);
            }
        }
    }
}

This Microsoft Visual Basic .NET example displays gesture event information in the status bar of the main form window. Starting with a generic generated application, add a StatusBar control, statusBar1, to the main form and the following code.

Imports Microsoft.Ink
Public Class Form1
    Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Form

#Region " Windows Form Designer generated code "
'This contains the standard generated form code, with
'the addition of a Status Bar, StatusBar1.
#End Region

    Dim theInkCollector As InkCollector

    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        'Initialize InkCollector.
        theInkCollector = New InkCollector(Handle)
        'Set the InkCollector to collect both ink and gestures.
        theInkCollector.CollectionMode = CollectionMode.InkAndGesture
        'Clear interest in all of the application gestures
        ClearAppGestures(theInkCollector)
        'Set our interest in only two gestures.
        theInkCollector.SetGestureStatus(ApplicationGesture.ChevronDown, True)
        theInkCollector.SetGestureStatus(ApplicationGesture.ChevronUp, True)
        'Add the handlers for application and system gestures.
        AddHandler theInkCollector.Gesture, AddressOf Gesture_Event
        AddHandler theInkCollector.SystemGesture, AddressOf SystemGesture_Event
        theInkCollector.Enabled = True
    End Sub

    Private Sub Gesture_Event(ByVal sender As Object, _
        ByVal e As InkCollectorGestureEventArgs)
        Dim theGesture As Gesture = e.Gestures(0)
        StatusBar1.Text = theGesture.Id.ToString()
        'Cancelling the gesture will cause the ink to remain.
        If theGesture.Id = ApplicationGesture.ChevronDown Then
            e.Cancel = True
        End If
     End Sub

    Private Sub SystemGesture_Event( _
        ByVal sender As Object, _
        ByVal e As InkCollectorSystemGestureEventArgs)
        StatusBar1.Text = "System: " + e.Id.ToString() + "   " + e.Point.ToString()
    End Sub

    ' Set all of the ApplicationGestures' status
    ' to false on the InkCollector object.
    Private Sub ClearAppGestures()
        Dim test As ApplicationGesture = ApplicationGesture.NoGesture
        Dim theGestures As Array = System.Enum.GetValues(test.GetType())
        Dim theGesture As ApplicationGesture
        For Each theGesture In theGestures
            theInkCollector.SetGestureStatus(theGesture, False)
        Next
    End Sub
End Class

Platforms

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.0

See Also

Reference

InkCollector Class

InkCollector Members

Microsoft.Ink Namespace

InkCollector.Enabled

InkCollector.CollectingInk

CollectionMode