The Selection: How to get it in the Effect Constructor

[Toli]

It is straightforward to get the Selection and its Bounding Rectangle in the Effect.Render(...) Method.

However, I need it way before the Render Method executes, i.e. in the Effect Constructor, because I want to make use of it in the Effect UI (to disable some Controls if the Selection is not Rectangular, not Square and so on).

Please try to help me.

[Stephan]

Technically, the selection isn't a separate picture in which everything is rendered, but just what would happen if you'd render the effect over the whole picture (layer), and then cut out the piece that is selected. (This can be avoided by placing elements on different layers.)

Example:

As you see, on the left, there is black blur too, although the black wasn't selected. In the current infrastructure, it doesn't work at all to seclude an area in your plugin. I hope this answered your question.

[Toli]

Sorry, that was not what I wanted. Thank you anyway.

I just wanted to find out, for example, if:

1. Is anything selected?

2. Is the selection Freeform / Rectangle / Square?

[pyrochild]

This really should be in "Effects API / Programming"

Anyway, you can't have access to the Selection as early as you want, but you DO have access to it in time for the EffectConfigDialog's initialization, and can update your controls then.

It's in the EffectConfigDialog class as Selection

PdnRegion EffectConfigDialog.Selection;

(base.Selection from your dialog)

[Toli]

Thank you very much.

I did not know about the Effects API forum. I will post related questions there from now on.

[Rick Brewster]

I did not know about the Effects API forum. I will post related questions there from now on.

That isn't really an excuse. A simple glance through the sections on the front forum page would have made this apparent.

[Rick Brewster]

In 3.20 you will have access to the selection in your OnSetRenderInfo() virtual method, via the environment parameters object. This method is called once for every time the token changes, and rendering does not proceed until it returns control to the caller. This is how some of the new UI gets ahold of the source surface so it can add the image underlay as seen here: http://blog.getpaint.net/2007/10/21/mor ... s-of-news/