#756 – Making Element Stop at Edge of Window When Using Inertia

We saw previously how to stop an object at the edge of a window when using touch manipulation.  You likely also want the object to stop moving when it hits the edge of its container when moving as a result of inertia (i.e. you’ve already lifted your finger from the screen).

In the following code fragment, we’ve enabled positional inertia.  We then check to see if the object is past the container boundary.  If it is and if it’s moving as a result of inertia, we stop the inertial event by calling Complete and we move the object back within the window.

    public partial class MainWindow : Window, INotifyPropertyChanged
    {
        public MainWindow()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
            this.DataContext = this;

            ImageTransform = new MatrixTransform();
        }

        private MatrixTransform imageTransform;
        public MatrixTransform ImageTransform
        {
            get { return imageTransform; }
            set
            {
                if (value != imageTransform)
                {
                    imageTransform = value;
                    RaisePropertyChanged("ImageTransform");
                }
            }
        }

        private void Image_ManipulationStarting(object sender, ManipulationStartingEventArgs e)
        {
            // Ask for manipulations to be reported relative to the canvas
            e.ManipulationContainer = canvMain;

            // Support translation and scaling
            e.Mode = ManipulationModes.Translate;
        }

        private void Image_ManipulationInertiaStarting(object sender, ManipulationInertiaStartingEventArgs e)
        {
            // Translation inertia - 10 in/sec^2 deceleration
            e.TranslationBehavior.DesiredDeceleration = 10.0 * 96.0 / (1000.0 * 1000.0);
        }

        private void Image_ManipulationDelta(object sender, ManipulationDeltaEventArgs e)
        {
            Matrix m = imageTransform.Matrix;

            // If element beyond edge, report back to WPF
            Vector pastEdgeVector;
            if (ElementPastBoundary(e.Source as FrameworkElement, out pastEdgeVector) &&
                e.IsInertial)
            {
                m.Translate(-1.0 * pastEdgeVector.X, -1.0 * pastEdgeVector.Y);
                imageTransform.Matrix = m;

                e.Complete();
                e.Handled = true;
                return;
            }

            // Find center of element and then transform to get current location of center
            FrameworkElement fe = e.Source as FrameworkElement;
            Point center = new Point(fe.ActualWidth / 2, fe.ActualHeight / 2);
            center = m.Transform(center);

            // Update matrix to reflect translation and rotation
            ManipulationDelta md = e.DeltaManipulation;
            m.Translate(md.Translation.X, md.Translation.Y);

            imageTransform.Matrix = m;
            RaisePropertyChanged("ImageTransform");

            e.Handled = true;
        }

        private bool ElementPastBoundary(FrameworkElement fe, out Vector pastEdgeVector)
        {
            bool pastEdge = false;

            pastEdgeVector = new Vector();

            FrameworkElement feParent = fe.Parent as FrameworkElement;
            if (feParent != null)
            {
                Rect feRect = fe.TransformToAncestor(feParent).TransformBounds(
                    new Rect(0.0, 0.0, fe.ActualWidth, fe.ActualHeight));

                if (feRect.Right > feParent.ActualWidth)
                    pastEdgeVector.X = feRect.Right - feParent.ActualWidth;

                if (feRect.Left < 0)
                    pastEdgeVector.X = feRect.Left;

                if (feRect.Bottom > feParent.ActualHeight)
                    pastEdgeVector.Y = feRect.Bottom - feParent.ActualHeight;

                if (feRect.Top < 0)
                    pastEdgeVector.Y = feRect.Top;

                if ((pastEdgeVector.X != 0) || (pastEdgeVector.Y != 0))
                    pastEdge = true;
            }

            return pastEdge;
        }

        public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;

        private void RaisePropertyChanged(string prop)
        {
            if (PropertyChanged != null)
                PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(prop));
        }
    }
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#755 – Implementing Rotational Inertia during Touch Manipulation

In the same way that you can support inertia as a result of touch manipulation during translation and expansion, you can also set up rotational inertia.  When the user rotates an element using touch, the element has some initial rotational velocity (in deg/ms) when they lift their fingers off the screen.  You can then specify a desired value for a rotational deceleration (deg/ms^2).

As with translation and expansion, you specify the desired rotational deceleration in a handler for the ManipulationInertiaStarting event.  In the example below, we display the initial rotational velocity to the console and then specify a deceleration of 100 degrees/sec^2.  (Reduce velocity by 100 deg/sec each second).

        private void Image_ManipulationInertiaStarting(object sender, ManipulationInertiaStartingEventArgs e)
        {
            // Rotational inertia - 100 deg/sec^2 deceleration
            Console.WriteLine(string.Format("Initial rotational velocity = {0} deg/sec",
                e.RotationBehavior.InitialVelocity * 1000.0));
            e.RotationBehavior.DesiredDeceleration = 100.0 / (1000.0 * 1000.0);
        }

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#754 – Implementing Inertia for Expansion during Touch Manipulation

You can set the TranslationBehavior.DesiredDeceleration in the ManipulationInertiaStarting event to allow inertia when translating using touch manipulation.  This allows an element to continue moving a little bit after you lift your finger off the element while doing translation manipulation.

You can also enable inertia for expansion (i.e. scaling) during touch manipulation.  An element will then continue expanding or contracting when you lift your fingers from the screen while doing expansion using touch.  You do this by setting the ExpansionBehavior.DesiredDeceleration property.

        private void Image_ManipulationInertiaStarting(object sender, ManipulationInertiaStartingEventArgs e)
        {
            // 10 in/sec^2 deceleration
            e.TranslationBehavior.DesiredDeceleration = 10.0 * 96.0 / (1000.0 * 1000.0);

            // 960 DIPS/sec^2 deceleration
            Console.WriteLine(string.Format("Init Expansion Velocity = {0}", e.ExpansionBehavior.InitialVelocity));
            e.ExpansionBehavior.DesiredDeceleration = 960.0 / (1000.0 * 1000.0);
        }

Doing this is perhaps a little less useful than specifying inertia during translation.  Inertia as part of expansion is a little less intuitive.

#746 – Specifying Inertial Deceleration

In WPF, you can use inertia so that objects will continue moving on the screen after you lift your finger off the screen.

Calculation of inertial behavior requires both an initial velocity and a deceleration.  WPF knows the initial velocity of an object, based on how fast you are moving it on the screen.  The deceleration value is something that you specify.

Initial velocity values are typically in the range of around 0-4 DIPs/ms (DIPs per millisecond), or 0-42 in/sec.

Deceleration is expressed in DIPs/ms^2 (DIPs per millisecond squared).  If we want to decelerate to 0 within about 1/2 sec, we can use values in the range of  0-0.008 DIPs/ms^2.  (4 / 500).  This is equivalent to 83 ft/sec^2.

If you start with a deceleration value in in/sec^2, you can convert to DIPs/ms^2 using the formula:

x’ = x * 96 / (1000 * 1000)

You can experiment with different deceleration values to get the exact deceleration behavior that you want in your application.

#745 – The Basics of Inertia

Inertia is the idea that an object will resist a change in motion.  For touch manipulation in WPF, inertia means that objects can continue moving a little bit after you lift your finger from the screen.

Inertial behavior depends on two things–the initial velocity of the object a specified deceleration value.

The initial velocity is the speed at which the object is moving across the screen when you let go of it.  The deceleration is the rate at which the initial velocity should be decreased, until it eventually reaches zero.  In other words–how quickly does the object slow down?

The deceleration value has units that are DIPs (device independent pixels) per ms^2 (millisecond squared, or “per millisecond per millisecond”).  I.e. DIPs/ms^2.  In other words, if the object’s initial velocity is expressed in DIPs/ms, how much should that velocity decrease every millisecond?