OK ... so I reinvented the wheel.

# make unique tag name
def makeUniqueTagName(theTag):
    if theTag != None:
        obj = theTag.GetObject()
        # get all names of the tags of same type
        usedNames = []
        if obj != None:
            tag = obj.GetFirstTag()
            while tag != None:
                # skip the tag and 
                # ignore tags of other types
                if tag != theTag and tag.IsInstanceOf(theTag.GetType()) == True:
                    usedNames.append(tag.GetName())
                tag = tag.GetNext()
        # If the name is already taken we will append a dot and number 
        # and increment the number until a unique name is found.
        # Note that since we have created the tag we can assume that
        # the original name does not have a dot and number already.
        suffix = 0
        uniqueName = theTag.GetName()
        while uniqueName in usedNames:
            suffix = suffix + 1
            uniqueName = theTag.GetName() + '.' + str(suffix)
        theTag.SetName(uniqueName)
    return

Maybe not the best nor cleanest code, but then again I am not used to code in Python.
I am sure others might have a better solution, but this seems to work for what I need, so I am happy with how it turned out.

@PluginStudent
Thanks for that.
But that is only when inserting a BaseObject into a document. Still when creating a BaseTag the same behaviour happens behind the scenes, but seems not to be available within the SDK.

As such I can understand the checknames to be deprecated. As a more generic solution would be advised for any naming to be made unique, not only BaseObject.

Hi,
I was wonder if the API (C++ and/or Python) has an helper function to generate a unique name for BaseTag, or any BaseList2D-derived object in general?

Example:
In case you create a polygon selection tag, it's default name is "Polygon Selection". Create an additional one and it will be named "Polygon Selection.1", etc ... Same for objects in the Object Manager.

This seems trivial functionality which is used on different places that I would assume it is a common function used throughout the application, when it needs to generate a default name for an object.

I understand this would be easy to set up one-self by looking up if the default name is already in use, and increment a suffix until the name is unique.
As I am lazy I'd rather use some existing implementation instead of trying the reinvent the wheel.
I just cannot figure out an appropriate function name to perform a search on. Hence I haven't yet found such helper function in the SDK ... if there is one available.

@m_magalhaes said in PointInRange details please:

But as you can see, this is pretty easy to create your own function, there's nothing fancy

True, and I did.
I just wanted to bring this up, as the documentation was rather ambiguous.

@r_gigante
Sorry Riccardo, I do not understand your reply.

I had tried with empty as well as non-empty dialogs.
Both as DLG_TYPE::ASYNC and DLG_TYPE::ASYNC_POPUPEDIT.
Still with these 4 combinations I do not get appropriate values for the global position.

Bool MyDialog::CreateLayout()
{
	Bool res = GeDialog::CreateLayout();

	GroupBegin(0, BFH_SCALEFIT | BFV_SCALEFIT, 2, 0, ""_s, 0);

	AddButton(ACTION_1, BFH_CENTER | BFV_CENTER, 200, 10, "button A"_s);
	AddButton(ACTION_2, BFH_CENTER | BFV_CENTER, 300, 10, "button B"_s);
	AddEditText(ACTION_3, BFH_CENTER | BFV_CENTER, 500, 10);

	GroupEnd();

	return res;
}

Bool MyCommand::Execute(BaseDocument* doc)
{
	if (mDlg.IsOpen())
	{
		mDlg.Close();
		return true;
	}

	BaseContainer bc;
	if (GetInputState(BFM_INPUT_MOUSE, BFM_INPUT_MOUSELEFT, bc))
	{
		const Int32 mx = bc.GetInt32(BFM_INPUT_X);
		const Int32 my = bc.GetInt32(BFM_INPUT_Y);

		const Int32 w = 50;
		const Int32 h = 50;
		mDlg.Open(DLG_TYPE::ASYNC /*ASYNC_POPUPEDIT*/, TEST_COMMAND_PLUGIN_ID, mx, my, w, h, 0);

		ApplicationOutput("Mouse cursor at @, @", mx, my);
		Int32 dlgX = 0;
		Int32 dlgY = 0;
		mDlg.Local2Screen(&dlgX, &dlgY);
		ApplicationOutput("Dialog created at @, @ (screen)", dlgX, dlgY);
		dlgX = 0;
		dlgY = 0;
		mDlg.Local2Global(&dlgX, &dlgY);
		ApplicationOutput("Dialog created at @, @ (global)", dlgX, dlgY);
	}

	return true;
}

Additionally, when activating the plugin when Cinema4D is fullscreen, the dialog gets positioned at the expected coordinates. But the position of the dialog is nowhere near the expected position if the plugin is activated when the Cinema4D window is not full screen.
It seems as if the mouse coordinates relative to the application window are applied relative to the screen origin.

Which means that if:
1 Cinema4D is not full screen
2 and offset from the top left corner of the screen by an amount X
3 assuming the mouse position is at coordinate mx from the Cinema4D's main window's top left corner
The dialog ends up at mx from the screen's top left corner, instead of the expected X + mx.

(All the above was tested with R20 only, since I have refrained from further R21 development)

Unfortunately, I have moved on and am currently not focused on this particular plugin anymore. As such, I may have missed some details. I will need to find the time to pick up where I had left.

Hi
About the PointInRange the documentation mentions:

Checks if the screen point (x,y) is within a hit range of the world point p,
i.e. if the screen point is close to the world points projection on the screen.

It does not provide details about what the actual "range" represents. Nor does it indicate if (and how) this range can be controlled/adjusted.

Is the current LiveSelection radius value used for this "range", something else, internally defined, ... ?
Thanks in advance for the details.

Edit:
Allright, I can already confirm it is not the LiveSelection's radius ...

it's not a stop seller so it will be probably fixed in R23.

Oh, I read "the next update" as being "the update right around the corner".
Not as if someone saying "the next day" but actually meaning "in a not to near future".
But thanks for pointing it out.

Well this is the global function, in a GeDialog you should use GeDialog::GetInputState

Sorry, I am not in context of a GeDialog, but a CommandData.
What other options than the global function do I have here?

True, not really the answer I was looking for, but still grateful for the reply. Thank you for that.

@m_magalhaes said in Mouse positions and screen dimensions:

Thanks for the detailed response.

This bug will be fixed in the next update.

Are we still talking R21, or will this be R22?

• GetInputState return coordinate in local to the editor windows space, not in screen space. But this should be used with caution and should probably be used only for keyboard modifier checks.

If GetInputSate is not to be used to obtain the mouse coordinates, what would be the better way to get the mouse position?

@blastframe

Maybe not the best solution, but I have tried the following code (C++) and it displays a text in the console when the Edit Text gets the focus, and displays another text when it loses focus.

Note that 'mActiveEdit' is a custom bool variable, member of MyDialog class,
and ID_TEXTEDIT is the Edit Text gadget id.

Int32 MyDialog::Message(const BaseContainer& msg, BaseContainer& result)
{
	if (IsActive(ID_TEXTEDIT) && !mActiveEdit)
	{
		ApplicationOutput("Activate TextEdit");
		mActiveEdit = true;
	}
	if (!IsActive(ID_TEXTEDIT) && mActiveEdit)
	{
		ApplicationOutput("TextEdit was active");
		mActiveEdit = false;
	}

Any update on this one?