progress with PT3 use under Linux with wine

[yaqh]

So, it seems there was some progress working on this problem as of wine 1.1.24: the HUD seems to be a lot closer to behaving correctly. In particular, a screenshot of its current status can be seen at:

http://bugs2.winehq.org/attachment.cgi?id=22224

So, the HUD is a single window called PokerTracker3TableCover which pops up and overlays the poker site's software. Although PT3 itself provides transparency options, they don't seem to work with wine, and the transparency shown in the screenshot was achieved with Compiz (a tool unrelated to wine or to PT3). Now, the idea of the HUD is that the regions of the window which are red in the screenshot display information about the players at the table. The rest of the window, which is black in the screenshot, should not be visible at all. And, of course, when the user clicks on the black portion of the window, the mouse press should be passed on to the poker software behind it. In other words, the black portion of the window should not be there.

So that is the problem with PT3's current behavior in wine: the non-information-containing of the HUD window should be transparent and should not recieve mouse clicks. Now, I imagine that this is implemented in PT3 through some Layered Windows attributes which are not supported by wine. According to http://www.codeproject.com/KB/wtl/transparent.aspx , WS_EX_LAYERED makes the window see-through and WS_EX_TRANSPARENT makes it click-through.

So, what would be really great is if you guys, as PT3 developers, could simply confirm or deny that this is the Windows functionality that the PT3 HUD uses to do its thing. If it is so and we can narrow down the problem, it would be a lot easier to get implemented/fixed. If not, then a pointer in the right direction would also be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[kraada]

We've asked the development team for further comment on this issue - they will be getting back to you.

[yaqh]

Thanks!

[Josh]

PT3 uses WS_EX_LAYERED and WS_POPUP. It does not use WS_EX_TRANSPARENT, as any 100% translucent pixels transfer the mouse movements/clicks to the window under the layered window.

[yaqh]

Thanks for your response.

How does the PT3 table cover selectively transfer clicks to the underlying poker window?

[Josh]

As I said above, any fully translucent pixels automatically transfer the click to the window under it. PT3 has nothing to do with this, it's the functionality of the layered window itself.

[tarix]

How does the PT3 table cover selectively transfer clicks to the underlying poker window?

From http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms632599(VS.85).aspx#layered:

Hit testing of a layered window is based on the shape and transparency of the window. This means that the areas of the window that are color-keyed or whose alpha value is zero will let the mouse messages through.

[paulgl]

Hi,

I'm going to have a go at getting this working (but don't hold your breath - I will probably not manage). Before I waste effort, could one of the devs confirm that the PT4 hud will (probably) use WS_EX_LAYERED for the transparency / click-though?

Thanks,
Paul

[kraada]

As far as I know this hasn't changed (and Josh who posted earlier in the thread is the head of the development team).

[paulgl]

Thanks kraada.