org.scijava.tool
Interface Tool

All Superinterfaces:

Comparable<Prioritized>, Contextual, HasPluginInfo, Prioritized, RichPlugin, SciJavaPlugin, SingletonPlugin

All Known Implementing Classes:

AbstractTool, DummyTool

public interface Tool
extends RichPlugin, SingletonPlugin

Interface for ImageJ tools. A tool is a collection of rules binding user input (e.g., keyboard and mouse events) to display and data manipulation in a coherent way.

For example, a PanTool might pan a display when the mouse is dragged or arrow key is pressed, while a PencilTool could draw hard lines on the data within a display.

Tools discoverable at runtime must implement this interface and be annotated with @Plugin with Plugin.type() = Tool.class. While it possible to create a tool merely by implementing this interface, it is encouraged to instead extend AbstractTool, for convenience.

Author:

Rick Lentz, Grant Harris, Curtis Rueden

See Also:

Plugin, ToolService

Method Summary

void	activate() Informs the tool that it is now active.
void	configure() Occurs when the user right clicks this tool's icon.
void	deactivate() Informs the tool that it is no longer active.
MouseCursor	getCursor() The tool's mouse pointer.
String	getDescription() Returns the text the tool provides when mouse hovers over tool
boolean	isActiveInAppFrame() When true, tool receives events when the main ImageJ application frame is active.
boolean	isAlwaysActive() When true, tool has no button but rather is active all the time.
void	onKeyDown(KyPressedEvent event) Occurs when a key on the keyboard is pressed while the tool is active.
void	onKeyUp(KyReleasedEvent event) Occurs when a key on the keyboard is released while the tool is active.
void	onMouseClick(MsClickedEvent event) Occurs when a mouse button is double clicked while the tool is active.
void	onMouseDown(MsPressedEvent event) Occurs when a mouse button is pressed while the tool is active.
void	onMouseDrag(MsDraggedEvent event) Occurs when the mouse is dragged while the tool is active.
void	onMouseMove(MsMovedEvent event) Occurs when the mouse is moved while the tool is active.
void	onMouseUp(MsReleasedEvent event) Occurs when a mouse button is released while the tool is active.
void	onMouseWheel(MsWheelEvent event) Occurs when the mouse wheel is moved while the tool is active.

Methods inherited from interface org.scijava.Contextual

context, getContext, setContext

Methods inherited from interface org.scijava.Prioritized

getPriority, setPriority

Methods inherited from interface java.lang.Comparable

compareTo

Methods inherited from interface org.scijava.plugin.HasPluginInfo

getInfo, setInfo

Method Detail

isAlwaysActive

boolean isAlwaysActive()

When true, tool has no button but rather is active all the time.

isActiveInAppFrame

boolean isActiveInAppFrame()

When true, tool receives events when the main ImageJ application frame is active. When false, tool only receives events when a display window is active.

getCursor

MouseCursor getCursor()

The tool's mouse pointer.

activate

void activate()

Informs the tool that it is now active.

deactivate

void deactivate()

Informs the tool that it is no longer active.

onKeyDown

void onKeyDown(KyPressedEvent event)

Occurs when a key on the keyboard is pressed while the tool is active.

onKeyUp

void onKeyUp(KyReleasedEvent event)

Occurs when a key on the keyboard is released while the tool is active.

onMouseDown

void onMouseDown(MsPressedEvent event)

Occurs when a mouse button is pressed while the tool is active.

onMouseUp

void onMouseUp(MsReleasedEvent event)

Occurs when a mouse button is released while the tool is active.

onMouseClick

void onMouseClick(MsClickedEvent event)

Occurs when a mouse button is double clicked while the tool is active.

onMouseMove

void onMouseMove(MsMovedEvent event)

Occurs when the mouse is moved while the tool is active.

onMouseDrag

void onMouseDrag(MsDraggedEvent event)

Occurs when the mouse is dragged while the tool is active.

onMouseWheel

void onMouseWheel(MsWheelEvent event)

Occurs when the mouse wheel is moved while the tool is active.

configure

void configure()

Occurs when the user right clicks this tool's icon.

getDescription

String getDescription()

Returns the text the tool provides when mouse hovers over tool