Flexible JAMM Telepointer Options

This section describes how to change options for telepointers and telecarets.
 

Contents


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Telepointers and Telecarets

Telepointers are representations of remote users' cursor positions and thus provide location awareness. Each participant's telepointer has a unique color and name.  A telecaret represents a participant's text entry cursor, or caret.  Telepointers and telecarets are displayed each with a unique name and color for each participant.  A participant may edit his or her name and color at any time during the collaboration (see Flexible JAMM User's Guide for more information).

Figure 1.  Examples of telepointers (blue and yellow) and a telecaret (gray).

The telepointers and telecaret in Figure 1 are displayed using the default settings for telepointer options.  The remainder of this document will describe each option and how to change it.


Modifying Telepointer Options

You can display and edit the current telepointer options by selecting "Change Telepointer Options..." in the Options menu of the Flexible JAMM Control Panel, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Display the Telepointer Option Panel by selecting "Change Telepointer Options...".

 

The telepointer and telecaret options can be changed in the Telepointer Options panel shown in Figure 3.   The initial setting for each option is shown in Figure 3.  Each option will be described next.

Figure 3. The Telepointer Options panel showing the initial telepointer settings.  When an option is set, the result of its setting is displayed in the sample telepointers in the upper right.  To use the settings you have chosen, press the "Apply Changes and Close" or "Apply Changes" button.  To cancel the settings and use the values that were set when you last pressed "Apply Changes," press the "Cancel Changes and Close" button.


Show Telepointers and Telecarets

If telepointers and telecarets are getting in the way, you may want to hide them.  To do so, unselect the "Show Telepointers and Telecarets" option, as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4.  "Show Telepointers and Telecarets" is unchecked.  Therefore, no sample telepointers or telecarets are displayed in the upper right sample area.


Show Activity Indicator

A Flexible JAMM telepointer displays the participant's mouse-button activity. When a participant presses a mouse button, a rectangle corresponding to the button is shaded which remains while the button is held down and for a short time after release (see Flexible JAMM Multiuser Components, Figure 7 for more information).  If you do not want to see the mouse button activity, deselect "Show Mouse Button Activity," as seen in Figure 5.

Figure 5.  "Show Mouse Button Activity" is unchecked.  Therefore, no activity rectangles are shown on the telepointers displayed in the upper right sample area.


Show Name on Telepointers

By default, a telepointer shows the name of the collaborator it represents.  If you do not want to display the name, unselect "Show Names on Telepointers," as seen in Figure 6.

Figure 6.  "Show Names on Telepointers" is unchecked.  Therefore, no names are shown on the telepointers displayed in the upper right sample area.


Show Name on Telecarets

By default, a telecaret does not show the name of the collaborator it represents.  If you want to display the name of the owner of each telecaret, select "Show Names on Telecarets," as seen in Figure 7.

Figure 7.  "Show Names on Telecarets" is checked.  Therefore, the name of the collaborator that a telecaret represents is displayed in the upper right sample area.


Selecting the Font for Names

The default font for names on telepointers and telecarets is Helvetica, bold, 12 point.  You can change the font using the options shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8.  You can change the font for names on telepointers and telecarets using these options.


Hide Telepointers after Idle

When a telepointer or telecaret has not moved for a period of time, Flexible JAMM will hide it.  This helps keep telepointers from obstructing your view of the shared application and indicates that the collaborator is idle.  If you want to keep telepointers and telecarets on screen even when they are idle, unselect "Hide Telepointers after idle period," as seen if Figure 9.  You can change the idle period by changing the number in the "idle period:" field, also seen in Figure 9.

Figure 9.  You can modify the settings for hiding idle telepointers and telecarets with these options.


Cursor Outline Color

By default all telepointers and telecarets have a black border.  The border outlines the cursor to help you distinguish a light-colored telepointer when it is moving over a light background.  You can set the border color to black (Figure 10), white (Figure 11), or select a different color (Figure 12) by clicking one of the top three radio buttons seen in Figures 10-13.  You can also let Flexible JAMM select the outline color for each cursor depending on the cursor's color.  Figure 13 shows this option, where black outlines light-colored cursors and white outlines dark-colored cursors.

Figure 10.  Black cursor outline.

Figure 11.  White cursor outline.

Figure 12.  You can select your own color for the cursor outline.

Figure 13.  Here the color used for the cursor outline depends on the color of the telepointer or telecaret.  Black outlines light-colored cursors, and white outlines dark-colored cursors.

 



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James "Bo" Begole