hello — i'm still quite a beginner at processing and i hope someone can help me with my problem.

i would like to have a text input, where the letters start to "wander" after a certain time of there being no keyboard input. please try the code below to see what i mean with "wander"...

i've managed to have a fix text, inserted in the text editor, which wanders off in different directions when "enter" is pressed, but i'd like to have the possibility of inserting the text in the display window while the programme is running.

i took the original code from the "strings and drawing text" tutorial and changed it only a little bit.

and is there a way to get the letters to wander off in one specific random direction, like on a straight line and not "wobble" around randomly like they do now?

thank you very much for any help!


here's the code:

1. PFont f;
2. String message = "type text here";
3. // An array of Letter objects
4. Letter[] letters;
5. void setup() {
6.   size(1000, 400);
7.   // Load the font
8.   f = loadFont("Arial-Black-48.vlw");
9.   textFont(f);
10.   // Create the array the same size as the String
11.   letters = new Letter[message.length()];
12.   // Initialize Letters at the correct x location
13.   int x = 100;
14.   for (int i = 0; i < message.length(); i++) {
15.     letters[i] = new Letter(x,height/2,message.charAt(i));
16.     x += textWidth(message.charAt(i));
17.   }
18. }
19. void draw() {
20.   background(255);
21.   for (int i = 0; i < letters.length; i++) {
22.     // Display all letters
23.     letters[i].display();
24.     // If the mouse is pressed the letters shake
25.     if (keyCode == ENTER) {
26.       letters[i].shake();
27.     }
28.   }
29. }
30. // A class to describe a single Letter
31. class Letter {
32.   char letter;
33.   // The object knows its original "home" location
34.   float homex,homey;
35.   // As well as its current location
36.   float x,y;
37.   Letter (float x_, float y_, char letter_) {
38.     homex = x = x_;
39.     homey = y = y_;
40.     letter = letter_;
41.   }
42.   // Display the letter
43.   void display() {
44.     fill(0);
45.     textAlign(LEFT);
46.     text(letter,x,y);
47.   }
48.   // Move the letter randomly
49.   void shake() {
50.     x = x + random(-1,1);
51.     y = y + random(-1,1);
52.   }
53. }