Try a little different setup:
var canvas = myCanvas; //store canvas outside event loop
var isDown = false; //flag we use to keep track
var x1, y1, x2, y2; //to store the coords
// when mouse button is clicked and held
$('#myCanvas').on('mousedown', function(e){
if (isDown === false) {
isDown = true;
var pos = getMousePos(canvas, e);
x1 = pos.x;
y1 = pos.y;
}
});
// when mouse button is released (note: window, not canvas here)
$(window).on('mouseup', function(e){
if (isDown === true) {
var pos = getMousePos(canvas, e);
x2 = pos.x;
y2 = pos.y;
isDown = false;
//we got two sets of coords, process them
alert(x1 + ',' + y1 + ',' +x2 + ',' +y2);
}
});
// get mouse pos relative to canvas (yours is fine, this is just different)
function getMousePos(canvas, evt) {
var rect = canvas.getBoundingClientRect();
return {
x: evt.clientX - rect.left,
y: evt.clientY - rect.top
};
}
So why do we listen to mouse up on the window
? If you mouse outside the canvas
and then release the mouse button, the event won't be registered with the canvas
. So we need to listen to a global event such as the window
.
Since we already have marked our isDown
at the mouse down event we know that that the following mouse up "belongs" to the canvas (as we check the isDown
flag).