cursor : Java Glossary

// Set up an hour-glass cursor when the cursor is over myComponent.
// You could use any of the predefined Cursors such as
// WAIT_CURSOR, HAND_CURSOR, DEFAULT_CURSOR, MOVE_CURSOR, CROSSHAIR_CURSOR.
// TEXT_CURSOR or the various resize cursors.

import java.awt.Cursor;
//...
myComponent.setCursor( Cursor.getPredefinedCursor ( Cursor.WAIT_CURSOR ) );

Normally you just select from one of the pre-dedefined cursors, but you can create a custom cursor with Toolkit. createCustomCursor().

createCustomCursor wants an Image. You can create it in the usual way from a *.png or *.gif file, by fishing it out of a resource. You can also create it with the low-level line and bit drawing tools. It won’t take a *.ico, *.ani or *.bmp file directly. You will have to convert them with utility like IconXP.

Cursor is used more generally for anything that marks a place, e.g. you could call the current seek position in a file a cursor, though in recent times, the term is used exclusively for the mouse cursor.

Installing

1. Unzip the zip file to a temporary directory with WinZip or similar archive utility.
2. Right click the install.inf file and click install.
3. Click Start.
4. Click Control Panel.
5. Click Hardware and Sound.
6. Click mouse under Devices and Printers.
7. Click pointers.
8. Select the new scheme.

Custom Cursors in HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)

<!-- Applying a custom windows cursor over the whole body of the document -->
<!-- Insert this in the head section -->
<style type="text/css">
body{
cursor: url("../cursor/3dorange.cur"),auto;
}
</style>

History

Resolution

In Windows 7, cursors can either be 32 × 32 or 48 × 48. Both sizes can be packed into the same file. Windows uses bigger cursors for higher resolution screens. Looking at some modern cursors, it looks as if they now support variable transparency. Axialis makes a utility for designing and packaging cursors. Cursors can have more than one colour, but I don’t know how many or which ones you can choose from. I gather you compose *.png or *.bmp format for each of the cursor shapes, them bundle them into *.ani and *.cur files along with a *.inf installer text file into a *.zip for distribution or embed them in *.exe applications.

Learning More