Multi-touch detecting & differentiating - Cocos2d for iPhone

Question

I would like to know how to detect and differentiate between touches in a multi-touch view. I have read about a "hash" code, but I don't understand how to use it. I want to know when two of my Sprites are touched at the same time, like as if pressing a chord on two keys of a piano.

[EDIT] Here is an example of what I have for my ccTouchesBegan:

- (void) ccTouchesBegan:(NSSet*)touches withEvent:(UIEvent*)event {

  NSSet *allTouches = [event allTouches];
  int validTouchCount = 0;
  for (UITouch* touch in allTouches) {

    BOOL touchIsValid = FALSE;

    CGPoint location = [touch locationInView: [touch view]];
    CGPoint convertedLocation = [[CCDirector sharedDirector] convertToGL:location];

    if (CGRectContainsPoint(_fourButtonsRect, convertedLocation)) {
        NSLog(@"Touch is within four buttons");
        touchIsValid = TRUE;
    }


    _playerDidAction = 0;
    NSLog(@"before the loop");
    if (touchIsValid) {

        validTouchCount++;
        NSLog(@"Within ValidTouches loop");
        CGPoint validLocation = [touch locationInView: [touch view]];
        CGPoint convertedValidLocation = [[CCDirector sharedDirector] convertToGL:validLocation];

        if (CGRectContainsPoint(_redButtonSprite.boundingBox, convertedValidLocation)) {
            _redButtonStatus = TRUE;
            [_redButtonSprite setTexture:_redButtonLit];
            if (validTouchCount == 1) {
                _playerDidAction = 1;
            }
        }
            else if (CGRectContainsPoint(_blueButtonSprite.boundingBox, convertedValidLocation)) {  
                _blueButtonStatus = TRUE;
                [_blueButtonSprite setTexture:_blueButtonLit];
                if (validTouchCount == 1) {
                    _playerDidAction = 2;
                }
            }
                else if (CGRectContainsPoint(_greenButtonSprite.boundingBox, convertedValidLocation)) { 
                    _greenButtonStatus = TRUE;
                    [_greenButtonSprite setTexture:_greenButtonLit];
                    if (validTouchCount == 1) {
                        _playerDidAction = 3;
                    }
                }
                    else if (CGRectContainsPoint(_yellowButtonSprite.boundingBox, convertedValidLocation)) {    
                        _yellowButtonStatus = TRUE;
                        [_yellowButtonSprite setTexture:_yellowButtonLit];
                        if (validTouchCount == 1) {
                            _playerDidAction = 4;
                        }
                    }

        if (validTouchCount > 1) {

            if (_redButtonStatus && _blueButtonStatus) {
                _comboRB = TRUE;
                _playerDidAction = 5;
            }
                else if (_redButtonStatus && _greenButtonStatus) {
                    _comboRG = TRUE;
                    _playerDidAction = 6;
                }
                    else if (_redButtonStatus && _yellowButtonStatus) {
                        _comboRY = TRUE;
                        _playerDidAction = 7;
                    }
                        else if (_blueButtonStatus && _greenButtonStatus) {
                            _comboBG = TRUE;
                            _playerDidAction = 8;
                        }
                            else if (_blueButtonStatus && _yellowButtonStatus) {
                                _comboBY = TRUE;
                                _playerDidAction = 9;
                            }
                                else if (_greenButtonStatus && _yellowButtonStatus) {
                                    _comboGY = TRUE;
                                    _playerDidAction = 10;
                                }

        }
    }
  }
}

And here is the beginning of my ccTouchesEnded:

- (void)ccTouchesEnded:(NSSet*)touches withEvent:(UIEvent*)event {

    for (UITouch *touch in touches) {


        CGPoint location = [touch locationInView: [touch view]];
        CGPoint convertedLocation = [[CCDirector sharedDirector] convertToGL:location];     
        if (CGRectContainsPoint(_redButtonSprite.boundingBox, convertedLocation)) { 
            _redButtonStatus = FALSE;
            [_redButtonSprite setTexture:_redButtonNormal];
        }
        if (CGRectContainsPoint(_blueButtonSprite.boundingBox, convertedLocation)) {    
            _blueButtonStatus = FALSE;
            [_blueButtonSprite setTexture:_blueButtonNormal];
        }
        if (CGRectContainsPoint(_greenButtonSprite.boundingBox, convertedLocation)) {   
            _greenButtonStatus = FALSE;
            [_greenButtonSprite setTexture:_greenButtonNormal];
        }
        if (CGRectContainsPoint(_yellowButtonSprite.boundingBox, convertedLocation)) {  
            _yellowButtonStatus = FALSE;
            [_yellowButtonSprite setTexture:_yellowButtonNormal];
        }


    }
}

Could you maybe give me an example of how you would capture touches that began on a sprite and ended on a sprite? I have been struggling and can't get the hash code to work - just not understanding how the hash code can be used to reference a touch later. I guess what I'm trying to make would be called a hash tracker?

I am sure there is a much less convoluted way to do it using the hash codes and less state variables. I haven't fleshed out the ccTouchesEnded method with the other state variable effects because I was hoping to find a simpler way (I know I still need to make the ccTouchesMoved and Canceled methods too).

Answer 1

Suppose you have two touches. You get a touch down event for the two, say at (1,1) and (2,2). Let's say the user the sides both fingers, you then get another event, but this time maybe at (3,3) and (4,4).

The question is, did (1,1) move to (3,3) and (2,2) move to (4,4) - or did the opposite happen - where (1,1) moved to (4,4) and (2,2) moved to (3,3).

This is what the "Hash Code" is used for - to give each touch a "name" - so you can tell what happens to that particular touch as subsequent events are generated for it.

So for your case, you would get the touch events - look at the coordinates and determine which key is pressed for each. You then keep track of the hash for each touch, to determine when they touch (i.e. the particular piano key) is released.

You can't use the coordinates for this, because to coordinates can change as fingers are slid.