utils/wxPython/README.txt

   1 wxPython README
   2 ---------------
   3
   4 Welcome to the wonderful world of wxPython!
   5
   6 Once you have installed the wxPython extension module, you can try it
   7 out by going to the [install dir]\wxPython\demo directory and typing:
   8
   9     python demo.py
  10
  11 There are also some other sample files there for you to play with and
  12 learn from.
  13
  14 If you selected to install the documentation then point your browser
  15 to [install dir]\wxPython\docs\index.htm and you will then be looking
  16 at the docs for wxWindows.  For the most part you can use the C++ docs
  17 as most classes and methods are used identically.  Where there are
  18 differences they are documented with a "wxPython Note."
  19
  20 On Win32 systems the binary self-installer creates a program group on
  21 the Start Menu that contains a link to running the demo and a link to
  22 the help file.  To help you save disk space I'm now using Microsoft's
  23 HTML Help format.  If your system doesn't know what to do with the help
  24 file, you can install the HTML Help Viewer as part of IE 4+, NT
  25 Service Pack 4+, or the HTML Workshop at
  26
  27 http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/author/htmlhelp/download.asp.
  28
  29
  30
  31 Getting Help
  32 ------------
  33
  34 Since wxPython is a blending of multiple technologies, help comes from
  35 multiple sources.  See the http://alldunn.com/wxPython for details on
  36 various sources of help, but probably the best source is the
  37 wxPython-users mail list.  You can view the archive or subscribe by
  38 going to
  39
  40        http://starship.python.net/mailman/listinfo/wxpython-users
  41
  42 Or you can send mail directly to the list using this address:
  43
  44        wxpython-users@starship.python.net
  45
  46 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  47
  48
  49 What's new in 2.1.11
  50 --------------------
  51 Skipped a few version numbers so wxMSW, wxGTK and wxPython are all
  52 syncronized.
  53
  54 wxImage.SetData now makes a copy of the image data before giving it to
  55 wxImage.  I mistakenly thought that wxImage would copy the data
  56 itself.
  57
  58 Fixed wxMSW's notebook so the pages get their size set as they are
  59 being added.  This should remove the need for our
  60 wxNotebook.ResizeChildren hack.
  61
  62 wxPanels now support AutoLayout, and wxNotebooks and wxSplitterWindows
  63 no longer tell their children to Layout() themselves.  This will
  64 probably only effect you if you have a wxWindow with AutoLayout inside
  65 a notebook or splitter.  If so, either change it to a wxPanel or add
  66 an EVT_SIZE handler that calls Layout().
  67
  68 Fixed deadlock problem that happened when using threads.
  69
  70 Added new HTML printing classes.
  71
  72 Added wxWindow.GetHandle
  73
  74 Apparently wxMouseEvent.Position has been depreciated in wxWindows as
  75 it is no longer available by default.  You can use GetPositionTuple
  76 (returning a tuple with x,y) instead, or GetPosition (returning a
  77 wxPoint.)
  78
  79 Added wxPostEvent function that allows events to be posted and then
  80 processed later.  This is a thread-safe way to interact with the GUI
  81 thread from other threads.
  82
  83 Added Clipboard and Drag-and-Drop classes.
  84
  85 Added wxFontEnumerator.
  86
  87 Many updates to wxMenu, wxMenuBar.
  88
  89 wxPyEvent and wxPyCommandEvent derived classes now give you the actual
  90 Python object in the event handler instead of a new shadow.
  91
  92 Added a Calendar widget from Lorne White to the library.
  93
  94 Made some fixes to the wxFloatbar.  It still has some troubles on
  95 wxGTK...
  96
  97 Added an MVC tree control from Bryn Keller to the library.
  98
  99
 100
 101
 102 What's new in 2.1.5
 103 -------------------
 104 This is a quick bug-fix release to take care of a few nasties that
 105 crept in at the last minute before 2.1.4 was called done.  No new
 106 major features.
 107
 108
 109
 110 What's new in 2.1.4
 111 --------------------
 112
 113 This release is NOT syncronized with a snapshot release of wxGTK or
 114 wxMSW.  For MSW this isn't much of a problem since you can get the
 115 binaries from the web site.  For other platforms you'll have to build
 116 wxGTK from CVS.  (See http://web.ukonline.co.uk/julian.smart/wxwin/cvs.htm)
 117 To get the same set of sources from CVS that I used, checkout using
 118 the wxPy-2-1-4 tag.
 119
 120 Now back to what's new...
 121
 122 Much more support for event-less callbacks and add-on modules.
 123
 124 Created add-on module with wxOGL classes.
 125
 126 Added wxWindow.GetChildren().  Be careful of this.  It returns a *copy*
 127 of the list of the window's children.  While you are using the list if
 128 anything changes in the real list (a child is deleted, etc.) then the
 129 list you are holding will suddenly have window references to garbage
 130 memory and your app will likely crash.  But if you are careful it works
 131 great!
 132
 133 Added a bunch of new and missing methods to wxTreeCrtl.  The
 134 SortChildren method is now supported, but currently only for the
 135 default sort order.
 136
 137 Added typemaps for wxSize, wxPoint, wxRealPoint, and wxRect that allow
 138 either the actual objects or Python sequence values to be used.  For
 139 example, the following are equivallent:
 140
 141     win = wxWindow(parent, size = wxSize(100, 100))
 142     win = wxWindow(parent, size = (100, 100))
 143
 144 Super-charged the wxHtml module.  You can now create your own tag
 145 handlers and also have access to the parser and cell classes.  There
 146 is a tag handler in the library at wxPython.lib.wxpTag that
 147 understands the WXP tag and is able to place wxPython windows on HTML
 148 pages.  See the demo for an example.
 149
 150 A bunch of the methods of wxMenuBar were previously ifdef'd out for
 151 wxGTK.  Added them back in since the methods exist now.
 152
 153 Wrapped the wxHtmlHelpController and related classes.
 154
 155 Wrapped the C++ versions of wxSizer and friends.  The Python-only
 156 versions are still in the library, but depreciated.  (You will get a
 157 warning message if you try to use them, but the warning can be
 158 disabled.) The usage of the C++ versions is slightly different, and
 159 the functionality of wxBorderSizer is now part of wxBoxSizer.  I have
 160 added a few methods to wxSizer to try and make the transition as
 161 smooth as possible, I combined all Add methods into a single method
 162 that handles all cases, added an AddMany method, etc.  One step I did
 163 not take was to make the default value of flag in the Add method be
 164 wxGROW.  This would have made it more backward compatible, but less
 165 portable to and from wxWin C++ code.  Please see the docs and demo for
 166 further details.
 167
 168 Added wxPyEvent and wxPyCommandEvent classes, derived from wxEvent and
 169 wxCommandEvent.  Each of them has SetPyData and GetPyData methods that
 170 accept or return a single Python object.  You can use these classes
 171 directly or derive from them to create your own types of event objects
 172 that can pass through the wxWindows event system without loosing their
 173 Python parts (as long as they are stored with SetPyData.)  Stay tuned
 174 for more info and examples in future releases.
 175
 176 Added wxPython.lib.grids as an example of how to derive a new sizer
 177 from the C++ sizers.  In this module you will find wxGridSizer and
 178 wxFlexGridSizer.  wxGridSizer arrainges its items in a grid in which
 179 all the widths and heights are the same.  wxFlexgridSizer allows
 180 different widths and heights, and you can also specify rows and/or
 181 columns that are growable.  See the demo for a couple examples for how
 182 to use them.
 183
 184 Added the wxValidator class, and created a class named wxPyValidator
 185 that should be used for the base class of any Python validators.  See
 186 the demo for an example.  Please note that you MUST implement a Clone
 187 method in your validator classes because of the way some things work
 188 in the underlying C++ library.  I did not add wxTextValidator because
 189 of some issues of how it transfers data to and from a wxString, which
 190 in wxPython is automatically translated to and from Python strings, so
 191 there would never be a concrete wxString that would hang around long
 192 enough for the validator to do its job.  On the other hand, it should
 193 be real easy to duplicate the functionality of wxTextValidator in a
 194 pure Python class derived from wxPyValidator.
 195
 196 I've finally added a feature that has been on my list for close to two
 197 years!  Ever wondered what that zero is for when you create your app
 198 object?  Well now you can leave it out or explicitly set it to a true
 199 value.  This value now controls what is to be done with sys.stdout and
 200 sys.stderr.  A false value leaves them alone, and a true value sets
 201 them to an instance of wxPyOnDemandOutputWindow.  (On windows the
 202 default is true, on unix platforms the default is false.)  This class
 203 creates a frame containing a wxTextCtrl as soon as anything is written
 204 to sys.stdout or sys.stderr.  If you close the window it will come
 205 back again the next time something is written.  (You can call
 206 app.RestoreStdio to turn this off.)  If you would rather that the stdio be
 207 redirected to a file, you can provide a second parameter to your app
 208 object's constructor that is a filename.  If you want to use your own
 209 class instead of wxPyOnDemandOutputWindow you can either implement
 210 RedirectStdio() in you app class or change the value of
 211 wxApp.outputWindowClass like this:
 212
 213     class MyApp(wxApp):
 214         outputWindowClass = MyClass
 215
 216         def OnInit(self):
 217             frame = MyFrame()
 218             self.SetTopWindow(frame)
 219             return true
 220
 221 Please see the implementation of wxPyOnDemandOutputWindow and wxApp in
 222 wx.py for more details.  A few words of caution:  if you are running
 223 your app in a debugger, changing sys.stdout and sys.stderr is likely
 224 to really screw things up.
 225
 226 Added wxCaret.  Unfortunately it's author has still not documented it
 227 in the wxWindows docs...
 228
 229 Some new 3rd party contributions in wxPython.lib.  PyShell, in
 230 shell.py is an interesting implementaion of an interactive Python
 231 shell in wxWindows.  floatbar.py has a class derived from wxToolBar
 232 that can sense mouse drags and then reparent itself into another
 233 frame. Moving the new frame close to where it came from puts the tool
 234 bar back into the original parent.  (Unfortunately there is currently
 235 a bug in wxGTK's wxFrame.SetToolBar so the FloatBar has some
 236 problems...)
 237
 238
 239
 240
 241 What's new in 2.1b3
 242 --------------------
 243
 244 This release is syncronized with release 2.1 snapshot 9 of wxWindows.
 245
 246 Switched to using SWIG from CVS (see http://swig.cs.uchicago.edu/cvs.html)
 247 for some of the new features and such.  Also they have encorporated my
 248 patches so there is really no reason to stick with the current (very
 249 old) release...  This version of SWIG gives the following new
 250 features:
 251
 252     1. Keyword arguments.  You no longer have to specify all the
 253        parameters with defaults to a method just to specify a
 254        non-default value on the end.  You can now do this instead:
 255
 256           win = wxWindow(parent, -1, style = mystyle)
 257
 258     2. There is now an an equivalence between Python's None and C++'s
 259        NULL.  This means that any methods that might return NULL will
 260        now return None and you can use none where wxWindows might be
 261        expecting NULL.  This makes things much more snake-ish.
 262
 263
 264 There is a new build system based on a new Python program instead of
 265 raw makefiles.  Now wxPython builds are virtually the same on MSW or
 266 Unix systems.  See the end of this file for new build instructions and
 267 see distrib/build.py for more details.
 268
 269 wxDC.Bilt now includes the useMask parameter, and has been split into
 270 two different versions.  wxDC.BlitXY is like what was there before and
 271 takes raw coordinants and sizes, and the new wxDC.Blit is for the new
 272 interface using wxPoints and a wxSize.
 273
 274
 275
 276
 277
 278 What's new in 2.1b2
 279 --------------------
 280
 281 Added the missing wxWindow.GetUpdateRegion() method.
 282
 283 Made a new change in SWIG (update your patches everybody) that
 284 provides a fix for global shadow objects that get an exception in
 285 their __del__ when their extension module has already been deleted.
 286 It was only a 1 line change in .../SWIG/Modules/pycpp.cxx at about
 287 line 496 if you want to do it by hand.
 288
 289 It is now possible to run through MainLoop more than once in any one
 290 process.  The cleanup that used to happen as MainLoop completed (and
 291 prevented it from running again) has been delayed until the wxc module
 292 is being unloaded by Python.
 293
 294 I fixed a bunch of stuff in the C++ version of wxGrid so it wouldn't
 295 make wxPython look bad.
 296
 297 wxWindow.PopupMenu() now takes a wxPoint instead of  x,y.  Added
 298 wxWindow.PopupMenuXY to be consistent with some other methods.
 299
 300 Added wxGrid.SetEditInPlace and wxGrid.GetEditInPlace.
 301
 302 You can now provide your own app.MainLoop method.  See
 303 wxPython/demo/demoMainLoop.py for an example and some explaination.
 304
 305 Got the in-place-edit for the wxTreeCtrl fixed and added some demo
 306 code to show how to use it.
 307
 308 Put the wxIcon constructor back in for GTK as it now has one that
 309 matches MSW's.
 310
 311 Added wxGrid.GetCells
 312
 313 Added wxSystemSettings static methods as functions with names like
 314 wxSystemSettings_GetSystemColour.
 315
 316 Removed wxPyMenu since using menu callbacks have been depreciated in
 317 wxWindows.  Use wxMenu and events instead.
 318
 319 Added alternate wxBitmap constructor (for MSW only) as
 320       wxBitmapFromData(data, type, width, height, depth = 1)
 321
 322 Added a helper function named wxPyTypeCast that can convert shadow
 323 objects of one type into shadow objects of another type.  (Like doing
 324 a down-cast.)  See the implementation in wx.py for some docs.
 325
 326 Fixed wxImage GetData and SetData to properly use String objects for
 327 data transfer.
 328
 329 Added access methods to wxGridEvent.
 330
 331 New Makefile/Setup files supporting multiple dynamic extension modules
 332 for unix systems.
 333
 334 Fixes for the wxGLCanvas demo to work around a strange bug in gtk.
 335
 336 SWIG support routines now compiled separately instead of being bundled
 337 in wx.cpp.
 338
 339
 340
 341
 342
 343 What's new in 2.1b1
 344 --------------------
 345 Fixed wxComboBox.SetSelection so that it actually sets the selected
 346 item.  (Actually just removed it from wxPython and let it default to
 347 wxChoice.SetSelection which was already doing the right thing.)
 348
 349 Added the Printing Framework.
 350
 351 Switched back to using the wxWindows DLL for the pre-built Win32
 352 version.  The problem was needing to reinitialize static class info
 353 data after loading each extension module.
 354
 355 Lots of little tweaks and additions to reflect changes to various
 356 wxWindows classes.
 357
 358 Fixed a bug with attaching objects to tree items.  Actually was a
 359 symptom of a larger problem with not obtaining the interpreter lock
 360 when doing any Py_DECREFs.
 361
 362 wxSizer and friends.  Sizers are layout tools that manage a colection
 363 of windows and sizers.  Different types of sizers apply different
 364 types of layout algorithms.  You saw it here first!  These classes are
 365 not even in the wxWindows C++ library yet!
 366
 367
 368
 369 What's new in 2.0b9
 370 -------------------
 371 Bug fix for ListCtrl in test4.py (Was a missing file...  DSM!)
 372
 373 Bug fix for occassional GPF on Win32 systems upon termination of a
 374 wxPython application.
 375
 376 Added wxListBox.GetSelections returning selections as a Tuple.
 377
 378 Added a wxTreeItemData that is able to hold any Python object and be
 379 associated with items in a wxTreeCtrl.  Added test pytree.py to show
 380 this feature off.
 381
 382 Added wxSafeYield function.
 383
 384 OpenGL Canvas can be optionally compiled in to wxPython.
 385
 386 Awesome new Demo Framework for showing off wxPython and for learning
 387 how it all works.
 388
 389 The pre-built Win32 version is no longer distributing the wxWindows
 390 DLL.  It is statically linked with the wxWindows library instead.
 391
 392 Added a couple missing items from the docs.
 393
 394 Added wxImage, wxImageHandler, wxPNGHandler, wxJPEGHandler,
 395 wxGIFHandler and wxBMPHandler.
 396
 397 Added new methods to wxTextCtrl.
 398
 399 Fixed some problems with how SWIG was wrapping some wxTreeCtrl
 400 methods.
 401
 402
 403
 404 What's new in 2.0b8
 405 -------------------
 406 Support for using Python threads in wxPython apps.
 407
 408 Several missing methods from various classes.
 409
 410 Various bug fixes.
 411
 412
 413
 414 What's new in 2.0b7
 415 -------------------
 416 Added DLG_PNT and DLG_SZE convienience methods to wxWindow class.
 417
 418 Added missing constructor and other methods for wxMenuItem.
 419
 420
 421
 422 What's new in 2.0b6
 423 -------------------
 424 Just a quickie update to fix the self-installer to be compatible with
 425 Python 1.5.2b2's Registry settings.
 426
 427
 428 What's new in 2.0b5
 429 -------------------
 430 Well obviously the numbering scheme has changed.  I did this to
 431 reflect the fact that this truly is the second major revision of
 432 wxPython, (well the third actually if you count the one I did for
 433 wxWindows 1.68 and then threw away...) and also that it is associated
 434 with the 2.0 version of wxWindows.
 435
 436 I have finally started documenting wxPython.  There are several pages
 437 in the wxWindows documentation tree specifically about wxPython, and I
 438 have added notes within the class references about where and how wxPython
 439 diverges from wxWindows.
 440
 441 Added wxWindow_FromHWND(hWnd) for wxMSW to construct a wxWindow from a
 442 window handle.  If you can get the window handle into the python code,
 443 it should just work...  More news on this later.
 444
 445 Added wxImageList, wxToolTip.
 446
 447 Re-enabled wxConfig.DeleteAll() since it is reportedly fixed for the
 448 wxRegConfig class.
 449
 450 As usual, some bug fixes, tweaks, etc.
 451
 452
 453
 454 What's new in 0.5.3
 455 -------------------
 456 Added wxSashWindow, wxSashEvent, wxLayoutAlgorithm, etc.
 457
 458 Various cleanup, tweaks, minor additions, etc. to maintain
 459 compatibility with the current wxWindows.
 460
 461
 462
 463 What's new in 0.5.0
 464 -------------------
 465 Changed the import semantics from "from wxPython import *" to "from
 466 wxPython.wx import *"  This is for people who are worried about
 467 namespace pollution, they can use "from wxPython import wx" and then
 468 prefix all the wxPython identifiers with "wx."
 469
 470 Added wxTaskbarIcon for wxMSW.
 471
 472 Made the events work for wxGrid.
 473
 474 Added wxConfig.
 475
 476 Added wxMiniFrame for wxGTK.
 477
 478 Changed many of the args and return values that were pointers to gdi
 479 objects to references to reflect changes in the wxWindows API.
 480
 481 Other assorted fixes and additions.
 482
 483
 484
 485
 486 What's new in 0.4.2
 487 -------------------
 488
 489 wxPython on wxGTK works!!!  Both dynamic and static on Linux and
 490 static on Solaris have been tested.  Many thanks go to Harm
 491 <H.v.d.Heijden@phys.tue.nl> for his astute detective work on tracking
 492 down a nasty DECREF bug.  Okay so I have to confess that it was just a
 493 DSM (Dumb Stupid Mistake) on my part but it was nasty none the less
 494 because the behavior was so different on different platforms.
 495
 496 The dynamicly loaded module on Solaris is still segfaulting, so it
 497 must have been a different issue all along...
 498
 499
 500
 501 What's New in 0.4
 502 -----------------
 503
 504 1. Worked on wxGTK compatibility.  It is partially working.  On a
 505 Solaris/Sparc box wxPython is working but only when it is statically
 506 linked with the Python interpreter.  When built as a dyamically loaded
 507 extension module, things start acting weirdly and it soon seg-faults.
 508 And on Linux both the statically linked and the dynamically linked
 509 version segfault shortly after starting up.
 510
 511 2. Added Toolbar, StatusBar and SplitterWindow classes.
 512
 513 3. Varioius bug fixes, enhancements, etc.
 514
 515 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
 516
 517
 518
 519 Build Instructions
 520 ------------------
 521 I used SWIG (http://www.swig.org) to create the source code for the
 522 extension module.  This enabled me to only have to deal with a small
 523 amount of code and only have to bother with the exceptional issues.
 524 SWIG takes care of the rest and generates all the repetative code for
 525 me.  You don't need SWIG to build the extension module as all the
 526 generated C++ code is included under the src directory.
 527
 528 I added a few minor features to SWIG to control some of the code
 529 generation.  If you want to play around with this you will need to get
 530 a recent version of SWIG from their CVS or from a daily build.  See
 531 http://www.swig.org/ for details.
 532
 533 wxPython is organized as a Python package.  This means that the
 534 directory containing the results of the build process should be a
 535 subdirectory of a directory on the PYTHONPATH.  (And preferably should
 536 be named wxPython.)  You can control where the build process will dump
 537 wxPython by setting the TARGETDIR variable for the build utility, (see
 538 below.)
 539
 540
 541 1. Build wxWindows as described in its BuildCVS.txt file.  For *nix
 542    systems I run configure with these flags:
 543
 544                 --with-gtk
 545                 --with-libjpeg
 546                 --without-odbc
 547                 --enable-unicode=no
 548                 --enable-threads=yes
 549                 --enable-socket=yes
 550                 --enable-static=no
 551                 --enable-shared=yes
 552                 --disable-std_iostreams
 553
 554    You can use whatever flags you want, but I know these work.
 555
 556    For Win32 systems I use Visual C++ 6.0, but 5.0 should work.  The
 557    build utility currently does not support any other win32 compilers.
 558
 559 2. At this point you may want to make an alias or symlink, script,
 560    batch file, whatever on the PATH that invokes
 561    $(WXWIN)/utils/wxPython/distrib/build.py to help simplify matters
 562    somewhat.  For example, on my win32 system I have a file named
 563    build.bat in a directory on the PATH that contains:
 564
 565    python $(WXWIN)/utils/wxPython/distrib/build.py %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6
 566
 567
 568 3. Change into the $(WXWIN)/utils/wxPython/src directory.
 569
 570 4. Type "build -b" to build wxPython and "build -i" to install it.
 571
 572    The build.py script actually generates a Makefile based on what it
 573    finds on your system and information found in the build.cfg file.
 574    If you have troubles building or you want it built or installed in
 575    a different way, take a look at the docstring in build.py.  You may
 576    be able to override configuration options in a file named
 577    build.local.
 578
 579 5. To build and install the add-on modules, change to the appropriate
 580    directory under $(WXWIN)/utils/wxPython/modules and run the build
 581    utility again.
 582
 583 6. Change to the $(WXWIN)/utils/wxPython/demo directory.
 584
 585 7. Try executing the demo program.  For example:
 586
 587     python demo.py
 588
 589 To run it without requiring a console on win32, you can use the
 590 pythonw.exe version of Python either from the command line or from a
 591 shortcut.
 592
 593
 594
 595 ----------------
 596 Robin Dunn
 597 robin@alldunn.com
 598
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