4 Welcome to the wonderful world of wxPython!
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:
11 There are also some other sample files there for you to play with and
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."
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
27 http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/author/htmlhelp/download.asp.
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
40 http://starship.python.net/mailman/listinfo/wxpython-users
42 Or you can send mail directly to the list using this address:
44 wxpython-users@starship.python.net
46 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
52 This release is NOT syncronized with a snapshot release of wxGTK or
53 wxMSW. For MSW this isn't much of a problem since you can get the
54 binaries from the web site. For other platforms you'll have to build
55 wxGTK from CVS. (See http://web.ukonline.co.uk/julian.smart/wxwin/cvs.htm)
56 To get the same set of sources from CVS that I used, checkout using
59 Now back to what's new...
61 Much more support for event-less callbacks and add-on modules.
63 Created add-on module with wxOGL classes.
65 Added wxWindow.GetChildren(). Be careful of this. It returns a *copy*
66 of the list of the window's children. While you are using the list if
67 anything changes in the real list (a child is deleted, etc.) then the
68 list you are holding will suddenly have window references to garbage
69 memory and your app will likely crash. But if you are careful it works
72 Added a bunch of new and missing methods to wxTreeCrtl. The
73 SortChildren method is now supported, but currently only for the
76 Added typemaps for wxSize, wxPoint, wxRealPoint, and wxRect that allow
77 either the actual objects or Python sequence values to be used. For
78 example, the following are equivallent:
80 win = wxWindow(parent, size = wxSize(100, 100))
81 win = wxWindow(parent, size = (100, 100))
83 Super-charged the wxHtml module. You can now create your own tag
84 handlers and also have access to the parser and cell classes. There
85 is a tag handler in the library at wxPython.lib.wxpTag that
86 understands the WXP tag and is able to place wxPython windows on HTML
87 pages. See the demo for an example.
89 A bunch of the methods of wxMenuBar were previously ifdef'd out for
90 wxGTK. Added them back in since the methods exist now.
92 Wrapped the wxHtmlHelpController and related classes.
94 Wrapped the C++ versions of wxSizer and firends. The Python-only
95 versions are still in the library, but depreciated. (You will get a
96 warning message if you try to use them, but the warning can be
97 disabled.) The usage of the C++ versions is slightly different, and
98 the functionality of wxBorderSizer is now part of wxBoxSizer. I have
99 added a few methods to wxSizer to try and make the transition as
100 smooth as possible, I combined all Add methods into a single method
101 that handles all cases, added an AddMany method, etc. One step I did
102 not take was to make the default value of flag in the Add method be
103 wxGROW. This would have made it more backward compatible, but less
104 portable to and from wxWin C++ code. Please see the docs and demo for
107 Added wxPyEvent and wxPyCommandEvent classes, derived from wxEvent and
108 wxCommandEvent. Each of them has SetPyData and GetPyData methods that
109 accept or return a single Python object. You can use these classes
110 directly or derive from them to create your own types of event objects
111 that can pass through the wxWindows event system without loosing their
112 Python parts (as long as they are stored with SetPyData.) Stay tuned
113 for more info and examples in future releases.
115 Added wxPython.lib.grids as an example of how to derive a new sizer
116 from the C++ sizers. In this module you will find wxGridSizer and
117 wxFlexGridSizer. wxGridSizer arrainges its items in a grid in which
118 all the widths and heights are the same. wxFlexgridSizer allows
119 different widths and heights, and you can also specify rows and/or
120 columns that are growable. See the demo for a couple examples for how
123 Added the wxValidator class, and created a class named wxPyValidator
124 that should be used for the base class of any Python validators. See
125 the demo for an example. Please note that you MUST implement a Clone
126 method in your validator classes because of the way some things work
127 in the underlying C++ library. I did not add wxTextValidator because
128 of some issues of how it transfers data to and from a wxString, which
129 in wxPython is automatically translated to and from Python strings, so
130 there would never be a concrete wxString that would hang around long
131 enough for the validator to do its job. On the other hand, it should
132 be real easy to duplicate the functionality of wxTextValidator in a
133 pure Python class derived from wxPyValidator.
135 I've finally added a feature that has been on my list for close to two
136 years! Ever wondered what that zero is for when you create your app
137 object? Well now you can leave it out or explicitly set it to a true
138 value. This value now controls what is to be done with sys.stdout and
139 sys.stderr. A false value leaves them alone, and a true value sets
140 them to an instance of wxPyOnDemandOutputWindow. (On windows the
141 default is true, on unix platforms the default is false.) This class
142 creates a frame containing a wxTextCtrl as soon as anything is written
143 to sys.stdout or sys.stderr. If you close the window it will come
144 back again the next time something is written. (You can call
145 app.RestoreStdio to turn this off.) If you would rather that the stdio be
146 redirected to a file, you can provide a second parameter to your app
147 object's constructor that is a filename. If you want to use your own
148 class instead of wxPyOnDemandOutputWindow you can either implement
149 RedirectStdio() in you app class or change the value of
150 wxApp.outputWindowClass like this:
153 outputWindowClass = MyClass
157 self.SetTopWindow(frame)
160 Please see the implementation of wxPyOnDemandOutputWindow and wxApp in
161 wx.py for more details. A few words of caution: if you are running
162 your app in a debugger, changing sys.stdout and sys.stderr is likely
163 to really screw things up.
165 Added wxCaret. Unfortunately it's author has still not documented it
166 in the wxWindows docs...
168 Some new 3rd party contributions in wxPython.lib. PyShell, in
169 shell.py is an interesting implementaion of an interactive Python
170 shell in wxWindows. floatbar.py has a class derived from wxTooBar
171 that can sense mouse drags and then reparent itself into another
172 frame. Moving the new frame close to where it came from puts the tool
173 bar back into the original parent. (Unfortunately there is currently
174 a bug in wxGTK's wxFrame.SetToolBar so the FloatBar has some
183 This release is syncronized with release 2.1 snapshot 9 of wxWindows.
185 Switched to using SWIG from CVS (see http://swig.cs.uchicago.edu/cvs.html)
186 for some of the new features and such. Also they have encorporated my
187 patches so there is really no reason to stick with the current (very
188 old) release... This version of SWIG gives the following new
191 1. Keyword arguments. You no longer have to specify all the
192 parameters with defaults to a method just to specify a
193 non-default value on the end. You can now do this instead:
195 win = wxWindow(parent, -1, style = mystyle)
197 2. There is now an an equivalence between Python's None and C++'s
198 NULL. This means that any methods that might return NULL will
199 now return None and you can use none where wxWindows might be
200 expecting NULL. This makes things much more snake-ish.
203 There is a new build system based on a new Python program instead of
204 raw makefiles. Now wxPython builds are virtually the same on MSW or
205 Unix systems. See the end of this file for new build instructions and
206 see distrib/build.py for more details.
208 wxDC.Bilt now includes the useMask parameter, and has been split into
209 two different versions. wxDC.BlitXY is like what was there before and
210 takes raw coordinants and sizes, and the new wxDC.Blit is for the new
211 interface using wxPoints and a wxSize.
220 Added the missing wxWindow.GetUpdateRegion() method.
222 Made a new change in SWIG (update your patches everybody) that
223 provides a fix for global shadow objects that get an exception in
224 their __del__ when their extension module has already been deleted.
225 It was only a 1 line change in .../SWIG/Modules/pycpp.cxx at about
226 line 496 if you want to do it by hand.
228 It is now possible to run through MainLoop more than once in any one
229 process. The cleanup that used to happen as MainLoop completed (and
230 prevented it from running again) has been delayed until the wxc module
231 is being unloaded by Python.
233 I fixed a bunch of stuff in the C++ version of wxGrid so it wouldn't
234 make wxPython look bad.
236 wxWindow.PopupMenu() now takes a wxPoint instead of x,y. Added
237 wxWindow.PopupMenuXY to be consistent with some other methods.
239 Added wxGrid.SetEditInPlace and wxGrid.GetEditInPlace.
241 You can now provide your own app.MainLoop method. See
242 wxPython/demo/demoMainLoop.py for an example and some explaination.
244 Got the in-place-edit for the wxTreeCtrl fixed and added some demo
245 code to show how to use it.
247 Put the wxIcon constructor back in for GTK as it now has one that
250 Added wxGrid.GetCells
252 Added wxSystemSettings static methods as functions with names like
253 wxSystemSettings_GetSystemColour.
255 Removed wxPyMenu since using menu callbacks have been depreciated in
256 wxWindows. Use wxMenu and events instead.
258 Added alternate wxBitmap constructor (for MSW only) as
259 wxBitmapFromData(data, type, width, height, depth = 1)
261 Added a helper function named wxPyTypeCast that can convert shadow
262 objects of one type into shadow objects of another type. (Like doing
263 a down-cast.) See the implementation in wx.py for some docs.
265 Fixed wxImage GetData and SetData to properly use String objects for
268 Added access methods to wxGridEvent.
270 New Makefile/Setup files supporting multiple dynamic extension modules
273 Fixes for the wxGLCanvas demo to work around a strange bug in gtk.
275 SWIG support routines now compiled separately instead of being bundled
284 Fixed wxComboBox.SetSelection so that it actually sets the selected
285 item. (Actually just removed it from wxPython and let it default to
286 wxChoice.SetSelection which was already doing the right thing.)
288 Added the Printing Framework.
290 Switched back to using the wxWindows DLL for the pre-built Win32
291 version. The problem was needing to reinitialize static class info
292 data after loading each extension module.
294 Lots of little tweaks and additions to reflect changes to various
297 Fixed a bug with attaching objects to tree items. Actually was a
298 symptom of a larger problem with not obtaining the interpreter lock
299 when doing any Py_DECREFs.
301 wxSizer and friends. Sizers are layout tools that manage a colection
302 of windows and sizers. Different types of sizers apply different
303 types of layout algorithms. You saw it here first! These classes are
304 not even in the wxWindows C++ library yet!
310 Bug fix for ListCtrl in test4.py (Was a missing file... DSM!)
312 Bug fix for occassional GPF on Win32 systems upon termination of a
313 wxPython application.
315 Added wxListBox.GetSelections returning selections as a Tuple.
317 Added a wxTreeItemData that is able to hold any Python object and be
318 associated with items in a wxTreeCtrl. Added test pytree.py to show
321 Added wxSafeYield function.
323 OpenGL Canvas can be optionally compiled in to wxPython.
325 Awesome new Demo Framework for showing off wxPython and for learning
328 The pre-built Win32 version is no longer distributing the wxWindows
329 DLL. It is statically linked with the wxWindows library instead.
331 Added a couple missing items from the docs.
333 Added wxImage, wxImageHandler, wxPNGHandler, wxJPEGHandler,
334 wxGIFHandler and wxBMPHandler.
336 Added new methods to wxTextCtrl.
338 Fixed some problems with how SWIG was wrapping some wxTreeCtrl
345 Support for using Python threads in wxPython apps.
347 Several missing methods from various classes.
355 Added DLG_PNT and DLG_SZE convienience methods to wxWindow class.
357 Added missing constructor and other methods for wxMenuItem.
363 Just a quickie update to fix the self-installer to be compatible with
364 Python 1.5.2b2's Registry settings.
369 Well obviously the numbering scheme has changed. I did this to
370 reflect the fact that this truly is the second major revision of
371 wxPython, (well the third actually if you count the one I did for
372 wxWindows 1.68 and then threw away...) and also that it is associated
373 with the 2.0 version of wxWindows.
375 I have finally started documenting wxPython. There are several pages
376 in the wxWindows documentation tree specifically about wxPython, and I
377 have added notes within the class references about where and how wxPython
378 diverges from wxWindows.
380 Added wxWindow_FromHWND(hWnd) for wxMSW to construct a wxWindow from a
381 window handle. If you can get the window handle into the python code,
382 it should just work... More news on this later.
384 Added wxImageList, wxToolTip.
386 Re-enabled wxConfig.DeleteAll() since it is reportedly fixed for the
389 As usual, some bug fixes, tweaks, etc.
395 Added wxSashWindow, wxSashEvent, wxLayoutAlgorithm, etc.
397 Various cleanup, tweaks, minor additions, etc. to maintain
398 compatibility with the current wxWindows.
404 Changed the import semantics from "from wxPython import *" to "from
405 wxPython.wx import *" This is for people who are worried about
406 namespace pollution, they can use "from wxPython import wx" and then
407 prefix all the wxPython identifiers with "wx."
409 Added wxTaskbarIcon for wxMSW.
411 Made the events work for wxGrid.
415 Added wxMiniFrame for wxGTK.
417 Changed many of the args and return values that were pointers to gdi
418 objects to references to reflect changes in the wxWindows API.
420 Other assorted fixes and additions.
428 wxPython on wxGTK works!!! Both dynamic and static on Linux and
429 static on Solaris have been tested. Many thanks go to Harm
430 <H.v.d.Heijden@phys.tue.nl> for his astute detective work on tracking
431 down a nasty DECREF bug. Okay so I have to confess that it was just a
432 DSM (Dumb Stupid Mistake) on my part but it was nasty none the less
433 because the behavior was so different on different platforms.
435 The dynamicly loaded module on Solaris is still segfaulting, so it
436 must have been a different issue all along...
443 1. Worked on wxGTK compatibility. It is partially working. On a
444 Solaris/Sparc box wxPython is working but only when it is statically
445 linked with the Python interpreter. When built as a dyamically loaded
446 extension module, things start acting weirdly and it soon seg-faults.
447 And on Linux both the statically linked and the dynamically linked
448 version segfault shortly after starting up.
450 2. Added Toolbar, StatusBar and SplitterWindow classes.
452 3. Varioius bug fixes, enhancements, etc.
454 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
460 I used SWIG (http://www.swig.org) to create the source code for the
461 extension module. This enabled me to only have to deal with a small
462 amount of code and only have to bother with the exceptional issues.
463 SWIG takes care of the rest and generates all the repetative code for
464 me. You don't need SWIG to build the extension module as all the
465 generated C++ code is included under the src directory.
467 I added a few minor features to SWIG to control some of the code
468 generation. If you want to play around with this you will need to get
469 a recent version of SWIG from their CVS or from a daily build. See
470 http://www.swig.org/ for details.
472 wxPython is organized as a Python package. This means that the
473 directory containing the results of the build process should be a
474 subdirectory of a directory on the PYTHONPATH. (And preferably should
475 be named wxPython.) You can control where the build process will dump
476 wxPython by setting the TARGETDIR variable for the build utility, (see
480 1. Build wxWindows as described in its BuildCVS.txt file. For *nix
481 systems I run configure with these flags:
491 --disable-std_iostreams
493 You can use whatever flags you want, but I know these work.
495 For Win32 systems I use Visual C++ 6.0, but 5.0 should work. The
496 build utility currently does not support any other win32 compilers.
498 2. At this point you may want to make an alias or symlink, script,
499 batch file, whatever on the PATH that invokes
500 $(WXWIN)/utils/wxPython/distrib/build.py to help simplify matters
501 somewhat. For example, on my win32 system I have a file named
502 build.bat in a directory on the PATH that contains:
504 python $(WXWIN)/utils/wxPython/distrib/build.py %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6
507 3. Change into the $(WXWIN)/utils/wxPython/src directory.
509 4. Type "build -b" to build wxPython and "build -i" to install it.
511 The build.py script actually generates a Makefile based on what it
512 finds on your system and information found in the build.cfg file.
513 If you have troubles building or you want it built or installed in
514 a different way, take a look at the docstring in build.py. You may
515 be able to override configuration options in a file named
518 5. To build and install the add-on modules, change to the appropriate
519 directory under $(WXWIN)/utils/wxPython/modules and run the build
522 6. Change to the $(WXWIN)/utils/wxPython/demo directory.
524 7. Try executing the demo program. For example:
528 To run it without requiring a console on win32, you can use the
529 pythonw.exe version of Python either from the command line or from a
projects / wxWidgets.git / blob