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 What's new in 2.1.12
  49 --------------------
  50 Updated wxMVCTree and added a demo for it, also fixed layout on GTK
  51 and some flicker problems.
  52
  53 Added a wrapper class for the Visualization ToolKit (or VTK) in the
  54 wxPython.lib.vtk module.  (http://www.kitware.com/)
  55
  56 Fixed wxTreeCtrl.SetItemImage and GetItemImage to recognise the new
  57 "which" parameter.
  58
  59 Added wxPython.lib.spashscreen from Mike Fletcher.
  60
  61 Added wxPython.lib.filebrowsebutton also from Mike Fletcher.
  62
  63 Renamed wxTreeCtrl.GetParent to GetItemParent to avoid a name clash
  64 with wxWindow.GetParent.
  65
  66 Added wxIntersectRect to computer the intersection of two wxRect's.
  67 It is used like this:
  68
  69    intersect = wxIntersectRect(rect1, rect2)
  70
  71 If r1 and r2 don't intersect then None is returned, otherwise the
  72 rectangle representing the intersection is returned.
  73
  74
  75
  76 What's new in 2.1.11
  77 --------------------
  78 Skipped a few version numbers so wxMSW, wxGTK and wxPython are all
  79 syncronized.
  80
  81 wxImage.SetData now makes a copy of the image data before giving it to
  82 wxImage.  I mistakenly thought that wxImage would copy the data
  83 itself.
  84
  85 Fixed wxMSW's notebook so the pages get their size set as they are
  86 being added.  This should remove the need for our
  87 wxNotebook.ResizeChildren hack.
  88
  89 wxPanels now support AutoLayout, and wxNotebooks and wxSplitterWindows
  90 no longer tell their children to Layout() themselves.  This will
  91 probably only effect you if you have a wxWindow with AutoLayout inside
  92 a notebook or splitter.  If so, either change it to a wxPanel or add
  93 an EVT_SIZE handler that calls Layout().
  94
  95 Fixed deadlock problem that happened when using threads.
  96
  97 Added new HTML printing classes.
  98
  99 Added wxWindow.GetHandle
 100
 101 Apparently wxMouseEvent.Position has been depreciated in wxWindows as
 102 it is no longer available by default.  You can use GetPositionTuple
 103 (returning a tuple with x,y) instead, or GetPosition (returning a
 104 wxPoint.)
 105
 106 Added wxPostEvent function that allows events to be posted and then
 107 processed later.  This is a thread-safe way to interact with the GUI
 108 thread from other threads.
 109
 110 Added Clipboard and Drag-and-Drop classes.
 111
 112 Added wxFontEnumerator.
 113
 114 Many updates to wxMenu, wxMenuBar.
 115
 116 wxPyEvent and wxPyCommandEvent derived classes now give you the actual
 117 Python object in the event handler instead of a new shadow.
 118
 119 Added a Calendar widget from Lorne White to the library.
 120
 121 Made some fixes to the wxFloatbar.  It still has some troubles on
 122 wxGTK...
 123
 124 Added an MVC tree control from Bryn Keller to the library.
 125
 126
 127
 128
 129 What's new in 2.1.5
 130 -------------------
 131 This is a quick bug-fix release to take care of a few nasties that
 132 crept in at the last minute before 2.1.4 was called done.  No new
 133 major features.
 134
 135
 136
 137 What's new in 2.1.4
 138 --------------------
 139
 140 This release is NOT syncronized with a snapshot release of wxGTK or
 141 wxMSW.  For MSW this isn't much of a problem since you can get the
 142 binaries from the web site.  For other platforms you'll have to build
 143 wxGTK from CVS.  (See http://web.ukonline.co.uk/julian.smart/wxwin/cvs.htm)
 144 To get the same set of sources from CVS that I used, checkout using
 145 the wxPy-2-1-4 tag.
 146
 147 Now back to what's new...
 148
 149 Much more support for event-less callbacks and add-on modules.
 150
 151 Created add-on module with wxOGL classes.
 152
 153 Added wxWindow.GetChildren().  Be careful of this.  It returns a *copy*
 154 of the list of the window's children.  While you are using the list if
 155 anything changes in the real list (a child is deleted, etc.) then the
 156 list you are holding will suddenly have window references to garbage
 157 memory and your app will likely crash.  But if you are careful it works
 158 great!
 159
 160 Added a bunch of new and missing methods to wxTreeCrtl.  The
 161 SortChildren method is now supported, but currently only for the
 162 default sort order.
 163
 164 Added typemaps for wxSize, wxPoint, wxRealPoint, and wxRect that allow
 165 either the actual objects or Python sequence values to be used.  For
 166 example, the following are equivallent:
 167
 168     win = wxWindow(parent, size = wxSize(100, 100))
 169     win = wxWindow(parent, size = (100, 100))
 170
 171 Super-charged the wxHtml module.  You can now create your own tag
 172 handlers and also have access to the parser and cell classes.  There
 173 is a tag handler in the library at wxPython.lib.wxpTag that
 174 understands the WXP tag and is able to place wxPython windows on HTML
 175 pages.  See the demo for an example.
 176
 177 A bunch of the methods of wxMenuBar were previously ifdef'd out for
 178 wxGTK.  Added them back in since the methods exist now.
 179
 180 Wrapped the wxHtmlHelpController and related classes.
 181
 182 Wrapped the C++ versions of wxSizer and friends.  The Python-only
 183 versions are still in the library, but depreciated.  (You will get a
 184 warning message if you try to use them, but the warning can be
 185 disabled.) The usage of the C++ versions is slightly different, and
 186 the functionality of wxBorderSizer is now part of wxBoxSizer.  I have
 187 added a few methods to wxSizer to try and make the transition as
 188 smooth as possible, I combined all Add methods into a single method
 189 that handles all cases, added an AddMany method, etc.  One step I did
 190 not take was to make the default value of flag in the Add method be
 191 wxGROW.  This would have made it more backward compatible, but less
 192 portable to and from wxWin C++ code.  Please see the docs and demo for
 193 further details.
 194
 195 Added wxPyEvent and wxPyCommandEvent classes, derived from wxEvent and
 196 wxCommandEvent.  Each of them has SetPyData and GetPyData methods that
 197 accept or return a single Python object.  You can use these classes
 198 directly or derive from them to create your own types of event objects
 199 that can pass through the wxWindows event system without loosing their
 200 Python parts (as long as they are stored with SetPyData.)  Stay tuned
 201 for more info and examples in future releases.
 202
 203 Added wxPython.lib.grids as an example of how to derive a new sizer
 204 from the C++ sizers.  In this module you will find wxGridSizer and
 205 wxFlexGridSizer.  wxGridSizer arrainges its items in a grid in which
 206 all the widths and heights are the same.  wxFlexgridSizer allows
 207 different widths and heights, and you can also specify rows and/or
 208 columns that are growable.  See the demo for a couple examples for how
 209 to use them.
 210
 211 Added the wxValidator class, and created a class named wxPyValidator
 212 that should be used for the base class of any Python validators.  See
 213 the demo for an example.  Please note that you MUST implement a Clone
 214 method in your validator classes because of the way some things work
 215 in the underlying C++ library.  I did not add wxTextValidator because
 216 of some issues of how it transfers data to and from a wxString, which
 217 in wxPython is automatically translated to and from Python strings, so
 218 there would never be a concrete wxString that would hang around long
 219 enough for the validator to do its job.  On the other hand, it should
 220 be real easy to duplicate the functionality of wxTextValidator in a
 221 pure Python class derived from wxPyValidator.
 222
 223 I've finally added a feature that has been on my list for close to two
 224 years!  Ever wondered what that zero is for when you create your app
 225 object?  Well now you can leave it out or explicitly set it to a true
 226 value.  This value now controls what is to be done with sys.stdout and
 227 sys.stderr.  A false value leaves them alone, and a true value sets
 228 them to an instance of wxPyOnDemandOutputWindow.  (On windows the
 229 default is true, on unix platforms the default is false.)  This class
 230 creates a frame containing a wxTextCtrl as soon as anything is written
 231 to sys.stdout or sys.stderr.  If you close the window it will come
 232 back again the next time something is written.  (You can call
 233 app.RestoreStdio to turn this off.)  If you would rather that the stdio be
 234 redirected to a file, you can provide a second parameter to your app
 235 object's constructor that is a filename.  If you want to use your own
 236 class instead of wxPyOnDemandOutputWindow you can either implement
 237 RedirectStdio() in you app class or change the value of
 238 wxApp.outputWindowClass like this:
 239
 240     class MyApp(wxApp):
 241         outputWindowClass = MyClass
 242
 243         def OnInit(self):
 244             frame = MyFrame()
 245             self.SetTopWindow(frame)
 246             return true
 247
 248 Please see the implementation of wxPyOnDemandOutputWindow and wxApp in
 249 wx.py for more details.  A few words of caution:  if you are running
 250 your app in a debugger, changing sys.stdout and sys.stderr is likely
 251 to really screw things up.
 252
 253 Added wxCaret.  Unfortunately it's author has still not documented it
 254 in the wxWindows docs...
 255
 256 Some new 3rd party contributions in wxPython.lib.  PyShell, in
 257 shell.py is an interesting implementaion of an interactive Python
 258 shell in wxWindows.  floatbar.py has a class derived from wxToolBar
 259 that can sense mouse drags and then reparent itself into another
 260 frame. Moving the new frame close to where it came from puts the tool
 261 bar back into the original parent.  (Unfortunately there is currently
 262 a bug in wxGTK's wxFrame.SetToolBar so the FloatBar has some
 263 problems...)
 264
 265
 266
 267
 268 What's new in 2.1b3
 269 --------------------
 270
 271 This release is syncronized with release 2.1 snapshot 9 of wxWindows.
 272
 273 Switched to using SWIG from CVS (see http://swig.cs.uchicago.edu/cvs.html)
 274 for some of the new features and such.  Also they have encorporated my
 275 patches so there is really no reason to stick with the current (very
 276 old) release...  This version of SWIG gives the following new
 277 features:
 278
 279     1. Keyword arguments.  You no longer have to specify all the
 280        parameters with defaults to a method just to specify a
 281        non-default value on the end.  You can now do this instead:
 282
 283           win = wxWindow(parent, -1, style = mystyle)
 284
 285     2. There is now an an equivalence between Python's None and C++'s
 286        NULL.  This means that any methods that might return NULL will
 287        now return None and you can use none where wxWindows might be
 288        expecting NULL.  This makes things much more snake-ish.
 289
 290
 291 There is a new build system based on a new Python program instead of
 292 raw makefiles.  Now wxPython builds are virtually the same on MSW or
 293 Unix systems.  See the end of this file for new build instructions and
 294 see distrib/build.py for more details.
 295
 296 wxDC.Bilt now includes the useMask parameter, and has been split into
 297 two different versions.  wxDC.BlitXY is like what was there before and
 298 takes raw coordinants and sizes, and the new wxDC.Blit is for the new
 299 interface using wxPoints and a wxSize.
 300
 301
 302
 303
 304
 305 What's new in 2.1b2
 306 --------------------
 307
 308 Added the missing wxWindow.GetUpdateRegion() method.
 309
 310 Made a new change in SWIG (update your patches everybody) that
 311 provides a fix for global shadow objects that get an exception in
 312 their __del__ when their extension module has already been deleted.
 313 It was only a 1 line change in .../SWIG/Modules/pycpp.cxx at about
 314 line 496 if you want to do it by hand.
 315
 316 It is now possible to run through MainLoop more than once in any one
 317 process.  The cleanup that used to happen as MainLoop completed (and
 318 prevented it from running again) has been delayed until the wxc module
 319 is being unloaded by Python.
 320
 321 I fixed a bunch of stuff in the C++ version of wxGrid so it wouldn't
 322 make wxPython look bad.
 323
 324 wxWindow.PopupMenu() now takes a wxPoint instead of  x,y.  Added
 325 wxWindow.PopupMenuXY to be consistent with some other methods.
 326
 327 Added wxGrid.SetEditInPlace and wxGrid.GetEditInPlace.
 328
 329 You can now provide your own app.MainLoop method.  See
 330 wxPython/demo/demoMainLoop.py for an example and some explaination.
 331
 332 Got the in-place-edit for the wxTreeCtrl fixed and added some demo
 333 code to show how to use it.
 334
 335 Put the wxIcon constructor back in for GTK as it now has one that
 336 matches MSW's.
 337
 338 Added wxGrid.GetCells
 339
 340 Added wxSystemSettings static methods as functions with names like
 341 wxSystemSettings_GetSystemColour.
 342
 343 Removed wxPyMenu since using menu callbacks have been depreciated in
 344 wxWindows.  Use wxMenu and events instead.
 345
 346 Added alternate wxBitmap constructor (for MSW only) as
 347       wxBitmapFromData(data, type, width, height, depth = 1)
 348
 349 Added a helper function named wxPyTypeCast that can convert shadow
 350 objects of one type into shadow objects of another type.  (Like doing
 351 a down-cast.)  See the implementation in wx.py for some docs.
 352
 353 Fixed wxImage GetData and SetData to properly use String objects for
 354 data transfer.
 355
 356 Added access methods to wxGridEvent.
 357
 358 New Makefile/Setup files supporting multiple dynamic extension modules
 359 for unix systems.
 360
 361 Fixes for the wxGLCanvas demo to work around a strange bug in gtk.
 362
 363 SWIG support routines now compiled separately instead of being bundled
 364 in wx.cpp.
 365
 366
 367
 368
 369
 370 What's new in 2.1b1
 371 --------------------
 372 Fixed wxComboBox.SetSelection so that it actually sets the selected
 373 item.  (Actually just removed it from wxPython and let it default to
 374 wxChoice.SetSelection which was already doing the right thing.)
 375
 376 Added the Printing Framework.
 377
 378 Switched back to using the wxWindows DLL for the pre-built Win32
 379 version.  The problem was needing to reinitialize static class info
 380 data after loading each extension module.
 381
 382 Lots of little tweaks and additions to reflect changes to various
 383 wxWindows classes.
 384
 385 Fixed a bug with attaching objects to tree items.  Actually was a
 386 symptom of a larger problem with not obtaining the interpreter lock
 387 when doing any Py_DECREFs.
 388
 389 wxSizer and friends.  Sizers are layout tools that manage a colection
 390 of windows and sizers.  Different types of sizers apply different
 391 types of layout algorithms.  You saw it here first!  These classes are
 392 not even in the wxWindows C++ library yet!
 393
 394
 395
 396 What's new in 2.0b9
 397 -------------------
 398 Bug fix for ListCtrl in test4.py (Was a missing file...  DSM!)
 399
 400 Bug fix for occassional GPF on Win32 systems upon termination of a
 401 wxPython application.
 402
 403 Added wxListBox.GetSelections returning selections as a Tuple.
 404
 405 Added a wxTreeItemData that is able to hold any Python object and be
 406 associated with items in a wxTreeCtrl.  Added test pytree.py to show
 407 this feature off.
 408
 409 Added wxSafeYield function.
 410
 411 OpenGL Canvas can be optionally compiled in to wxPython.
 412
 413 Awesome new Demo Framework for showing off wxPython and for learning
 414 how it all works.
 415
 416 The pre-built Win32 version is no longer distributing the wxWindows
 417 DLL.  It is statically linked with the wxWindows library instead.
 418
 419 Added a couple missing items from the docs.
 420
 421 Added wxImage, wxImageHandler, wxPNGHandler, wxJPEGHandler,
 422 wxGIFHandler and wxBMPHandler.
 423
 424 Added new methods to wxTextCtrl.
 425
 426 Fixed some problems with how SWIG was wrapping some wxTreeCtrl
 427 methods.
 428
 429
 430
 431 What's new in 2.0b8
 432 -------------------
 433 Support for using Python threads in wxPython apps.
 434
 435 Several missing methods from various classes.
 436
 437 Various bug fixes.
 438
 439
 440
 441 What's new in 2.0b7
 442 -------------------
 443 Added DLG_PNT and DLG_SZE convienience methods to wxWindow class.
 444
 445 Added missing constructor and other methods for wxMenuItem.
 446
 447
 448
 449 What's new in 2.0b6
 450 -------------------
 451 Just a quickie update to fix the self-installer to be compatible with
 452 Python 1.5.2b2's Registry settings.
 453
 454
 455 What's new in 2.0b5
 456 -------------------
 457 Well obviously the numbering scheme has changed.  I did this to
 458 reflect the fact that this truly is the second major revision of
 459 wxPython, (well the third actually if you count the one I did for
 460 wxWindows 1.68 and then threw away...) and also that it is associated
 461 with the 2.0 version of wxWindows.
 462
 463 I have finally started documenting wxPython.  There are several pages
 464 in the wxWindows documentation tree specifically about wxPython, and I
 465 have added notes within the class references about where and how wxPython
 466 diverges from wxWindows.
 467
 468 Added wxWindow_FromHWND(hWnd) for wxMSW to construct a wxWindow from a
 469 window handle.  If you can get the window handle into the python code,
 470 it should just work...  More news on this later.
 471
 472 Added wxImageList, wxToolTip.
 473
 474 Re-enabled wxConfig.DeleteAll() since it is reportedly fixed for the
 475 wxRegConfig class.
 476
 477 As usual, some bug fixes, tweaks, etc.
 478
 479
 480
 481 What's new in 0.5.3
 482 -------------------
 483 Added wxSashWindow, wxSashEvent, wxLayoutAlgorithm, etc.
 484
 485 Various cleanup, tweaks, minor additions, etc. to maintain
 486 compatibility with the current wxWindows.
 487
 488
 489
 490 What's new in 0.5.0
 491 -------------------
 492 Changed the import semantics from "from wxPython import *" to "from
 493 wxPython.wx import *"  This is for people who are worried about
 494 namespace pollution, they can use "from wxPython import wx" and then
 495 prefix all the wxPython identifiers with "wx."
 496
 497 Added wxTaskbarIcon for wxMSW.
 498
 499 Made the events work for wxGrid.
 500
 501 Added wxConfig.
 502
 503 Added wxMiniFrame for wxGTK.
 504
 505 Changed many of the args and return values that were pointers to gdi
 506 objects to references to reflect changes in the wxWindows API.
 507
 508 Other assorted fixes and additions.
 509
 510
 511
 512
 513 What's new in 0.4.2
 514 -------------------
 515
 516 wxPython on wxGTK works!!!  Both dynamic and static on Linux and
 517 static on Solaris have been tested.  Many thanks go to Harm
 518 <H.v.d.Heijden@phys.tue.nl> for his astute detective work on tracking
 519 down a nasty DECREF bug.  Okay so I have to confess that it was just a
 520 DSM (Dumb Stupid Mistake) on my part but it was nasty none the less
 521 because the behavior was so different on different platforms.
 522
 523 The dynamicly loaded module on Solaris is still segfaulting, so it
 524 must have been a different issue all along...
 525
 526
 527
 528 What's New in 0.4
 529 -----------------
 530
 531 1. Worked on wxGTK compatibility.  It is partially working.  On a
 532 Solaris/Sparc box wxPython is working but only when it is statically
 533 linked with the Python interpreter.  When built as a dyamically loaded
 534 extension module, things start acting weirdly and it soon seg-faults.
 535 And on Linux both the statically linked and the dynamically linked
 536 version segfault shortly after starting up.
 537
 538 2. Added Toolbar, StatusBar and SplitterWindow classes.
 539
 540 3. Varioius bug fixes, enhancements, etc.
 541
 542 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
 543
 544
 545
 546
 547 ----------------
 548 Robin Dunn
 549 robin@alldunn.com
 550
 551
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