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