-\chapter{wxPython Notes}\label{wxPython}
+\section{wxPython overview}\label{wxpython}
+%\setheader{{\it CHAPTER \thechapter}}{}{}{}{}{{\it CHAPTER \thechapter}}%
+%\setfooter{\thepage}{}{}{}{}{\thepage}%
-\setheader{{\it CHAPTER \thechapter}}{}{}{}{}{{\it CHAPTER \thechapter}}%
-\setfooter{\thepage}{}{}{}{}{\thepage}%
-
-This addendum is written by Robin Dunn, author of the wxPython wrapper
+This topic was written by Robin Dunn, author of the wxPython wrapper.
%----------------------------------------------------------------------
-\section{What is wxPython?}\label{wxpwhat}
+\subsection{What is wxPython?}\label{wxpwhat}
-wxPython is a blending of the wxWindows GUI classes and the
+wxPython is a blending of the wxWidgets GUI classes and the
\urlref{Python}{http://www.python.org/} programming language.
\wxheading{Python}
wxPython is a Python package that can be imported at runtime that
includes a collection of Python modules and an extension module
(native code). It provides a series of Python classes that mirror (or
-shadow) many of the wxWindows GUI classes. This extension module
-attempts to mirror the class heirarchy of wxWindows as closely as
+shadow) many of the wxWidgets GUI classes. This extension module
+attempts to mirror the class hierarchy of wxWidgets as closely as
possible. This means that there is a wxFrame class in wxPython that
looks, smells, tastes and acts almost the same as the wxFrame class in
the C++ version.
-wxPython is very versitile. It can be used to create standalone GUI
+wxPython is very versatile. It can be used to create standalone GUI
applications, or in situations where Python is embedded in a C++
application as an internal scripting or macro language.
Currently wxPython is available for Win32 platforms and the GTK
-toolkit (wxGTK) on most Unix/X-windows platforms. The effort to
-enable wxPython for wxMotif will begin shortly. See \helpref{Building Python}{wxpbuild} for
+toolkit (wxGTK) on most Unix/X-windows platforms. See the wxPython
+website \urlref{http://wxPython.org/}{http://wxPython.org/} for
details about getting wxPython working for you.
%----------------------------------------------------------------------
-\section{Why use wxPython?}\label{wxpwhy}
+\subsection{Why use wxPython?}\label{wxpwhy}
-So why would you want to use wxPython over just C++ and wxWindows?
-Personally I prefer using Python for everything. I only use C++ when
-I absolutely have to eek more performance out of an algorithm, and even
+So why would you want to use wxPython over just C++ and wxWidgets?
+Personally I prefer using Python for everything. I only use C++ when I
+absolutely have to eke more performance out of an algorithm, and even
then I usually code it as an extension module and leave the majority
of the program in Python.
Another good thing to use wxPython for is quick prototyping of your
-wxWindows apps. With C++ you have to continuously go though the
+wxWidgets apps. With C++ you have to continuously go though the
edit-compile-link-run cycle, which can be quite time consuming. With
Python it is only an edit-run cycle. You can easily build an
application in a few hours with Python that would normally take a few
-days or longer with C++. Converting a wxPython app to a C++/wxWindows app
+days or longer with C++. Converting a wxPython app to a C++/wxWidgets app
should be a straight forward task.
%----------------------------------------------------------------------
-\section{Other Python GUIs}\label{wxpother}
+\subsection{Other Python GUIs}\label{wxpother}
There are other GUI solutions out there for Python.
\wxheading{Tkinter}
-Tkinter is the defacto standard GUI for Python. It is available
+Tkinter is the de facto standard GUI for Python. It is available
on nearly every platform that Python and Tcl/TK are. Why Tcl/Tk?
Well because Tkinter is just a wrapper around Tcl's GUI toolkit, Tk.
This has its upsides and its downsides...
for a listing of a few of them.
%----------------------------------------------------------------------
-\section{Building wxPython}\label{wxpbuild}
-
-I used SWIG (\urlref{http://www.swig.org}{http://www.swig.org}) to
-to create the source code for the
-extension module. This enabled me to only have to deal with a small
-amount of code and only have to bother with the exceptional issues.
-SWIG takes care of the rest and generates all the repetitive code for
-me. You don't need SWIG to build the extension module as all the
-generated C++ code is included under the src directory.
-
-I added a few minor features to SWIG to control some of the code
-generation. If you want to play around with this you will need to get
-a recent version of SWIG from their CVS or from a daily build. See
-\urlref{http://www.swig.org/}{http://www.swig.org/} for details.
-
-wxPython is organized as a Python package. This means that the
-directory containing the results of the build process should be a
-subdirectory of a directory on the {\tt PYTHONPATH}. (And preferably should
-be named wxPython.) You can control where the build process will dump
-wxPython by setting the {\tt TARGETDIR} variable for the build utility (see
-below).
-
-\begin{enumerate}\itemsep=0pt
-\item Build wxWindows as described in its BuildCVS.txt file. For Unix
-systems I run configure with these flags:
-
-\begin{verbatim}
- --with-gtk
- --with-libjpeg
- --without-odbc
- --enable-unicode=no
- --enable-threads=yes
- --enable-socket=yes
- --enable-static=no
- --enable-shared=yes
- --disable-std_iostreams
-\end{verbatim}
-
-You can use whatever flags you want, but I know these work.
-
-For Win32 systems I use Visual C++ 6.0, but 5.0 should work also. The
-build utility currently does not support any other Win32 compilers.
-\item At this point you may want to make an alias or symlink, script,
-batch file, whatever on the PATH that invokes {\tt \$(WXWIN)/utils/wxPython/distrib/build.py} to
-help simplify matters somewhat. For example, on my Win32 system I have a file named
- {\tt build}.bat in a directory on the PATH that contains:
-
-{\tt python \%WXWIN/utils/wxPython/distrib/build.py \%1 \%2 \%3 \%4 \%5 \%6}
-\item Change into the {\tt \$(WXWIN)/utils/wxPython/src} directory.
-\item Type "{\tt build -b}" to build wxPython and "{\tt build -i}" to
-install it, or "{\tt build -bi}" to do both steps at once.
-
-The build.py script actually generates a Makefile based on what it
-finds on your system and information found in the build.cfg file.
-If you have troubles building or you want it built or installed in
-a different way, take a look at the docstring in build.py. You are
-able to override many configuration options in a file named
-build.local.
-\item To build and install the add-on modules, change to the appropriate
-directory under {\tt \$(WXWIN)/utils/wxPython/modules} and run the build
-utility again.
-\item Change to the {\tt \$(WXWIN)/utils/wxPython/demo} directory.
-\item Try executing the demo program. For example:
-
-{\tt python demo.py}
-
-To run it without requiring a console on Win32, you can use the
-{\tt pythonw.exe} version of Python either from the command line or from a
-shortcut.
-\end{enumerate}
-
-%----------------------------------------------------------------------
-\section{Using wxPython}\label{wxpusing}
+\subsection{Using wxPython}\label{wxpusing}
\wxheading{First things first...}
I'm not going to try and teach the Python language here. You can do
that at the \urlref{Python Tutorial}{http://www.python.org/doc/tut/tut.html}.
-I'm also going to assume that you know a bit about wxWindows already,
+I'm also going to assume that you know a bit about wxWidgets already,
enough to notice the similarities in the classes used.
Take a look at the following wxPython program. You can find a similar
052: self.posCtrl.SetValue("%s, %s" % (pos.x, pos.y))
053:
054:
-055: # Every wxWindows application must have a class derived from wxApp
+055: # Every wxWidgets application must have a class derived from wxApp
056: class MyApp(wxApp):
057:
-058: # wxWindows calls this method to initialize the application
+058: # wxWidgets calls this method to initialize the application
059: def OnInit(self):
060:
061: # Create an instance of our customized Frame class
062: frame = MyFrame(NULL, -1, "This is a test")
063: frame.Show(true)
064:
-065: # Tell wxWindows that this is our main window
+065: # Tell wxWidgets that this is our main window
066: self.SetTopWindow(frame)
067:
068: # Return a success flag
example, "{\tt wx.wxFrame}".
\item At line 13 the frame's sizing and moving events are connected to
methods of the class. These helper functions are intended to be like
-the event table macros that wxWindows employs. But since static event
+the event table macros that wxWidgets employs. But since static event
tables are impossible with wxPython, we use helpers that are named the
same to dynamically build the table. The only real difference is
that the first argument to the event helpers is always the window that
have a \_\_del\_\_ method that explicitly causes the C++ object to be
deleted. If you ever have the need to forcibly delete a window, use
the Destroy() method as shown on line 36.
-\item Just like wxWindows in C++, wxPython apps need to create a class
+\item Just like wxWidgets in C++, wxPython apps need to create a class
derived from {\tt wxApp} (line 56) that implements a method named
{\tt OnInit}, (line 59.) This method should create the application's
main window (line 62) and use {\tt wxApp.SetTopWindow()} (line 66) to
-inform wxWindows about it.
+inform wxWidgets about it.
\item And finally, at line 72 an instance of the application class is
created. At this point wxPython finishes initializing itself, and calls
the {\tt OnInit} method to get things started. (The zero parameter here is
\end{enumerate}
%----------------------------------------------------------------------
-\section{wxWindows classes implemented in wxPython}\label{wxpclasses}
+\subsection{wxWidgets classes implemented in wxPython}\label{wxpclasses}
The following classes are supported in wxPython. Most provide nearly
full implementations of the public interfaces specified in the C++
\item \helpref{wxButton}{wxbutton}
\item \helpref{wxCalculateLayoutEvent}{wxcalculatelayoutevent}
\item \helpref{wxCalendarCtrl}{wxcalendarctrl}
-\item wxCaret
+\item \helpref{wxCaret}{wxcaret}
\item \helpref{wxCheckBox}{wxcheckbox}
\item \helpref{wxCheckListBox}{wxchecklistbox}
\item \helpref{wxChoice}{wxchoice}
\item \helpref{wxEraseEvent}{wxeraseevent}
\item \helpref{wxEvent}{wxevent}
\item \helpref{wxEvtHandler}{wxevthandler}
-\item wxFileConfig
+\item \helpref{wxFileConfig}{wxfileconfig}
\item \helpref{wxFileDataObject}{wxfiledataobject}
\item \helpref{wxFileDialog}{wxfiledialog}
\item \helpref{wxFileDropTarget}{wxfiledroptarget}
+\item \helpref{wxFileSystem}{wxfilesystem}
+\item \helpref{wxFileSystemHandler}{wxfilesystemhandler}
\item \helpref{wxFocusEvent}{wxfocusevent}
\item \helpref{wxFontData}{wxfontdata}
\item \helpref{wxFontDialog}{wxfontdialog}
\item \helpref{wxFont}{wxfont}
\item \helpref{wxFrame}{wxframe}
+\item \helpref{wxFSFile}{wxfsfile}
\item \helpref{wxGauge}{wxgauge}
\item wxGIFHandler
-\item wxGLCanvas
+\item \helpref{wxGLCanvas}{wxglcanvas}
\begin{comment}
\item wxGridCell
-\item wxGridEvent
+\item \helpref{wxGridEvent}{wxgridevent}
\item \helpref{wxGrid}{wxgrid}
\end{comment}
\item \helpref{wxHtmlCell}{wxhtmlcell}
\item \helpref{wxHtmlPrintout}{wxhtmlprintout}
\item \helpref{wxHtmlWinTagHandler}{wxhtmlwintaghandler}
\item \helpref{wxHtmlWindow}{wxhtmlwindow}
-\item wxIconizeEvent
+\item \helpref{wxIconizeEvent}{wxiconizeevent}
\item \helpref{wxIcon}{wxicon}
\item \helpref{wxIdleEvent}{wxidleevent}
\item \helpref{wxImage}{wximage}
\item \helpref{wxImageList}{wximagelist}
\item \helpref{wxIndividualLayoutConstraint}{wxindividuallayoutconstraint}
\item \helpref{wxInitDialogEvent}{wxinitdialogevent}
+\item \helpref{wxInputStream}{wxinputstream}
+\item \helpref{wxInternetFSHandler}{fs}
\item \helpref{wxJoystickEvent}{wxjoystickevent}
\item wxJPEGHandler
\item \helpref{wxKeyEvent}{wxkeyevent}
\item \helpref{wxListCtrl}{wxlistctrl}
\item \helpref{wxListEvent}{wxlistevent}
\item \helpref{wxListItem}{wxlistctrlsetitem}
+\item \helpref{wxMask}{wxmask}
+\item \helpref{wxMaximizeEvent}{wxmaximizeevent}
\item \helpref{wxMDIChildFrame}{wxmdichildframe}
\item \helpref{wxMDIClientWindow}{wxmdiclientwindow}
\item \helpref{wxMDIParentFrame}{wxmdiparentframe}
-\item \helpref{wxMask}{wxmask}
-\item wxMaximizeEvent
\item \helpref{wxMemoryDC}{wxmemorydc}
+\item \helpref{wxMemoryFSHandler}{wxmemoryfshandler}
\item \helpref{wxMenuBar}{wxmenubar}
\item \helpref{wxMenuEvent}{wxmenuevent}
\item \helpref{wxMenuItem}{wxmenuitem}
\item \helpref{wxPrintPreview}{wxprintpreview}
\item \helpref{wxPrinterDC}{wxprinterdc}
\item \helpref{wxPrintout}{wxprintout}
+\item \helpref{wxProcess}{wxprocess}
\item \helpref{wxQueryLayoutInfoEvent}{wxquerylayoutinfoevent}
\item \helpref{wxRadioBox}{wxradiobox}
\item \helpref{wxRadioButton}{wxradiobutton}
\item \helpref{wxSizeEvent}{wxsizeevent}
\item \helpref{wxSize}{wxsize}
\item \helpref{wxSizer}{wxsizer}
-\item wxSizerItem
+\item \helpref{wxSizerItem}{wxsizeritem}
\item \helpref{wxSlider}{wxslider}
\item \helpref{wxSpinButton}{wxspinbutton}
-\item wxSpinEvent
+\item \helpref{wxSpinEvent}{wxspinevent}
\item \helpref{wxSplitterWindow}{wxsplitterwindow}
\item \helpref{wxStaticBitmap}{wxstaticbitmap}
\item \helpref{wxStaticBox}{wxstaticbox}
\item \helpref{wxTipProvider}{wxtipprovider}
\item wxToolBarTool
\item \helpref{wxToolBar}{wxtoolbar}
-\item wxToolTip
+\item \helpref{wxToolTip}{wxtooltip}
\item \helpref{wxTreeCtrl}{wxtreectrl}
\item \helpref{wxTreeEvent}{wxtreeevent}
\item \helpref{wxTreeItemData}{wxtreeitemdata}
\item \helpref{wxValidator}{wxvalidator}
\item \helpref{wxWindowDC}{wxwindowdc}
\item \helpref{wxWindow}{wxwindow}
+\item \helpref{wxZipFSHandler}{fs}
\end{itemize}
%----------------------------------------------------------------------
-\section{Where to go for help}\label{wxphelp}
+\subsection{Where to go for help}\label{wxphelp}
Since wxPython is a blending of multiple technologies, help comes from
multiple sources. See
wxPython-users mail list. You can view the archive or subscribe by
going to
-\urlref{http://wxwindows.org/mailman/listinfo/wxpython-users}{http://wxwindows.org/mailman/listinfo/wxpython-users}
+\urlref{http://lists.wxwindows.org/mailman/listinfo/wxpython-users}{http://lists.wxwindows.org/mailman/listinfo/wxpython-users}
Or you can send mail directly to the list using this address:
-wxpython-users@wxwindows.org
-
+wxpython-users@lists.wxwindows.org