X-Git-Url: https://git.saurik.com/wxWidgets.git/blobdiff_plain/5c66e6508d35193ed985e477aacfe32a2ea20c37..8179a16812e66ff0ac32bb09803e95756350c76c:/wxPython/docs/MigrationGuide.txt diff --git a/wxPython/docs/MigrationGuide.txt b/wxPython/docs/MigrationGuide.txt index 7dd57bec23..d299c4d411 100644 --- a/wxPython/docs/MigrationGuide.txt +++ b/wxPython/docs/MigrationGuide.txt @@ -441,6 +441,110 @@ BTW, wx.Platform will probably be deprecated in the future. +ActiveX +------- + +Lindsay Mathieson's newest wxActiveX_ class has been wrapped into a new +extension module called wx.activex. It is very generic and dynamic +and should allow hosting of arbitray ActiveX controls within your +wxPython apps. So far I've tested it with IE, PDF, and Flash +controls, (and there are new samples in the demo and also library +modules supporting these.) + +.. _wxActiveX: http://members.optusnet.com.au/~blackpaw1/wxactivex.html + +The new wx.activex module contains a bunch of code, but the most +important things to look at are ActiveXWindow and ActiveXEvent. +ActiveXWindow derives from wxWindow and the constructor accepts a +CLSID for the ActiveX Control that should be created. (There is also +a CLSID class that can convert from a progID or a CLSID String.) The +ActiveXWindow class simply adds methods that allow you to query some +of the TypeInfo exposed by the ActiveX object, and also to get/set +properties or call methods by name. The Python implementation +automatically handles converting parameters and return values to/from +the types expected by the ActiveX code as specified by the TypeInfo, +(just bool, integers, floating point, strings and None/Empty so far, +but more can be handled later.) + +That's pretty much all there is to the class, as I mentioned before it +is very generic and dynamic. Very little is hard-coded and everything +that is done with the actual ActiveX control is done at runtime and +referenced by property or method name. Since Python is such a dynamic +language this is a very good match. I thought for a while about doing +some Python black-magic and making the specific methods/properties of +the actual ActiveX control "appear" at runtime, but then decided that +it would be better and more understandable to do it via subclassing. +So there is a utility class in wx.activex that given an existing +ActiveXWindow instance can generate a .py module containing a derived +class with real methods and properties that do the Right Thing to +reflect those calls to the real ActiveX control. There is also a +script/tool module named genaxmodule that given a CLSID or progID and +a class name, will generate the module for you. There are a few +examples of the output of this tool in the wx.lib package. See +iewin.py, pdfwin.py and flashwin.py. + +Currently the genaxmodule tool will tweak some of the names it +generates, but this can be controled if you would like to do it +differently by deriving your own class from GernerateAXModule, +overriding some methods and then using this class from a tool like +genaxmodule. [TODO: make specifying a new class on genaxmodule's +command-line possible.] The current default behavior is that any +event names that start with "On" will have the "On" dropped, property +names are converted to all lower case, and if any name is a Python +keyword it will have an underscore appended to it. GernerateAXModule +does it's best when generating the code in the new module, but it can +only be as good as the TypeInfo data available from the ActiveX +control so sometimes some tweaking will be needed. For example, the +IE web browser control defines the Flags parameter of the Navigate2 +method as required, but MSDN says it is optional. + +It is intended that this new wx.activex module will replace both the +older version of Lindsay's code available in iewin.IEHtmlWindow, and +also the wx.lib.activexwraper module. Probably the biggest +differences you'l ecounted in migrating activexwrapper-based code +(besides events working better without causing deadlocks) is that +events are no longer caught by overriding methods in your derived +class. Instead ActiveXWindow uses the wx event system and you bind +handlers for the ActiveX events exactly the same way you do for any wx +event. There is just one extra step needed and that is creating an +event ID from the ActiveX event name, and if you use the genaxmodule +tool then this extra step will be handled for you there. For example, +for the StatusTextChange event in the IE web browser control, this +code is generated for you:: + + wxEVT_StatusTextChange = wx.activex.RegisterActiveXEvent('StatusTextChange') + EVT_StatusTextChange = wx.PyEventBinder(wxEVT_StatusTextChange, 1) + +and you would use it in your code like this:: + + self.Bind(iewin.EVT_StatusTextChange, self.UpdateStatusText, self.ie) + +When the event happens and your event handler function is called the +event properties from the ActiveX control (if any) are converted to +attributes of the event object passed to the handler. (Can you say +'event' any more times in a single sentence? ;-) ) For example the +StatusTextChange event will also send the text that should be put into +the status line as an event parameter named "Text" and you can access +it your handlers as an attribute of the evnt object like this:: + + def UpdateStatusText(self, evt): + self.SetStatusText(evt.Text) + +These event object attributes should be considered read-only since +support for output parameters on the events is not yet implemented. +But that could/should change in the future. + +So how do you know what methods, events and properties that am ActiveX +control supports? There is a funciton in wx.activex named GetAXInfo +that returns a printable summary of the TypeInfo from the ActiveX +instance passed in. You can use this as an example of how to browse +the TypeInfo provided, and there is also a copy of this function's +output appended as a comment to the modules produced by the +genaxmodule tool. Beyond that you'll need to consult the docs +provided by the makers of the ActiveX control that you are using. + + + Other Stuff -----------