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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <title>Graphic User Interface FAQ — Python v2.6.6 documentation</title> <link rel="stylesheet" href="../_static/default.css" type="text/css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" href="../_static/pygments.css" type="text/css" /> <script type="text/javascript"> var DOCUMENTATION_OPTIONS = { URL_ROOT: '../', VERSION: '2.6.6', COLLAPSE_MODINDEX: false, FILE_SUFFIX: '.html', HAS_SOURCE: true }; </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="../_static/jquery.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="../_static/doctools.js"></script> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" title="Search within Python v2.6.6 documentation" href="../_static/opensearch.xml"/> <link rel="author" title="About these documents" href="../about.html" /> <link rel="copyright" title="Copyright" href="../copyright.html" /> <link rel="top" title="Python v2.6.6 documentation" href="../index.html" /> <link rel="up" title="Python Frequently Asked Questions" href="index.html" /> <link rel="next" title="“Why is Python Installed on my Computer?” FAQ" href="installed.html" /> <link rel="prev" title="Python on Windows FAQ" href="windows.html" /> <link rel="shortcut icon" type="image/png" href="../_static/py.png" /> </head> <body> <div class="related"> <h3>Navigation</h3> <ul> <li class="right" style="margin-right: 10px"> <a href="../genindex.html" title="General Index" accesskey="I">index</a></li> <li class="right" > <a href="../modindex.html" title="Global Module Index" accesskey="M">modules</a> |</li> <li class="right" > <a href="installed.html" title="“Why is Python Installed on my Computer?” FAQ" accesskey="N">next</a> |</li> <li class="right" > <a href="windows.html" title="Python on Windows FAQ" accesskey="P">previous</a> |</li> <li><img src="../_static/py.png" alt="" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-top: -1px"/></li> <li><a href="../index.html">Python v2.6.6 documentation</a> »</li> <li><a href="index.html" accesskey="U">Python Frequently Asked Questions</a> »</li> </ul> </div> <div class="document"> <div class="documentwrapper"> <div class="bodywrapper"> <div class="body"> <div class="section" id="graphic-user-interface-faq"> <h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id1">Graphic User Interface FAQ</a><a class="headerlink" href="#graphic-user-interface-faq" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h1> <div class="contents topic" id="contents"> <p class="topic-title first">Contents</p> <ul class="simple"> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#graphic-user-interface-faq" id="id1">Graphic User Interface FAQ</a><ul> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#general-gui-questions" id="id2">General GUI Questions</a><ul> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#what-platform-independent-gui-toolkits-exist-for-python" id="id3">What platform-independent GUI toolkits exist for Python?</a><ul> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#tkinter" id="id4">Tkinter</a></li> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#wxwidgets" id="id5">wxWidgets</a></li> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#qt" id="id6">Qt</a></li> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#gtk" id="id7">Gtk+</a></li> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#fltk" id="id8">FLTK</a></li> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#fox" id="id9">FOX</a></li> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#opengl" id="id10">OpenGL</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#what-platform-specific-gui-toolkits-exist-for-python" id="id11">What platform-specific GUI toolkits exist for Python?</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#tkinter-questions" id="id12">Tkinter questions</a><ul> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#how-do-i-freeze-tkinter-applications" id="id13">How do I freeze Tkinter applications?</a></li> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#can-i-have-tk-events-handled-while-waiting-for-i-o" id="id14">Can I have Tk events handled while waiting for I/O?</a></li> <li><a class="reference internal" href="#i-can-t-get-key-bindings-to-work-in-tkinter-why" id="id15">I can’t get key bindings to work in Tkinter: why?</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="section" id="general-gui-questions"> <h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id2">General GUI Questions</a><a class="headerlink" href="#general-gui-questions" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2> <div class="section" id="what-platform-independent-gui-toolkits-exist-for-python"> <h3><a class="toc-backref" href="#id3">What platform-independent GUI toolkits exist for Python?</a><a class="headerlink" href="#what-platform-independent-gui-toolkits-exist-for-python" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> <p>Depending on what platform(s) you are aiming at, there are several.</p> <div class="section" id="tkinter"> <h4><a class="toc-backref" href="#id4">Tkinter</a><a class="headerlink" href="#tkinter" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h4> <p>Standard builds of Python include an object-oriented interface to the Tcl/Tk widget set, called Tkinter. This is probably the easiest to install and use. For more info about Tk, including pointers to the source, see the Tcl/Tk home page at <a class="reference external" href="http://www.tcl.tk">http://www.tcl.tk</a>. Tcl/Tk is fully portable to the MacOS, Windows, and Unix platforms.</p> </div> <div class="section" id="wxwidgets"> <h4><a class="toc-backref" href="#id5">wxWidgets</a><a class="headerlink" href="#wxwidgets" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h4> <p>wxWidgets is a GUI class library written in C++ that’s a portable interface to various platform-specific libraries, and that has a Python interface called <a class="reference external" href="http://www.wxpython.org">wxPython</a>.</p> <p>wxWidgets preserves the look and feel of the underlying graphics toolkit, and has a large set of widgets and collection of GDI classes. See <a class="reference external" href="http://www.wxwidgets.org">the wxWidgets page</a> for more details.</p> <p>wxWidgets supports Windows and MacOS; on Unix variants, it supports both GTk+ and Motif toolkits.</p> </div> <div class="section" id="qt"> <h4><a class="toc-backref" href="#id6">Qt</a><a class="headerlink" href="#qt" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h4> <p>There are bindings available for the Qt toolkit (<a class="reference external" href="http://www.riverbankcomputing.co.uk/software/pyqt/">PyQt</a>) and for KDE (<a class="reference external" href="http://www.riverbankcomputing.co.uk/software/pykde/intro">PyKDE</a>). If you’re writing open source software, you don’t need to pay for PyQt, but if you want to write proprietary applications, you must buy a PyQt license from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.riverbankcomputing.co.uk">Riverbank Computing</a> and (up to Qt 4.4; Qt 4.5 upwards is licensed under the LGPL license) a Qt license from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.trolltech.com">Trolltech</a>.</p> </div> <div class="section" id="gtk"> <h4><a class="toc-backref" href="#id7">Gtk+</a><a class="headerlink" href="#gtk" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h4> <p>PyGtk bindings for the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.gtk.org">Gtk+ toolkit</a> have been implemented by James Henstridge; see <<a class="reference external" href="http://www.pygtk.org">http://www.pygtk.org</a>>.</p> </div> <div class="section" id="fltk"> <h4><a class="toc-backref" href="#id8">FLTK</a><a class="headerlink" href="#fltk" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h4> <p>Python bindings for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.fltk.org">the FLTK toolkit</a>, a simple yet powerful and mature cross-platform windowing system, are available from <a class="reference external" href="http://pyfltk.sourceforge.net">the PyFLTK project</a>.</p> </div> <div class="section" id="fox"> <h4><a class="toc-backref" href="#id9">FOX</a><a class="headerlink" href="#fox" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h4> <p>A wrapper for <a class="reference external" href="http://www.fox-toolkit.org/">the FOX toolkit</a> called <a class="reference external" href="http://fxpy.sourceforge.net/">FXpy</a> is available. FOX supports both Unix variants and Windows.</p> </div> <div class="section" id="opengl"> <h4><a class="toc-backref" href="#id10">OpenGL</a><a class="headerlink" href="#opengl" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h4> <p>For OpenGL bindings, see <a class="reference external" href="http://pyopengl.sourceforge.net">PyOpenGL</a>.</p> </div> </div> <div class="section" id="what-platform-specific-gui-toolkits-exist-for-python"> <h3><a class="toc-backref" href="#id11">What platform-specific GUI toolkits exist for Python?</a><a class="headerlink" href="#what-platform-specific-gui-toolkits-exist-for-python" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> <p><a class="reference external" href="http://python.org/download/mac">The Mac port</a> by Jack Jansen has a rich and ever-growing set of modules that support the native Mac toolbox calls. The port supports MacOS X’s Carbon libraries.</p> <p>By installing the <a class="reference external" href="http://pyobjc.sourceforge.net">PyObjc Objective-C bridge</a>, Python programs can use MacOS X’s Cocoa libraries. See the documentation that comes with the Mac port.</p> <p><a class="reference external" href="windows.html#windows-faq"><em>Pythonwin</em></a> by Mark Hammond includes an interface to the Microsoft Foundation Classes and a Python programming environment that’s written mostly in Python using the MFC classes.</p> </div> </div> <div class="section" id="tkinter-questions"> <h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id12">Tkinter questions</a><a class="headerlink" href="#tkinter-questions" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2> <div class="section" id="how-do-i-freeze-tkinter-applications"> <h3><a class="toc-backref" href="#id13">How do I freeze Tkinter applications?</a><a class="headerlink" href="#how-do-i-freeze-tkinter-applications" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> <p>Freeze is a tool to create stand-alone applications. When freezing Tkinter applications, the applications will not be truly stand-alone, as the application will still need the Tcl and Tk libraries.</p> <p>One solution is to ship the application with the Tcl and Tk libraries, and point to them at run-time using the <span class="target" id="index-177"></span><strong class="xref">TCL_LIBRARY</strong> and <span class="target" id="index-178"></span><strong class="xref">TK_LIBRARY</strong> environment variables.</p> <p>To get truly stand-alone applications, the Tcl scripts that form the library have to be integrated into the application as well. One tool supporting that is SAM (stand-alone modules), which is part of the Tix distribution (<a class="reference external" href="http://tix.sourceforge.net/">http://tix.sourceforge.net/</a>).</p> <p>Build Tix with SAM enabled, perform the appropriate call to <tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">Tclsam_init()</span></tt>, etc. inside Python’s <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">Modules/tkappinit.c</span></tt>, and link with libtclsam and libtksam (you might include the Tix libraries as well).</p> </div> <div class="section" id="can-i-have-tk-events-handled-while-waiting-for-i-o"> <h3><a class="toc-backref" href="#id14">Can I have Tk events handled while waiting for I/O?</a><a class="headerlink" href="#can-i-have-tk-events-handled-while-waiting-for-i-o" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> <p>Yes, and you don’t even need threads! But you’ll have to restructure your I/O code a bit. Tk has the equivalent of Xt’s <tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">XtAddInput()</span></tt> call, which allows you to register a callback function which will be called from the Tk mainloop when I/O is possible on a file descriptor. Here’s what you need:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="kn">from</span> <span class="nn">Tkinter</span> <span class="kn">import</span> <span class="n">tkinter</span> <span class="n">tkinter</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">createfilehandler</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nb">file</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">mask</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">callback</span><span class="p">)</span> </pre></div> </div> <p>The file may be a Python file or socket object (actually, anything with a fileno() method), or an integer file descriptor. The mask is one of the constants tkinter.READABLE or tkinter.WRITABLE. The callback is called as follows:</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="n">callback</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nb">file</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">mask</span><span class="p">)</span> </pre></div> </div> <p>You must unregister the callback when you’re done, using</p> <div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="n">tkinter</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">deletefilehandler</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nb">file</span><span class="p">)</span> </pre></div> </div> <p>Note: since you don’t know <em>how many bytes</em> are available for reading, you can’t use the Python file object’s read or readline methods, since these will insist on reading a predefined number of bytes. For sockets, the <tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">recv()</span></tt> or <tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">recvfrom()</span></tt> methods will work fine; for other files, use <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">os.read(file.fileno(),</span> <span class="pre">maxbytecount)</span></tt>.</p> </div> <div class="section" id="i-can-t-get-key-bindings-to-work-in-tkinter-why"> <h3><a class="toc-backref" href="#id15">I can’t get key bindings to work in Tkinter: why?</a><a class="headerlink" href="#i-can-t-get-key-bindings-to-work-in-tkinter-why" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> <p>An often-heard complaint is that event handlers bound to events with the <tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">bind()</span></tt> method don’t get handled even when the appropriate key is pressed.</p> <p>The most common cause is that the widget to which the binding applies doesn’t have “keyboard focus”. Check out the Tk documentation for the focus command. Usually a widget is given the keyboard focus by clicking in it (but not for labels; see the takefocus option).</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="sphinxsidebar"> <div class="sphinxsidebarwrapper"> <h3><a href="../contents.html">Table Of Contents</a></h3> <ul> <li><a class="reference external" href="#">Graphic User Interface FAQ</a><ul> <li><a class="reference external" href="#general-gui-questions">General GUI Questions</a></li> <li><a class="reference external" href="#tkinter-questions">Tkinter questions</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> <h4>Previous topic</h4> <p class="topless"><a href="windows.html" title="previous chapter">Python on Windows FAQ</a></p> <h4>Next topic</h4> <p class="topless"><a href="installed.html" title="next chapter">“Why is Python Installed on my Computer?” FAQ</a></p> <h3>This Page</h3> <ul class="this-page-menu"> <li><a href="../bugs.html">Report a Bug</a></li> <li><a href="../_sources/faq/gui.txt" rel="nofollow">Show Source</a></li> </ul> <div id="searchbox" style="display: none"> <h3>Quick search</h3> <form class="search" action="../search.html" method="get"> <input type="text" name="q" size="18" /> <input type="submit" value="Go" /> <input type="hidden" name="check_keywords" value="yes" /> <input type="hidden" name="area" value="default" /> </form> <p class="searchtip" style="font-size: 90%"> Enter search terms or a module, class or function name. </p> </div> <script type="text/javascript">$('#searchbox').show(0);</script> </div> </div> <div class="clearer"></div> </div> <div class="related"> <h3>Navigation</h3> <ul> <li class="right" style="margin-right: 10px"> <a href="../genindex.html" title="General Index" >index</a></li> <li class="right" > <a href="../modindex.html" title="Global Module Index" >modules</a> |</li> <li class="right" > <a href="installed.html" title="“Why is Python Installed on my Computer?” FAQ" >next</a> |</li> <li class="right" > <a href="windows.html" title="Python on Windows FAQ" >previous</a> |</li> <li><img src="../_static/py.png" alt="" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-top: -1px"/></li> <li><a href="../index.html">Python v2.6.6 documentation</a> »</li> <li><a href="index.html" >Python Frequently Asked Questions</a> »</li> </ul> </div> <div class="footer"> © <a href="../copyright.html">Copyright</a> 1990-2011, Python Software Foundation. <br /> The Python Software Foundation is a non-profit corporation. <a href="http://www.python.org/psf/donations/">Please donate.</a> <br /> Last updated on Jul 20, 2011. <a href="../bugs.html">Found a bug</a>? <br /> Created using <a href="http://sphinx.pocoo.org/">Sphinx</a> 0.6.6. </div> </body> </html>
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