VB-like GUI designer?

[Fred]

Hi,

I'm currently checking out Python as an alternative to VB.Net
to moving from VB, but can't find a GUI designer that is as good as
VB.

I tried wxDesigner and wxGlade, but neither lets me move the widgets
around. I also tried Dialogblocks, but it seems to only handle C++ or
XRC, not Python.

Is this all there is, or is there a gem I missed?

Thank you
Fred.

 

[Gary]

Hi,

I'm currently checking out Python as an alternative to VB.Net
to moving from VB, but can't find a GUI designer that is as good as
VB.

I tried wxDesigner and wxGlade, but neither lets me move the widgets
around. I also tried Dialogblocks, but it seems to only handle C++ or
XRC, not Python.

Is this all there is, or is there a gem I missed?

Thank you
Fred.

Boa Constructor is a diamond in the rough:
http://boa-constructor.sourceforge.net/files/boa-constructor-0.2.8-snapshot.tgz

The above link was found in the forums section at Sourceforge's link
to Boa: http://sourceforge.net/projects/boa-constructor/

(the current version shown at sourceforge is 0.2.3).

wxPython is required, but the most recent release (2.5.1.5) is
apparently not yet compatible with Boa - use 2.4.2.4 instead:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=10718&package_id=10559&release_id=188259
--

 

[Doug Holton]

Hi,

I'm currently checking out Python as an alternative to VB.Net
to moving from VB, but can't find a GUI designer that is as good as
VB.

I tried wxDesigner and wxGlade, but neither lets me move the widgets
around. I also tried Dialogblocks, but it seems to only handle C++ or
XRC, not Python.

Is this all there is, or is there a gem I missed?

QT Designer, which you can use with PyQT and PyKDE (if on Linux), is
probably most like the VB GUI builder. But it is not free if you want
to develop Windows apps (you'd probably want to purchase the BlackAdder
version: http://www.thekompany.com/products/blackadder/ ).

But the best python GUI API on Windows is wxPython. Check out the
demo.py that comes with it. I don't like any of the GUI designers for
it, but I haven't really needed one.

 

[Peter Hansen]

Boa Constructor is a diamond in the rough:
http://boa-constructor.sourceforge.net/files/boa-constructor-0.2.8-snapshot.tgz

Didn't you mean "a snake in the grass"? ;-)

 

[Neuruss]

Two options:
1) Boa Constructor: is the closest you can find to VB or Delphi. It's
free and based on wxPython.
2) PythonCard: this is the asiest to learn and use by far. However,
there are some widgets that are not implemented (no datagrid, for
example).

There is at least one commercial product, BlackAdder, but it didn't
impress me at all (it's trial version is a little bit annoying, since
it doesn't let you save your work and it seems to close every few
minutes, so you never get anything done...).

As for the two mentioned above, I can say that I love PythonCard. It's
like a very intuitive and simple (very simple) VB, but as I said, it
is not very complete at this moment.
I tried Boa Constructor a couple of times, and it seemed to me a
little bit difficult to understand how it works, but I didn't try hard
enough..

 

[Fred]

On 9 Aug 2004 10:35:45 -0700, (e-mail address removed) (Neuruss) wrote:
(snip)

Thx everyone for the feedback. I just took a look at Boa,
BlackAdder, and PythonCard.

For those VB developers out there, here's some notes:

- Like wxGlade, Boa is based on wxWidgets, but doesn't seem to have a
GUI builder. You just add widgets to a list, and I assume you have to
set the coordinates and properties through code only. Also, Boa hasn't
been updated since April 2003

- PythonCard is apparently since a prototype, so very risky to start
using this to write professionnal apps. Besides, it doesn't seem to
offer a grid object, which is a must for a lot of business apps

- BlackAdder is an IDE from the Kompany (KDE), uses the QT widgets and
the PyQT wrapper, and comes with the QT Designer GUI tool. So far,
it's the only VB-like IDE I found, but I don't know how good it is
(didn't check during install whether Python and PyQT were installed;
The IDE started with a non-standard, 14-point font, etc.)

Now, for some more questions:

- Since the goal is to avoid getting trapped again, I'm concerned
about using non-native Windows widgets, and rely on either wxWidgets
or the commercial QT widgets set.
Is there a GUI designer that just uses the native widgets and possibly
COM controls like VB instead? Our customers are very unlikely to ever
leave Windows for Linux, so I don't need cross-platform widgets

- Is there a good grid object in wxWidgets or QT similar to eg.
ComponentOne's VSFlexGrid?
I'm especially concerned about ease of use (FlexGrid can be linked to
an array, which makes it a snap to read/write data from/to an SQL
server like SQLite), performance, and features (eg. can I print the
grind and have a nice layout, or must I handle the printing part
myself?)

- Is there a GUI designer for wxWidgets that is on par with QT
Designer? If not, does wxWidgets have more to offer than the QT
widgets set, which would make it a better choice even if no good GUI
designer is yet available for wxW?

- And last, since we're on the subject of tools available to switch
from VB... is there a good compiler so as to distribute a GUI Python
built on either wxW or QT?
I've seen a bunch of tools like py2exe, freeze, pyPack, Psyco,
McMillan (RIP?), and distutils, so am a bit lost. Which would you
recommend?

Thank you very much for your help
Fred.

 

[Detlev Offenbach]

Hi,

I'm currently checking out Python as an alternative to VB.Net
to moving from VB, but can't find a GUI designer that is as good as
VB.

I tried wxDesigner and wxGlade, but neither lets me move the widgets
around. I also tried Dialogblocks, but it seems to only handle C++ or
XRC, not Python.

Is this all there is, or is there a gem I missed?

Thank you
Fred.

Give "eric3" a try (http://www.die-offenbachs.de/detlev/eric3.html). It
is a complete Python IDE using Qt-Designer for GUI development and
Qt-Linguist for translating the GUI.

Detlev

 

[simo]

[snip]

I tried wxDesigner and wxGlade, but neither lets me move the widgets
around.

Dunno what you're smoking there man!

I also tried Dialogblocks, but it seems to only handle C++ or XRC, not Python.

I don't know that one.

Is this all there is, or is there a gem I missed?

Qt Designer (for use with PyQt though) or just hand-code the layout,
it ain't that hard.....

 

[Olivier Thiery]

Hello,

- Like wxGlade, Boa is based on wxWidgets, but doesn't seem to have a
GUI builder. You just add widgets to a list, and I assume you have to

I'm afraid it's wrong: Boa does include a (pretty usable) GUI builder,
although it (oddly) better works on windows than linux. It handles even
sizers.

set the coordinates and properties through code only. Also, Boa hasn't
been updated since April 2003

Wrong again: the last official release is 0.2.3 (see sf.net), but you can
search google for a more recent downloadable 0.2.8 tgz.

Boa may seem difficult to understand at first, but the (short) doc is very
useful. You have to read it carefully first, especially the tutorial.

Olivier

 

[Fred]

I'm afraid it's wrong: Boa does include a (pretty usable) GUI builder,
although it (oddly) better works on windows than linux. It handles even
sizers.

Thx for the tip. Digging deeper, I figured out how to get a GUI
designer window.

For newbies: In the Palette, select the New tab, click on the 5th icon
which says wxApp, which generates two source files in the Editor
window: wxApp1 and wxFrame1. Select wxFrame1, then select File >
Frame Designer, and create objects by selecting widgets in the Palette
window.

Wrong again: the last official release is 0.2.3 (see sf.net), but you can
search google for a more recent downloadable 0.2.8 tgz.

OK, too bad it's not mentionned in the News section on their project
page. I'll check it out.

It can be downloaded here:

http://boa-constructor.sourceforge.net/files/boa-constructor-0.2.8-snapshot.tgz

Thx
Fred.

 

[Fred]

Give "eric3" a try (http://www.die-offenbachs.de/detlev/eric3.html). It
is a complete Python IDE using Qt-Designer for GUI development and
Qt-Linguist for translating the GUI.

Thx for the link

Fred.

 

[Fred]

Dunno what you're smoking there man!

OK, I figured it out. Note to newbies: Read up on wxWidgets before
using those two tools, at least its concept of "sizers"...

Qt Designer (for use with PyQt though) or just hand-code the layout,
it ain't that hard.....

Thx but... not thx. That reminds me too much of the Petzold-era
Windows in C

Cheers
Fred.

 

[Geoff Caplan]

Hi

Check out VisualWx.

http://visualwx.altervista.org/

Offers all the wx widgets including sizers, and creates code for C++,
Python, Perl, Lua and Ruby. I've been playing with for a couple of
days, and so far it's looking surprisingly stable and nice to use.

There's an animated tutorial here:

http://www.trinity.unimelb.edu.au/~abulka/demos/visualwx01_launcher.html

 

[Robert]

Give "eric3" a try (http://www.die-offenbachs.de/detlev/eric3.html).
It is a complete Python IDE using Qt-Designer for GUI development and
Qt-Linguist for translating the GUI.

Detlev

I'll second that! Very well done.

Wish I could program like that!

 

[Thomas Bartkus]

Thx but... not thx. That reminds me too much of the Petzold-era
Windows in C

Gads! I still have that Petzold book.
I remember studying that stuff thinking it would take a long to for this GUI
stuff to catch on.

It didn't!
Thomas Bartkus

 

[Tom B.]

Hi,

I'm currently checking out Python as an alternative to VB.Net
to moving from VB, but can't find a GUI designer that is as good as
VB.

I tried wxDesigner and wxGlade, but neither lets me move the widgets
around. I also tried Dialogblocks, but it seems to only handle C++ or
XRC, not Python.

Is this all there is, or is there a gem I missed?

Thank you
Fred.

wxPython has all you need, it is easy to use sizers but if your stuck on
visual design use the XML resource editor.

Tom

 

[Nikos Kouremenos]

Hi,

I'm currently checking out Python as an alternative to VB.Net
to moving from VB, but can't find a GUI designer that is as good as
VB.

I tried wxDesigner and wxGlade, but neither lets me move the widgets
around. I also tried Dialogblocks, but it seems to only handle C++ or
XRC, not Python.

Is this all there is, or is there a gem I missed?

Thank you
Fred.

this is because of the way wxWidgets. If you can't get used to it, then
you can always try PyQT (which I believe you will find more close to
your designer needs). For Windows you need to buy a license though.
PyGTK also won't do it for you (same as wxWidgets style).
You can also parse the XML files that exist for every widget [XRC,
..glade, and so on]

Next time do a better 'web search'.
Good Luck,
Nikos

 

[Roger Binns]

[snip]

I tried wxDesigner and wxGlade, but neither lets me move the widgets
around.

Dunno what you're smoking there man!

I think what he means is that they generally force you to use sizers.
For example in wxGlade, if you drag a button out onto a new frame, it
has resize handles but you can't resize or position the button since
it all ends up inside a sizer. You can type in new size/position in
the object properties but that is insane.

Qt Designer (for use with PyQt though) or just hand-code the layout,
it ain't that hard.....

For people who are happy with the licensing issues behind Qt, it is
certainly best of breed.

As for hand coding the layout, don't forget he has come from a VB
world Using sizers and hand coding is certainly usually in the
best long term interests of many projects, but in the short term
is more time consuming and frustrating (you just want to drag the
buttons around).

Roger

 

[simo]

- And last, since we're on the subject of tools available to switch
from VB... is there a good compiler so as to distribute a GUI Python
built on either wxW or QT?
I've seen a bunch of tools like py2exe, freeze, pyPack, Psyco,
McMillan (RIP?), and distutils, so am a bit lost. Which would you
recommend?

Ah, you may be stuck there!

I noticed you mentionned customers, so presume you want this to be
closed source?

Well that doesn't really exist for Python, you have to distribute the
..pyc or .pyo files, which are compiled to bytecode, but easy-ish to
disassemble to source.

py2exe is the best program for [pseudo] compiling your Python app, and
bundling all the necessary DLLs etc. together on Windows. I've used
py2exe with PyQt/wxPython sucessfully. It's what BitTorrent uses (I'm
sure you've heard of the wxPython P2P app?)

McMillan Installer is not as good as py2exe on Windows IMHO, but also
works on Linux. Same goes for cx_Freeze.

InnoSetup is an excellant installation package program that can take
the output of py2exe (or whatever) and make a Setup.exe, it's not MSI
mind you, but is free.

IMHO a *machine code* compiler is what is really holding pack Python
adoption on the desktop by a lot of companies, certainly the one I
work for cannot take the risk of having it's software decompiled to
source! Of course, for server-side stuff it's fine.

You could wait for IronPython (or MS Visual Python.NET as it will
probably become!) if you want a standalone binary.....

 

[Fred]

py2exe is the best program for [pseudo] compiling your Python app, and
bundling all the necessary DLLs etc. together on Windows. I've used
py2exe with PyQt/wxPython sucessfully

OK, I'll give it a closer look then. I don't care about decompiling,
but simply to find a way to easily deploy Python + wxWidgets + our app
on bare Windows hosts.

InnoSetup is an excellant installation package program that can take
the output of py2exe (or whatever) and make a Setup.exe, it's not MSI
mind you, but is free

Yup, it's a nice app. I prefer to use NSIS because it has a scripting
language, though.

IMHO a *machine code* compiler is what is really holding pack Python
adoption on the desktop by a lot of companies

I read somewhere that the very roots of Python (being a dynamic
language?) make it difficult to write a compiler that outputs machine
code. But then, it seems pretty easy to call DLLs from Python, so I'll
just write the number crunching parts in PowerBasic if Python proves
to be too slow for this kind of thing.

You could wait for IronPython (or MS Visual Python.NET as it will
probably become!) if you want a standalone binary.....

But then, I was investigating whether there's an alternative to VB to
write GUI apps in Windows as easily and productively, so am a bit
reluctant to go the .Net way

Thx a lot
Fred.