wxPython OGL future

[PD]

Hi Everyone,

I am sort of a new developer to python and working in an academic
environment. I climbed the learning curve on wxPython far enough to get
the functionality I want out of it so far... Now Im in need of a
diagramming library (something visio-like) to use for my software and
the only option I have seen is OGL. Yet I read that OGL is dead, no
longer maintained, obsucure and lacking documentation. Instead of
taking a leap of faith and walking off a cliff, Ide appreciate if some
people out there who have come across a similar problem have any
solutions or suggestions for me...

I am so disappointed at the moment I think Im about ready to throw in
the towel and crawl back to java. I love python, but it has some real
difficulties when it comes to making library choices on what _to_ and
_not to_ get yourself into.

I appreciate your guidance,
Pouya

 

[Tom Willis]

What are you looking to do exactly? I don't know what OGL is.

 

[PD]

Hi Tom,

OGL is a library that is part of wxPython (wx.lib.ogl). I am trying to
put together some kind of schematic editor. It would be a block diagram
of modules and sometimes a statemachine type of figure. Similar to
something Visio does, but about a gazillion times simpler.

Thanks
Pouya

 

[D H]

Hi Everyone,

I am sort of a new developer to python and working in an academic
environment. I climbed the learning curve on wxPython far enough to get
the functionality I want out of it so far... Now Im in need of a
diagramming library (something visio-like) to use for my software and
the only option I have seen is OGL. Yet I read that OGL is dead, no
longer maintained, obsucure and lacking documentation. Instead of
taking a leap of faith and walking off a cliff, Ide appreciate if some
people out there who have come across a similar problem have any
solutions or suggestions for me...

Well OGL still works as far as I know.
Check out also pyxel. It hasn't been updated in almost a year though:
http://bellsouthpwp.net/p/r/prochak/pyxel.html

I am so disappointed at the moment I think Im about ready to throw in
the towel and crawl back to java. I love python, but it has some real
difficulties when it comes to making library choices on what _to_ and
_not to_ get yourself into.

Python baby, you broke my heart

You can still use python in java, see jython.
There is a similar tool that works in Java or .NET called Piccolo:
http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/piccolo/
I'm using it with boo, a python-like language for .NET and Mono:
http://boo.codehaus.org/ but you can also use it with IronPython or
Jython. On the Linux side, see DiaCanvas (can use from CPython with
pygtk) and DiaCanvas-Sharp (can use from boo or ironpython):
http://diacanvas.sourceforge.net/
http://diacanvas.sourceforge.net/csharp.php

 

[Peter Hansen]

I am sort of a new developer to python and working in an academic
environment. I climbed the learning curve on wxPython far enough to get
the functionality I want out of it so far... Now Im in need of a
diagramming library (something visio-like) to use for my software and
the only option I have seen is OGL. Yet I read that OGL is dead, no
longer maintained, obsucure and lacking documentation.

Not actually having used it, I can't help much, but the code
is all there, runs fine in the latest demo, and looks pretty
clean. Maybe you should examine it before you decide against
it. If it does what you need, or if you can easily add the
missing functionality, what else would you want out of it?

-Peter

 

[PD]

Hi D H,

Thank you for the suggestions. I would be interested in Jython but I
had some rough runs with it and I think I would kind of want to stick
to wxWidgets since I think the GUI is kind of cleaner. Im trying to
avoid reinventing the wheel so pyxel is a too little of a framework for
me.

I looked at piccollo though, and that is very appealing to me. What has
your experience been with Jython? I personally had a bad run in with
jython when I tried to run some example code with Swing and got all
sorts of weird behaviour (this was in their demos by the way...) Have
you ever seen some serious projects written with jython that I could
look at maybe?

I greatly appreciate your help, Thank you
Pouya

 

[PD]

Hi Peter,

I did look at the code, and did run several examples on it. It _is_
pretty well organized and easy to read through, and youre right, I
think i might be able to add missing functionality if need be.

I don't think I want that much out of it necessarily. I just feel
really weird writing new software with deprecated libraries. By the
time Im done with my project, I have to put all these disclaimers on
how the new versions of wxWidgets might not work. The thing I am really
concerened about is if wxPython decides to drop OGL because it is
deprecated... anyhow thats my 2 cents.

I actually saw several other discussions on OGL and think its such a
shame its been abandoned. It seems like a lot of people are interested
in having this kind of functionality present in the library. Who
knows... maybe if i decide to use it and get good at it, I should do my
share and contribute something back to the open-source community

Thank you,
Pouya

 

[D H]

I don't think I want that much out of it necessarily. I just feel
really weird writing new software with deprecated libraries. By the
time Im done with my project, I have to put all these disclaimers on
how the new versions of wxWidgets might not work. The thing I am really
concerened about is if wxPython decides to drop OGL because it is
deprecated... anyhow thats my 2 cents.

Actually, I think the information on the wxpython wiki is now out of
date. OGL was implemented in C and wxpython provided a wrapper. That
version is now dead. But they rewrote OGL in pure python. So it isn't
obsolete yet I believe. Since it is written in python you can easily
extend it or whatever.

Instead of saying "import wx.ogl as ogl", say
"import wx.lib.ogl as ogl".