Programming Forums > Script Programming > Python

Arevos · Nov 18th, 2005, 1:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coldDeath

Nice I didn't realise it would be GPLed on Windows, that was Qts only bad point (IMHO).

That's the main reason why I was looking into GTK, which has no such restriction. Roll on PyQt 4

Arevos · Nov 19th, 2005, 1:57 PM

I tried out your WHOIS in glade/GTK, coldDeath, and here's what I came up with. I'll write a tutorial to mirror your rather excellent one, if I have time.

Comparing GTK to Qt was interesting, too. GTK's main advantage is that Glade produces its output as an XML file, so there's no need to run pyuic, nor to write your Python in an ugly C wrapper.

The disadvantage to using GTK, is that Glade simply isn't quite as good as Qt Designer. The layout system in Glade revolves around vboxes, hboxes and tables, so you really have to know what you're designing before you design it. Qt also appears to have more sensible default behavior than GTK; for instance, you didn't have to write a 'close' method for your Qt program. Glade also has a clunkier way of accessing widgets; 'self.glade.get_widget("textbox")', rather than Qt's "self.textbox" (something I tried to address with my small glade-wrapper).

The other advantage to Qt is that it integrates seamlessly with the native Windows toolkit, whilst GTK isn't quite so transparent (though GTK-WIMP addresses a lot of these problems). Alas, Qt3 is not available in GPL form for Windows, so until PyQt4 comes out, cross-platform development is rather limited.

Also, as an aside, you could improve your code by cutting out the temporary file and using the "popen2" module, instead. popen2 executes an external command, and opens up a file object for reading the output of the command, and a file object for writing input to the command.

e.g:

(Toggle Plain Text)

import popen2
read_file, write_file = popen2.popen2("whois " + address)
output_of_whois = read_file.read()

coldDeath · Nov 19th, 2005, 3:41 PM

Interesting comparison.

I've never really fully tried GTK but i've had a go at Glade and I didn't like it too much. Qt4 will be great and it will just make Qt perfect. But as you said, its horrible writing your code in a C function.
I didn't know about the popen2 module, it certainly looks good, thanks for showing me it

NOTE to everyone using Qt-Designer with Python:
You should do this:
Edit>Preferences>C++ Editor>Untick Auto Indent box
Otherwise coding in the built in editor is _hell_.

Arevos · Nov 19th, 2005, 6:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coldDeath

But as you said, its horrible writing your code in a C function.

In theory you could leave that part blank, and use inheritance instead. In your tutorial you can stop after creating the connections, and then save and generate the python file using pyuic. Then you can inherit this generated file and override your custom functions.

e.g.

(Toggle Plain Text)

from qt import *
from form1 import *
from popen2 import *
import sys

class MyForm(Form1):
   def whois(self):
      whois, _ = popen2("whois " + self.lineEdit1.text().ascii())
      self.textEdit1.setText(whois.read())

if __name__ == "__main__":
    app = QApplication(sys.argv)
    f = MyForm()
    f.show()
    app.setMainWidget(f)
    app.exec_loop()

This way, you don't have to lay eyes on any C syntax, nor use the built-in editor.

Cerulean · Nov 20th, 2005, 7:19 AM

I didn't see that you were writing it all inline. Didn't know you could even do that actually. Qt4 doesn't do let you do the whole .ui.h thing, making QtDesigner purely a GUI designer and not a mini-IDE. Cool thing is that QtDesigner4 is a lot easier to embed into other IDEs, so KDevelop will have it integrated.

Quote:

Also, as an aside, you could improve your code by cutting out the temporary file and using the "popen2" module

Or if you don't need seperate file objects for reading/writing, just use os.popen -

(Toggle Plain Text)

output = os.popen("whois " + address).read()

Arevos · Nov 20th, 2005, 7:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cerulean

Or if you don't need seperate file objects for reading/writing, just use os.popen -

(Toggle Plain Text)

output = os.popen("whois " + address).read()

You're right. Curiously, I was under the impression that os.popen didn't take shell commands, which is why I was using popen2.

Cerulean · Nov 20th, 2005, 2:59 PM

Oh, one more thing

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arevos

GTK's main advantage is that Glade produces its output as an XML file

Not sure what you mean - Qt designer produces .ui files which are XML files.

Arevos · Nov 20th, 2005, 4:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cerulean

Oh, one more thing

Not sure what you mean - Qt designer produces .ui files which are XML files.

Well, what I meant was that, at least in Qt3, you have to compile the ui and ui.h file into python using pyuic, whilst Glade operates by importing the XML directly. This solution seems a little neater.

Cerulean · Nov 20th, 2005, 4:59 PM

Fairly trivial to work around, surely? All it would take is a simple function that runs pyuic on the .ui file, imports the created .py file, and returns the freshly imported module? Like 6 lines long.

Arevos · Nov 20th, 2005, 6:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cerulean

Fairly trivial to work around, surely? All it would take is a simple function that runs pyuic on the .ui file, imports the created .py file, and returns the freshly imported module? Like 6 lines long.

Piping code from a external binary and executing it on the fly still isn't as neat as having a native python function to do it. It's not really major problem, just something that seems more neatly done in Glade.

When I wrote my comparison, I was still thinking that Python code had to be written inline in the .ui.h file, which was why I said it was the main disadvantage. Now I consider the main disadvantage to be Glade's layout manager, which is a bit more rigid than QtDesigner's.

Nov 19th, 2005, 1:57 PM	#12
Arevos Programming Guru Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: England Posts: 1,499 Rep Power: 5	I tried out your WHOIS in glade/GTK, coldDeath, and here's what I came up with. I'll write a tutorial to mirror your rather excellent one, if I have time. Comparing GTK to Qt was interesting, too. GTK's main advantage is that Glade produces its output as an XML file, so there's no need to run pyuic, nor to write your Python in an ugly C wrapper. The disadvantage to using GTK, is that Glade simply isn't quite as good as Qt Designer. The layout system in Glade revolves around vboxes, hboxes and tables, so you really have to know what you're designing before you design it. Qt also appears to have more sensible default behavior than GTK; for instance, you didn't have to write a 'close' method for your Qt program. Glade also has a clunkier way of accessing widgets; 'self.glade.get_widget("textbox")', rather than Qt's "self.textbox" (something I tried to address with my small glade-wrapper). The other advantage to Qt is that it integrates seamlessly with the native Windows toolkit, whilst GTK isn't quite so transparent (though GTK-WIMP addresses a lot of these problems). Alas, Qt3 is not available in GPL form for Windows, so until PyQt4 comes out, cross-platform development is rather limited. Also, as an aside, you could improve your code by cutting out the temporary file and using the "popen2" module, instead. popen2 executes an external command, and opens up a file object for reading the output of the command, and a file object for writing input to the command. e.g: (Toggle Plain Text) import popen2 read_file, write_file = popen2.popen2("whois " + address) output_of_whois = read_file.read() import popen2 read_file, write_file = popen2.popen2("whois " + address) output_of_whois = read_file.read()

Nov 19th, 2005, 3:41 PM	#13
coldDeath Expert Programmer Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: UK Posts: 862 Rep Power: 4	Interesting comparison. I've never really fully tried GTK but i've had a go at Glade and I didn't like it too much. Qt4 will be great and it will just make Qt perfect. But as you said, its horrible writing your code in a C function. I didn't know about the popen2 module, it certainly looks good, thanks for showing me it NOTE to everyone using Qt-Designer with Python: You should do this: Edit>Preferences>C++ Editor>Untick Auto Indent box Otherwise coding in the built in editor is _hell_. __________________ Programming Tutorials - Linux Installation Guide - Learn Python - Learn C++ Got Slack? Join us at #programmingforums @ irc.freenode.net! My software never has bugs. It just develops random features.

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

Nov 20th, 2005, 4:59 PM	#19
Cerulean Professional Programmer Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: London, England Posts: 459 Rep Power: 4	Fairly trivial to work around, surely? All it would take is a simple function that runs pyuic on the .ui file, imports the created .py file, and returns the freshly imported module? Like 6 lines long.

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)

Programming Forums > Script Programming > Python

[Tutorial] PyQT with Qt Designer