[wxPython-users] Skinnable interface in (wx)Python?

[Karlo Lozovina]

On 10/3/06, Peter Damoc <pdamoc at gmail.com> wrote:

> Well... I guess it depends on what would you consider "an easy way"...
> There is no official way (a specialized control) but... if you want to make
> such a beast... it wouldn't be too hard and it would be a great contribution
> to the toolkit...

Although I wouldnt like anything better than making such an addon to
wxPython and helping the community - there are other things to
consider. I'm on a rather tight schedule and I can't just devote a
month or two for developing the tools to do my job.

> The way I would do it is like this:
> 1. A custom wx.Panel with 2 or 3 bitmaps (normal, mouse_over and activated)
> stored them in some internal bitmaps
> 2. Handlers for Mouse events that would trigger repaints.
> 3. a custom wx.EVT_PAINT that checks to see if the mouse is in one of the
> rectangles from a predefined list of rectangles (the rough area of the
> button) and blits the appropriate rectangle from the appropriate bitmap
> (mouse_over or activated).

When you put it that way, it seems like a one afternoon job, but I bet
that's not all to it :). So, here is a short list of most important
features I must implement in my app, and You (and the rest of the
list) can tell me how much time and effort it would take to implement
something like this:

- windows with backgrounds (possibly animated)
- animated buttons with different visual responses for mouse over,
mouse press and such
- buttons with all of the above but in non-standard shapes and sizes
(oval shaped, arrow shaped...)
- ListCtrl and ListBox with alternating backgrouns for each row
- the ability to play .avi files inside a window
- colorfull progress bars that change colour based on the progress bar position

How hard and how much time do you think implementing this would take?

> Of course you can implement this in other toolkits like pygame BUT the main
> advantage of doing this is in wxpython is that we have here a great
> community and you WILL get help if you need it. I believe people would love
> such a control and so... you might get even contributions for optimization
> and such.

Pygame also looks promising, but I'm worried as to how hard it would
be to develop a functional and rather complicated UI with it. Since
I'm not developing a game, but rather a flashy application.

I found this screenshot (http://www.pygame.org/shots/227.jpg), and it
looks like something I need - but how about adding menues, notebooks,
tree controls and other standard UI elements using Pygame?

Basicaly, PyGame does seem like a more powerfull and extensible
option, but will I have to reinvent all the basic GUI elements or is
there a more simple approach? Pure wxPython lacks neccessary fancy
features but it has all the usual stuff allready done...

I'm quite confused :). Any ideas, opinions and suggestions are wellcomed...


-- 
Karlo Lozovina -- Mosor
"Parce mihi domine quia Dalmata sum."