chemunited-drive 0.0.4

Package to created a second layer to flowchem.

ChemUnited-Drive Application

This application provides a graphical interface to manage, configure, and run FlowChem projects. It allows users to load project configuration files, discover connected devices, edit settings, and launch the FlowChem server directly from the interface.

🚀 Installation

To install the package, simply run:

pip install Chemunited-drive

🛠️ Install Directly from GitHub

If you prefer to install the latest development version (with the newest updates and experimental features), you can install ChemUnited-Drive directly from the Git repository:

pip install git+https://github.com/<your-username>/Chemunited-drive.git

🧩 Overview

ChemUnited-Drive acts as a friendly GUI for FlowChem configurations, and easily integration whit ChemUnited Orchestration. It bridges the gap between device setup and automation, allowing you to:

• Load existing FlowChem project folders.

• View and edit the __configuration_file.toml.

• Discover supported FlowChem devices (serial or Ethernet).

• Start and stop FlowChem servers from the GUI.

• View process logs in real time.

🖼️ Application Workflow

1. Main Interface

The main window provides four tabs for navigation:

Tab	Purpose
FlowChem	View and edit the configuration file.
Project	Manage and open existing project folders.
Discover	Automatically find connected FlowChem devices.
Logging	View logs and FlowChem process messages.

2. Projects View

The Project tab lists all recent FlowChem projects stored in your workspace.

Each card offers:

• ▶️ Run – Load and execute the project’s configuration file.

• 📂 Open Folder – Open the project directory in the system file browser.

3. Configuration View

When a project is loaded, its configuration file (__configuration_file.toml) is displayed and can be edited.

Use:

• Run → to start the FlowChem server.

• Stop → to terminate it.

A progress bar shows the initialization status, and the application provides live feedback and clickable server links once the process is running.

4. Run and Monitor FlowChem

When you press Run, the GUI performs the following sequence:

• Saves any edits to a temporary TOML file.

• Asks if you want to terminate existing FlowChem processes.

• Launches FlowChem as a subprocess (flowchem.main.py) via QProcess.

• Displays logs and connection information.

Once the server starts (http://127.0.0.1:8000), a direct link appears in the GUI.

Stopping the server gracefully sends a SIGINT or CTRL_BREAK_EVENT, ensuring a clean shutdown.

⚙️ Architecture

The project is composed of modular components:

Module	Purpose
gui.py	Defines the main GUI (DriveGUI) and its logic for configuration, running, and process control.
frames.py	Contains reusable dialog windows and card widgets (e.g., project cards, IP request dialog).
flowchem_thread.py	Manages the FlowChem subprocess using QProcess, including logging, startup, and graceful termination.
main.py	Extends the GUI with device discovery logic for serial and Ethernet interfaces.
utils.py	Provides helper functions (e.g., checking server URL, managing temp directories).
__main__.py	Entry point to start the full GUI application.

🚀 Running the Application

To start the GUI manually, run:

python -m ChemunitedDrive

or, if installed as a package:

chemunited-drive

🧰 Device Discovery

The Discover tab uses built-in FlowChem finders to detect connected devices:

• Serial devices (via pyserial and aioserial).

• Ethernet devices (via broadcast search using user-defined IP).

Each discovered device automatically appends its configuration block to the current TOML file.

🗂️ Temporary Files

All temporary and recent project files are stored in:

%APPDATA%/ChemUnited/ChemUnited_Recent_Projects

This includes:

• __temporary_cfg.toml – last edited configuration.

• recent_projects.toml – list of project paths.

🧾 Logging

The application logs:

• QProcess messages from FlowChem.

• Success, warning, and error InfoBars.

• Full traceback details in case of exceptions.

Logs appear both in the Logging tab and in the console (via loguru).

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are very welcome!

If you`d like to report bugs, suggest new features, or contribute code improvements, please follow these guidelines:

1 Fork the repository on GitHub.

2 Create a new branch for your feature or fix:

git checkout -b feature/my-new-feature

3 Commit your changes with clear messages:

git commit -m "Add feature X or fix bug Y"

4 Push your branch to your fork:

git push origin feature/my-new-feature

5 Open a Pull Request (PR) in the main repository.

git push origin feature/my-new-feature

Describe clearly what your change does and, if possible, include screenshots or code snippets.

🐛 Reporting Issues

If you find a bug or unexpected behavior:

Open the Issues tab in the GitHub repository.

Provide:

• A clear title and short description.

• Steps to reproduce the issue.

• Expected vs. observed behavior.

• (Optional) Screenshots or error logs.

This helps maintainers reproduce and fix the problem quickly.

❤️ Join the Project

ChemUnited-Drive is an open collaborative project developed within the Automation Group – Department of Biomolecular Systems.

We welcome external contributions, bug reports, and ideas for new features. Your participation helps make FlowChem integration more powerful and accessible.