FlowPanel

FlowPanel is a Python package for creating a customizable graphical user interface (GUI) using tkinter. It allows users to configure a panel with various types of input fields and execute a function with multithreading support.

Features

• Dynamic Input Fields: Supports multiple input types including entry fields, comboboxes, checkboxes, and listboxes.
• Progress Tracking: Provides a progress bar to indicate ongoing operations.
• Messaging System: Appends messages to a text area with color-coding based on the message type.
• Help Functionality: Opens a help window with support for text and PDF files.
• Multithreading: Runs background tasks without freezing the GUI.
• Customizable GUI: Easily adjust the panel title, descriptions, and input fields.

Installation

To use FlowPanel, you need to have Python 3.x installed on your system. Clone the repository or download the package files.

Install the package locally using:

pip install flow_panel

Usage

Here’s a basic example of how to use the FlowPanel class:

import time
from flow_panel import FlowPanel


def example_run_function(panel: FlowPanel):
    panel.update_progress(0, 10)
    for i in range(10):
        if panel.should_stop or panel.stop_event.is_set():
            panel.append_message("Process stopped by user.")
            break
        time.sleep(1)
        panel.update_progress(i + 1, 10)
        panel.append_message(f"Step pass {i + 1} completed.")
    if not panel.should_stop:
        panel.append_message("Process finished.")


if __name__ == "__main__":
    gui = FlowPanel(
        title_short="Test Panel",
        title_long="Test Panel GUI",
        list_descriptions=["Run a test process", "with multiple steps."],
        list_user_entries=[
            ["Input 1", "entry", True, None],
            ["Input 2", "combobox", False, ["Option 1", "Option 2"]],
            ["Input 3", "checkbox", False, None],
        ],
        run_function=example_run_function,
        help="This is an example help text."
    )
    gui.mainloop()

Parameters

• title_short (str): Short title for the window.
• title_long (str): Longer, descriptive title for the window.
• list_descriptions (list): List of descriptions to display on the panel.
• list_user_entries (list): List of user input fields. Each entry is a list containing:
  • Description label
  • Input type (entry, combobox, checkbox, multiple choice)
  • Whether the input is required
  • Options for the input field, if applicable
• run_function (callable): Function to execute when the "Start" button is pressed.
• help (str, optional): Help text or URL to open for assistance.

Methods

• update_progress(value: int, max_value: int): Updates the progress bar.
• append_message(message: str, color_code: Dict[str,str], error_tracking: bool): Appends a message to the text area with color based on the message type.
• prompt_to_proceed(): Prompts the user to proceed to the next step.

Contributing

If you’d like to contribute, please fork the repository and submit a pull request with your changes. Make sure to include tests for new features.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.