object-tree

A zero-dependency Python framework for nested selection and inspection of hierarchical object trees. Framework-agnostic — no UI toolkit coupling.

Installation

pip install object-tree

Core has zero runtime dependencies (stdlib only). Optional demo requires DearPyGui:

pip install "object-tree[demo]"

Quick Start

from core.node import InspectableObject, Property
from core.selection import SelectionState
from core.viewport import RectRegion, ViewportElement

# Build an object tree
root = InspectableObject(name="Root")
child = InspectableObject(name="Child")
root.add_child(child)

# Add properties
child.add_property(Property("color", "Literal", "#FF5722"))

# Selection
sel = SelectionState()
sel.select(child)
print(sel.is_selected(child))  # True

# Viewport element with click region
elem = ViewportElement(target=child, click_region=RectRegion(x=0, y=0, width=100, height=100))

See the demo app for a complete DearPyGui example.

Architecture

object-tree/
  core/              # Core framework (zero dependencies)
    node.py           InspectableObject tree, Property
    selection.py      SelectionState (single + multi)
    inspector.py      InspectorSystem, BoxSpec stack
    viewport.py       ViewportElement, click regions, Rule system
    viewport_system.py ViewportSystem with hit-testing
    hittest.py        point-in-rect/circle/polygon
    interaction.py    InteractionController (click → select → refresh)
    adapter.py        DictAdapter, InspectableAdapter protocol
  rules/             # Convenience rule builders
    boolean_flags.py  VisibilityFlags, SelectabilityFlags
    function.py       CustomRule, always_visible/hidden/selectable
  demo/              # DearPyGui demo app (optional dep)
    app.py            DPG window with canvas + inspector panel
    scene.py          4-level scene definition

Key Concepts

InspectableObject

Tree node with name, parent, children, properties, and show_parent_box flag (controls whether the inspector walks up to the parent).

SelectionState

Tracks a primary selected object (with previous selection) and an optional multi-selection set.

ViewportElement

Binds an InspectableObject to its on-screen representation. Controls visibility and selectability through composable rules:

Rules can be combined with AndRule, OrRule, NotRule.

VisibilityFlags / SelectabilityFlags

High-level flag classes that translate boolean configuration into rule lists:

from rules.boolean_flags import VisibilityFlags, SelectabilityFlags

flags = VisibilityFlags(
    visible_by_default=False,
    reveal_when_parent_selected=True,
    remain_visible_when_self_selected=True,
)
flags.apply(element)  # Sets element.visible_rules

Roadmap

v3.x — Current (Stabilization)

• Core object tree, selection, inspector, viewport rules
• Hit-testing (rect, circle, polygon)
• Interaction controller
• Dict adapter
• DearPyGui demo
• Ancestor selection rule
• Adapter back-reference, kind/ID, traversal utilities
• Multi-selection aware rules
• Auto-register property types

v4.0 — Events & Observability

• Selection change events (on_selected, on_deselected callbacks)
• Property change events / observable properties
• Tree mutation events (child added/removed)
• InspectorSystem change notification

v4.1 — Undo / Redo

• Command pattern for selection changes
• Command pattern for property edits
• Undo/redo stack with configurable depth
• Keyboard shortcuts integration

v5.0 — Multi-Select & Viewport

• Drag-select box for multi-selection
• Modifier-key based toggle selection (Ctrl+click, Shift+click)
• Viewport scrolling / panning
• Zoom support with coordinate transforms

v5.1 — Adapters & Interop

• Qt adapter (QStandardItemModel ↔ InspectableObject)
• Serialization adapter (JSON / YAML import/export)
• Property introspection from dataclasses / attrs
• Tree diff/patch for incremental updates

v6.0 — Performance & Tooling

• Virtual viewport (lazy element evaluation for large trees)
• Object tree search / filter by name or property
• Property validation framework (type, range, regex)
• Profiling hooks for rule evaluation

Future Ideas

• Drag and drop — Reorder objects within and across trees
• Templates — Reusable sub-tree blueprints
• Documentation site — mkdocs or readthedocs
• CLI tool — Inspect and manipulate object trees from the command line
• Remote inspection — WebSocket-based remote tree browser
• Game engine adapters — Godot, Unity, Unreal editor model adapters

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/my-feature)
3. Make changes (zero-dependency core, please)
4. Run tests (pytest tests/)
5. Submit a pull request

License

MIT