PyLCARS

Create Star Trek LCARS-inspired user interfaces with Python and PyQt5.

PyLCARS is a Python library that brings the iconic LCARS (Library Computer Access and Retrieval System) aesthetic from Star Trek to modern applications. Build retro-futuristic UIs with pre-styled widgets, smooth animations, SVG rendering, and integrated audio feedback.

🚀 Quick Start

from PyQt5 import QtWidgets
from pylcars import Lcars, Bracket, Colors

app = QtWidgets.QApplication([])
window = Lcars()

button = Bracket(window.centralwidget)
button.setText("ENGAGE")
button.set_color(Colors.orange)
button.setGeometry(300, 200, 200, 50)

window.show()
app.exec_()

✨ Features

• 🎨 LCARS-themed Widgets - Pre-styled UI components matching the Star Trek aesthetic
• 🖼️ SVG Support - Dynamic vector graphics with automatic caching
• 🔊 Audio Integration - Built-in WAV file playback with PyAudio
• ⚡ Animation Effects - Visual feedback including "tickle" highlighting
• 🎯 Type-Safe - Full type hints for IDE support and static analysis
• 📚 Well-Documented - Comprehensive docstrings and usage guides
• ✅ Tested - Pytest suite with GitHub Actions CI/CD
• 🔧 Customizable - Easy theming and configuration
• 📦 Modern Python - Pure Python 3.8+ with minimal dependencies

📦 Installation

Prerequisites

• Python 3.8 or higher
• PyQt5
• PortAudio (for audio support)

Ubuntu/Debian

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y python3 python3-pip python3-pyqt5 portaudio19-dev

pip install pylcars

macOS

brew install python3 portaudio
pip install PyQt5 pylcars

Windows

1. Install Python 3.8+ from python.org
2. Install PyAudio and PyQt5:

   pip install PyQt5 pylcars
   

   For audio support, use pipwin:

   pip install pipwin
   pipwin install portaudio
   pip install pyaudio
   

From Source

git clone https://github.com/StowasserH/pylcars.git
cd pylcars
pip install -e .

📖 Documentation

• Usage Guide - Complete usage documentation with examples
• Architecture - System design and internal structure
• Contributing - Development guidelines
• Changelog - Version history and updates

🎮 Demo Applications

Try the included examples:

# Interactive widget showcase
python -m pylcars.demos.menu

# Color palette display
python -m pylcars.demos.colors_showcase

# All widgets in one place
python -m pylcars.demos.widgets_showcase

# Custom theme example
python -m pylcars.demos.custom_theme

# Minimal "Hello LCARS" window
python -m pylcars.demos.simple_window

# Audio playback grid
python -m pylcars.demos.sounds

🧩 Available Widgets

🎨 LCARS Color Palette

from pylcars import Colors

Colors.orange        # #f90 - Primary LCARS orange
Colors.flieder       # #c9c - Light purple
Colors.blaugrau      # #99c - Blue-gray
Colors.rostbraun     # #c66 - Rust brown
Colors.beige         # #fc9 - Beige
Colors.leuchtblau    # #99f - Bright blue
Colors.apricot       # #f96 - Apricot
Colors.pink          # #c69 - Pink
Colors.hellorange    # #fc4 - Bright orange
Colors.rot           # #c00 - Red

Or use any hex color:

widget.set_color("#00ff00")  # Any hex value

📝 Fonts and Media

Note on Copyrighted Content: The LCARS font and Star Trek sounds are not included with PyLCARS for copyright reasons. However, many beautiful fonts and sound effects from the Star Trek films and TV series are available from fan communities and archives online.

You can find Star Trek-themed fonts and sounds by searching:

• GitHub for "LCARS font" and "Star Trek fonts" repositories
• Star Trek fan communities and forums
• General font archives with Star Trek collections

Once you have the LCARS font file (.ttf), install it to ~/.local/share/fonts/ and run fc-cache -f ~/.local/share/fonts/. See USAGE.md for detailed font installation instructions.

💻 Complete Example

from PyQt5 import QtWidgets
from pylcars import Lcars, Bracket, Slider, Textline, Colors

class MyApp:
    def __init__(self):
        self.app = QtWidgets.QApplication([])
        self.window = Lcars()
        self.window.setWindowTitle("My LCARS App")
        self.setup_widgets()

    def setup_widgets(self):
        central = self.window.centralwidget

        # Title
        title = Textline(central)
        title.setText("CONTROL PANEL")
        title.set_color(Colors.leuchtblau)
        title.setGeometry(50, 20, 700, 40)

        # Power slider
        label = Textline(central)
        label.setText("Power:")
        label.set_color(Colors.beige)
        label.setGeometry(50, 80, 100, 30)

        slider = Slider(central)
        slider.set_color(Colors.orange)
        slider.setRange(0, 100)
        slider.setGeometry(160, 80, 400, 40)
        slider.valueChanged.connect(self.on_power_changed)

        # Power value display
        self.power_display = Textline(central)
        self.power_display.set_color(Colors.hellorange)
        self.power_display.setGeometry(570, 80, 100, 30)

        # Control button
        button = Bracket(central)
        button.setText("ACTIVATE")
        button.set_color(Colors.orange)
        button.setGeometry(50, 150, 150, 50)
        button.clicked.connect(self.on_activate)

    def on_power_changed(self, value):
        self.power_display.setText(f"{value}%")

    def on_activate(self):
        print("Activated!")
        self.power_display.tickle(Colors.orange)

    def run(self):
        self.window.show()
        self.app.exec_()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    MyApp().run()

🔊 Audio Support

from pylcars import Lcars

window = Lcars()
window.set_play_sound(True)
window.set_sound_file("path/to/sound.wav")
window.play_sound()

Connect audio to button clicks:

button = Bracket(window.centralwidget)
button.clicked.connect(lambda: window.play_sound())

🏗️ Project Structure

pylcars/
├── __init__.py              # Package exports
├── lcars.py                 # Main window class
├── sound.py                 # Audio playback
├── colors.py                # LCARS color palette
├── conditions.py            # Status conditions
├── enumeration.py           # Base enumeration
├── orientation.py           # Direction constants
├── config.py                # Configuration constants
├── widgets/                 # Widget components
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── widgets.py           # Base widget class
│   ├── bracket.py           # Button widget
│   ├── block.py             # Rectangle widget
│   ├── deco.py              # Decorative label
│   ├── separator.py         # Divider widget
│   ├── slider.py            # Slider control
│   ├── textline.py          # Text label
│   ├── updown.py            # Navigation control
│   ├── menue.py             # Menu system
│   └── semicircle.py        # Rounded bracket
└── demos/                   # Example applications
    ├── simple_window.py     # Minimal example
    ├── colors_showcase.py   # Color palette
    ├── widgets_showcase.py  # All widgets
    ├── custom_theme.py      # Custom styling
    ├── menu.py              # Interactive demo
    └── sounds.py            # Audio demo

See ARCHITECTURE.md for detailed system design.

🧪 Development

Setting Up for Development

# Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/StowasserH/pylcars.git
cd pylcars

# Create virtual environment
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate

# Install with development dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"

Running Tests

# Run all tests
pytest tests/ -v

# With coverage
pytest tests/ --cov=pylcars --cov-report=term-missing

# Type checking
mypy pylcars/

# Code style
flake8 pylcars/

Code Quality Standards

• Type Hints: All functions must have parameter and return type hints
• Docstrings: Google-style docstrings for all public APIs
• Testing: New features should include tests
• Style: PEP 8 compliance (100 char line length)
• Coverage: Aim for >70% code coverage

🐛 Troubleshooting

Audio not working

• Ensure PortAudio is installed: sudo apt-get install portaudio19-dev
• Test PyAudio: python -c "import pyaudio; print(pyaudio.__version__)"

PyQt5 import errors

• Reinstall: pip install --upgrade PyQt5
• Or use system package: sudo apt-get install python3-pyqt5

Window won't display

• Ensure you call window.show() before app.exec_()
• Check that widgets have explicit .setGeometry() calls

Widgets invisible

• All widgets need explicit positioning: widget.setGeometry(x, y, w, h)
• Default size is 0, so they won't appear without geometry

📚 Learning Resources

• USAGE.md - Comprehensive usage guide with code examples
• ARCHITECTURE.md - Design documentation and system architecture
• CONTRIBUTING.md - Development guidelines
• pylcars/demos/ - Working example applications
• Docstrings in source code - Class and method documentation

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for:

• Development setup
• Code style guidelines
• Testing requirements
• Pull request process

📝 License

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

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Star Trek - For the iconic LCARS aesthetic
• PyQt5 - The GUI framework that makes this possible
• Contributors - Everyone who has contributed to this project

🔗 Links

• GitHub Repository
• Bug Reports & Issues
• Discussions
• Star Trek Official

🎯 Project Status

📋 Roadmap

• More widget types (progress bars, indicators)
• Advanced animations and transitions
• Theme system with loadable theme files
• Extended audio format support
• Performance optimizations
• PyPI publishing
• More demo applications
• Video tutorials

Ready to build something legendary? Start with the Usage Guide! 🚀

May your interfaces be bold and your colors be vivid! 🖖