Better than editing the XML

[coffeelover1010]

I have a grid layout and I want to repeat the final row many times

Currently I am editing the .ui XML before I use builder and it works

The .ui XML is then subject to change by the designer saving over any edits but also potentially invalidating my logic for find the portion of the XML I want to edit/replace

If there was a way for builder.get_object to use a multi line string for just the nodes I'm manipulating, but I can't put all columns in one widget/frame and I need to update their values

I think duplication of XML nodes after its loaded by the builder might be the right point to do the changes, is there a callback or access to the tree?

This is possibly a really bad question, I'm not really sure I'm taking the right approach, apologies if this was hard to read.

Kind Regards

[alejandroautalan]

Hello @coffeelover1010, thanks for trying pygubu.

The .ui XML is then subject to change by the designer saving over any edits but also potentially invalidating my logic for find the portion of the XML I want to edit/replace

If there was a way for builder.get_object to use a multi line string for just the nodes I'm manipulating, but I can't put all columns in one widget/frame and I need to update their values

The dirty way, manipulate the UI before window creation using methods from UIDefinition class.

Example: It will depend on how you designed the ui. In this example, you have a "container" frame, and some other "row" frame that you will duplicate.

    def manipulate_ui(self, builder:Builder):
        # Get the UIDefinition
        ui: UIDefinition = builder.uidefinition
        # Get the container frame
        container = ui.get_xmlnode("fcontainer")
        # Get the "template" row frame
        row_tpl = ui.get_xmlnode("row_template")
        # template = ET.tostring(row_tpl)
        
        # Duplicate the template x times
        for index in range(0, 10):
            # Copy template node
            row_node = copy.deepcopy(row_tpl)
            # Rename node. Nodes with same id are no created again by builder.
            node_id = row_node.get("id")
            new_id = f"{node_id}_{index}"
            row_node.set("id", new_id)
            
            # Rename all children nodes
            xpath = f".//object"
            sub_objects = row_node.findall(xpath)
            for node in sub_objects:
                node_id = node.get("id")
                new_id = f"{node_id}_{index}"
                node.set("id", new_id)
                print(f"New node: {new_id}")
            # Add new node to the container frame
            ui.add_xmlchild(container, row_node)

See the full example attached.

Another approach. More cleaner (I think), you can create a custom widget.

I have a grid layout and I want to repeat the final row many times

This approach will depend on whether it is possible to define your "final row" as a widget (or frame).

Example. Your "final row" is a frame with "first name" and "last name" inputs. You want to duplicate this widget 10 times.
Create your mainapp.ui with the "container" frame.
Create your new "row" ui file named like "person_widget.ui"
Design your widget and configure code generation as Custom Widget.
In main python file, load your widget and populate the main window.

Some advantages over the first approach:

• A designer can edit the view of the widget using the designer. When saved, the widget is generated as code. No XML needed for widget at runtime.
• You can access instances more easy. Example: self.persons[0].firstname.get()
• You can add custom code in PersonFrame class, for example, for initialization.

#!/usr/bin/python3
import pathlib
import tkinter as tk
import pygubu
import mainappui as baseui
from widgets.person_frame import PersonFrame

baseui.PROJECT_UI = baseui.PROJECT_PATH / "ui/mainapp.ui"


class Issue268App(baseui.Issue268AppUI):
    def __init__(self, master=None):
        super().__init__(master)
        self.persons = []
        self.populate_ui()
    
    def populate_ui(self):
        container = self.builder.get_object("fcontainer")
        for i in range(0, 10):
            new = PersonFrame(container)
            new.pack(fill="x")
            self.persons.append(new)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    app = Issue268App()
    app.run()

Full examples:

discussion-268.zip

Hope this helps. Let me know.

Regards!
Alejandro A.

[coffeelover1010]

I think I can make it work from the second approach and it seems scalable

Thank you for taking the time to give this comprehensive response!