The wxPython Cookbook is for anyone wanting to learn neat tips and tricks with the wonderful wxPython toolkit. With wxPython, you can create cross-platform desktop user interfaces quite easily. There are over 50 recipes included in this book. This book is targeted for Python 2 and 3.

Note: This book is currently no longer available as it was relicensed to Apress Publishing as wxPython Recipes

Cover art by Liza Tretyakova. You can see more of Liza’s work on Behance.

Table of Contents

Introduction

• Who Should Read This Book
• About the Author
• Conventions
• Requirements
• Book Source Code
• Reader Feedback
• Errata

Installing wxPython

• Classic
• wxPython Phoenix
• The wxPython Docs and Demo Package
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #1: Adding / Removing Widgets Dynamically

• Wrapping Up

Recipe #2: How to Take a Screenshot of Your wxPython App

• Getting Started
• The Snapshot Printer Script
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #3: How to Embed an Image in the Title Bar

• Extracting an Image from the Executable
• Using Your Own Image
• Create the Image in Python Code
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #4: How to Put a Background Image on a Panel

• A Bad Example
• A Better Example
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #5: Resetting the Background Color

• Wrapping Up

Recipe #6: How to Create a “Dark Mode”

• Into the Darkness
• Trying Out Dark Mode
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #7: An Intro to Pubsub

• The Current pubsub API
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #8: wxPython: Using PyDispatcher Instead of Pubsub

• Getting Started
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #9: How to Disable a Wizard’s Next Button

• How do you Disable the Wizard’s Next Button Anyway?
• Getting it to Work with Phoenix
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #10: Catching Exceptions from Anywhere

• Catching Exceptions
• Creating an Exception Catching Decorator
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #11: wxPython’s Context Managers

• Creating Your Own wxPython Context Manager
• wxPython’s Context Managers
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #12: Converting wx.DateTime to Python datetime

• Wrapping Up

Recipe #13: Creating an About Box

• Using wx.AboutBox
• Using HtmlWindow for an About Box
• Updating the Code for wxPython Phoenix
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #14: How to Create a Login Dialog

• Using Pubsub
• Using an Instance Variable
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #15: Generating a Dialog from a Config File

• The Config File
• Creating the GUI
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #16: Saving Data to a Config File

• Getting Started
• Creating a Controller
• Creating the View
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #17: Binding Multiple Widgets to the Same Handler

• Getting Started
• Wrapping up

Recipe #18: How to Fire Multiple Event Handlers

• Wrapping Up

Recipe #19: Get the Event Name Instead of an Integer

• Wrapping Up

Recipe #20: Catching Key and Char Events

• Catching Key Events
• Catching Char Events
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #21: How to Use Drag and Drop

• Getting Started
• Creating a FileDropTarget
• Creating a TextDropTarget
• Custom DnD with PyDropTarget
• Creating A Custom Drag-and-Drop App
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #22: How to Drag and Drop a File From Your App to the OS

• Getting Started
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #23: How to Edit Your GUI Interactively Using reload()

• Creating the Reloading App
• Creating the Dynamic Application
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #24: Extracting XML from the RichTextCtrl

• Extracting XML
• Updating for Phoenix
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #25: How to Fade-in a Frame / Dialog

• Wrapping Up

Recipe #26: Making Your Text Flash

• Creating Flashing Text
• Creating Changing Text
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #27: Making your Frame Maximize or Full Screen

• Maximizing the Frame
• Making Your Application Full Screen
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #28: Using wx.Frame Styles

• Getting Started
• Create a Frame Without a Caption
• Create a Frame With a Disabled Close Button
• Create a Frame Without Maximize/Minimize
• Create a Un-Resizable Frame
• Create a Frame Without a System Menu
• Create a Frame That Stays on Top
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #29: Creating Taskbar Icons

• Creating the TaskBarIcon in Classic
• Creating the TaskBarIcon in Phoenix
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #30: Minimizing to System Tray

• Creating a Simple TaskBarIcon
• Making the Application Minimize to Tray
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #31: How to Get Children Widgets from a Sizer

• Wrapping Up

Recipe #32: How to Use the Clipboard

• Wrapping Up

Recipe #33: Learning How Focus Works in wxPython

• Acquiring Focus
• Losing Focus
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #34: Creating a URL Shortener

• Creating a Simple Shortener
• Shortening URLs with Other Shorteners
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #35: Using ObjectListView instead of ListCtrl

• Wrapping Up

Recipe #36: Making a Panel Self-Destruct

• Wrapping Up

Recipe #37: How to Switch Between Panels

• Wrapping Up

Recipe #38: Creating Graphs with PyPlot

• Getting Started (with a Bar Graph!)
• Graphing Using Saved Data
• Point Plot with Thousands of Points
• Creating a Sine / Cosine Graph
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #39: Redirect Python’s Logging Module to a TextCtrl

• Wrapping Up

Recipe #40: Redirecting stdout / stderr

• The thread-safe method
• The Non Thread-safe method
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #41: Creating a Simple Notebook

• The Simple Notebook
• The Refactored Notebook
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #42: Ensuring Only One Instance Per Frame

• Wrapping Up

Recipe #43: Storing Objects in ComboBox or ListBox Widgets

• Adding Objects to wx.ListBox
• Adding Objects to the wx.ComboBox
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #44: Syncing Scrolling Between Two Grids

• Wrapping Up

Recipe #45: A wx.Timer Tutorial

• A Simple Timer
• Using Multiple Timers
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #46: How to Update a Progress Bar from a Thread

• Updating the Code for wxPython 3.0.2.0 + Phoenix
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #47: Using Threads in wxPython

• wxPython’s Thread-safe Methods
• wxPython, Threading, wx.CallAfter and PubSub
• Making Threads and Pubsub work in Phoenix
• wx.PostEvent and Threads
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #48: Updating Your Application with Esky

• Getting Started
• Adding Update Code to the Initial Release
• Preparing the New Release
• Updating Your Program
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #49: An Introduction to XRC

• Creating a Login Screen with XRC
• Creating a Notebook with XRC
• Adding Controls Outside of XRC
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #50: How to Create a Grid in XRC

• Wrapping Up

Recipe #51: An Introduction to XRCed

• Getting Started
• Creating Our First Application
• Creating Something More Complex
• Using XRCed to Generate Python Code
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #52: How to Center a Widget

• Using Faux Spacers
• Using AddStretchSpacer
• Centering Without Nesting Sizers
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #53: How to Make Widgets Wrap

• Using WrapSizer
• Wrapping Up

Recipe #54: How to Get Selected Cells in a Grid

• Grid Cell Selection
• Wrapping Up

Appendix A – Additional Resources

Special Thanks