1 .. _other-gui-packages:

     2 

     3 Other Graphical User Interface Packages

     4 =======================================

     5 

     6 There are an number of extension widget sets to :mod:`Tkinter`.

     7 

     8 .. seealso::

     9 

    10    `Python megawidgets <http://pmw.sourceforge.net/>`_

    11       is a toolkit for building high-level compound widgets in Python using the

    12       :mod:`Tkinter` module.  It consists of a set of base classes and a library of

    13       flexible and extensible megawidgets built on this foundation. These megawidgets

    14       include notebooks, comboboxes, selection widgets, paned widgets, scrolled

    15       widgets, dialog windows, etc.  Also, with the Pmw.Blt interface to BLT, the

    16       busy, graph, stripchart, tabset and vector commands are be available.

    17 

    18       The initial ideas for Pmw were taken from the Tk ``itcl`` extensions ``[incr

    19       Tk]`` by Michael McLennan and ``[incr Widgets]`` by Mark Ulferts. Several of the

    20       megawidgets are direct translations from the itcl to Python. It offers most of

    21       the range of widgets that ``[incr Widgets]`` does, and is almost as complete as

    22       Tix, lacking however Tix's fast :class:`HList` widget for drawing trees.

    23 

    24    `Tkinter3000 Widget Construction Kit (WCK) <http://tkinter.effbot.org/>`_

    25       is a library that allows you to write new Tkinter widgets in pure Python.  The

    26       WCK framework gives you full control over widget creation, configuration, screen

    27       appearance, and event handling.  WCK widgets can be very fast and light-weight,

    28       since they can operate directly on Python data structures, without having to

    29       transfer data through the Tk/Tcl layer.

    30 

    31 

    32 The major cross-platform (Windows, Mac OS X, Unix-like) GUI toolkits that are

    33 also available for Python:

    34 

    35 .. seealso::

    36 

    37    `PyGTK <http://www.pygtk.org/>`_

    38       is a set of bindings for the `GTK <http://www.gtk.org/>`_ widget set. It

    39       provides an object oriented interface that is slightly higher level than

    40       the C one. It comes with many more widgets than Tkinter provides, and has

    41       good Python-specific reference documentation. There are also bindings to

    42       `GNOME <http://www.gnome.org>`_.  One well known PyGTK application is

    43       `PythonCAD <http://www.pythoncad.org/>`_. An online `tutorial

    44       <http://www.pygtk.org/pygtk2tutorial/index.html>`_ is available.

    45 

    46    `PyQt <http://www.riverbankcomputing.co.uk/pyqt/index.php>`_

    47       PyQt is a :program:`sip`\ -wrapped binding to the Qt toolkit.  Qt is an

    48       extensive C++ GUI application development framework that is

    49       available for Unix, Windows and Mac OS X. :program:`sip` is a tool

    50       for generating bindings for C++ libraries as Python classes, and

    51       is specifically designed for Python. The *PyQt3* bindings have a

    52       book, `GUI Programming with Python: QT Edition

    53       <http://www.commandprompt.com/community/pyqt/>`_ by Boudewijn

    54       Rempt. The *PyQt4* bindings also have a book, `Rapid GUI Programming

    55       with Python and Qt <http://www.qtrac.eu/pyqtbook.html>`_, by Mark

    56       Summerfield.

    57 

    58    `wxPython <http://www.wxpython.org>`_

    59       wxPython is a cross-platform GUI toolkit for Python that is built around

    60       the popular `wxWidgets <http://www.wxwidgets.org/>`_ (formerly wxWindows)

    61       C++ toolkit.  It provides a native look and feel for applications on

    62       Windows, Mac OS X, and Unix systems by using each platform's native

    63       widgets where ever possible, (GTK+ on Unix-like systems).  In addition to

    64       an extensive set of widgets, wxPython provides classes for online

    65       documentation and context sensitive help, printing, HTML viewing,

    66       low-level device context drawing, drag and drop, system clipboard access,

    67       an XML-based resource format and more, including an ever growing library

    68       of user-contributed modules.  wxPython has a book, `wxPython in Action

    69       <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1932394621>`_, by Noel Rappin and

    70       Robin Dunn.

    71 

    72 PyGTK, PyQt, and wxPython, all have a modern look and feel and more

    73 widgets than Tkinter. In addition, there are many other GUI toolkits for 

    74 Python, both cross-platform, and platform-specific. See the `GUI Programming

    75 <http://wiki.python.org/moin/GuiProgramming>`_ page in the Python Wiki for a

    76 much more complete list, and also for links to documents where the

    77 different GUI toolkits are compared.

    78