ANN: EasyGui - basic, easy-to-use GUI functions

[Stephen Ferg]

I'm working on something that I call EasyGui. It is still very much
in the roughing-out stage, and I wouldn't announce it except for the
fact that I've seen a couple of questions posted, to which EasyGui
might be the answer.

Here is a bit of a write-up...

subject : EASYGUI -- Simple GUI functions for Python
version : 0.1 2002-02-01
author : Stephen Ferg (st...@ferg.org)
location: http://www.ferg.org/easgui/index.html

INTRODUCTION
==============================================================

It is important for Python to support GUI operations that are very
simple and easy to use. Experienced Pythonistas need support for
quick and dirty GUI features. New Python programmers need GUI
capabilities that don't require any knowledge of tkinter, frames,
widgets, callbacks or lambda.

In short, Python should make sending a message to the screen as simple
as:

msgbox("Hello, world!")

This is what EasyGui provides. Using EasyGui, all GUI interactions
are invoked by simple function calls.

The purpose of EasyGui is to provide a small set of very simple
functions that can support basic GUI programming needs. Use it until
you can acquire the skill or the time to use something more powerful.
When EasyGui runs out of steam for you, then you can move up to
tkinter, wxWindows, etc.

I think that if Python is really going to support CP4E (Computer
Programming for Everybody), then something like EasyGui should become
part of the standard distribution. But for now, the first order of
business is to polish the rough edges.

EasyGui was developed by me, Steve Ferg. I hope you will find it
useful.

I'm still a newbie Pythonista myself, so I welcome suggestions for
improvement -- especially if they come in the form of working code
snippets!

-- Steve Ferg (St...@Ferg.org)

[Magnus Lie Hetland]

In article <b16e4ef7.02021...@posting.google.com>, Stephen

Ferg wrote:
>I'm working on something that I call EasyGui. It is still very much
>in the roughing-out stage, and I wouldn't announce it except for the
>fact that I've seen a couple of questions posted, to which EasyGui
>might be the answer.
>
>Here is a bit of a write-up...

[...]

>I'm still a newbie Pythonista myself, so I welcome suggestions for
>improvement -- especially if they come in the form of working code
>snippets!

Perhaps take a look at the Anygui project? One of its chief aims is to
be dead simple.

>-- Steve Ferg (St...@Ferg.org)

--
Magnus Lie Hetland The Anygui Project
http://hetland.org http://anygui.org

[Matthias Janes]

Hi Steve Ferg ;

I tried the link to get more info but it just displayed page not found.

Please could you let me know where to get more info for EASYGUI

Thanks

[Johannes Gijsbers]

matth...@lycos.com (Matthias Janes) wrote in message news:<d7d5ebdf.02021...@posting.google.com>...

He forgot a 'y' in the URL. This is the right one:
http://www.ferg.org/easygui/index.html

[Hamish Lawson]

Matthias Janes wrote:

> I tried the link to get more info but it just displayed page not found.
> Please could you let me know where to get more info for EASYGUI

There was a typo (a missing y) in the URL:

http://www.ferg.org/easygui/index.html
^

Hamish Lawson

[Stephen Ferg]

My apologies for the typo! I'll fix it in the EasyGui documentation tonight!
-- Steve

[Matthias Janes]

>
> There was a typo (a missing y) in the URL:
>
> http://www.ferg.org/easygui/index.html
> ^
>
> Hamish Lawson

THANKS to all.

Matthias Janes

[Stephen Ferg]

Here's a bit more about what I was trying to do in EasyGui. It took a
message from Kevin Altis really to make it clear. Kevin wrote:

> I went ahead and looked at what you have
> done so far and it looks like all
> you're doing is throwing up different
> sorts of dialogs. Are you just wanting
> dialogs for input and output in a linear
> program? GUI programs are generally
> event driven.

Kevin pinpointed exactly what is different about EasyGui ... it is
just putting up dialogs for simple input and output in a linear
program.

What makes EasyGui different from other GUIs is that it is NOT
event-driven.

The reason is this: For some (a few? many?) novice Pythonistas (or
even novice programmers?), the event-driven paradigm is new -- it will
take some learning and some mental re-adjusting. EasyGui is designed
to meet their immediate needs until they can make that transition.
Until he/she is ready to move on to an event-driven paradigm, EasyGui
will allow a programmer accustomed to a linear programming style to do
simple GUI functions so he/she can be productive (with very basic
tasks) immediately. When he/she is ready, he/she can move on to an
event-driven style with a more powerful GUI package such as anygui,
PythonCard, Tkinter, wxPython, etc.

Kevin mentions what's been done in EasyGui "so far". At least in my
vision of it, EasyGui shouldn't go much farther. EasyGui is there
just to do very simple, very basic stuff. More elaborate stuff
should be done with more powerful tools.

I honestly don't know if there is a need for such an animal as
EasyGui. But I think there might be...

-- Steve (st...@ferg.org)

[Paul Boddie]

st...@ferg.org (Stephen Ferg) wrote in message news:<b16e4ef7.0202...@posting.google.com>...

>
> Kevin pinpointed exactly what is different about EasyGui ... it is
> just putting up dialogs for simple input and output in a linear
> program.
>
> What makes EasyGui different from other GUIs is that it is NOT
> event-driven.

[...]

> I honestly don't know if there is a need for such an animal as
> EasyGui. But I think there might be...

There is a class of applications or tools which provide user
interfaces in a similar way to EasyGui. For example, the Red Hat Linux
text-based installation and administration tools lead users through
sequences where users are prompted for information through text boxes,
lists and dialogues. It seems to me that by implementing other display
mechanisms, you would be able to cover such applications, provide
alternative display options for them, and be some kind of
"anygui-light".

Paul