ANNOUNCE: wxPython 4.1.0

[Robin Dunn]

Announcing wxPython 4.1.0
=========================

PyPI: https://pypi.org/project/wxPython/4.1.0
Extras: https://extras.wxPython.org/wxPython4/extras/
Pip: ``pip install wxPython==4.1.0``

Starting with this release wxPython has switched to tracking the
wxWidgets master branch (version 3.1.x) for the wxWidgets source code,
which wxPython is built upon, and which is included in the wxPython
source archives.

This will be the last release to include binaries for Python 2.7. The
code will likely still compile and be compatible with Python 2.7 for
some time, but no effort will be put into keeping it that way.


New and improved in this release:

* Add a sample for wx.Font.AddPrivateFont to the demo.

* Added wrappers for the OSXEnableAutomaticQuoteSubstitution,
OSXEnableAutomaticDashSubstitution, and
OSXDisableAllSmartSubstitutions methods in wx.TextCtrl. Also added
OSXEnableAutomaticTabbing in wx.App.

* Added wx.ColourDialogEvent, wx.DCTextBgColourChanger,
wx.DCTextBgModeChanger, wx.grid.GridCellDateRenderer,
wx.grid.GridCellDateEditor, wx.SystemAppearance, etc.

* Many of the deprecated items in wxWidgets and wxPython are being or
have been removed. Be sure to test your code in a recent 4.0.x
release with warnings enabled so you can see which class, method or
function calls you need to change.

* Bug fixes in wx.lib.calendar: key navigation across month boundaries
is now possible; key navigation now sets the date and fires the
EVT_CALENDAR event; setter APIs now set the date correctly (#1230).

* Switch to using a wx.Overlay in the Widget Inspection Tool to
highlight widgets when running on a GTK3 port.

* Fixed issue in wx.lib.agw.customtreectrl where the label editor
could remain stuck forever (#1235).

* Grafted on a EnableSystemTheme method to the classes which support
it. This can be used to disable the default system theme on Windows
for native widgets like wx.ListCtrl, wx.TreeCtrl and
wx.dataview.DataViewCtrl. It has no effect on the other platforms.

* The wx.WS_EX_VALIDATE_RECURSIVELY extended style flag is obsolete,
as it is now the default (and only) behavior. The style flag has
been added back into wxPython for compatibility, but with a zero
value. You can just stop using it in your code with no change in
behavior. (#1278)

* Fix a sometimes crash when using a wx.Overlay by letting the
wx.DCOverlay hold a reference to the DC, to ensure that the
DCOverlay is destroyed first. (PR#1301)

* Replaced the Vagrant VMs used for building wxPython for various
Linux distros with Docker images.

* Add some missing methods in wx.adv.BitmapComboBox (#1307)

* Added the wx.svg package which contains code for parsing SVG
(Scalable Vector Graphics) files, and also code for integrating with
wxPython. It can rasterize the SVG to a wx.Bitmap of any size with
no loss of quality, and it can also render the SVG directly to a
wx.GraphicsContext using the GC's drawing primitives. (PR #1323)

* Ported the embedding sample from Classic, which shows how to use
wxPython from a C++ wxWidgets application that embeds Python. (PR
#1353)

* Fixed wx.GetApp() to use wxWidgets' global wxApp instance instead of
maintaining its own pointer. This way, if the wxApp is created by
C++ code wxPython will still be able to get access to it. (#1126)

* Added wrappers for the wx.ActivityIndicator class.

* Added wrappers for the wx.CollapsibleHeaderCtrl class.

* Fixed issues in PlotCanvas around displaying and using
scrollbars. (#1428)

* Added wx.msw.CHMHelpController, and also a wx.HelpController factory
function that creates an instance of the best Help Controller for
the platform. (#1536)

* Added wx.adv.GenericAnimationCtrl so the generic version of the
animation classes can be used even on the platforms that have a
native version. Note that due to internal changes to support both
types of animations, some API changes in how the Animation objects
are created. See the AnimationCtrl.py sample in the demo for the
various usage patterns (#1579)

* Added wrappers for the wx.grid.GridBlockCoords, wx.grid.GridBlocks,
and wx.grid.GridBlockDiffResult classes, as well as associated new
methods in the wx.grid.Grid class. These provide a new way to
interact with blocks of selected cells, including an iterator
interface in wx.grid.GridBlocks which should be a more efficient
(time and memory) way to process large groups of selections.




What is wxPython?
-----------------

wxPython is a cross-platform GUI toolkit for the Python programming
language. It allows Python programmers to create programs with a
robust, highly functional graphical user interface, simply and
easily. It is implemented as a set of Python extension modules that
wrap the GUI components of the popular wxWidgets cross platform
library, which is written in C++. Supported platforms are Microsoft
Windows, Mac OS X and macOS, and Linux or other unix-like systems with
GTK2 or GTK3 libraries. In most cases the native widgets are used on
each platform to provide a 100% native look and feel for the
application.


What is wxPython Phoenix?
-------------------------

wxPython's Project Phoenix is a new from-the-ground-up implementation
of wxPython, created with the intent of making wxPython “better,
stronger, faster than he was before.” In other words, this new
implementation is focused on improving speed, maintainability and
extensibility of wxPython, as well as removing most of the cruft that
had accumulated over the long life of Classic wxPython.

The project has been in development off and on, mostly behind the
scenes, for many years. For the past few years automated snapshot
builds have been available for those adventurous enough to try it, and
many people eventually started using the snapshots in their projects,
even for production releases. While there are still some things on
the periphery that need to be completed, the core of the new wxPython
extension modules which wrap the wxWidgets code has been stable for a
long time now.

Due to some things being cleaned up, reorganized, simplified and
dehackified wxPython Phoenix is not completely backwards compatible
with wxPython Classic. This is intended. In general, however, the API
differences tend to be minor and some applications can use Phoenix
with slight, or even with no modifications. In some other cases the
correct way to do things was also available in Classic and it's only
the wrong way that has been removed from Phoenix. For more
information there is a Migration Guide document available at:
https://docs.wxpython.org/MigrationGuide.html

The new wxPython API reference documentation, including all
Python-specific additions and customizations, and docs for the wx.lib
package, is located at: https://docs.wxpython.org/