wxPython "Frames within Frames"

[francois lepoutre]

> > I would like to build an app consisting of a "root" frame that can
> > contain an arbitrary number of child frames (the user will click to
> > create them).  Each of these child frames needs the full functionality
> > of a frame (title,menu,status bars, min,max,close icons, scroll bars,
> > sizing, moving).  In addition, the user must be able to create
> > grandchild frames within these child frames, to an arbitrary depth (in
> > practice limited to 10 or so).

> I'm afraid I can't help with the task as described, but I wanted to draw
> your attention to the fact that many people consider MDI to be 'evil',
> and it occurs to me that a massively nested MDI could only magnify the
> problems many times over.

Sure,

We are just on our way to review the UI of an application that relies
heavily on MDI (very good feedback from programmers and
"power users",  dummies are still uneasy after years).

Wxpython offers support for "sash windowing". We are currently
investigating the wxMultiSash and wxDynamicSashWindow
concepts. Multiple views without the usability cost of MDI.
Maybe not the panacea but possibly something to check
before diving into MDI.

- MS is dropping it from its own product line,
- the MDI concept is native on win* platforms only.

Except possibly for sophisticated WIN32-only
document-edition tools, is it the time to start up
new MDI applications ?

Francois