[Tutor] Can anyone teach me...?

[Jacob S.]

>>>I use Delphi for most of my real-world heavy duty GUI work.
>>>
>> Have you tried Boa Constructor? It is quite similar to Delphi. It builds
>> wxPython.
>
> I tried it a couple of years ago but couldn't get it to work!
>
> Even if I had it didn't offer many of the features of VB/Delphi such
> as live database table views and close integration with the underlying
> objects, it simply built a GUI with hooks for the event handlers.
> A big step up from manually assembling TKInter in terms of simplicity
> but the gain wasn't that much in real speed terms.
>
> It would be interesting to see how BOa and Glade have come on
> the last couple of years....
>
> Alan G.

I didn't like PythonCard when I tried it, because I couldn't get it to merge
the rcpy(?) file into the main py file and then there was all of the import
the module into its own namespace, etc.  It didn't go over well with me.

Next, I checked out VB, great for building GUIs, but I have to agree that
the code isn't that great after a year of python. I, too, found myself
trying to find things in the library that weren't there. However, I was
prepared to get to know VB well.  I liked the ease of GUI building and the
ability to make a stand-alone exe that the Professional Edition offered.

Then, I did a little research on Boa-Constructor. I have heard on the list
that it is a little unstable.  The reason for this is the storing of the
placement inside the main code blocks. As mentioned above, PythonCard uses a
rcpy file to store these values, so it doesn't need to specially parse the
main code block.  However, I found that if I followed the style of the
generated code, I could edit it directly. Otherwise, the parser runs into an
error when you try to start the designer again. That's why there is the
commented notice at the top of the _init_ctrls_ (or whatever it is) function
that says #Generated method - do not edit   Also, I noticed that the
__init__ block was not affected by control placement, and therefore not
parsed when the frame designer is started.  This is good. All of my class
level changes occur in the __init__ block, any initial lists are sent to
listboxes there, etc.  If you wish to delete an event, you might or might
not have to change some of the generated code depending on whether you do it
properly or not.  If you delete the code directly, the parser doesn't catch
the ids that it generated for the now-non-existent events.  I also like the
ability of it to use the very versatile wxPython library.  Strangely,
though, it doesn't seem to incorporate all of the wx library. Does anybody
know why this is/when they will fix that? (Or how to fix it now?)  I found
it relatively easy to merge the separate files into one file after I
finished the applications I did, and it has a very similar interface to that
of VB. With a little more work, it could be the all powerful VB GUI
building, python coding mix that was mentioned before. Ask for code and I
will send! (maniacal laughter)

Oh, and if you need help learning, I'm here
keridee at jayco.net
and I'm sure that the members on the list will be as forgiving with you as 
they are with several others who ask questions that they could find on their 
own with enough searching. (I know some will disagree with me, that's why I 
provided my email address specifically if it becomes a problem.)

Jacob ;-)