SystemConfig/TextUI
From FedoraProject
Contents |
Text UI
Rational
Why a Text UI
- lots of servers don't have X11 installed
- serial console
- can't drop support (where there is one)
Requirements
- Python or Python bindings
- Unicode/UTF-8 support
- similar look and feel to the current (snack) UIs
- Managed Widgets
- Must cope with changing screen size (xterm)
- Must be simple to program
- must match paradigms found in the Gtk UIs
Urwid
We've looked at Urwid which
- has Unicode/UTF-8 support
- copes with changing screen size
Problems
- Constructor driven API makes dynamic interfaces difficult
- Some Callbacks are missing
- API is awkward and difficult to use
- Constructor driven
- Not all widgets fit into each other - needs a lot of care by the programmer
- Spacing is done in separate widgets (widget bloat)
- Lots of parameters needed to build widgets
- No sensitive default - because widgets are not smart enough to know
- Widgets are only partially managed
- Missing widget attributes
- sensitive
- visible (set_no_show_all?)
- No theming - only per widget colors (recursive)
- Some important widgets are missing (see below)
- Internal workflow is -- interesting
Widgets needed
- --- Not needed
- XXX missing/needs work
| Gtk Widget | Urwid status |
| !GtkAlignment | Padding |
| !GtkButton | Button |
| !GtkEntry | Edit |
| !GtkEventBox | --- |
| !GtkFrame | Frame |
| GtkHBox | Columns |
| GtkHButtonBox | XXX |
| GtkHPaned | XXX (Columns) |
| !GtkImage | --- |
| !GtkImageMenuItem | --- |
| !GtkLabel | Text |
| !GtkMenu | XXX |
| !GtkMenuBar | XXX |
| !GtkMenuItem | XXX |
| !GtkNotebook | XXX |
| !GtkRadioButton | !RadioButton |
| !GtkScrolledWindow | XXX |
| !GtkSeparatorMenuItem | XXX |
| !GtkStatusbar | Text |
| !GtkTable | !GridFlow |
| !GtkTextView | Edit (XXX) |
| !GtkTreeView | XXX browse.py |
| GtkVBox | Pile |
| !GtkViewport | Canvas? |
| !GtkWindow | ??? - Window manager needed? |
Other Text UIs
Other stuff we looked at
- Turbo Vision
- No Python bindings
- No unicode
- Not managed
- Snack
- Not Unicode capable
- Not managed
- Not much
