Calibre UI Development - QT Designer

Starson17 · 10-17-2010, 02:32 PM

Is anyone doing Calibre UI development on Windows? I'd like to be able to use QT Designer to open and modify the something.ui files. Up until now, I've manually modified them to get what I want, but that's getting old.

Is QT Designer self contained, or should I install Python first?

kovidgoyal · 10-17-2010, 03:21 PM

qt designer doesn't need python. Just install it from the nokia website. I belive Charles uses Qt Designer on windows with calibre.

phenomshel · 10-17-2010, 03:22 PM

*sigh*....Well, I have it, and yes I can open the .UI files to modify, but that's about as far as I get with it. But since I already have Python installed; I couldn't tell you if you need it first.

phenomshel · 10-17-2010, 03:23 PM

LOL ok, Kovid, we cross posted. I would LOVE to work on this, but I can't seem to figure out enough about Qt Designer to even add a Qt Toolbar. I know Qt Designer tutorials aren't your job, Kovid, which is why I haven't said anything.

kovidgoyal · 10-17-2010, 03:27 PM

Here's the Qt Designer manual: http://doc.trolltech.com/4.6/designer-manual.html

phenomshel · 10-17-2010, 03:54 PM

Yeah, I have that....

chaley · 10-17-2010, 04:35 PM

@starson17 & @phenomshel,

I use QT Designer with calibre. It doesn't need python in the sense that it reads and writes .ui files, and doesn't touch any python files. That said, there are issues.

One: there are a lot of calibre .ui files that QT Designer will destroy. I always make a copy, open the .ui, then save it, just to see what happens. More times than I care for, the .ui file is rendered useless. Problems range from icon path names changed, custom class lists removed, and text changed to rich (html) text.

Two: I haven't figured out how to make QT designer put layouts directly into outermost-level widgets. It insists on putting a frame in, which destroys resizing. I have to manually edit these out of the .ui file. Once I do that, things are OK.

Three: it doesn't work well with spanned columns and rows in grid layouts.

I use it first to get a rough shell for a dialog. I next edit the ui file to get rid of the extra frames and the like, so that the top-level layout (usually a grid) is a direct child of the widget. Now I can drop controls and the like into the dialog. Last thing I do is manually edit the spanning.

I do like the ease in which I can drop horizontal and vertical box layouts into grids, making placement of controls reasonably convenient.

I sometimes have issues with class references, but I think that is from my own ignorance. In particular, I have trouble with custom widgets.

I would love a tool that would properly indent an existing .ui file. Does someone know of such a thing?

Starson17 · 10-17-2010, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chaley

One: there are a lot of calibre .ui files that QT Designer will destroy.

Thanks for the warning.

Quote:

Three: it doesn't work well with spanned columns and rows in grid layouts.

OK, they're easy enough to do by hand.

Quote:

I do like the ease in which I can drop horizontal and vertical box layouts into grids, making placement of controls reasonably convenient.

This is mostly what I want it for anyway.

Quote:

I would love a tool that would properly indent an existing .ui file. Does someone know of such a thing?

Not I, but I did notice how deep the indents went. I figured they used single space indents to avoid going off the right side.

Thanks to all for the comments.

@Kovid- phenomshel has asked me about the location of the main gui .ui file. In a 6.5x version, I'd edited a file called gui2/main.ui to add an icon button on the main toolbar, but that file seems to have disappeared?

Is it no longer used?

kovidgoyal · 10-17-2010, 06:10 PM

the main gui is now completely dynamic (multiple layouts, customizable actions etc.) which means a .ui based design is no longer suitable. It is now implemented in the code. (relevant files are gui2/layout.py and gui2/init.py and gui2/ui.py)

phenomshel · 10-17-2010, 08:00 PM

Thanks for the answer, Kovid

Unfortunately, that lets me out of messing with it, LOL! But I'm learning a lot by reading yours and Chaley's and Starson's comments

chaley · 10-18-2010, 04:37 PM

I should say that in a measurable percentage of cases, I don't bother with the designer. I build the dialog in code. For example, the new check_library is done that way. My reason: it is more of a bother to build the .ui file and then interface to it than it is to build the dialog directly. More examples: the custom column tabs in metadata edit are also built by code, because they depend on the DB and can't be known in advance. The test fields in search/replace are built by code.

On the other hand, the plugboard UI and the various 'manage X' dialogs were done with designer.

10-17-2010, 02:32 PM	#1
Starson17 Wizard Posts: 4,004 Karma: 177841 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: WinMo: IPAQ; Android: HTC HD2, Archos 7o; Java:Gravity T	Calibre UI Development - QT Designer Is anyone doing Calibre UI development on Windows? I'd like to be able to use QT Designer to open and modify the something.ui files. Up until now, I've manually modified them to get what I want, but that's getting old. Is QT Designer self contained, or should I install Python first?

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10-17-2010, 03:21 PM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,190 Karma: 27110894 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	qt designer doesn't need python. Just install it from the nokia website. I belive Charles uses Qt Designer on windows with calibre.

10-17-2010, 03:22 PM	#3
phenomshel ZCD BombShel Posts: 4,793 Karma: 8293322 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: The Frozen North (aka Illinois, USA) Device: iPad, STB Kindle Oasis	sigh....Well, I have it, and yes I can open the .UI files to modify, but that's about as far as I get with it. But since I already have Python installed; I couldn't tell you if you need it first.

10-17-2010, 03:23 PM	#4
phenomshel ZCD BombShel Posts: 4,793 Karma: 8293322 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: The Frozen North (aka Illinois, USA) Device: iPad, STB Kindle Oasis	LOL ok, Kovid, we cross posted. I would LOVE to work on this, but I can't seem to figure out enough about Qt Designer to even add a Qt Toolbar. I know Qt Designer tutorials aren't your job, Kovid, which is why I haven't said anything.

10-17-2010, 03:27 PM	#5
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,190 Karma: 27110894 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Here's the Qt Designer manual: http://doc.trolltech.com/4.6/designer-manual.html

10-17-2010, 03:54 PM	#6
phenomshel ZCD BombShel Posts: 4,793 Karma: 8293322 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: The Frozen North (aka Illinois, USA) Device: iPad, STB Kindle Oasis	Yeah, I have that....

10-17-2010, 04:35 PM	#7
chaley Grand Sorcerer Posts: 12,336 Karma: 8012652 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Notts, England Device: Kobo Libra 2	@starson17 & @phenomshel, I use QT Designer with calibre. It doesn't need python in the sense that it reads and writes .ui files, and doesn't touch any python files. That said, there are issues. One: there are a lot of calibre .ui files that QT Designer will destroy. I always make a copy, open the .ui, then save it, just to see what happens. More times than I care for, the .ui file is rendered useless. Problems range from icon path names changed, custom class lists removed, and text changed to rich (html) text. Two: I haven't figured out how to make QT designer put layouts directly into outermost-level widgets. It insists on putting a frame in, which destroys resizing. I have to manually edit these out of the .ui file. Once I do that, things are OK. Three: it doesn't work well with spanned columns and rows in grid layouts. I use it first to get a rough shell for a dialog. I next edit the ui file to get rid of the extra frames and the like, so that the top-level layout (usually a grid) is a direct child of the widget. Now I can drop controls and the like into the dialog. Last thing I do is manually edit the spanning. I do like the ease in which I can drop horizontal and vertical box layouts into grids, making placement of controls reasonably convenient. I sometimes have issues with class references, but I think that is from my own ignorance. In particular, I have trouble with custom widgets. I would love a tool that would properly indent an existing .ui file. Does someone know of such a thing?

10-17-2010, 06:10 PM	#9
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,190 Karma: 27110894 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	the main gui is now completely dynamic (multiple layouts, customizable actions etc.) which means a .ui based design is no longer suitable. It is now implemented in the code. (relevant files are gui2/layout.py and gui2/init.py and gui2/ui.py)

10-17-2010, 08:00 PM	#10
phenomshel ZCD BombShel Posts: 4,793 Karma: 8293322 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: The Frozen North (aka Illinois, USA) Device: iPad, STB Kindle Oasis	Thanks for the answer, Kovid Unfortunately, that lets me out of messing with it, LOL! But I'm learning a lot by reading yours and Chaley's and Starson's comments

10-18-2010, 04:37 PM	#11
chaley Grand Sorcerer Posts: 12,336 Karma: 8012652 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Notts, England Device: Kobo Libra 2	I should say that in a measurable percentage of cases, I don't bother with the designer. I build the dialog in code. For example, the new check_library is done that way. My reason: it is more of a bother to build the .ui file and then interface to it than it is to build the dialog directly. More examples: the custom column tabs in metadata edit are also built by code, because they depend on the DB and can't be known in advance. The test fields in search/replace are built by code. On the other hand, the plugboard UI and the various 'manage X' dialogs were done with designer.

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