Home

  Working with generated source code

As a simple rule; Don't modify the code in generated _init_* methods unless you know what you are doing.

Boa currently generates / maintains the source code for:

Unsupported controls

If you want to add controls or objects not available on the Palette, simply add your code to the __init__ method below the call to _init_ctrls(). Don't add it in the Special methods listed above. Your code will be lost. Also, don't add your own window identifier to the list Boa maintains. Define your own window ids in a seperate list.
Note: Boa now has Custom Classes, see below.

Generated code policy

Although is is possible to change the generated code by hand, it is not advised, and under normal circumstances, not necessary.

If you really need to modify generated code, keep the following in mind:

In summary, if Boa can't generate the code, it will also not be able to parse it.

Renaming event methods (On*)

Something that Boa does not support yet is to rename event methods. You have to do this by hand. Remember to also change the EVT_* binding to the method in the _init_* methods when you rename the method. Mind your spelling, Boa is not forgiving ;) This will be automated in the future.

Special frame attributes

NEW
You may define special attributes that the designer will respect and preserve in the generated source.

All instance attributes defined between the top of the __init__ method and the _init_ctrls() method call will be available to the Designer as valid names bound to properties.

For an attribute to qualify, it has to have a simple deduceable type; Python builtin or wxPython objects.
If for example the attribute is bound to a variable passed in as a parameter, you have to first initialise it to a literal of the same type. This value will be used at design time.

e.g.

def __init__(self, parent, myFrameCaption):
    self.frameCaption = 'Design time frame caption'
    self.frameCaption = myFrameCaption
    self._init_ctrls(parent)

Now you may add this attribute as a parameter or property value in the source by hand.

e.g. (actually on one line)

wxFrame.__init__(self, size = (-1, -1), id = wxID_WXFRAME1, pos = (-1, -1), 
  title = self.frameCaption, parent = prnt, name = '', style = wxDEFAULT_FRAME_STYLE)

In the Inspector property values recognised as special attributes will display as bold values and cannot be edited in the property editor (yet).

Defining custom classes

NEW
You may now define classes equivalent to standard wxPython classes which need not be defined on the palette in order to use in the Designer.

Custom Classes can be defined as a class attribute named _custom_classes containing a dictionary defining wxPython classes and their custom equivalents.

e.g.

class wxFrame1(wxFrame):
    _custom_classes = {'wxTreeCtrl': ['MyTreeCtrl', 'AdvancedTreeCtrl']}
    def _init_utils(self):
        pass

These custom classes will then be available to the Designer and will act as equivalent to the corresponding wxPython class, but will generate source for the custom definition.

One implication is that you loose the constructor. Because Boa will generate the creation code for the object the constructor signature has to be the same as the wxPython class.