[PythonCE] DLL hourglass in ctypes
Hello, I am reporting back after some experimenting with building a DLL based on the SDL library. I have successfully created a very simple DLL that accepts 5 int values (color, x,y,w,h) and uses the SDL_RectFill function to draw directly to the screen. Then I use ctypes to import the DLL into pythonCE and access its functions from there. This may seem very basic, but it allows me to draw a rectangle of any size or colour to the screen, and I can do it using very straightforward python script. The DLL lives in the main Windows folder, and is automatically recognised by pythonCE when it starts. My question is about the hourglass which appears on the screen while my script is running (in WM5 it's actually not an hourglass, but a kind of circular dial with windows colours). Is there any way I can prevent this from appearing while my python script runs? My next plan was to try to use ppygui to make some buttons for user input. Any thoughts or comments are very welcome. Adam ___ PythonCE mailing list PythonCE@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/pythonce
Re: [PythonCE] DLL hourglass in ctypes
Adam Walley wrote: My question is about the hourglass which appears on the screen while my script is running (in WM5 it's actually not an hourglass, but a kind of circular dial with windows colours). Is there any way I can prevent this from appearing while my python script runs? I do not recall exactly, but I vaguely remember something about this. Do you have a windows message loop running? I think the hour glass stays there until you start processing windows messages. -- Brad Clements,[EMAIL PROTECTED](315)268-1000 http://www.murkworks.com AOL-IM: BKClements ___ PythonCE mailing list PythonCE@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/pythonce
Re: [PythonCE] DLL hourglass in ctypes
Hi, On Wed 13/08/08 05:43 , "Adam Walley" [EMAIL PROTECTED] sent: > My question is about the hourglass which appears on the screen while > my script is running (in WM5 it's actually not an hourglass, but a > kind of circular dial with windows colours). This is caused by a design decision from the original Windows CE port of Python. The core executable displays a wait cursor and then waits for the internal shell script (pcceshell.py) to load. One of the first things the shell script does is turn off the wait cursor by calling back into the native C code. If you run a script or do anything else which causes the python shell not to load, the cursor won't be hidden. Libraries such as ppygui "resolve" this by explictly hiding the wait cursor as part of their own initialisation process. They use code along the lines of: import _pcceshell_support _pcceshell_support.Busy(0); I haven't liked this, since it means each library needs to be aware of something PythonCE specific. For cleaness I think the native C part of the Python interpreter can (and should) take care of this. Three options I experimented with were 1) Removing the wait cursor entirely if the PythonCE executable was being started to run a specific script (didn't work too well, depending upon the size of your script this meant the user was presented with no visual que that anything was happening for a long period of time). 2) Modifying the script loading mechanism in pythonce.c so the native C code is aware once the script has been parsed, but hasn't started execution and have it explictly turn off the wait cursor before handing control over to the python code. 3) Always load the shell (even if PythonCE is started to run a specific script), then launch the user script by simulating the user entering a call to the execfile function. If anyone is actively working on the core interpreter I would be happy to share more detailed thoughts. Hope it helps, Christopher Fairbairn ___ PythonCE mailing list PythonCE@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/pythonce
Re: [PythonCE] DLL hourglass in ctypes
Christopher Fairbairn wrote: They use code along the lines of: import _pcceshell_support _pcceshell_support.Busy(0); I haven't liked this, since it means each library needs to be aware of something PythonCE specific. For cleaness I think the native C part of the Python interpreter can (and should) take care of this. Ah, this rings a bell. I think according to the Windows CE compatibility guide, you're supposed to show the hourglass until your application is "ready for user input". I believe it's up to the application .py file, not any libraries or interpreter, to make the Busy(0) call. Only the application author knows how many modules need to be loaded and when the application really has "started". -- Brad Clements,[EMAIL PROTECTED](315)268-1000 http://www.murkworks.com AOL-IM: BKClements ___ PythonCE mailing list PythonCE@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/pythonce
Re: [PythonCE] DLL hourglass in ctypes
Brad Clements wrote: I think according to the Windows CE compatibility guide, you're supposed to show the hourglass until your application is "ready for user input". I believe it's up to the application .py file, not any libraries or interpreter, to make the Busy(0) call. Only the application author knows how many modules need to be loaded and when the application really has "started". I'll admit to being completely out of my league when it comes to how windows CE development should be done, however, I do like the idea of being able to leave the hourglas running until I'm "ready for input". I'm in the midst of creating a scanning application that will be loading quite a few modules, and it would be nice to have the visual clue that the user needs to wait. Additionally, it would be nice to be able to turn on the hourglass when entering a method that may take a while to complete. (I'm sure there is probably an easy way to do this, I'm just not familiar with it yet.) -John ___ PythonCE mailing list PythonCE@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/pythonce
