We Keep Coding

Pythondialog: Unable to retrieve the version of the dialog-like backend

Minimal code example, run on OSX and Python 3:
#! /usr/bin/env python3
from dialog import Dialog
d = Dialog(dialog="dialog")
sel = d.menu("Test",
choices=[ ("FooTag", "Foo", False, "FooHelp"),
("BarTag", "Bar", True, "BarHelp")]
)
I get the error message:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "./test.py", line 5, in <module>
d = Dialog(dialog="dialog")
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.3/site-packages/dialog.py", line 1371, in __init__
self.backend_version())
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.3/site-packages/dialog.py", line 2012, in backend_version
"{1!r}".format(self._dialog_prg, output))
dialog.UnableToRetrieveBackendVersion: Unable to retrieve the version of the dialog-like backend: unable to parse the output of '/usr/local/bin/dialog --print-version': ''
However, dialog reports correctly:
> dialog --print-version
Version: 1.1-20100428
>
Nothing changes, if I use the absolut path /usr/local/bin/dialog. I guess, it is an install problem, but I've no clue.

As you have found yourself, the problem is caused by the fact that your dialog program prints its version on stdout whereas more recent versions print it on stderr. So, the string pythondialog tries to parse as a version number is empty in such a case.
pythondialog 3.2.2rc1 (latest release at the time of this writing) detects this situation and automatically reruns dialog --stdout --print-version, making sure this time to read from dialog's stdout stream. Since this is only done once at Dialog instance creation (the backend version being cached), the impact of this workaround is minimal.
It is better than your solution (passing use_stdout=True to the Dialog constructor), because it allows the rest of pythondialog to use dialog's stderr stream normally: the use of --stdout is only limited to retrieving the version of dialog. On the contrary, the solution you found will pass --stdout to all dialog calls which, according to the dialog(1) manual page, may fail "depending on the platform and your environment".
Had you reported this problem on the pythondialog issue tracker or mailing list, the workaround I mentioned here would certainly have been implemented earlier...

Your example with little fixes for on my computer (i changed False to 'False'). Your issue is that version is not matched against regex. This is code from pythondialog:
mo = self._print_version_cre.match(output)
if mo:
return mo.group("version")
else:
raise UnableToRetrieveBackendVersion(
"unable to parse the output of '{0} --print-version': "
"{1!r}".format(self._dialog_prg, output))
#this is located upper
_print_version_cre = re.compile(r"^Version:[ \t]+(?P<version>.+?)[ \t]*$", re.MULTILINE)
I've tested your version with this regexp and it matched on my computer, but I guess you have other version of pythondialog. So check _print_version_cre in your dialog.py and try to much with dialog version.

I found the solution myself:
dialog in OSX reports to stdout, not stderr.
By using
d = Dialog(dialog="dialog", use_stdout=True)
I get the expected result.

How I can get DrawingArea window handle in Gtk3?

I get this code on CEF Python 3 (link)
...
self.container = gtk.DrawingArea()
self.container.set_property('can-focus', True)
self.container.connect('size-allocate', self.OnSize)
self.container.show()
...
windowID = self.container.get_window().handle
windowInfo = cefpython.WindowInfo()
windowInfo.SetAsChild(windowID)
self.browser = cefpython.CreateBrowserSync(windowInfo,
browserSettings={},
navigateUrl=GetApplicationPath('example.html'))
...
This code [self.container.get_window().handle] don't work with PyGI and GTK3.
I trying port the code from GTK2 to GTK3, how I can do this?
Edited:
After some search, I found a tip to make get_window work: I call: self.container.realize() before self.container.get_window(). But I cant't get Window Handle yet.
I need put CEF3 window inside a DrawingArea or any element. How I can do this with PyGI?
Edited:
My environment is:
Windows 7
Python 2.7 and Python 3.2

Sadly there seems to be no progress on the python gobject introspection to fix this and make gdk_win32_window_get_handle available (reported a bug in the gnome bugtracker quite a while ago) - it is also quite needed for Python GStreamer and Windows ...
So I followed the suggestion of totaam and used ctypes to access gdk_win32_window_get_handle. Took me forever since I had no experience with this - and well it is somehow quite an ugly hack - but well when needed...
Here is the code:
Gdk.threads_enter()
#get the gdk window and the corresponding c gpointer
drawingareawnd = drawingarea.get_property("window")
#make sure to call ensure_native before e.g. on realize
if not drawingareawnd.has_native():
print("Your window is gonna freeze as soon as you move or resize it...")
ctypes.pythonapi.PyCapsule_GetPointer.restype = ctypes.c_void_p
ctypes.pythonapi.PyCapsule_GetPointer.argtypes = [ctypes.py_object]
drawingarea_gpointer = ctypes.pythonapi.PyCapsule_GetPointer(drawingareawnd.__gpointer__, None)
#get the win32 handle
gdkdll = ctypes.CDLL ("libgdk-3-0.dll")
hnd = gdkdll.gdk_win32_window_get_handle(drawingarea_gpointer)
#do what you want with it ... I pass it to a gstreamer videosink
Gdk.threads_leave()

You must first import GdkX11 for get_xid() to be available on the returned GdkX11Window.
from gi.repository import GdkX11
...
-windowID = self.container.get_window().handle
+windowID = self.container.get_window().get_xid()

The answer advising you to use .handle or .get_xid() works on GTK2, but not with GTK3 or on MS Windows, which are part of your question.
I've done a lot of digging and found that there is a function in GTK3 which does what you want: gdk_win32_window_get_handle, but sadly it is not available in the gi bindings.
You may be able to get to it using ctypes or Cython (which is what I am going to do).

system wide shortcut for Mac OS X

So I was asked to port some internal helper applications to Mac OS X 10.7.
Works all quite welll as the platform dependent code is minimal anyhow, but one application needs a system wide shortcut to function (i.e. RegisterHotkey functionality) and I can't find any documentation on how I'd do this on a Mac.
The program is using a PyQt gui with Python 3.2. and the corresponding code for windows is basically:
def register_hotkey(self):
hwnd = int(self.winId())
modifiers, key = self._get_hotkey()
user32.RegisterHotKey(hwnd, self._MESSAGE_ID, modifiers, key)
and then to receive the hotkey events:
def winEvent(self, msg):
if msg.message == w32.WM_HOTKEY:
self.handle_hotkey()
return True, id(msg)
return False, id(msg)
Note that I don't need a python variant, I can easily write a simple c extension - so C/objective-c solutions are welcome as well.

I recently coded up an extension to quodlibet capturing multimedia keys (since absorbed into quodlibet itself); for your setup the same process applies.
I used the Quartz CGEventTapCreate hook and event loop, and the Cocoa AppKit framework to decipher key codes to achieve this.
The following code registers a python callback which is passed global key presses, and starts the event loop:
import Quartz
from AppKit import NSKeyUp, NSSystemDefined, NSEvent
# Set up a tap, with type of tap, location, options and event mask
tap = Quartz.CGEventTapCreate(
Quartz.kCGSessionEventTap, # Session level is enough for our needs
Quartz.kCGHeadInsertEventTap, # Insert wherever, we do not filter
Quartz.kCGEventTapOptionListenOnly, # Listening is enough
Quartz.CGEventMaskBit(NSSystemDefined), # NSSystemDefined for media keys
keyboardTapCallback,
None
)
runLoopSource = Quartz.CFMachPortCreateRunLoopSource(None, tap, 0)
Quartz.CFRunLoopAddSource(
Quartz.CFRunLoopGetCurrent(),
runLoopSource,
Quartz.kCFRunLoopDefaultMode
)
# Enable the tap
Quartz.CGEventTapEnable(tap, True)
# and run! This won't return until we exit or are terminated.
Quartz.CFRunLoopRun()
I defined a tap for system defined keys only (media keys); you'll have to specify a different event mask (CGEventMaskBit with one or more Event Types); e.g. Quartz.CGEventMaskBit(Quartz.kCGEventKeyUp) for key up events.
The callback should have the following signature (it implements the CGEventTapCallBack method from the Quartz API:
def keyboardTapCallback(proxy, type_, event, refcon):
# Convert the Quartz CGEvent into something more useful
keyEvent = NSEvent.eventWithCGEvent_(event)
I converted the Quartz event into a NSEvent, because all the information I could find on Mac multimedia keys was referring to that class.
In principle you can achieve the same thing with the AppKit APIs too, but then your Python application is treated as a Mac Application (visible in the Dock with an icon and everything), while I wanted this to be kept in the background altogether.

Using the power of google, I found this snippet of code, which allows the registration of global hotkeys for Mac OS X
You'll need to add the Carbon framework, and probably a bridged cast for ARC when passing the Objective-C self pointer to the C function.
At a minimum, you'll also need to:
#import <Carbon/Carbon.h>
The keycodes can be seen on this page explaining the virtual key codes.

Why has nobody ever mentioned the hammerspoon, which supports custom global system shortcuts, which can invoke shell command or launch UI application like Safari, PHOTOSHOP.
The following is an example written by me demonstrating how to invoke shell function with global hotkeys.
https://gist.github.com/BigSully/0e59ab97f148bc167ea19dbd42ebef4b
Use hs.execute to execute shell command, either non-interactive or interactive.
hs.hotkey.bind({"cmd", "alt", "ctrl"}, "P", function()
local output = hs.execute("toggleProxy", true)
hs.alert.show(output)
end)
or
Use hs.application.launchOrFocus to launch application
hs.application.launchOrFocus("Safari")

PyQt4 Highlighting

I'm trying to add some syntax highlighting to a text editor in PyQt4. I've found an example in the documentation which works find when compiled from C++ but when i convert it to Python/PyQt it no longer works.
The part of the code that fails (no longer highlights anything) is:
def highlightCurrentLine(self):
extraSelections = []
if not self.isReadOnly():
selection = QTextEdit.ExtraSelection()
lineColor = QColor(Qt.yellow).lighter(160)
selection.format.setBackground(lineColor)
selection.format.setProperty(QTextFormat.FullWidthSelection, QVariant(True))
selection.cursor = self.textCursor()
selection.cursor.clearSelection()
extraSelections.append(selection)
self.setExtraSelections(extraSelections)
which is called by:
self.connect(self, SIGNAL('cursorPositionChanged()'), self.highlightCurrentLine)
Anyone have any idea why this doesn't work?
The versions i am usuing are: Python 2.6.2, PyQt 4.4.4

Ok... turns out i wasn't going mad, i was just using an out of date version of PyQt4.
For information the version of PyQt4 that ships with Ubuntu 9.04 is 4.4.4 but this functionality seems to require 4.5+.
I've upgraded to PyQt4 4.6 and it works fine (plus 4.6 seems to have some nice new functionality too).

Save lineColor somewhere (like self.lineColor). Otherwise, Python will discard the object when the method returns and the format will use an illegal pointer.

Programmatically detect system-proxy settings on Windows XP with Python

I develop a critical application used by a multi-national company. Users in offices all around the globe need to be able to install this application.
The application is actually a plugin to Excel and we have an automatic installer based on Setuptools' easy_install that ensures that all a project's dependancies are automatically installed or updated any time a user switches on their Excel. It all works very elegantly as users are seldom aware of all the installation which occurs entirely in the background.
Unfortunately we are expanding and opening new offices which all have different proxy settings. These settings seem to change from day to day so we cannot keep up with the outsourced security guys who change stuff without telling us. It sucks but we just have to work around it.
I want to programatically detect the system-wide proxy settings on the Windows workstations our users run:
Everybody in the organisazation runs Windows XP and Internet Explorer. I've verified that everybody can download our stuff from IE without problems regardless of where they are int the world.
So all I need to do is detect what proxy settings IE is using and make Setuptools use those settings. Theoretically all of this information should be in the Registry.. but is there a better way to find it that is guaranteed not to change with people upgrade IE? For example is there a Windows API call I can use to discover the proxy settings?
In summary:
We use Python 2.4.4 on Windows XP
We need to detect the Internet Explorer proxy settings (e.g. host, port and Proxy type)
I'm going to use this information to dynamically re-configure easy_install so that it can download the egg files via the proxy.
UPDATE0:
I forgot one important detail: Each site has an auto-config "pac" file.
There's a key in Windows\CurrentVersion\InternetSettings\AutoConfigURL which points to a HTTP document on a local server which contains what looks like a javascript file.
The pac script is basically a series of nested if-statements which compare URLs against a regexp and then eventually return the hostname of the chosen proxy-server. The script is a single javascript function called FindProxyForURL(url, host)
The challenge is therefore to find out for any given server which proxy to use. The only 100% guaranteed way to do this is to look up the pac file and call the Javascript function from Python.
Any suggestions? Is there a more elegant way to do this?

Here's a sample that should create a bullet green (proxy enable) or red (proxy disable) in your systray
It shows how to read and write in windows registry
it uses gtk
#!/usr/bin/env python
import gobject
import gtk
from _winreg import *
class ProxyNotifier:
def __init__(self):
self.trayIcon = gtk.StatusIcon()
self.updateIcon()
#set callback on right click to on_right_click
self.trayIcon.connect('popup-menu', self.on_right_click)
gobject.timeout_add(1000, self.checkStatus)
def isProxyEnabled(self):
aReg = ConnectRegistry(None,HKEY_CURRENT_USER)
aKey = OpenKey(aReg, r"Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings")
subCount, valueCount, lastModified = QueryInfoKey(aKey)
for i in range(valueCount):
try:
n,v,t = EnumValue(aKey,i)
if n == 'ProxyEnable':
return v and True or False
except EnvironmentError:
break
CloseKey(aKey)
def invertProxyEnableState(self):
aReg = ConnectRegistry(None,HKEY_CURRENT_USER)
aKey = OpenKey(aReg, r"Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings", 0, KEY_WRITE)
if self.isProxyEnabled() :
val = 0
else:
val = 1
try:
SetValueEx(aKey,"ProxyEnable",0, REG_DWORD, val)
except EnvironmentError:
print "Encountered problems writing into the Registry..."
CloseKey(aKey)
def updateIcon(self):
if self.isProxyEnabled():
icon=gtk.STOCK_YES
else:
icon=gtk.STOCK_NO
self.trayIcon.set_from_stock(icon)
def checkStatus(self):
self.updateIcon()
return True
def on_right_click(self, data, event_button, event_time):
self.invertProxyEnableState()
self.updateIcon()
if __name__ == '__main__':
proxyNotifier = ProxyNotifier()
gtk.main()

As far as I know, In a Windows environment, if no proxy environment variables are set, proxy settings are obtained from the registry's Internet Settings section. .
Isn't it enough?
Or u can get something useful info from registry:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ProxyServer
Edit:
sorry for don't know how to format comment's source code, I repost it here.
>>> import win32com.client
>>> js = win32com.client.Dispatch('MSScriptControl.ScriptControl')
>>> js.Language = 'JavaScript'
>>> js.AddCode('function add(a, b) {return a+b;}')
>>> js.Run('add', 1, 2)
3