Creating a Text Editor Executable App with PySimpleGUI Tutorial 5

In this tutorial, we will be creating a basic text editor using PySimpleGUI. PySimpleGUI is a simple and easy-to-use Python library for creating graphical user interfaces (GUIs). By the end of this tutorial, you will have a fully functional text editor executable app that you can use to create, edit, and save text files.

Step 1: Install PySimpleGUI

If you haven’t already installed PySimpleGUI, you can do so using pip:

pip install PySimpleGUI

Step 2: Import necessary libraries

First, import the PySimpleGUI library along with the os library to handle file operations:

import PySimpleGUI as sg
import os

Step 3: Define the layout of the text editor

Next, define the layout of the text editor window. We will create a simple window with a Text element for displaying and editing text, as well as a menu for file operations such as opening, saving, and closing files:

layout = [
    [sg.Menu([['File', ['Open', 'Save', 'Save As', 'Exit']]]),
    [sg.Text('', size=(80, 20), key='-TEXT-')]
]

window = sg.Window('Text Editor', layout)

Step 4: Create functions for file operations

Next, create functions for handling file operations such as opening, saving, and closing files. Here is an example implementation for how to open a file:

def open_file():
    filename = sg.popup_get_file('Select a file to open')

    with open(filename, 'r') as file:
        text = file.read()
        window['-TEXT-'].update(text)

You can similarly create functions for saving and saving as:

def save_file():
    filename = sg.popup_get_file('Select a file to save')

    with open(filename, 'w') as file:
        file.write(window['-TEXT-'].get())

def save_as_file():
    filename = sg.popup_get_file('Save File As')

    with open(filename, 'w') as file:
        file.write(window['-TEXT-'].get())

Step 5: Create a main event loop

Finally, create a main event loop to handle user interactions with the text editor. Here is an example implementation:

while True:
    event, values = window.read()

    if event in (sg.WIN_CLOSED, 'Exit'):
        break
    elif event == 'Open':
        open_file()
    elif event == 'Save':
        save_file()
    elif event == 'Save As':
        save_as_file()

Step 6: Run the text editor app

To run the text editor app, simply call the main event loop and display the window:

window.close()

And that’s it! You now have a fully functional text editor executable app using PySimpleGUI. Feel free to customize the layout and functionality of the text editor to suit your needs. Happy coding!