John Dewees Discusses Using PySimpleGUI to Create User-Friendly Workflows in Python for Library Applications

Python4Lib – John Dewees on PySimpleGUI for Approachable, Accessible Workflows

Python has become one of the most popular programming languages in the world, thanks to its simplicity and versatility. Many libraries have been developed over the years to make Python even more powerful and user-friendly. One such library is PySimpleGUI, which was created by John Dewees specifically for creating approachable and accessible workflows.

In this tutorial, we will delve into the world of PySimpleGUI and learn how to use it to create user interfaces for our Python programs. We will start by installing PySimpleGUI and then move on to creating simple GUI applications using the library.

Installing PySimpleGUI

To install PySimpleGUI, you can simply use pip, Python’s package manager. Open your command prompt or terminal and type the following command:

pip install PySimpleGUI

PySimpleGUI will be downloaded and installed on your system. Once the installation is complete, you are ready to start creating GUI applications with PySimpleGUI.

Creating a Simple GUI Application

Let’s start by creating a simple GUI application that takes user input and displays it on the screen. Open your favorite text editor or IDE and create a new Python script. Import PySimpleGUI by adding the following line at the beginning of your script:

import PySimpleGUI as sg

Next, create a layout for your GUI using PySimpleGUI’s layout objects. For our simple application, we will create a single input field and a button to submit the input. Here’s how you can define the layout:

layout = [
    [sg.Text("Enter your name: "), sg.InputText()],
    [sg.Button("Submit")]
]

Now, create an instance of the PySimpleGUI window by calling the Window() function with your layout as the argument. Add a simple event loop to handle user input and display the output:

window = sg.Window("Simple GUI", layout)

while True:
    event, values = window.read()
    if event == sg.WIN_CLOSED:
        break
    if event == "Submit":
        name = values[0]
        sg.popup(f"Hello, {name}!")

window.close()

Save your script and run it. You should see a window with an input field and a submit button. Enter your name in the input field and click the submit button. A popup will appear, displaying a greeting message with your name.

Customizing the GUI

PySimpleGUI offers a wide range of customization options to make your GUI applications more visually appealing. You can change the appearance of your windows, buttons, text fields, and other elements using various options. For example, you can change the font size, color, alignment, padding, and spacing of your GUI elements.

Here’s an example of customizing the appearance of our simple GUI application:

layout = [
    [sg.Text("Enter your name: ", font=("Helvetica", 16), text_color="red")],
    [sg.InputText(size=(20, 1), background_color="lightblue")],
    [sg.Button("Submit", button_color=("white", "green"))]
]

In this modified layout, we changed the font of the text label to Helvetica with a size of 16 and a red text color. We also changed the background color of the input field to light blue and the button color to white with a green background.

By experimenting with different options, you can create visually appealing GUI applications tailored to your preferences and requirements.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we explored the world of PySimpleGUI and learned how to create simple GUI applications with ease. PySimpleGUI provides a simple and intuitive way to create user interfaces for your Python programs, making them more approachable and accessible to users.

By following the examples and customizing the appearance of your GUI applications, you can create interactive and visually appealing workflows that enhance the user experience. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced Python developer, PySimpleGUI is a powerful tool that can help you create professional-looking GUI applications with minimal effort.

I hope this tutorial has inspired you to explore PySimpleGUI further and create amazing GUI applications for your Python projects. Happy coding!