PySimpleGUI 2020: Part 4 – Windows Update – Experimental Speed Upgrade

In this tutorial, we will continue exploring PySimpleGUI 2020 and focus on updating windows in an experimental faster version. Updating windows is an important aspect of GUI programming, as it allows us to change the content of the window dynamically, based on user input or other events. PySimpleGUI provides a simple and intuitive way to update windows, making it easy for developers to create responsive and interactive user interfaces.

Before we start, it is important to note that this experimental faster version of PySimpleGUI may have some limitations or unexpected behavior compared to the stable version. It is always a good idea to test your code thoroughly before deploying it in a production environment.

To begin, make sure you have the latest version of PySimpleGUI installed. You can install it using pip:

pip install PySimpleGUI

Now, let’s create a simple GUI application with a button that updates a text element in the window. Here’s an example code snippet to get you started:

import PySimpleGUI as sg

# Define the layout of the window
layout = [
    [sg.Text("Hello, World!", key="-TEXT-")],
    [sg.Button("Update Text")]
]

# Create the window
window = sg.Window("Update Window Example", layout)

# Event loop to process events and update the window
while True:
    event, values = window.read()

    if event == sg.WIN_CLOSED:
        break
    elif event == "Update Text":
        window["-TEXT-"].update("Updated Text")

window.close()

In this code snippet, we first import the PySimpleGUI library and define the layout of the window. We have a text element with the key "-TEXT-" and a button labeled "Update Text". We then create the window using the layout.

Next, we enter an event loop that processes events from the window. If the user closes the window, we break out of the loop. If the "Update Text" button is clicked, we update the text element with the key "-TEXT-" to display "Updated Text".

This is a basic example of updating windows in PySimpleGUI. However, the experimental faster version of PySimpleGUI introduces a new feature that allows for more efficient window updates. To take advantage of this feature, we need to use the update method with the parameter update_only set to True. This tells PySimpleGUI to update only the specified elements in the window, rather than redrawing the entire window.

Here’s an updated version of the previous example that leverages the experimental faster window updating feature:

import PySimpleGUI as sg

# Define the layout of the window
layout = [
    [sg.Text("Hello, World!", key="-TEXT-")],
    [sg.Button("Update Text")]
]

# Create the window
window = sg.Window("Update Window Example", layout, finalize=True)

# Event loop to process events and update the window
while True:
    event, values = window.read()

    if event == sg.WIN_CLOSED:
        break
    elif event == "Update Text":
        window["-TEXT-"].update("Updated Text", update_only=True)

window.close()

In this updated code snippet, we have added the finalize=True parameter when creating the window. This tells PySimpleGUI to finalize the layout before entering the event loop, improving the performance of window updates. We have also updated the text element with the key "-TEXT-" using the update method with the update_only=True parameter.

You can experiment with this feature by updating different elements in the window and observing the performance improvements compared to redrawing the entire window. Keep in mind that this is an experimental feature, so it is subject to change in future versions of PySimpleGUI.

In conclusion, updating windows in PySimpleGUI is a powerful feature that allows developers to create dynamic and responsive user interfaces. The experimental faster version of PySimpleGUI introduces a new window updating feature that can improve the performance of window updates. By using the update_only=True parameter with the update method, developers can selectively update specific elements in the window, leading to faster and more efficient updates.

I hope this tutorial has been helpful in exploring this experimental feature of PySimpleGUI. Experiment with it in your own projects and see how it can enhance the responsiveness of your GUI applications. Thank you for reading!