Short Example of GSettings Bindings with Python using a Gtk Switch
Posted: April 3, 2012 Filed under: Code Leave a comment »I made this short example of a Gtk.Switch working in assembly with a setting writing a single line of code instead of several lines to bind the properties of the widget creating callbacks (value_changed binding is also included). As Gnome states, “Gsettings let’s you bind object properties directly to settings” and “it uses the default Gio mapping functions to map between the settings and property values”.
Although it’s a very short and basic PyGI example, I thought it was a good idea to post it since it might be useful to someone else being this Gsettings feature documented in C and not in Python yet.
The script creates a Gtk Switch and its label both packed into the Window. The property of Gtk.Switch is “active”, same as Gtk.CheckButton (boolean). The setting I picked up for this example is the one that lets the file manager show the icons on the desktop (Not sure if the best one, but you can experiment with the one you prefer); schema “org.gnome.desktop.background”, key “show-desktop-icons”, and in python you can set GSettingsBindFlags with Gio.SettingsBindFlags. Example: G_SETTINGS_BIND_DEFAULT is Gio.SettingsBindFlags.DEFAULT .
If you change the same setting from your terminal or Dconf-Editor while the script is running, you will see how the change will be set in the switch as well.
#! /usr/bin/python
from gi.repository import Gtk, Gio
class Example(Gtk.Window):
def __init__(self):
# Setup the window with title and border width.
Gtk.Window.__init__(self, type=Gtk.WindowType.TOPLEVEL,
title="Gsettings Switch Example",
resizable=False,
border_width=10)
# Create and bind the Gtk Switch with the gsettings schema and its key.
switch = Gtk.Switch()
setting = Gio.Settings.new("org.gnome.desktop.background")
setting.bind("show-desktop-icons", switch, "active", Gio.SettingsBindFlags.DEFAULT)
# Create the label for the switch
label = Gtk.Label("Show Icons on the Desktop")
# Position the Switch and its Label inside a Horizontal child box.
box = Gtk.Box.new(Gtk.Orientation.HORIZONTAL, 40)
box.pack_start(label, False, False, 10)
box.pack_end(switch, False, False, 10)
# Add the child box to the window
self.add(box)
self.connect("destroy", Gtk.main_quit)
self.show_all()
Gtk.main()
if __name__ == "__main__":
Example()
Python booleans in gconf with pygtk Message dialog
Posted: March 23, 2012 Filed under: Code, Tips Leave a comment »A small Python Script I use on my VM with GNOME-2 since it’s sometimes annoying to delete one of the Panels by accident. In GNOME 2 you can lock/unlock this panels by editing a GConf schema so you can prevent wrong selections whenever you right click to customize this widgets.
The script pops up a Gtk Message Dialog so I can be asked if I want to make the changes first. In my case, I made an executable icon (.desktop file) for this script and placed it into the bottom panel so it can be easily accessed.
You can also modify this script very easy if you want to try it with a different Gconf Setting by replacing the global variable for the schema and/or the string values.
#! /usr/bin/python
import gtk, gconf
KEY = "/apps/panel/global/locked_down"
class Switcher(gtk.MessageDialog):
def __init__(self):
client = gconf.client_get_default()
value = not ( client.get_bool(KEY) )
state = "lock down" if value else "unlock"
gtk.MessageDialog.__init__(self, None, 0,
gtk.MESSAGE_QUESTION,
gtk.BUTTONS_YES_NO,
"Gnome Panels Lock")
self.format_secondary_text(
"Are you sure you want to %s Gnome Panels?" % state)
if self.run() == gtk.RESPONSE_YES:
client.set_bool(KEY, value)
self.destroy()
if __name__ == "__main__":
Switcher()
A simple GUI for Unity-2D Settings (Ubuntu 11.04)
Posted: April 20, 2011 Filed under: Apps, Code 29 Comments »
This is a very simple configuration tool I made to save time browsing folders and adding values in Gconf, or writing commands in the terminal to customize certain aspects of the new Unity-2D Desktop.
There’s not much to tweak under the current version of Unity-2D. However, there are certain times -Specially while I’m running Ubuntu on a VM- that I want to set the Launcher to be hidden or vice versa, and Compositing Manager makes it look way better (Near regular Unity) adding window edge shadows, transparency in the Dash and Alt-Tab Switching thumbnail previews.
Download (.deb Installer): Compatible only with 11.04 Natty Narwhal
An updated version for 11.10 oneiric can be found in this post and for 12.04 Precise LTS in this post.
Notes: If you click the compositing manager checkbox, hit “Alt+Tab” to refresh your desktop since by enabled-disabled you get a black screen.
The ‘Always Show’ option for the launcher is tricky to set when it’s hidden (A native bug in Unity-2D caused by the ‘use-strut’ gconf key), you can use “Super” or “Alt+F2″ keyboard shortcuts to bring the launcher back in position.
Its source code:
#! /usr/bin/python
# 2D-Desktop Settings 1.0-5
# Small desktop configuration tool for Unity-2D (11.04)
#
# Copyright 2011-2012 by Mariano Chavero
#
# Distributed under de GNU/GPL V3
# Visit <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/> for more information.
import gtk, gconf
class Settings(gtk.Window):
def label(self, text):
box = gtk.HBox()
lbl = gtk.Label(text)
lbl.set_use_markup(True)
lbl.set_alignment(0, 0.3)
box.pack_start(lbl, False, False, 25)
return box
def Checkbox(self, text, key):
client = gconf.client_get_default()
box = gtk.HBox()
bttn = gtk.CheckButton(text)
bttn.set_active(client.get_bool(key))
bttn.connect("toggled", self.on_Checkbox_toggled, client, key)
box.pack_start(bttn, False, False, 50)
return box
def RadioButton(self, text, key, val, group):
client = gconf.client_get_default()
box = gtk.HBox()
bttn = gtk.RadioButton(group, text)
bttn.set_active(client.get_int(key) is val)
bttn.connect("toggled", self.on_RadioButton_toggled, client, key, val)
box.pack_start(bttn, False, False, 50)
return box
def on_Checkbox_toggled(self, widget, client, key):
client.set_bool(key, widget.get_active())
def on_RadioButton_toggled(self, widget, client, key, val):
if not widget.get_active(): return
client.set_int(key, val)
# A desktop strut value is set, required by the Unity 2D Launcher
client.set_bool("/desktop/unity-2d/launcher/use_strut", not bool(val))
def Separator(self):
return gtk.HSeparator()
# Loads the system theme icon of your choice :)
def theme_load(self, icon_name):
t = gtk.icon_theme_get_default()
return t.load_icon(icon_name, 48, 0)
def __init__(self):
gtk.Window.__init__(self, type=gtk.WINDOW_TOPLEVEL)
self.set_resizable(False)
self.set_border_width(10)
self.set_title("2D-Desktop Settings")
self.set_position(gtk.WIN_POS_CENTER)
self.set_icon(self.theme_load("gnome-fs-desktop"))
self.connect("destroy", lambda q: gtk.main_quit())
# Creates one group for our existant Radio Buttons
rbttngroup = gtk.RadioButton(None)
### Layout ###
Container = gtk.VButtonBox()
Container.add(self.label("<b>Launcher Behaviour</b>"))
Container.add(self.RadioButton("IntelliHide (Dodge with Windows)",
"/desktop/unity-2d/launcher/hide_mode", 2, rbttngroup))
Container.add(self.RadioButton("Auto Hide",
"/desktop/unity-2d/launcher/hide_mode", 1, rbttngroup))
Container.add(self.RadioButton("Always Show",
"/desktop/unity-2d/launcher/hide_mode", 0, rbttngroup))
Container.add(self.Separator())
Container.add(self.label("<b>Unity 2D Dash</b>"))
Container.add(self.Checkbox("Show Dash using the Super Key (Windows Logo)",
"/desktop/unity-2d/launcher/super_key_enable"))
Container.add(self.Separator())
Container.add(self.label("<b>Desktop</b>"))
Container.add(self.Checkbox("Enable Window Shadows and Transparency",
"/apps/metacity/general/compositing_manager"))
Container.add(self.Checkbox("Show Volumes and Devices",
"/apps/nautilus/desktop/volumes_visible"))
box = gtk.VBox()
box.add(Container)
self.add(box)
self.show_all()
gtk.main()
if __name__ == "__main__":
Settings()
