PySimpleGUIWx brings the number of PySimpleGUI ports to 3.
Why use PySimpleGUIWx over PySimpleGUIQt PySimpleGUI (tkinter version)?
There are a couple of easy reasons to use PySimpleGUIWx over PySimpleGUIQt. One is footprint. PyInstaller EXE for PySimpleGUIWx is 9 MB, on Qt it's 240 MB. Another is cool widgets.
WxPython has some nice advanced widgets that will be offered though PySimpleGUIWx, hopefully sooner than later.
The System Tray feature works well with a feature set identical to PySimpleGUIQt. If you are looking for a System Tray feature, PySimpleGUIWx is recommended over PySimpleGUIQt ; the primary reason being size of the WxPython framework versus the size of Qt. They both give you very similar features. They look and behave in an ***identical*** fashion when using PySimpleGUI. That's the beauty of the PSG SDK, the function calls are the same for all implementations of PySimpleGUI. The source code is highly portable between the GUI frameworks.
This simple list is another way of looking at the question....
Remember, these are Engineering Releases. Not all features are complete, but generally speaking those that are marked as completed and working are working quite well. It's not an "Engineering Quality". The completed features are at about a Beta level.
It won't take long to poke at these and hit errors. For example, the code to do Button Updates is not complete. Most of the time you won't be doing this.
Due to the small size of the development team, features may feel a little "thin" for a while. The idea is to implement with enough depth that 80% of the uses are covered. It's a multi-pass, iterative approach.
If you, the reader, are having problems or have hit a spot where something is not yet implemented, then open an Issue. They are often completed in a day. This process of users pushing the boundaries is what drives the priorities for development. It's "real world" kinds of problems that have made PySimpleGUI what it is today.
This was the first fully functioning feature of PySimpleGUIWx. Previously only the Qt port supported the System Tray. Why use Wx? The footprint is much much smaller. An EXE file created using PyInstaller is 9 MB for PySimpleGUIWx, when using Qt it's 240 MB.
Now it's possible to "tack on" the System Tray to your PySimpleGUI application.
If you're unable to upgrade to Qt but want the System Tray feature, then adding PySimpleGUIWx to your project may be the way to go.
You can mix your System Tray's event loop with your normal Window event loop by adding a timeout to both your Window.Read call and your SystemTray.Read call.
PySimpleGUIWx's System Tray feature has been tested against the same PySimpleGUIQt feature. As long as you don't use features that are not yet supported you'll find your source code will run on either PySimpleGUIQt or PySimpleGUIWx by changing the import statement.
See the original, full documentation for PySimpleGUI to get an understanding of how menus are defined.
## SystemTray Methods
### Read - Read the context menu or check for events
```python
def Read(timeout=None)
'''
Reads the context menu
:param timeout: Optional. Any value other than None indicates a non-blocking read
:return: String representing meny item chosen. None if nothing read.
'''
```
The `timeout` parameter specifies how long to wait for an event to take place. If nothing happens within the timeout period, then a "timeout event" is returned. These types of reads make it possible to run asynchronously. To run non-blocked, specify `timeout=0`on the Read call (not yet supported).
Read returns the menu text, complete with key, for the menu item chosen. If you specified `Open::key` as the menu entry, and the user clicked on `Open`, then you will receive the string `Open::key` upon completion of the Read.
#### Read special return values
In addition to Menu Items, the Read call can return several special values. They include:
EVENT_SYSTEM_TRAY_ICON_DOUBLE_CLICKED - Tray icon was double clicked
EVENT_SYSTEM_TRAY_ICON_ACTIVATED - Tray icon was single clicked
EVENT_SYSTEM_TRAY_MESSAGE_CLICKED - a message balloon was clicked
TIMEOUT_KEY is returned if no events are available if the timeout value is set in the Read call
### ShowMessage
Just like Qt, you can create a pop-up message. Unlike Qt, you cannot set your own custom icon in the message, at least you can't at the moment.
The menu definition adds a key "key" to the menu entries Hide and Open.
If you want to change the separator characters from :: top something else,change the variable `MENU_KEY_SEPARATOR`
When a menu item has a key and it is chosen, then entire string is returned. If Hide were selected, then Hide::key would be returned from the Read. Note that the shortcut character & is NOT returned from Reads.
## Popups
Starting with release 0.4.0, most of the Popup functions work. This means you can do things like show information in a window when there's a choice made in a System Tray menu. Or if your program finds some event it wishes to inform the user about. For example, when new Issues are posted on a GitHub project.
