wxPython: Trying to make a docking window, binding parent EVT_ACTIVATE prevents parent resizing

Question

I'm trying to make a simple docking frame that will dock to a parent window and follow it around. So far I have the following:

class DockingFrame(wx.Frame):
    def __init__(self, parent):
        wx.Frame.__init__(self, parent, style=wx.CAPTION)

        parent.Bind(wx.EVT_MOVE, self.OnParentMove)
        parent.Bind(wx.EVT_ACTIVATE, self.OnParentActivate)
        parent.Bind(wx.EVT_SHOW, self.OnParentShow)

    def OnParentMove(self, moveEvent):
        print "Docked frame parent moved"
        pr = positioning.position(
            self.Rect,
            my='right_top', at='left_top', of=self.Parent.Rect)
        self.Move(pr.top_left)
        moveEvent.Skip()

    def OnParentActivate(self, event):
        print "Docked frame parent activated"
        self.Raise()
        event.Skip()

    def OnParentShow(self, event):
        print "Docked frame parent showed"
        self.Show(event.GetShow())
        event.Skip()

class MainFrame(wx.Frame):
    def __init__(self, title):
        wx.Frame.__init__(self, None, title=title)

        self.info_frame = DockingFrame(self)

        self.Show(True)

This works in that if I move the parent window, the docked window moves with it, and if I click on the parent window, the docked window raises itself. However, it severely interferes with the parent window's functionality. I can't close or re-size the parent window anymore, and I get tons of "Docked frame parent activated" messages whenever I click the parent. It seems I don't understand some fundamental wxPython concept, here. What is going on and how do I fix it?

I've seen that aui seems to support docking, but documentation has been sparse so I haven't attempted it. If someone could supply a minimal working code sample as to how to make a Frame dock to another Frame with aui, I could also take that approach.

Note that I'm also using pygame and twisted in this app, which may or may not be interfering here...

Ah it seems that `.Raise`ing the child is making the parent & child fight for who gets activated... is there any way to `Raise` without this effect? — Claudiu, Mar 18 '13 at 22:12

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 18 '13 at 23:15

And, of course, the simple approach is to simply use the wx.FRAME_FLOAT_ON_PARENT style...

class DockingFrame(wx.Frame):
    def __init__(self, parent):
        wx.Frame.__init__(self, parent, title="Last Hand",
                          style=wx.CAPTION  | wx.FRAME_FLOAT_ON_PARENT)

        parent.Bind(wx.EVT_MOVE, self.OnParentMove)
        parent.Bind(wx.EVT_SHOW, self.OnParentShow)

    def SnapToParent(self):
        print "*Snapping to parent"
        pr = positioning.position(
            self.Rect,
            my='right_top', at='left_top', of=self.Parent.Rect)
        self.Move(pr.top_left)

    def OnParentMove(self, moveEvent):
        moveEvent.Skip()
        self.SnapToParent()

    def OnParentShow(self, event):
        event.Skip()
        print "Parent %s" % ("Hide", "Show")[event.GetShow()]
        self.Show(event.GetShow())

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 18 '13 at 22:57

The trick was that EVT_ACTIVATE fires both for activating and for de-activating. The following code worked. If the parent gets activated, then the dock raises itself & immediately raises the parent after.

class DockingFrame(wx.Frame):
    def __init__(self, parent):
        self.handleParentActiveState = 'noTriggers'

        wx.Frame.__init__(self, parent, title="Last Hand", style=wx.CAPTION)

        parent.Bind(wx.EVT_MOVE, self.OnParentMove)
        parent.Bind(wx.EVT_ACTIVATE, self.OnParentActivate)
        self.Bind(wx.EVT_ACTIVATE, self.OnActivate)
        parent.Bind(wx.EVT_SHOW, self.OnParentShow)        

    def OnActivate(self, event):
        event.Skip()
        if not event.GetActive():
            return

        if self.handleParentActiveState == 'activateParentNext':
            self.handleParentActiveState = 'resetTriggers'
            self.Parent.Raise()

    def OnParentActivate(self, event):
        event.Skip()
        if not event.GetActive():
            return

        if self.handleParentActiveState == 'noTriggers':
            self.handleParentActiveState = 'activateParentNext'
            self.Raise()
        elif self.handleParentActiveState == 'resetTriggers':
            self.handleParentActiveState = 'noTriggers'

    def OnParentMove(self, moveEvent):
        pr = positioning.position(
            self.Rect,
            my='right_top', at='left_top', of=self.Parent.Rect)
        self.Move(pr.top_left)
        moveEvent.Skip()

    def OnParentShow(self, event):
        event.Skip()
        self.Show(event.GetShow())

wxPython: Trying to make a docking window, binding parent EVT_ACTIVATE prevents parent resizing

2 Answers2