wxMessageBox with an auto-close timer in wxPython

Question

Platforms: Windows, OS X

Python Version: Active State Python 2.7

wxPython Version: Version 2.9

Here is a sample code in which I use a wxMessageBox:

import wx,os

class Frame(wx.Frame):
    def __init__(self, parent, id, title):
        wx.Frame.__init__(self, parent, id, title, size=(100, 100),style=wx.MINIMIZE_BOX | wx.SYSTEM_MENU | wx.CAPTION | wx.CLOSE_BOX | wx.CLIP_CHILDREN)

        host=os.system('hostname')
        if host!='superman':            
            self.dialogBox=wx.MessageBox('The host name should be superman. Closing this dialog box in 2s...','Info')            
            self.Destroy()
        else:
            self.Center()
            self.Show()

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app = wx.App(redirect=False)
    frame = Frame(None, -1, 'Sample')
    app.MainLoop()

According to the above piece of code, If the host name is not 'superman' , then the user is displayed a message box and prompted to press 'OK'. If the user presses 'OK' button on the message box, then the control moves to the next line in the code (i.e., line number 10) where the frame is destroyed. I want to be to able to automatically close the dialog box and go to the next line in the code i.e., self.Destroy() if the user does not press the 'OK' button in the next 2 seconds. Any thoughts on how do I do that in wxpython ?

volting · Answer 1 · 2011-05-16T21:20:50.927

If you create your own custom dialog by subclassing wx.Dialog you can use a wx.Timer to generate a periodic event to which you can bind a handler which updates the message every time the timer event fires, then after x event fires you can destroy the dialog.

Working example:

import wx
import os

class MessageDialog(wx.Dialog):
    def __init__(self, message, title, ttl=10):
        wx.Dialog.__init__(self, None, -1, title,size=(400, 150))
        self.CenterOnScreen(wx.BOTH)
        self.timeToLive = ttl

        stdBtnSizer = self.CreateStdDialogButtonSizer(wx.OK|wx.CANCEL) 
        stMsg = wx.StaticText(self, -1, message)
        self.stTTLmsg = wx.StaticText(self, -1, 'Closing this dialog box in %ds...'%self.timeToLive)

        vbox = wx.BoxSizer(wx.VERTICAL)
        vbox.Add(stMsg, 1, wx.ALIGN_CENTER|wx.TOP, 10)
        vbox.Add(self.stTTLmsg,1, wx.ALIGN_CENTER|wx.TOP, 10)
        vbox.Add(stdBtnSizer,1, wx.ALIGN_CENTER|wx.TOP, 10)
        self.SetSizer(vbox)

        self.timer = wx.Timer(self)
        self.timer.Start(1000)#Generate a timer event every second
        self.timeToLive = 10 
        self.Bind(wx.EVT_TIMER, self.onTimer, self.timer)

    def onTimer(self, evt):
        self.timeToLive -= 1
        self.stTTLmsg.SetLabel('Closing this dialog box in %ds...'%self.timeToLive)

        if self.timeToLive == 0:
            self.timer.Stop()
            self.Destroy()

class Frame(wx.Frame):
    def __init__(self, parent, id, title):
        wx.Frame.__init__(self, parent, id, title, size=(100, 100),style=wx.MINIMIZE_BOX | wx.SYSTEM_MENU | wx.CAPTION | wx.CLOSE_BOX | wx.CLIP_CHILDREN)

        host=os.system('hostname')
        if host!='superman':
            dlg = MessageDialog('The host name should be superman', 'Info', ttl=10)               
            dlg.ShowModal()
        else:
            self.Center()
            self.Show()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    app = wx.PySimpleApp()
    frame = Frame(None, -1, "") 
    frame.Show(1)
    app.MainLoop()

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered May 16 '11 at 02:24

4

I think you might have to use a custom wx.Dialog for this. You can use wx.FutureCall to call trigger an event in the future. Something like:

class MessageDialog(wx.Dialog):
    def __init__(self, message, title):
        wx.Dialog.__init__(self, None, -1, title,size=(300, 120))
        self.CenterOnScreen(wx.BOTH)

        ok = wx.Button(self, wx.ID_OK, "OK")
        ok.SetDefault()
        text = wx.StaticText(self, -1, message)

        vbox = wx.BoxSizer(wx.VERTICAL)
        vbox.Add(text, 1, wx.ALIGN_CENTER|wx.TOP, 10)
        vbox.Add(ok, 1, wx.ALIGN_CENTER|wx.BOTTOM, 10)
        self.SetSizer(vbox)

class Frame(wx.Frame):
    def __init__(self, parent, id, title):
        wx.Frame.__init__(self, parent, id, title, size=(100, 100),style=wx.MINIMIZE_BOX | wx.SYSTEM_MENU | wx.CAPTION | wx.CLOSE_BOX | wx.CLIP_CHILDREN)

        host=os.system('hostname')
        if host!='superman':
            dlg = MessageDialog('The host name should be superman. Closing this dialog box in 2s...', 'Info')        
            wx.FutureCall(2000, dlg.Destroy)
            dlg.ShowModal()
        else:
            self.Center()
            self.Show()

answered May 16 '11 at 02:24

Zach Kelling

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Good solution. Thanks. Can we make the message show the timer as time progresses, meaning 'closing in 3s...', 'closing in 2s...', 'closing in 1s...' and then close. – user699540 May 16 '11 at 04:26
Sure, although I'm not familiar enough with wxPython to say precisely how. Might want to check out the code for this: http://www.wxpython.org/docs/api/wx.ProgressDialog-class.html – Zach Kelling May 16 '11 at 04:35
Use a wx.Timer, and you can bind to its EVT_TIMER, example here -->http://wiki.wxpython.org/Timer, that way you can update the user on long he has left every time the timer event fires, then after x event fires destroy... – volting May 16 '11 at 06:32
Ill add a full answer with an example when I have time later. – volting May 16 '11 at 06:45
Great solution but when using wx 4.0.1 on Python 2.7.12 I get `wxPyDeprecationWarning: Using deprecated class. Use CallLater instead.`. Simply changing `wx.FutureCall` in the above answer to `wx.CallLater` removes the warning. – Aleksander Lidtke Apr 06 '18 at 02:13

wxMessageBox with an auto-close timer in wxPython

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