Launcher Configuration¶

Let's add a simple icon to the Launcher that opens VLC.

First, create a file, for instance, conf/scripts/vlc.py:

python

import os

def open_vlc():
    os.startfile("C:/Program Files/VideoLAN/VLC/vlc.exe")

Then open conf/app_launcher.py and append an item to the apps list:

python

class DefaultLauncherConfig(LauncherConfig):
    apps: list[LauncherItem] = [
        LauncherItem(
            label="VLC",
            icon="software_vlc.png",  # all icons are stored in bluepepper/gui/icons
            module="conf.scripts.vlc",
            function="open_vlc",
            tooltip="Opens VLC",
        ),
    ]

A new app icon will appear in the Apps section of the Launcher, and VLC will open when you double-click it. Note that there is no technical difference between apps and tools, it is simply a convenient way to organise your icons. If you wanted the VLC icon to appear at the bottom of the Launcher, you would add the LauncherItem to tools instead of apps.

launcher app

This approach to launching applications through custom functions gives you a great deal of flexibility from simple one-liners to complex launch sequences. See maya_launcher.py for a more involved example.

About Qt Dialogs¶

BluePepper uses PySide6 for its interface, so you can open your own Qt Dialogs from the Launcher. Let's create one in a new file conf/scripts/open_dialog.py:

python

# BluePepper uses qtpy to wrap around PySide6 and PySide2
from qtpy.QtWidgets import QDialog, QPushButton, QVBoxLayout

class HelloDialog(QDialog):
    def __init__(self, parent=None):
        super().__init__(parent)
        layout = QVBoxLayout()
        self.setLayout(layout)
        self.button = QPushButton("Say Hello")
        layout.addWidget(self.button)
        self.button.clicked.connect(self.say_hello)

    def say_hello(self):
        print("hello")

def show_dialog():
    dialog = HelloDialog()
    dialog.exec()

Then add it to the Launcher:

python

tools: list[LauncherItem] = [
    LauncherItem(
        label="Hello Dialog",
        icon="console.png",
        module="conf.scripts.open_dialog",
        function="show_dialog",
        tooltip="Demo Qt Dialog",
    )
]

launcher qt

About Beautiful Qt Dialogs¶

The dialog above is rather plain. BluePepper provides custom Qt widgets and dialogs to apply the correct stylesheet and ensure a consistent look across the application.

Here is a polished version of open_dialog.py:

python

from qtpy.QtWidgets import QPushButton, QVBoxLayout, QWidget

from bluepepper.gui.utils import get_qta_icon
from bluepepper.gui.widgets.container import (
    ContainerDialog,
    ContainerWidget,
    get_qt_app,
)


class HelloWidget(QWidget):  # QWidget instead of QDialog
    def __init__(self, parent=None):
        super().__init__(parent)
        layout = QVBoxLayout()
        self.setLayout(layout)
        self.button = QPushButton("Say Hello")
        layout.addWidget(self.button)
        self.button.clicked.connect(self.say_hello)

    def say_hello(self):
        print("hello")


def show_dialog():
    app = get_qt_app()
    icon = get_qta_icon(name="mdi6.hand-wave", scale_factor=1.25)
    widget = HelloWidget()
    container = ContainerWidget(widget=widget, icon=icon, title="Hello Button")
    dialog = ContainerDialog(container)
    dialog.exec()

The result will be identical in functionality, but with considerably more style (the BluePepper stylesheet, an icon, and a proper window title).

launcher qt

If you need a reminder on how to use QtAwesome icons, see Adding Icons to Menu Actions.