SPE now works on wxPython2.8 and how to switch

Today I switched on my laptop from wxPython2.6 to wxPython2.8 SPE seemed to work quite OK already, except: the bottom panel took too much place and was not draggable to a smaller size. After fixing this annoying bug, I am happily coding now with SPE on wxPython 2.8 For those who want to try out before I release, follow the subversion instructions. I tested the new SPE on Ubuntu (wxPython 2.6 & 2.8) and on Windows (wxPython 2.8). If anybody knows a good subversion client for the Mac, please comment.

sudo wxPython 2.8 has major new features such as AUI (Advanced User Interface), anti-alias graphics (Graphicscontext) and a lot of new widgets (RichTextCtrl, CustomTreeCtrl, SearchCtrl a la Firefox, ...). This might be useful for SPE in the future, but at the moment SPE stays backwards compatible with wxPython 2.6.


On Feisty wxPython is already included in repositories, just type:

sudo apt-get install python-wxgtk2.8

On Edgy you need to use the wxPython coummunity repositories. Open /etc/apt/sources.list:

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Add the following lines:

# wxPython APT repository at wxcommunity.com
deb http://wxpython.wxcommunity.com/apt/ubuntu/dapper /
deb-src http://wxpython.wxcommunity.com/apt/ubuntu/dapper /

Then copy and paste these lines in a terminal:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
sudo apt-get install python-wxgtk2.8 python-wxtools wx2.8-i18n

If you want to use XRC gui designer, you need python-xml:

sudo apt-get install python-xml

How to download the latest SPE from subversion

If you want to have the latest version of SPE, use subversion which is very easy. (Subversion is a way for multiple people around the world to work on the same program. It keeps the changes that they make to the source code of that program in sync with each other.) Do not forget first to uninstall your previous version of SPE! Windows users can uninstall SPE through 'Add/Remove programs' in the Control Panel (look for 'python-spe*', not for 'spe') and use a subversion client (tortoisesvn, rapidsvn) to get the latest SPE. Linux and mac users need just to copy and paste this in the terminal:

svn checkout svn://svn.berlios.de/python/spe/trunk/_spe

This will create a '_spe' folder. (Do not rename it to 'spe' or another name!) From this folder you can run:

python SPE.py

To browse the subversion repository online, surf to:

http://svn.berlios.de/wsvn/python/spe/trunk/_spe/

For ubuntu: to first remove SPE, type this in the terminal:

sudo apt-get remove spe kiki wxglade

To install subversion (svn), type this in the terminal:

sudo apt-get install subversion

Instructions for Tortoise SVN (thanks Richard):

1. Go to the location you want to download SPE to
2. Right click -> SVN Checkout
3. Paste svn://svn.berlios.de/python/spe/trunk/_spe into the url field
4. Click ok and it should work.

Switched from Windows to Ubuntu

I've switched from Windows to Ubuntu since half a year and I don't look back. I can recommend every python developer to do the same as the batteries included in Ubuntu are a python paradise. Of course I will continue supporting SPE on Windows and Mac as well. Watch out this blog as I will post here updates about SPE and some useful things about python, Ubuntu, UML, ...