The first thing that may be done on a python-brisa application is to setup the framework gears, that is, choose a reactor.
The choice of a reactor is very simple and depends mainly on your application. If your application requires somehow Gtk, Qt, ecore or even gobject, you should choose the reactor that attends that demand. Besides having a default python-pure reactor, python-brisa implements:
If your application do not demand any of these libraries/frameworks, then you should probably use the default reactor. The next section explains how to install the default reactor and subsequent sections explains how to use the reactor.
Installing the default reactor:
from brisa.core.reactors import install_default_reactor
reactor = install_default_reactor()
Once installed, the reactor cannot be replaced during the same runtime.
Once installed, the reactor can be retrieved the same way it was installed (by calling install_default_reactor() or e.g. Gtk2Reactor()). The reactor will be installed on module brisa.core.reactor and can also be retrieved with:
from brisa.core import reactor
For instance, if your application contains a Gtk GUI, you must install the Gtk2Reactor, action illustrated below:
from brisa.core.reactors import Gtk2Reactor
reactor = Gtk2Reactor()
The most important thing here is to notice that once installed, this reactor will use Gtk internally, so your old calls to gtk.main(), gtk.main_quit() will be equal to reactor.main(), reactor.main_quit(), respectivelly.
For the sake of organization, we recommend you to use the reactor interface (e.g. use reactor.main() instead of gtk.main()). It’s possible the reactor doesn’t work properly if you don’t use the interface.
If your application contains a Qt GUI or a Qt Core, you must install the QtReactor, action illustrated below:
from brisa.core.reactors.qtreactor import QtReactor
reactor = QtReactor()
This reactor will use Qt internally, so remember to call reactor.main() and reactor.main_quit() as we did with Gtk2Reactor. Take a look at code examples to see a Qt device and a Qt control point example.
The concepts illustrated above are the same for the other reactors.
The reactor interface defines that reactors must support file descriptors event handling and timers.
File descriptors event handlers and timers can be added before starting the reactor (e.g. reactor.main()) and during runtime. Though, they will not work if the reactor hasn’t been started.
For creating a timer, use the reactor’s method add_timer(). By providing the interval to wait between calls to the function, you will receive an unique id for the timer. Use it later for removing it from the reactor:
from brisa.core import reactor
# Adds a timer
timer_id = reactor.add_timer(interval, my_function)
(...)
# Removes the timer given it's id
reactor.rem_timer(timer_id)
(...)
For creating an event handler, use the reactor’s method add_fd(). By providing a fd file object, a callback for the event and a type for watch on the event, you will get an unique handler. Use this handler later for removing the event handler from the reactor with the rem_fd() method.
Whenever an event of the type specified (read, write or exception) happens on the file, your callback will be called with the following format: callback(file, event_type).
The available type flags are:
Multiple events can be watched by passing an or combination of event types on the type parameter (e.g. type=EVENT_TYPE_READ|EVENT_TYPE_WRITE for watching both read and write events):
from brisa.core import reactor
from brisa.core.ireactor import EVENT_TYPE_READ
def on_ready_to_read(fd, type):
print 'I read: ', fd.read()
# Add my fd
fd_handler = reactor.add_fd(myfd, on_ready_to_read, EVENT_TYPE_READ);
(...)
reactor.rem_fd(fd_handler)