universal_tool_template.py

A quick Qt GUI tool development template for cross-platform standalone desktop tools, and sub-tools for python supported host applications, including

Maya, Houdini, Nuke
(BlackMagic) Fusion
Blender (the free cross-platform 3D application, need install pyside2 as instructed below)
Unreal 4.25 (the free game engine, need to install python plugin and pyside, instruction below)
Unity 2020 (the free game engine, need to install python package)
Krita (the free Photoshop alternative)
Notepad++ (the code editor, need PythonScript plugin installed)
standalone desktop

It automatically supports any combination of (Python 2.x, Python 3.x in 32bit and 64bit) with (PySide, PyQt4, PySide2, PyQt5)

Detail Documentation at wiki: https://github.com/shiningdesign/universal_tool_template.py/wiki

ClassName.py

The light-weight version of universal_tool_template.py, designed for widget level implementation but still with utt qui() features.

Key Feature

Feature	Description
Host Detection	Maya, Houdini, Nuke, Fusion, Blender, Unreal, Unity, Krita, Notepad++, Desktop
Python Detection	2.x, 3.x, 32bit, 64bit
Qt Binding Detection	PySide, PyQt4, PySide2, PyQt5
Universal Coding	seamlessly works in above 2x2x4=16 combinations
File IO Support	json, cPicle binary, plain text
oneline multi-UI creation	quickUI() v4.0; qui() v1.0
one-stop UI management	self.uiList, self.iconList, self.hotkey
auto UI-Action bindinig	button, menuItem, message button
auto Icon loading	maya shelf icon, class name icon
Template Style Option	standalone, frameless, trans-irregular, on-top
Global Style Option	modern style
Interface Interaction	Drag, Move, right-click-menu
Element Style Option	invisible-functional button
Extension Features	self location for script mode and app mode
Language Features	auto Export and Load UI language json

Widget Level of UTT:

v1010 (public release):

(2020.09.25) update qui() to support tab, tree creation
(2020.08.14) add more standard default function and code template
(2020.06.15) release of lite version of UTT for widget implementation, as UTT is too big for little widget and UTT is designed for tool creation as main window (even though UTT still has widget mode).
--- pre test stage
(2020.06.15) add spin box
(2020.06.13) add _grp layout object creation
(2020.03.20) add qui_menu/default_menu_call
(2020.03.02) fix _space support in addItem during layout
(2020.02.03-25) support _space,_txt creation
(2020.01.20) add qui_menu/default_menu_call functions, optional import partial
(2020.01.08) support spacer item creation; add partial import
(2019.10.15) replaced lite_0101 as widget level lite implementation

New Revolution of UTT - version 2000 series:

v2020 (public release):

(2022.08.07)
- add unity support with unity python package

v2010 (public release):

(2022.08.07)
- fix long to int for Maya 2022 python3
(2020.09.08)
- update comment section and quickInfo() status bar check
(2020.07.14)
- better support for Krita window integration
- add Unreal window integration
- add instruction in example Class and run code in example Class
(2020.06.04) better support for houdini window integration, add _spin as QSpinBox, and _check value save for settingUI
(2019.10.25) fix empty creation string issue
(2019.10.03)
- fix getPathChild() unicode path name by unicode scanPath
- add _tab position in settingUI
(2019.09.12) updateUI preset support choice and input
(2019.08.08) add loadPreset()
(2019.08.06) re-write 1116 based on lite_0101 into clean v2010. a 3yr cleanup
- drop module: cPickle, ctypes
- add template info into class variable
- drop method setupStyle into setupUI
- remove self.drag_position
- dropped qui_atn, will use mainly qui_menu
- improve quickFolderAsk to remember
- dropped all ui info functions, like input_text() and etc
- dropped mui_to_qt, qt_to_mui
- dropped all quickUI() related quick() functions
- move All Data/Tree related function to UserClass()
- remove self.mode in default
- 'my_grp;vbox;Personal Data' like qui() now take ';' for all multi-date creation, no more mix ; and ,
- main(): sys.exit(1) signal for complete the task when duplicated window detected.
- main(): remove multi-copy window case for maya

Archive Version of UTT - 1000 series

v011.16 (2019.10.25) fix empty creation string issue
v011.16 (2019.08.06 last collective update)
- quickInfo(self, info, force=0) will pop to top window instead of element level to display info on status bar unless w. force flag.
- quickMsg(self, msg, block=1, ask=0) added ask feature to get simple ok/cancel result for user
- quickFolderAsk(self,dir=None) added start find directory option
- openFolder(self, folderPath) fixed linux open explorer issue
- newFolder(self, parentPath, name=None) can take file path as input and auto create parent folder
- input_text(), input_int(),input_float() default allow feedback empty msg option now
- writeTextFile(self, txt, file, b=0) allow binary writing mode
- fontNormal_action(self, uiClass_list=[]) and so supported uiClass_list input to batch font change
- getPathChild(self, scanPath, pattern='', isfile=0) will handle path not exist issue
- quickTree(self, cur_node, node_data, editable=0) added for create add nodes into tree (tmp)
- self.memoData['settingUI']=[] added, to support remember user input value on UIs and store them into file before closing and optionally restore value for next start
v011.15:
- (2019.01.29)
  - add self.hotkey in init, and self.hotkey_action() to show list of hotkey
  - fix long quickMsg(), and now can select text from it
v011.12:
- (2018.10.26) auto add scroll for long (>25 lines) text in quickMsg; setAsUI for use template UI component, and option initialize loadLang without build menu.
v011.10:
- (2018.03.08) update TreeToData with filter on defined colume index, and path_info() added
v011.00:
- (2018.02.20) new yearly version out
  - add input_check(). path_info() (better version of getPathChild)
  - improve getPathChild() with pass re object for speedup
  - remove old quickMenu() and quickMenuAction(), fully switched to qui_menubar, qui_menu, qui_atn
v010.20:
- (2018.02.20) Fix launch code in Houdini since v8
- (2017.11.13) Blackmagic Fusion support added
- (2017.11.13) notepad++ support for integration
  - blender3D support fix and code cleanup
  - python 3 add reload and unicode
  - quickFileAsk(self, type, ext=None, dir=None) for location preset
- (2017.10.26) some new functions
  - newFolder(parentPath, name=None)
  - qui_key(key_name, key_combo, func)
  - cache_tree(cur_tree_name, force=1)
  - filter_tree(cur_tree_name, word)
  - bring to front if called again in tool mode
- (2017.10.17) a cleanup and restructure of template v10, especially those ui creation functions
v010.10:
- (2017.10.12) update qui_menu() to support append to menu if exists and existing atn check
- (2017.10.11) add return parent ui_name in qui(), which enabled nested qui creation
- (2017.10.02) improve coding and more functions to handle context menu and multi-purpose in single function
- (2017.09.20) add memoData of last_export and last_import for quickFileAsk to remember last directory
- (2017.08.22) fix quickUI 3rd party class name generation
v010.10: 2017.06.24
- update file name up to 1010
- add TreeWidget related operation inside (which not include in filename 1000)
- operations include Interchange among File Directory, Raw Data, Tree Structure with optional filtering and file version combining
- add openFile(filePath) to use system to open file (crossplatform)
v010.10: 2017.05.17
- add openFolder() and subprocess in template
- add (optional) position memory
- UserClassUI (optional) external config overload, and config export, import
v010.10: 2017.04.28
- add key of lang always upper()
- add global font size function
- switch loadLang and loadData
- better file filter browser
v010.11: 2017.04.25
- added date tracking for version
- added toggle Top flag in userClass
v010.10: 2017.04.19
- fix default_message, Establish_Connections function's prefix
- better log, help, version placement
- fix loadLang QCombo part
- fix readDataFile part
- better self location even with importing
v010: 2017.03.13:
- (2017.04.20) replacing v9.4, with strong "template+userClass" concept
- rewrite some syntax, and provide more seperation on customization part
- all sample code has been taken out for clean template
- complete rewrite to v9 and more slim code
v009.4: 2017.04.20
- single desktop instance
v009.3: 2017.02.20
- auto template builder compatiblility
v009: 2017.02.01
- a branch of v8.2 beta - ongoing, as it will use class inherient method
- instead of modify whole copy of the template class, which helps on nested template class UI and multiple class program
- just change the UserClassUI to your class name
v008.3: 2017.02.20
- auto template builder compatiblility
v008.2.2: 2017.02.14
- fix language update
- add icon related path
v008.2: 2017.01.25
- change default template_class name to UniversalToolUI_####, so that you can have multiple template testing without duplicate class name in memory
- reduce code,
  - add self.icon
  - add keep_margin_layout list
  - take out help into self.help for quick change
  - rewrite data file io functions, support json ascii data and cpickle binary data
  - better quickMsgAsk dialog functions
  - qui: add QListWidget
  - quickUI: add header name list option for QTreeWidget
- better support for template as widget in nested UI, menu creation check for widget
- remove all custom widget from template for clean start, you can add them later, like LNTextEdit
v008: 2016.12.08:
- (2016.12.19): v008.1 more cleanup
- add python 3 support
- compatible with Maya 2014 (pyside), Maya 2017 (pyside2), nuke 10 (pyside), houdini 15 (pyside), blender 2.7.8(pyqt5), desktop (pyqt4)
- clean up code
v007.4: 2016.11.15
- disable drag move by default
- add auto text input valid and input related get function
- add more custom option for default_action() for buttons
v007.3: 2016.10.13
- add functions for convert between Maya built-in UI creation and Qt Widget Object,
- Qt use object pointer reference, Maya use object name
v007.2: 2016.09.20
- fix layout margin clear
- add quickPolicy
- add quickInfo for quick notify and feedback, user customizable
v007: 2016.09.09
- v7.1: fix btnMsg issue
- rewrite quickUI, backward compatible, and also optimized label creation for form layout, only create label when needed
- enable you to directly nest quickUI inside quickUI with various return type,
  - eg. self.quickUI([self.quickUI(), self.quickUI()], 'main_vbox')
- enable you to quickUI with tab, split, groupbox as layout object, same creation string syntax as element
- a even compact pure text based UI creation and reference function on top of quickUI, called "qui()"
v006.2: 2016.09.01
- add utf8 support
- better structure for fast template update
v006.1.2:
- add hotkey example
- add self.memoData['data'] for default, since not affect self.memoData['lang']
v006.1:
- self location and location for load lang
- window icon support and window intitial drag position
- quickMsgAsk for user input
- quickTabUI (no tab name lang out yet)
- improve lang functions
- fix qmenu creation for lang function
- fix file icon template name
v005: 2016.07.30

add translation and stype function, better grid layout

v004: 2016.07.28
v003: 2016.07.22

How to Use

(for Version 9 and 10 and newer):

global replace class name "UserClassUI" to "YourToolName" in your editor,

in icons folder, the Tool GUI icon should name as "YourToolName.png"

change file name "universal_tool_template.py" to "YourPythonFileName.py",

in icons folder, the Maya shelf icon should name as "YourPythonFileName.png", if you name all name the same, then 1 icon is enough

load it up and run
further edit:

change the version, date, log, help variable before UserClassUI to update your app internal info

(for Version 8 and older)

  * Prepare into Your Tool:
    1. global replace class name "UniversalToolUI"  to "YourToolName" in your editor,
      * in icons folder, the Tool GUI icon should name as "YourToolName.png"
    2. change file name "universal_tool_template.py" to "YourPythonFileName.py",
      * in icons folder, the Maya shelf icon should name as "YourPythonFileName.png", if you name all name the same, then 1 icon is enough
    3. load it up and run

loading template - Run in Application's python panel:

import sys;myPath='/path_to_universal_tool_or_custom_name/';myPath in sys.path or sys.path.append(myPath);
import universal_tool_template
universal_tool_template.main() # no need this line for blender

loading template - Run in system command console

python universal_tool_template.py

Get PySide2 for Blender

UPDATE: 2020/06.23 install PySide2 for Blender 2.83

go to Blender install folder, D:\YourPathToThat\blender-2.83.0-windows64\2.83\python\bin
copy the path, and go commandline (type D: enter if your blender in D drive, C drive no need):
for Mac and Linux, same, just cd to that directory, and do above. the drive letter thing is just for windows, if you prefer to put app in other drive
restart blender, you should be able to call “from PySide2 import QtWidgets,QtCore,QtGui” without issue

cd D:\YourPathToThat\blender-2.83.0-windows64\2.83\python\bin
D:
.\python.exe -m pip install PySide2

Get Python, PySide for Unreal 4.19 and 4.25 onwards

install Python for Unreal 4.19 and 4.25 onwards

in Edit > Plugins : Scripting Tab, enable "Python Editor Script Plugin", and restart UE
show it in Windows > Develop Tools > Output Log, you can switch the cmd to Python in the command box
use code below to check the UE python path, and the python version it comes with

import sys
pyMode = '.'.join([ str(n) for n in sys.version_info[:3] ])
print("Python: {0}".format(pyMode))
import os
print(os)

install PySide for Unreal 4.19 and 4.25 onwards

pip module is built-in with the python in UE, so you can install PySide/PySide2 using pip
use above method to check path, it should be something like \my_path_to_version\UE_4.25\Engine\Binaries\ThirdParty\Python\Win64
copy the path, and go commandline (type D: enter if your blender in D drive, C drive no need):
for Mac and Linux, same, just cd to that directory, and do above. the drive letter thing is just for windows, if you prefer to put app in other drive
after run command below in system cmd box, you should be able to import PySide or PySide2

cd D:\my_path_to_version\UE_4.25\Engine\Binaries\ThirdParty\Python\Win64
D:
.\python.exe -m pip install PySide

Get Python3, PySide2 for Unity 2020 onwards

Detail guide on my wiki for now:

http://shining-lucy.com/wiki/page.php?id=appwiki:unity#python_and_qt_inside_unity

One-line Multi-UI Creation Syntax

My Varaible-Free Quick-GUI-Generating Text-Code Syntax

version 7 and above syntax

quickUI(["elementA_btn;QPushButton;Title Here"], "config_layout;QVBoxLayout")

element_list:

ui_name@ui_label;ui_type;ui_opts
#####################################
elementA_btn;QPushButton;Title Here
elementA_btn@User label;QPushButton;Title Here
elementB_choice@Choose one;QComboBox;(A,B,C,4)
partB_space;QSpacerItem;(200,10,5,4)
elementC_txtEdit@Custom label;LNTextEdit
partB_layout;vbox
partB_QVBoxLayout

main_split;QSplitter;v
main_tab;QTabWidget
elementB_grp@System label;QGroupBox;vbox,My Group Title


parentObject
parent_name;parent_type;parent_opts
#####################################
config_layout;QVBoxLayout
config_vbox
config_split;QSplitter;v
config_split;v
config_grp;QGroupBox;vbox,My Group Title
main_tab
main_tab;QTabWidget

parentObject's insert_opt
#####################################
gridLayout: "h", "v" for grid insertion
tab: (Tab A, Tab B, Tab C) for tab name insertion

#####################################

qui('elementA_btn;Title Here | elementB_label;Label here', 'config_vbox')

element_list:

ui_name@ui_label;ui_opts
#####################################
can't use ; in ui_opts

parentObject
parent_name;parent_type;parent_opts
#####################################
parentObject's insert_opt
#####################################

Universal Tool Template UI creation syntax

now all the creation is using qui function

UI element	syntax
QVBoxLayout	`self.qui('my_vbox')` `self.qui('my_layout;vbox')`
QHBoxLayout	`self.qui('my_hbox')` `self.qui('my_layout;hbox')`
QGridLayout	`self.qui('my_grid')` `self.qui('my_layout;grid')`
	`self.qui('box_btn;Box \| sphere_btn;Sphere \| ring_btn;Ring', 'my_layout;grid', 'h')`
	create and insert those 3 buttons as horizontal row in the grid
	`self.qui('box_btn;Box \| sphere_btn;Sphere \| ring_btn;Ring', 'my_layout;grid', 'h')` `self.qui('box2_btn;Box2 \| sphere2_btn;Sphere2 \| ring2_btn;Ring2', 'my_layout', 'h')`
	create 2 rows of button, first row (Box,Sphere,Rig), second row (Box2,Sphere2,Ring2)
	`self.qui('cat_btn;Cat \| dog_btn;Dog \| pig_btn;Pig', 'pet_layout;grid', 'v')` `self.qui('cat2_btn;Cat2 \| dog2_btn;Dog2 \| pig2_btn;Pig2', 'pet_layout', 'v')`
	create 2 column of button, first column (cat,dog,pig), second column (cat2,dog2,pig2)
QFormLayout	self.qui('my_form') self.qui('my_layout;form')
	`self.qui('name_input@Name:;John \| email_input@Email:;test@test.com', 'entry_form')`
	create a name input with label "Name:" and default text "John", and then create email input with label "Email" and default text "test@test.com" inside entry_form form layout

QSplitter	`self.qui('user_layout \| info_layout', 'my_split;h')` `self.qui('user_grp \| info_tab', 'my_split;h')`
	put user UI and info UI side by side in split, child can be either a layout or widget
QGroupBox	`self.qui('user2_btn;User2 \| info2_btn;Info2', 'my_grp;vbox,Personal Data')`
	put user UI and info UI inside "my_grp" group box and with internal vbox layout and title as "Personal Data" Note:no ,() in title
QWidget	`self.qui('user_label;Name \| user_input', 'user_widget;vbox')`
	like Groupbox widget, but without a title, useful for hide show a set of UIs
QTabWidget	`self.qui('client_layout \| product_layout', 'database_tab;h', '(Client,Product)')`
	put client UI and product UI into database_tab tabwidget, as horizontal tab, with title as "Client", "Product", UI can be either widget or layout

QPushButton	`self.qui('my_btn;Submit')`
	create pushbutton with title "Submit"
	`self.qui('my_btnMsg;Info')`
	create pushbutton with title "Info" with automatically pop up a dialog show text string stored in self.uiList['my_msg']
QLabel	`self.qui('info_label;Please select all objects')`
	a label with text "Please select all objects"
QLineEdit	`self.qui('user_input;Your Email')`
	a line input with default text "Your Email"
QCheckBox	`self.qui('testOnly_check;Run as Test Only')`
	create a check box with title "Run as Test Only"
QComboBox	`self.qui('objectType_choice;(Box,Sphere,Ring)')`
	create a drop down list with option "Box", "Sphere", "Ring"

QTextEdit	`self.qui('comment_txt;Please write details here')`
	create a text area with default text "Please write details here"

QListWidget	`self.qui('name_list')`
	note, list has no header and single column
QTreeWidget	`self.qui('file_tree;(Name,Path)')`
	create a tree widget with column names as "Name", "Path"
QTableWidget	`self.qui('data_table;(Name,Email,Phone)')`
	create a data table with column name as "Name", "Email", "Phone"

QSpacerItem	`self.qui('user_space;(100,30,4,3)')`
	create a space item with policy expanding horizontally and normal vertically # 0 = fixed; 1 > min; 2 < max; 3 = prefered; 4 = <expanding>; 5 = expanding> Aggresive; 6=4 ignored size input

now all menu creation is using qui_atn,qui_menu,qui_menubar function (replaced quickMenuAction, quickMenu since v11)

menu element	syntax
QMenu	`self.qui_menu('right_menu_createFolder_atn;Create Folder,Ctrl+D \| _ \| right_menu_openFolder_atn;Open Folder', 'right_menu')`
	create a list of menu QAction with title and optional shortcut and form (into) a menu object, while _ means a seperator in menu
	`self.qui_menubar('file_menu;&File \| setting_menu;&Setting \| help_menu;&Help')`
	create a list of menu in menubar
QAction	`self.qui_atn(ui_name, title, tip=None, icon=None, parent=None, key=None)` `self.qui_atn('importConfig_atn','Import Config (&I)','Import Config Setting.','importConfig.png', 'setting_menu', 'Ctrl+I')`
	create a detailed QAction with uiList name, title, tip, icon, optionally inside a menu; for simple menuAction creation, just use with qui_menu
QShortcut	`self.qui_key('editNoter', 'Alt+E', self.editNoter_action )`
	create hotkey without a menuAction, stored in self.hotkey

File Structure

universal_tool_template_VERSION.py: main TEMPLATE and USERCLASS and MAIN()
GearBox: a json config file editor for both language dict files and config export dict files from template.
LNTextEdit.py: (optional) if you want to use LNTextEdit in your tool.
UITranslator.py: (optional) a GUI tool to create translation json file from template's exported default language json
install-v5.0_App.mel: (optional) a quick Maya shelf installer that auto put python tool in maya shelf based on naming format and ctrl+RMB menu for reload your tool, good for code test
App_V9.bat: window console mode or window mode auto launcher, it detect whether to use launch with pythonw or python by the file name
- if you name as YourPythonFileName.bat, it will launch a console to run your Py (use default system, if fail, fall back to cust python path list)
- if you name as YourPythonFileName_w.bat, it will use Pythonw to directly run your Py without pop-up console floating there (use default system, if fail, fall back to cust python path list)
- if you name as YourPythonFileName_z.bat, it will launch without console in your bat defined cust python path candidates (you can add py2,py3 path in custlist)
- if you name as YourPythonFileName_x.bat, it will launch with console in your bat defined cust python path candidates (you can add py2,py3 path in custlist)

Screenshot

File Structure in Details

GearBox

a json dict file editor, for editing config dict file exported from template for external config file use.
it also can serve a lite or better version of UITranslator.py
you can also use it as a example of how universal_tool_template.py can be used to create tools

screenshot

usage

run the GearBox_w.bat to start it if you have python on windows
load the json file from browser inside it,
click on the tree item to show in the bottom left preview text box, and use right text box to draft out your edit content and then copy paste into edit field on the tree, by double click the tree item.
change the file name if you want to export as different file
click export button below to save it

feature list

v001.1 (2017.09.25)
- update GearBox to template 1010,
- fix export null error when there is single data entry in the config_tree and the data has a name
v001. (2017.04.17)
- support dict type json file only
- file loading and exporting
- add, remove tree branch
- edit the field and has a large preview text box to auto loading from selection
- show pure text for json text data, and show json format text for other type data in tree view

LNTextEdit.py

a line number text edit Ui element, a replacement of the original LNTextEdit and my variations like LNTextEditEx, LNTextEdit_Pside, LNTextEdit_PyQt

usage

import LNTextEdit
display_textEdit = LNTextEdit.LNTextEdit()
display_textEdit.setWrap(0)
display_textEdit.setReadOnly(1)
display_textEdit.setReadOnlyStyle(1)
display_textEdit.setZoom(1) # enable text zoom feature

feature list

v4.4 (2021.09.17):
- add support for file path, file name drag and drop (default insert dropped file paths, ctrl: drop names, ctrl+shift: drop root path + names)
v4.3 (2020.02.14):
- add monoFont function
v4.2
- fix lineWrap cmd typo
v4.1
- fix qt5 qpallete code in qtgui
version 4.0: (2016.12.08)
- python 3 support
- pyside, pyside2, pyqt4, pyqt5 support
version 3.2: (2016.09.01)
- add get/set/resetFontSize function
- support ctrl+mouse wheel zoom in out text area, need to setZoom(1)
version 3.1:
- (v3.1.2) add unicode support for file url
- add multiple files drop as path text input
- add insertText function
version 3.0:
- support drag and drop file or file url as url text
- support setReadOnly and setReadOnlyStyle function
- support setWrap() quick function
- support text() function
- better and clear code for PyQt4 and PySide

UITranslator.py

A tool to create UI interface translation language json file for auto load into universal tool template
Note: UITranslator works for any tool created based on universal tool template above v6.1

Feature

version 2.0: (2016.12.20)
- rewrite based on universal_tool_template.py v8.1
- add reset action in file menu
version 1.0: (2016.07.22)
- load default language that exported from your tool based on universal tool template above v6.1
- create new translation and store them in memory before export to a language json file
- load multiple language json file

How to Use

load in maya:

import UITranslator
UITranslator.main()

load in commandline:

python UITranslator.py

usage:
- use load button at bottom to load up the exported default language json file from those universal_tool_template based tools
- file menu > add language to add a new translation
- translate one by one for your need in that table column
- click "Process and Update memory" button to update the table content into memory
- then, the drop down list for export shows which language you want to export, Note, make sure you change the path on the file input before you click Export button, otherwise, it will overwrite whatever in the file input's path
output language file name format:
- language file naming format: ToolName_lang_YourLanguageName.json

File Structure

UITranslator.py
LNTextEdit.py: mod 3rd party line number text edit ui element
icons/UITranslator.png: (32x32) https://icons8.com/web-app/for/all/translate