PyQt instant startup screen trick - Revision history

imported_>amigadave: redirect to PyQt_Tips_and_Tricks#Instant_startup_screen

2011-05-31T09:45:53Z

redirect to PyQt_Tips_and_Tricks#Instant_startup_screen

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:45, 31 May 2011
Line 1:		Line 1:
	As most of us already know most PyQt4 apps are taking quite sometimes at start up and most of the time users are getting initial black screen while it's loading, this is just not only the case with Python apps but all the apps on [[~~Nokia N900\|N900]]. Nokia has used a trick to snapshot of apps start up screen~~ and load image instantly when the app icon is pressed, which give users an impression that apps was started up instantly but in reality they were not. (modest, note, sketch, control panel, application manager, pdfviewer, worldclock, xterm, and calculator are using this trick). So why don't we apply the same trick on our apps to make it look fast at startup? Well, Most of us don't even know the trick is there and some debates whether this is a good idea or not, but I for one rather see a false startup image than a black screen. So below is the instruction to make your Python Qt app fly at startup on N900 device.		#REDIRECT [[PyQt Tips and Tricks#Instant startup screen]]


	~~'''There are three basic things to make it work:'''~~

	~~<ol>~~
	~~<li>~~
	A D-Bus service file (name whatever e.g. yourapp.service) in "<code>/usr/share/dbus-1/services/</code>" folder even though yourapp is not using D-Bus related service at all and it should look like this format in <code>yourapp.service</code>.
	~~<pre>~~
	~~[D-BUS Service]~~
	~~Name=what.ever.yourapp~~
	~~Exec=/opt/yourapp/main.py~~
	~~</pre>~~
	~~</li>~~
	~~<li>~~
	~~Adding "<code>X-Osso-Service=what.ever.yourapp</code>" in your yourapp.desktop file in "<code>/usr/share/applications/hildon/</code>" folder, something like this.~~
	~~<pre>~~
	~~[Desktop Entry]~~
	~~Encoding=UTF-8~~
	~~Version=1.0~~
	~~Type=Application~~
	~~Terminal=false~~
	~~Name=YourApp~~
	~~Icon=YourApp~~
	~~Exec=/opt/yourapp/main.py~~
	~~X-Osso-Service=what.ever.yourapp~~
	~~</pre>~~
	~~</li>~~
	~~<li>~~
	~~Lastly, A function code in your app to take a snapshot of your app~~ startup screen when it starts up the first time or when it exits whichever your prefer. Below is an basic example of PyQt4 app code which take a snapshot of the screen at start up if it's not already exist and save it into '"<code>/home/user/.cache/launch/what.ever.yourapp.pvr</code>" (p.s. the file name has to match with your <code>X-Osso-Service</code>, and D-BUS Service Name plus .pvr extension).
	~~<source lang="python">~~
	~~#!/usr/bin/env python2.5~~
	~~# -- coding: utf-8 --~~

	from PyQt4.QtGui import *
	from PyQt4.QtCore import *

	~~import osso # only needed for osso_initialize~~

	~~class MainWindow(QMainWindow):~~
	~~def __init__(self, parent = None):~~
	~~self.dbus_service_name = "what.ever.yourapp" #must be the same as your X-osso-service in yourapp.desktop file~~
	~~"""~~
	~~self.osso_c = osso.Context(self.dbus_service_name, "0.0.1", False)~~
	~~is only needed if your app is not launched from run-standalone.sh,~~
	~~Otherwise, your app will be terminated after ~ 2mins running~~
	~~don't ask me why :)~~
	~~"""~~
	~~self.osso_c = osso.Context(self.dbus_service_name, "0.0.1", False)~~

	~~QMainWindow.__init__(self, parent)~~

	~~self.centralwidget = QWidget(self)~~
	~~self.setCentralWidget(self.centralwidget)~~

	~~"""~~
	~~the rest of your code here....~~
	~~"""~~

	~~def takeScreenShot(self):~~
	~~pvr = "/home/user/.cache/launch/%s.pvr" % self.dbus_service_name~~
	~~if not QFile.exists(pvr): # skipped if it's already there~~
	~~QPixmap.grabWidget(self.centralwidget).save(pvr, 'png') # tell it to grab only your self.centralwidget screen, which is just window screen without the menu status bar on top.~~

	~~if __name__ == '__main__':~~
	~~import sys~~
	~~app = QApplication(sys.argv)~~
	~~app.setApplicationName("YourAppName")~~
	~~YourApp = MainWindow()~~
	~~YourApp.show()~~
	~~YourApp.takeScreenShot() # run this after the YourApp.show()~~
	~~sys.exit(app.exec_())~~
	~~</source>~~
	~~</li>~~
	~~</ol>~~

	~~[[Category:Development]]~~
	~~[[Category:N900]]~~
	~~[[Category:Python~~]]

imported_>amigadave: wikify slightly

2011-05-31T09:41:37Z

wikify slightly

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:41, 31 May 2011
Line 1:		Line 1:
	As most of us already know most PyQt4 apps are taking quite sometimes at start up and most of the time users are getting initial black screen while it's loading, this is just not only the case with Python apps but all the apps on ~~n900~~. Nokia has used a trick to snapshot of apps start up screen and load image instantly when the app icon is pressed, which give users an impression that apps was started up instantly but in reality they were not. (modest, note, sketch, control panel, application manager, pdfviewer, worldclock, xterm, and calculator are using this trick). So why don't we apply the same trick on our apps to make it look fast at startup? Well, Most of us don't even know the trick is there and some debates whether this is a good idea or not, but I for one rather see a false startup image than a black screen. So below is the instruction to make your Python Qt app fly at startup on N900 device.		As most of us already know most PyQt4 apps are taking quite sometimes at start up and most of the time users are getting initial black screen while it's loading, this is just not only the case with Python apps but all the apps on [[Nokia N900\|N900]]. Nokia has used a trick to snapshot of apps start up screen and load image instantly when the app icon is pressed, which give users an impression that apps was started up instantly but in reality they were not. (modest, note, sketch, control panel, application manager, pdfviewer, worldclock, xterm, and calculator are using this trick). So why don't we apply the same trick on our apps to make it look fast at startup? Well, Most of us don't even know the trick is there and some debates whether this is a good idea or not, but I for one rather see a false startup image than a black screen. So below is the instruction to make your Python Qt app fly at startup on N900 device.


	'''There are three basic things to make it ~~works~~:'''		'''There are three basic things to make it work:'''

	1. A ~~dbus~~ service file( name whatever e.g. yourapp.service) in ''/usr/share/dbus-1/services/'' folder even though yourapp is not using ~~dbus~~ related service at all and it should look like this format in yourapp.service.		<ol>
			<li>
			A D-Bus service file (name whatever e.g. yourapp.service) in "<code>/usr/share/dbus-1/services/</code>" folder even though yourapp is not using D-Bus related service at all and it should look like this format in <code>yourapp.service</code>.
	<pre>		<pre>
	[D-BUS Service]		[D-BUS Service]
Line 10:		Line 12:
	Exec=/opt/yourapp/main.py		Exec=/opt/yourapp/main.py
	</pre>		</pre>
			</li>
			<li>
	2. Adding "X-Osso-Service=what.ever.yourapp" in your yourapp.desktop file in ''/usr/share/applications/hildon/'' folder, something like this.		Adding "<code>X-Osso-Service=what.ever.yourapp</code>" in your yourapp.desktop file in "<code>/usr/share/applications/hildon/</code>" folder, something like this.
	<pre>		<pre>
	[Desktop Entry]		[Desktop Entry]
Line 24:		Line 26:
	X-Osso-Service=what.ever.yourapp		X-Osso-Service=what.ever.yourapp
	</pre>		</pre>
			</li>
			<li>
	3. Lastly, A function code in your app to take a snapshot of your app startup screen when it starts up the first time or when it exits whichever your prefer. Below is an basic example of PyQt4 app code which take a snapshot of the screen at start up if it's not already exist and save it into ''/home/user/.cache/launch/what.ever.yourapp.pvr'' (p.s. the file name has to match with your X-Osso-Service, and D-BUS Service Name plus .pvr extension).		Lastly, A function code in your app to take a snapshot of your app startup screen when it starts up the first time or when it exits whichever your prefer. Below is an basic example of PyQt4 app code which take a snapshot of the screen at start up if it's not already exist and save it into '"<code>/home/user/.cache/launch/what.ever.yourapp.pvr</code>" (p.s. the file name has to match with your <code>X-Osso-Service</code>, and D-BUS Service Name plus .pvr extension).
	<source lang="python">		<source lang="python">
	#!/usr/bin/env python2.5		#!/usr/bin/env python2.5
Line 70:		Line 72:
	sys.exit(app.exec_())		sys.exit(app.exec_())
	</source>		</source>
			</li>
			</ol>

	[[Category:Development]]		[[Category:Development]]
	[[Category:N900]]		[[Category:N900]]
	[[Category:Python]]		[[Category:Python]]

imported_>khuong at 04:57, 10 May 2011

2011-05-10T04:57:02Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:57, 10 May 2011
Line 27:		Line 27:

	3. Lastly, A function code in your app to take a snapshot of your app startup screen when it starts up the first time or when it exits whichever your prefer. Below is an basic example of PyQt4 app code which take a snapshot of the screen at start up if it's not already exist and save it into ''/home/user/.cache/launch/what.ever.yourapp.pvr'' (p.s. the file name has to match with your X-Osso-Service, and D-BUS Service Name plus .pvr extension).		3. Lastly, A function code in your app to take a snapshot of your app startup screen when it starts up the first time or when it exits whichever your prefer. Below is an basic example of PyQt4 app code which take a snapshot of the screen at start up if it's not already exist and save it into ''/home/user/.cache/launch/what.ever.yourapp.pvr'' (p.s. the file name has to match with your X-Osso-Service, and D-BUS Service Name plus .pvr extension).
	<~~pre~~>		<source lang="python">
	#!/usr/bin/env python2.5		#!/usr/bin/env python2.5
	# -- coding: utf-8 --		# -- coding: utf-8 --
Line 69:		Line 69:
	YourApp.takeScreenShot() # run this after the YourApp.show()		YourApp.takeScreenShot() # run this after the YourApp.show()
	sys.exit(app.exec_())		sys.exit(app.exec_())
	</~~pre~~>		</source>
	[[Category:Development]]		[[Category:Development]]
	[[Category:N900]]		[[Category:N900]]
	[[Category:Python]]		[[Category:Python]]

imported_>khuong at 04:28, 10 May 2011

2011-05-10T04:28:55Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:28, 10 May 2011
Line 1:		Line 1:
	As most of ~~you~~ already know most PyQt4 apps are taking quite sometimes at start up and most of the time users are getting initial black screen while it's loading, this is just not only the case with Python apps but all the apps on n900. Nokia has used a trick to snapshot of apps start up screen and load image instantly when the app icon is pressed, which give users an impression that apps was started up instantly but in reality they were not. (modest, note, sketch, control panel, application manager, pdfviewer, worldclock, xterm, and calculator are using this trick). So why don't we apply the same trick on our apps to make it look fast at startup? Well, Most of us don't even know the trick is there and some debates whether this is a good idea or not, but I for one rather see a false startup image than a black screen. So below is the instruction to make your Python Qt app fly at startup on N900 device.		As most of us already know most PyQt4 apps are taking quite sometimes at start up and most of the time users are getting initial black screen while it's loading, this is just not only the case with Python apps but all the apps on n900. Nokia has used a trick to snapshot of apps start up screen and load image instantly when the app icon is pressed, which give users an impression that apps was started up instantly but in reality they were not. (modest, note, sketch, control panel, application manager, pdfviewer, worldclock, xterm, and calculator are using this trick). So why don't we apply the same trick on our apps to make it look fast at startup? Well, Most of us don't even know the trick is there and some debates whether this is a good idea or not, but I for one rather see a false startup image than a black screen. So below is the instruction to make your Python Qt app fly at startup on N900 device.

imported_>khuong at 04:24, 10 May 2011

2011-05-10T04:24:15Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:24, 10 May 2011
Line 1:		Line 1:
	As most of you already know most PyQt4 apps are taking quite sometimes at start up and most of the time users are getting initial black screen while it's loading, this is just not only the case with Python apps but all the apps on n900. Nokia has used a trick to snapshot of apps start up screen and load image instantly when the app icon is pressed, which give users an impression that apps was started up instantly but in reality they were not. (modest, note, sketch, control panel, application manager, pdfviewer, worldclock, xterm, and calculator are using this trick). ~~Some~~ debates whether this is a good idea or not, but I for one rather see a false image than a black screen. ~~:). Thanks to MOhammadAG and caco3 in this post [url][http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?p=1001799#post1001799][/url] for getting my attention on this trick otherwise, I don't even know it exists.~~		As most of you already know most PyQt4 apps are taking quite sometimes at start up and most of the time users are getting initial black screen while it's loading, this is just not only the case with Python apps but all the apps on n900. Nokia has used a trick to snapshot of apps start up screen and load image instantly when the app icon is pressed, which give users an impression that apps was started up instantly but in reality they were not. (modest, note, sketch, control panel, application manager, pdfviewer, worldclock, xterm, and calculator are using this trick). So why don't we apply the same trick on our apps to make it look fast at startup? Well, Most of us don't even know the trick is there and some debates whether this is a good idea or not, but I for one rather see a false startup image than a black screen. So below is the instruction to make your Python Qt app fly at startup on N900 device.

	So ~~here I like to share how~~ to make your Python Qt app fly at ~~start up...:) only.....:):):) since i haven't seen any tutorial~~ on ~~how to get this work with pyqt on the web~~.

imported_>khuong: /* There are three basic things to make it works: */

2011-05-10T04:18:38Z

There are three basic things to make it works:

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:18, 10 May 2011
Line 4:		Line 4:


	== There are three basic things to make it works: ==		'''There are three basic things to make it works:'''

	'''1. A dbus service file( name whatever e.g. yourapp.service) in /usr/share/dbus-1/services/ folder even though yourapp is not using dbus related service at all and it should like this format in yourapp.service.'''

			1. A dbus service file( name whatever e.g. yourapp.service) in ''/usr/share/dbus-1/services/'' folder even though yourapp is not using dbus related service at all and it should look like this format in yourapp.service.
	<pre>		<pre>
	[D-BUS Service]		[D-BUS Service]
Line 14:		Line 13:
	</pre>		</pre>

	~~'''2. Adding "X-Osso-Service=what.ever.yourapp" in your yourapp.desktop file in /usr/share/applications/hildon/ folder, something like this.'''~~

			2. Adding "X-Osso-Service=what.ever.yourapp" in your yourapp.desktop file in ''/usr/share/applications/hildon/'' folder, something like this.
	<pre>		<pre>
	[Desktop Entry]		[Desktop Entry]
Line 27:		Line 26:
	X-Osso-Service=what.ever.yourapp		X-Osso-Service=what.ever.yourapp
	</pre>		</pre>

	'''3. Lastly, A function code in your app to take a snapshot of your app startup screen when it starts up the first time or when it exits whichever your prefer. Below is an basic example of PyQt4 app code which take a snapshot of the screen at start up if it's not already exist and save it into /home/user/.cache/launch/what.ever.yourapp.pvr (ps. the file name has to match with your X-Osso-Service, and D-BUS Service Name plus .pvr extension)'''



			3. Lastly, A function code in your app to take a snapshot of your app startup screen when it starts up the first time or when it exits whichever your prefer. Below is an basic example of PyQt4 app code which take a snapshot of the screen at start up if it's not already exist and save it into ''/home/user/.cache/launch/what.ever.yourapp.pvr'' (p.s. the file name has to match with your X-Osso-Service, and D-BUS Service Name plus .pvr extension).
	<pre>		<pre>

	#!/usr/bin/env python2.5		#!/usr/bin/env python2.5
	# -- coding: utf-8 --		# -- coding: utf-8 --
Line 75:		Line 71:
	YourApp.takeScreenShot() # run this after the YourApp.show()		YourApp.takeScreenShot() # run this after the YourApp.show()
	sys.exit(app.exec_())		sys.exit(app.exec_())

	</pre>		</pre>
	[[Category:Development]]		[[Category:Development]]
	[[Category:N900]]		[[Category:N900]]
	[[Category:Python]]		[[Category:Python]]

imported_>khuong: New page: As most of you already know most PyQt4 apps are taking quite sometimes at start up and most of the time users are getting initial black screen while it's loading, this is just not only the...

2011-05-10T04:13:48Z

New page: As most of you already know most PyQt4 apps are taking quite sometimes at start up and most of the time users are getting initial black screen while it's loading, this is just not only the...

New page

As most of you already know most PyQt4 apps are taking quite sometimes at start up and most of the time users are getting initial black screen while it's loading, this is just not only the case with Python apps but all the apps on n900. Nokia has used a trick to snapshot of apps start up screen and load image instantly when the app icon is pressed, which give users an impression that apps was started up instantly but in reality they were not. (modest, note, sketch, control panel, application manager, pdfviewer, worldclock, xterm, and calculator are using this trick). Some debates whether this is a good idea or not, but I for one rather see a false image than a black screen. :). Thanks to MOhammadAG and caco3 in this post [url][http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?p=1001799#post1001799][/url] for getting my attention on this trick otherwise, I don't even know it exists.

So here I like to share how to make your Python Qt app fly at start up...:) only.....:):):) since i haven't seen any tutorial on how to get this work with pyqt on the web.

== There are three basic things to make it works: ==

'''1. A dbus service file( name whatever e.g. yourapp.service) in /usr/share/dbus-1/services/ folder even though yourapp is not using dbus related service at all and it should like this format in yourapp.service.'''

<pre>
[D-BUS Service]
Name=what.ever.yourapp
Exec=/opt/yourapp/main.py
</pre>

'''2. Adding "X-Osso-Service=what.ever.yourapp" in your yourapp.desktop file in /usr/share/applications/hildon/ folder, something like this.'''

<pre>
[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Name=YourApp
Icon=YourApp
Exec=/opt/yourapp/main.py
X-Osso-Service=what.ever.yourapp
</pre>

'''3. Lastly, A function code in your app to take a snapshot of your app startup screen when it starts up the first time or when it exits whichever your prefer. Below is an basic example of PyQt4 app code which take a snapshot of the screen at start up if it's not already exist and save it into /home/user/.cache/launch/what.ever.yourapp.pvr (ps. the file name has to match with your X-Osso-Service, and D-BUS Service Name plus .pvr extension)'''

<pre>

#!/usr/bin/env python2.5
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-

from PyQt4.QtGui import *
from PyQt4.QtCore import *

import osso # only needed for osso_initialize

class MainWindow(QMainWindow):
def __init__(self, parent = None):
self.dbus_service_name = "what.ever.yourapp" #must be the same as your X-osso-service in yourapp.desktop file
"""
self.osso_c = osso.Context(self.dbus_service_name, "0.0.1", False)
is only needed if your app is not launched from run-standalone.sh,
Otherwise, your app will be terminated after ~ 2mins running
don't ask me why :)
"""
self.osso_c = osso.Context(self.dbus_service_name, "0.0.1", False)

QMainWindow.__init__(self, parent)

self.centralwidget = QWidget(self)
self.setCentralWidget(self.centralwidget)

"""
the rest of your code here....
"""

def takeScreenShot(self):
pvr = "/home/user/.cache/launch/%s.pvr" % self.dbus_service_name
if not QFile.exists(pvr): # skipped if it's already there
QPixmap.grabWidget(self.centralwidget).save(pvr, 'png') # tell it to grab only your self.centralwidget screen, which is just window screen without the menu status bar on top.

if __name__ == '__main__':
import sys
app = QApplication(sys.argv)
app.setApplicationName("YourAppName")
YourApp = MainWindow()
YourApp.show()
YourApp.takeScreenShot() # run this after the YourApp.show()
sys.exit(app.exec_())

</pre>
[[Category:Development]]
[[Category:N900]]
[[Category:Python]]