PyMaemo/HildonDesktop

Python bindings for libhildondesktop

These bindings allow to create the so called Hildon Home applets (or widgets, in Maemo 5). It consists of two binary packages:

• python-hildondesktop: the actual Python bindings. Can be used to write standalone widgets, or ones that can be added by the user using the "Add widget" option in Maemo 5.
• hildon-desktop-python-loader: this is a Hildon Desktop loader for plugins written in Python.

Example

The code below was based on the C example that can be found on the maemo-examples package sources [1].

import gobject
import gtk
import hildondesktop

class HelloWorldButton(gtk.Button):
    def __init__(self, padding):
        gtk.Button.__init__(self)
        icon_theme = gtk.icon_theme_get_default()
        icon = icon_theme.load_icon("hello", 40, 0)
        if icon is None:
            icon = icon_theme.load_icon("qgn_list_gene_default_app", 40, 0)
        icon_image = gtk.Image()
        icon_image.set_from_pixbuf(icon)
        icon_image.set_padding(padding, padding)
        self.add(icon_image)
        self.show_all()

class HelloWorldDialog(gtk.Dialog):
    def __init__(self):
        gtk.Dialog.__init__(self, "Hello World", None,
                            gtk.DIALOG_DESTROY_WITH_PARENT | gtk.DIALOG_NO_SEPARATOR,
                            ("Close", gtk.RESPONSE_OK))
        self.vbox.add(gtk.Label("Hello World!"))
        self.show_all()

def hello_world_dialog_show(button):
    dialog = HelloWorldDialog()
    dialog.run()
    dialog.destroy()

class HelloHomePlugin(hildondesktop.HomePluginItem):
    __gtype_name__ = 'HelloHomePlugin'

    def __init__(self):
        hildondesktop.HomePluginItem.__init__(self)
        button = HelloWorldButton(10)
        button.connect("clicked", hello_world_dialog_show)
        button.show_all()
        self.add(button)

def hd_plugin_get_object():
    return gobject.new(HelloHomePlugin, plugin_id="hello_world_home")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    obj = hd_plugin_get_object()
    obj.show_all()
    gtk.main()

To test it, save it as /usr/lib/hildon-desktop/hello_world_home.py inside your FREMANTLE_X86 target. Next, save the following text as /usr/share/applications/hildon-home/hello_world_home.desktop:

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Hello, World! (Python)
Comment=Example Home Python plugin
Type=python
X-Path=hello_world_home.py

Make sure the hildon desktop and hildon-home are running. For that, you can use the following commands:

export DISPLAY=:2 # if you are using scratchbox + Xephyr
af-sb-init.sh start
run-standalone.sh maemo-summoner /usr/bin/hildon-home.launch &

Now you need to add the newly installed home widget to the desktop. For that you can either manually add it to the ~/.config/hildon-desktop/home.plugins file, or follow these instructions to add it using the Hildon Desktop interface:

1. Click anywhere on the Maemo desktop background
2. You should see a "engine" icon on the top right. Click on it.
3. It will be shown a menu bar containing "Desktop menu" and "Done". Click on "Desktop menu"
4. You should now see a menu with 4 buttons. Click on the "Add widget" button.
5. A menu containing the list of installed widgets will appear. Select the one we installed (called "Hello, World! (Python)")
6. Finally, click on "Done"

You should then see the following: