Develop Reference

kivy positioning all items in a single box

I am writing a program that requires a label, a text_input, and a checkbox to be aligned on screen in that order. They should span the width of the screen and be at the same y level.
I have written this code in my .kv file which uses identical pos_hint values, but only the text_input box moves
Below is my .kv code:
<Union>:
BoxLayout:
orientation: "vertical"
BoxLayout:
orientation: "horizontal"
pos_hint_y: {"top":.85}
Label:
text: 'Session Length'
pos_hint: {"x":.3, "top":.85}
TextInput:
id: input
text: "test"
pos_hint: {"x":.5, "top":.85}
size_hint: 0.3, 0.05
background_disabled_normal: ""
disabled: not checkbox.active
on_text: app.return_text()
CheckBox:
id: checkbox
pos_hint: {"x":.7, "top":.85}
and here is my main.py
from kivy.core.window import Window
from kivy.lang import Builder
from kivy.uix.button import Button
from kivy.uix.dropdown import DropDown
from kivy.uix.floatlayout import FloatLayout
from kivy.uix.gridlayout import GridLayout
from kivy.uix.screenmanager import Screen, ScreenManager
Window.size = (309, 555)
class MenuScreen(Screen):
pass
class SetupScreen(Screen):
pass
class drop_content(DropDown):
pass
class UnionScreen(Screen):
class Checkbox_Setup(FloatLayout):
pass
class TheApp(App):
def build(self):
# Create the screen manager
sm = ScreenManager()
sm.add_widget(MenuScreen(name='menu'))
sm.add_widget(SetupScreen(name='setup'))
sm.add_widget(UnionScreen(name='union'))
return sm
def return_text(self):
text = self.root.get_screen('union').ids.input.text
print(text)
def main():
Builder.load_file('menu.kv')
app = TheApp()
app.run()
if __name__ == '__main__':
main()
Finally, here is the output I am currently getting, with the label and checkbox in line but underneath the text_input which is in the right place.
I am relatively new to kivy so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

kivy load camera (zbarscan) on click button

I've just started my first kivy app. The app is intended to start with button "Start Scan" and then show up the QR scanner built with ZBarCam.
I'm using Screens with the ScreenManager to change from the button view to the camera view (with zbarcam), the problem is that I realized that the camera is initialized from the beginning , so before clicking on the button the camera is already on (I know it because the led from the camera is on).
I don't know if Screen should not be used in this case, or if is there a way to tell the app to do not initialize all screens.
The code I'm using is the following:
QrApp.py:
from kivy.app import App
from kivy.lang import Builder
from kivy.uix.screenmanager import ScreenManager, Screen
class QrReader(Screen):
pass
class ScanButton(Screen):
pass
class QrApp(App):
pass
if __name__ == '__main__':
QrApp().run()
qrapp.kv:
ScreenManager:
id: screen_manager
ScanButton:
id: scan_btn
name: 'scan_btn'
manager: 'screen_manager'
QrReader:
id: qr_reader
name: 'qr_reader'
manager: 'screen_manager'
<ScanButton>:
BoxLayout:
orientation: 'vertical'
Button:
text:'Start Scan'
font_size:"50sp"
color: [0, 255, 255, .67]
on_press: app.root.current = 'qr_reader'
<QrReader>:
#:import ZBarCam kivy_garden.zbarcam.ZBarCam
BoxLayout:
orientation: 'vertical'
ZBarCam:
id:qrcodecam
Label:
size_hint: None, None
size: self.texture_size[0], 50
text: ' '.join([str(symbol.data) for symbol in qrcodecam.symbols])
Thanks!
==== ALTERNATIVE BASED IN A COMMENT (still fails) ====
Based on the comment from n4321d I tried to add the ZBarCam as widget in the QrReader Screen. While I can now initiate the camera when the widget is added, I don't see how I can get the symbols that is, the text read from the QR.
This alternative code is the following:
QrApp.py:
from kivy.app import App
from kivy.lang import Builder
from kivy.uix.widget import Widget
from kivy.core.window import Window
from kivy.uix.label import Label
from kivy.uix.screenmanager import ScreenManager, Screen
class QrReader(Screen):
def on_enter(self):
from kivy_garden.zbarcam import ZBarCam
zbarcam = ZBarCam()
self.add_widget(zbarcam)
self.add_widget(Label(
text='PRINT SYMBOLS', #' '.join([str(symbol.data) for symbol in zbarcam.symbols] does not work
size_hint=(None,None),
size=(Window.width*0.1, Window.height*0.1),
center=(Window.width*0.3, Window.height*0.5)))
class ScanButton(Screen):
pass
class QrApp(App):
pass
if __name__ == '__main__':
QrApp().run()
qrapp.kv
ScreenManager:
id: screen_manager
ScanButton:
id: scan_btn
name: 'scan_btn'
manager: 'screen_manager'
QrReader:
id: qr_reader
name: 'qr_reader'
manager: 'screen_manager'
<ScanButton>:
BoxLayout:
orientation: 'vertical'
Button:
text:'Start Scan'
font_size:"50sp"
color: [0, 255, 255, .67]
on_press:
app.root.current = 'qr_reader'
<QrReader>:
BoxLayout:
orientation: 'vertical'
====== SOLUTION ========
My workaround solution is posted as an answer to this question here

First:
I would also add an on_leave function where you remove your cam widget otherwise you will keep adding new widgets every time you load it.
I dont have a working cam now , so i cannot test your code. Looking at your code I think you have to bind the text in your Label to the text in zbarcam.symbols with a function: self.label = Label(....); zbarcam.bind(symbols=lambda *x: setattr(self.label, "text", str(x[1]))) or somethign like that.
Here is an example using a random text generator instead of ZBarCam (since i cannot run that).
from kivy.app import App
from kivy.lang import Builder
from kivy.uix.widget import Widget
from kivy.core.window import Window
from kivy.uix.label import Label
from kivy.uix.screenmanager import ScreenManager, Screen
from kivy.properties import ListProperty
import random
from kivy.clock import Clock
kv_str = """
ScreenManager:
id: screen_manager
ScanButton:
id: scan_btn
name: 'scan_btn'
manager: 'screen_manager'
QrReader:
id: qr_reader
name: 'qr_reader'
manager: 'screen_manager'
<ScanButton>:
BoxLayout:
orientation: 'vertical'
Button:
text:'Start Scan'
font_size:"50sp"
color: [0, 255, 255, .67]
on_press:
app.root.current = 'qr_reader'
<QrReader>:
BoxLayout:
orientation: 'vertical'
"""
class ZBarCam(Label):
symbols = ListProperty([])
def __init__(self, **kwargs):
super().__init__(**kwargs)
Clock.schedule_interval(self.gen_rand_text, 1)
def gen_rand_text(self, *args):
self.text = random.choice(['aaaaa', 'bbbbb', 'ccccc'])
self.symbols.append(self.text)
if len(self.symbols) > 3:
del self.symbols[0]
class QrReader(Screen):
def on_enter(self):
self.zbarcam = ZBarCam()
self.add_widget(self.zbarcam)
self.label = Label(
text='PRINT SYMBOLS', #' '.join([str(symbol.data) for symbol in zbarcam.symbols] does not work
size_hint=(None,None),
size=(Window.width*0.1, Window.height*0.1),
center=(Window.width*0.3, Window.height*0.5))
self.add_widget(self.label)
self.zbarcam.bind(symbols = lambda *x: setattr(self.label, "text", str(x[1])))
def on_leave(self, *args):
self.remove_widget(self.zbarcam)
self.remove_widget(self.label)
class ScanButton(Screen):
pass
class QrApp(App):
def build(self):
return Builder.load_string(kv_str)
if __name__ == '__main__':
QrApp().run()
if it still does not work you might have to call self.zbarcam.start() too in the on_enter method after adding it
hope this helps

Thanks to answer from n4321d I finally found a solution.
I also struggled releasing the camera, as zbarcam.stop() stops zbarcam but camera was apparently still open (led was on). After digging a lot, I found this workaround which seems to work well to release the camera.
I also merged the button and qr reader in the same Class and I no longer use kv file, in this example. The final code is the following:
QrApp.py:
from kivy.app import App
from kivy.uix.widget import Widget
from kivy.uix.boxlayout import BoxLayout
from kivy.uix.button import Button
from kivy.clock import Clock
from kivy_garden.zbarcam import ZBarCam
class QrScanner(BoxLayout):
def __init__(self, **kwargs):
super(QrScanner, self).__init__(**kwargs)
btn1 = Button(text='Scan Me', font_size="50sp")
btn1.bind(on_press=self.callback)
self.add_widget(btn1)
def callback(self, instance):
"""On click button, initiate zbarcam and schedule text reader"""
self.remove_widget(instance) # remove button
self.zbarcam = ZBarCam()
self.add_widget(self.zbarcam)
Clock.schedule_interval(self.read_qr_text, 1)
def read_qr_text(self, *args):
"""Check if zbarcam.symbols is filled and stop scanning in such case"""
if(len(self.zbarcam.symbols) > 0): # when something is detected
self.qr_text = self.zbarcam.symbols[0].data # text from QR
Clock.unschedule(self.read_qr_text, 1)
self.zbarcam.stop() # stop zbarcam
self.zbarcam.ids['xcamera']._camera._device.release() # release camera
class QrApp(App):
def build(self):
return QrScanner()
if __name__ == '__main__':
QrApp().run()

There is no way to lazy-load kivy Screens. Try this as a workaround: Do not let ScreenManager know about all Screens. Use switch_to to remove the current screen and load the desired one instead. Check Kivy docs to learn how to use it.

Maybe so?
from kivy_garden.zbarcam import ZBarCam
from kivymd.uix.textfield import MDTextField
class MenuScreen(MDScreen):
zbarcam: ZBarCam = ObjectProperty()
qrfield: MDTextField = ObjectProperty()
def __init__(self, **kwargs):
super().__init__(**kwargs)
self.__cam_release()
def scan(self, instance):
self.__cam_release()
def on_touch_down(self, touch):
if self.zbarcam.collide_point(*touch.pos):
self.__cam_open()
return super().on_touch_down(touch)
def __cam_release(self):
if self.zbarcam.xcamera._camera._device.isOpened():
self.zbarcam.stop()
self.zbarcam.xcamera._camera._device.release()
def __cam_open(self):
if not self.zbarcam.xcamera._camera._device.isOpened():
self.zbarcam.xcamera._camera._device.open(0)
self.zbarcam.start()

how to Create Dropdown list for next window in Kivy

how do I create Dropdown list in the next window after clicking button in the first screen, I tried to initiate the button in the kv file just to have a button in the ModelWindow screen but the next problem is the button variable in ModelWindow class is gone. the button variable is needed for the lista method in order to activate dropdown
Python File
import kivy
from kivy.app import App
from kivy.uix.label import Label
from kivy.uix.button import Button
from kivy.properties import ObjectProperty
from kivy.lang import Builder
from kivy.uix.screenmanager import ScreenManager, Screen
from kivy.uix.dropdown import DropDown
from kivy.uix.boxlayout import BoxLayout
from kivy.uix.label import Label
class ModelWindow(Screen):
def window(self):
box = BoxLayout(orientation='vertical')
label = Label(text='LABEL')
button = Button(text='Selecione', font_size=30, size_hint_y=0.15, on_release=self.lista)
box.add_widget(label)
box.add_widget(button)
self.dropdown = DropDown() # Create the dropdown once and keep a reference to it
self.dropdown.bind(on_select=lambda instance, x: setattr(button, 'text', x))
for index in range(10): # create the buttons once
btn = Button(text='Value %d' % index, size_hint_y=None, height=44,
on_release=lambda btn: print(btn.text)) # bind every btn to a print statement
btn.text = 'Value %d' % index
btn.bind(on_release=lambda btn: self.dropdown.select(btn.text))
self.dropdown.add_widget(btn)
return box
def lista(self, button):
# dropdown = DropDown() <---- DON'T NEED THIS
# button.bind(on_release=self.dropdown.open) <---- DON'T NEED THIS
self.dropdown.open(button) # you need this to open the dropdown
# print(button.text)
class MainWindow(Screen):
pass
class SecondWindow(Screen):
pass
class WindowManager(ScreenManager):
pass
kv = Builder.load_file("proj.kv")
class MyMainApp(App):
def build(self):
return kv
if __name__ == "__main__":
MyMainApp().run()
Kv file
WindowManager:
MainWindow:
SecondWindow:
ModelWindow:
<ModelWindow>:
name: "model"
<MainWindow>:
name: "main"
BoxLayout:
orientation: "vertical"
size: root.width, root.height
Button:
text: "Select Model"
on_press:
app.root.current = "model"
Button:
text: "Test Model"
Button:
text: "Create New Model"
on_release:
app.root.current = "second"
root.manager.transition.direction = "left"
<SecondWindow>:
name: "second"
Button:
text: "Go Back"
on_release:
app.root.current = "main"
root.manager.transition.direction = "right"
My I ask if anyone knows how to make a dropdown list in the next window? should I write it in the kv file or the python itself? Thank youu

If I get your point correctly, you want to initialize the ModelWindow class. In order to do that you can simply call the method window in __init__ with some modifications or define everything directly in __init__ as,
def __init__(self, **kwargs):
super().__init__(**kwargs)
box = BoxLayout(orientation='vertical')
label = Label(text='LABEL')
...
# Same as in your method `window`.
...
self.dropdown.add_widget(btn)
self.add_widget(box)

How can I detect selected checkbox with kivy

Thanks to this code, I can create interface to present a List of information.
However, I need to create a function when I click the button "save" I print all text item selected in CheckBox
from kivy.lang import Builder
from kivymd.app import MDApp
from kivymd.uix.list import ILeftBodyTouch, TwoLineAvatarIconListItem
from kivymd.uix.selectioncontrol import MDCheckbox
KV = """
<ListItemWithCheckbox>:
RightCheckbox:
BoxLayout:
ScrollView:
MDList:
id: scroll
MDRaisedButton:
text: "Save"
"""
class ListItemWithCheckbox(TwoLineAvatarIconListItem):
"""Custom list item."""
class RightCheckbox(ILeftBodyTouch, MDCheckbox):
"""Custom right container."""
class MainApp(MDApp):
def build(self):
return Builder.load_string(KV)
def on_start(self):
for i in range(15):
self.root.ids.scroll.add_widget(
ListItemWithCheckbox(text=f"Item {i}", secondary_text=f"Item {i+10}")
)
MainApp().run()

You can do that by defining a method in your App:
def save_checked(self):
mdlist = self.root.ids.scroll # get reference to the MDList
for wid in mdlist.children:
if isinstance(wid, ListItemWithCheckbox): # only interested in the ListItemWithCheckboxes
cb = wid.ids.cb # use the id defined in kv
if cb.active: # only print selected items
print(wid.text, wid.secondary_text)
Then modify kv to call that method on Button release:
MDRaisedButton:
text: "Save"
on_release: app.save_checked()
and add the id for the RightCheckbox in the kv:
<ListItemWithCheckbox>:
RightCheckbox:
id: cb

Kivy ScreenManager - Updating label text

I asked a question regarding updating label text (Kivy change label text with python) - it was answered and was working but I've been trying for hours trying to adapt my running code to ScreenManager so I can have multiple screens. I've cut down the code to the basic stuff I can't get working.
ScreenManager code breaks the solution, I know what the issue is I just can't resolve it. The code is working, text and time updating in the shell but not the labels, I couldn't add return self.first_screen to the Kivy def build so its not binding to the_time: _id_lbl_time - Any help/pointers would be really appreciated.
from kivy.app import App
from kivy.base import runTouchApp
from kivy.lang import Builder
from kivy.properties import ListProperty, StringProperty, ObjectProperty
from kivy.uix.boxlayout import BoxLayout
from kivy.uix.screenmanager import ScreenManager, Screen, WipeTransition, FadeTransition
from kivy.uix.anchorlayout import AnchorLayout
from kivy.clock import Clock
import time
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
class FirstScreen(Screen):
def update_time(self, sec):
MyTime = time.strftime("%H:%M:%S")
print MyTime # to test update_time is called etc
self.the_time.text = MyTime #<---- self.the_time isn't working
class SecondScreen(Screen):
def update_text(self, sec):
MyText = 'New Text'
print MyText # to test update_text is called etc
self.the_set.text = MyText #<---- self.the_set isn't working
class MyScreenManager(ScreenManager):
pass
Builder.load_string('''
<FirstScreen>:
name: 'first'
the_time: _id_lbl_time
BoxLayout:
orientation: 'vertical'
Label
id: _id_lbl_time
text: 'Clock'
font_size: 30
BoxLayout:
Button:
text: 'New Here'
font_size: 20
size: 200, 50
size_hint: None, None
on_release: app.root.current = 'second'
<SecondScreen>:
name: 'second'
the_set: _id_lbl_set
BoxLayout:
orientation: 'vertical'
Label:
id: _id_lbl_set
text: 'New Here'
font_size: 30
BoxLayout:
Button:
text: 'Main'
font_size: 20
size: 200, 50
size_hint: None, None
on_release: app.root.current = 'first'
''')
class ScreenManagerApp(App):
def build(self):
sm = ScreenManager()
sm.add_widget(FirstScreen(name='first'))
sm.add_widget(SecondScreen(name='second'))
self.first_screen = FirstScreen()
self.sec_screen = SecondScreen()
return sm #<---- I can't return self.first_screen etc here?
def on_start(self):
Clock.schedule_interval(self.first_screen.update_time, 1) # 1 second
Clock.schedule_interval(self.sec_screen.update_text, 2)
ScreenManagerApp().run()

I can't return self.first_screen etc here?
No. There has to be a ScreenManager on top of the Screen widgets, otherwise it's just a RelativeLayout as is its definition in the source code.
You experienced a really common mistake by beginners. You used one instance FirstScreen() and SecondScreen() for ScreenManager(those are visible) and then you created another instances with:
self.first_screen = FirstScreen()
self.sec_screen = SecondScreen()
which you then used for Clock:
Clock.schedule_interval(self.first_screen.update_time, 1)
Clock.schedule_interval(self.sec_screen.update_text, 2)
and that means text properties in instances that actually aren't added anywhere as widgets were used for updating. The instances exist, so no error to trigger except the visual one → you don't see the values, because you used wrong instance.
Correct build():
def build(self):
sm = ScreenManager()
self.first_screen = FirstScreen(name='first')
self.sec_screen = SecondScreen(name='second')
sm.add_widget(self.first_screen)
sm.add_widget(self.sec_screen)
return sm