How to create graphs an embed them in GUI?

[Benjamin]

On Jan 17, 10:07 am, "A.T.Hofkamp" <h... at se-162.se.wtb.tue.nl> wrote:
> On 2008-01-17, Heiko Niedermeyer <xena-die-kriegerprinzes... at gmx.de> wrote:
>
> > As I'm learning Python from scratch, I don't care wether to use (=learn)
> > TKinter or PyQt or whatever, I just need some advice, which suits my
> > needs best.
> > It would be nice to have the programm working under win and linux
> > (shouldn't be a big Problem) and my requirements concerning the standard
>
> PyGTK is a 3rd option, and wxWindows + Python is a 4th option.
>
> TKinter is supplied with Python, which means everybody with Python also has
> TKinter. Main draw-backs are that it is quite old. Also, it has a peculiar way
> of getting stuff drawn at a canvas.
>
> PyQt is available free with some additional restriction (plz read the
> license) for the Linux system, I don't know whether you can also get a Win
> version under the same conditions (you couldn't when I looked the last time).
> PyGTK is said to be usable for both platforms. I know it works with Linux, and
> there exists a PyGTK installer for Win, but I hacve never used it.
PyQt 4+ is now available for MacOS, Windows, and X under GPL. I tried
Tkinter and wxPython before settling on PyQt. It's more powerful than
Tkinter and has a cleaner API than wxPython.
>
> No recent experience with wxWindows.
>
> > My problem is, that I want to add graph (simple, line connected X,Y-
> > scatter plots) and if possible the 3D representation of atoms in a
> > molecule (-> coloured spheres in space).
Qwt (Q Widgets for Technical Applications) provides graphs widgets
that plug into Qt. There are, of course, Python bindings (pyqwt).
>
> You should probably seperate both problems, in particular if you want to have
> the program do the layout for you. For 2D layout, Graphviz is one of the better
> known packages, run it as a child process. There are several graphviv/dot
> Python libraries available, search PyPI for them.
>
> For 3D, I don't know any programs.
>
> > I think it would take me years to program those by myself, so I would ne
> > ready to use packages, if available.
> > Long story short: Are there packages that could do this, and does it
> > matter which GUI I want to embed them in?
>
> If you want a GUI that understands how to layout chemical structures, you won't
> have many options (on the other hand, you never know, have you tried searching
> PyPI already?).
>
> On the other hand, once you have the coordinates, drawing them is kind of
> trivial in just about any GUI toolkit.
>
> (An alternative may be to have the user lay them out by dragging them with the
> mouse. Programming that is however probably a lot more work.)
>
> Sincerely,
> Albert