Run Windows commands from Python console

[Rick Johnson]

Stephan Houben wrote:
> Rick Johnson schreef:
> > It seems to me the best solution is for the TCL/Tk folks
> > to provide a configuration utility that stores user
> > preferences in the registry, or some other OS provided
> > mechanism, as to have these settings reset on every
> > invocation of the application would be inefficient from an
> > enduser perspective.
> 
> You mean, like the existing .Xdefaults mechanism (yes Tk
> also supports that on Windows), and the "option" mechanism?

Not "exactly" (see footnotes [1] and [2]). Those features
are only available to the programmer. What i'm talking about
is an "interface configuration utility" that _bypasses_ the
programmer and allows the _enduser_ to reshape or reorder
the interface widgets.

For instance: (IMO) it is appropriate for a programmer to
define the initial interface commands (be they menu commands
or keyboard shortcuts, or other..), but it is not
appropriate for the programmer to limit the placement of
these menu commands (either by purposeful action or outright
neglect), nor to prevent the redefining of keyboard
shortcuts. Furthermore, many devs refuse to employ the
resizable container widgets such as "tk.PanedWindow". I
would argue that _all_ containers should be user-resizable,
coupled with an application level: "reset all frames to
default size" command.

Typically, most software developers will provide a
configuration dialog so that users can redefine keyboard
shortcuts, however, this feature will only be available *IF*
the developer decides to make it available. Even more rare,
is the ability to re-order the menu commands as the user
sees fit. Some large softwares like Eclipse and Open Office
offer this feature, but again, the configuration power the
end user is given remains at the discretion of the
developer, and many times, the decision to omit these
important configuration features is not a matter of
discretion at all, it's just pure laziness.

Realizing the ubiquitous nature of poor GUI interface
design, and realizing the impossibility of hardcoding a
single interface that will satisfy all users, i have come to
the conclusion that an enduser configuration utility must be
made available by the GUI library _itself_, thereby
bypassing the prejudice and incompetence of developers
entirely, and giving the endusers the ultimate power to
reshape the interface as the endusers see fit.

[1] I had read somewhere once, and my knowledge in this area
is admittingly limited as i have not yet migrated to
Python3's tkinter module, that the Option Database of legacy
Tkinter (python2) was being deprecated in favor of the new
ttk.widget styling defined in tkinter (python3). My
understanding is that the legacy Option Database (which i
have not utilized much myself) was merely a means by which
certain widget attributes (typically: styling attributes)
could be propagated throughout an interface -- so i doubt
(but i could be wrong) that this feature would provide a
_persistent_ means by which a user can reconfigure the
interface outside of simple stylings.

[2] However, if .Xdefaults provides a cross-platform
_persistent_ storage mechanism, then all one would need do
is wrap it in a friendly dialog that would be made available
to every [Tt]kinter enduser (perhaps through a small button
added to every tk.Tk window). And although Tk itself does
not provide a built-in method for moving around menu
commands, one could be implemented fairly easily using the
methods of the existing menu components.