holypipette.interface.base module

Package defining the TaskInterface class, central to the interface between GUI and TaskController objects.

class holypipette.interface.base.TaskInterface[source]

Bases: QObject, LoggingObject

Class defining the basic interface between the GUI and the objects controlling the hardware. Classes inheriting from this class should:

  • Call this class’s __init__ function in its __init__

  • Annotate all functions providing commands with the @command or @blocking_command decorator.

  • To correctly interact with the GUI for blocking commands (show that task is running, show error message if task fails, etc.), the method needs to call the execute function to execute the command.

abort_task()[source]

The user asked for an abort of the currently running (blocking) command. We transmit this information to all executing objects (for simplicity, only one should be running) by setting the TaskController.abort_requested attribute. The object runs in a separate thread, but will finish its operation as soon as it checks for this attribute (either by explicitly checking with TaskController.abort_if_requested, or by using TaskController.sleep or one of the logging methods).

command_received(command, argument)[source]

Slot that is triggered when the GUI triggers a command handled by this TaskInterface. If an error occurs in the handling of the command (e.g., the command does not exist or received the wrong number of arguments), an error is logged and the task_finished signal is emitted. Note that the handling of errors within the command, as well as the handling of abort requests is performed in the execute method.

Parameters:

  • command (method) – A reference to the requested command.

  • argument (object) – The argument of the requested command (possibly None).

connect(main_gui)[source]

Connect signals to slots in the main GUI. Will be called automatically during initialization of the GUI.

Parameters:

main_gui (CameraGui) – The main GUI in control.

execute(task, argument=None)[source]

Execute a function in a TaskController and signal the (successful or unsuccessful) completion via the task_finished signal.

Can either execute a single task or a chain of tasks where each task is only executed when the previous was successful.

Parameters:

  • task (method or list of methods) – A method of a TaskController object that should be executed, or a list of such methods.

  • argument (object or list of object, optional) – An argument that will be provided to task or None (the default). For a chain of function calls, provide a list of arguments.

Returns:

success – Whether the execution was completed successfully. This can be used to manually enchain multiple tasks to avoid calling subsequent tasks after a failed/aborted task. Note that it can be easier to pass a list of functions instead.

Return type:

bool

reset_requested(controller)[source]

Slot that will be triggered when the user asks for resetting the state after an aborted or failed command.

Parameters:

controller (TaskController) – The object that was executing the task that failed or was aborted. This object is requested to reset its state.

task_finished

Signals the end of a task with an “error code”: 0: successful execution; 1: error during execution; 2: aborted

holypipette.interface.base.blocking_command(category, description, task_description, default_arg=None)[source]

Decorator that annotates a function with information about the implemented (blocking) command.

Parameters:

  • category (str) – The command category (used for structuring the help window).

  • description (str) – A descriptive text for the command (used in the help window).

  • task_description (str) – Text that will be displayed to the user while the task is running

  • default_arg (object, optional) – A default argument provided to the method or None (the default).

holypipette.interface.base.command(category, description, default_arg=None, success_message=None)[source]

Decorator that annotates a function with information about the implemented command.

Parameters:

  • category (str) – The command category (used for structuring the help window).

  • description (str) – A descriptive text for the command (used in the help window).

  • default_arg (object, optional) – A default argument provided to the method or None (the default).

  • success_message (str, optional) – A message that will be displayed in the status bar of the GUI window after the execution of the command. For simple commands that have visual feedback, e.g. moving the manipulator or changing the exposure time, this should not be set to avoid unnecessary messages. For actions that have no visual feedback, e.g. storing a position, this should be set to give the user an indication that something happened.