Python Programming On Win32

A User-Defined View: The Front End

Now how do you look at View in the interface? Once again, you need to extend COMBookSet. First, change its initializer so that it creates a UserBookSet instead of a BookSet . Second, expose a method called getViewData() that calls the underlying method of BookSet. It’s easiest to create and add the View with a short chunk of Python script:

from doubletalk.userhooks import MonthlyAccountActivity
view = MonthlyAccountActivity('MyCo.Assets.NCA.CurAss.Cash')
TheBookSet.addView(v, 'CashBalances')

The Rolls Royce approach would be to build this on the fly after letting users select view types and parameters from a menu; however, this means having some sort of configuration dialog for each View. At a more basic level, power users writing their own Views could write this code themselves and put it in a start-up script.

Having done this, all you have to do is build a generic form with a grid. This keeps track of its name and fetches the View data (and a description) when asked. The next section presents a user-defined View of the monthly cash balances. See Figure 8.4.

Figure 8.4. A user-defined View