panda3d-cefconsole

This is a package for people who

• want to try out Panda3D now
• debug Panda3D applications, and would like to get a look at their innards in real time
• develop Panda3D applications, and would like to add application-specific consoles

It provides a console akin to those found in many modern games by adding a CEFPanda node to the scene graph. The console can contain multiple subconsoles between which the user can switch around. A Python console is also provided.

Status a.k.a. TODO

This is just a few days work.

• The HTML templates are pretty atrocious in look, feel, and code quality.
• The code could use a thorough review.
• The subconsoles shipped with this package are lacking in number and functionality.
  • Python
    • This needs to be less of a basic test and moreofan IDE.
  • Panda3D
    • basics
      • Version, graphics, all the data
      • drop to pdb
      • contact pstats
      • toggling frame rate
      • base.mouse modes
      • oobe
      • render.analyze()
      • ...
    • scene graph explorer / manipulator
    • task manager
    • events (listening / creating)
    • insight into ModelPool and other *Pools.
    • Add subconsole to default console
  • Console theme
    • Editor for the console's style
• Documentation besides this README is non-existant.
• Tests are completely unheard of.

But technologically... it is done. And it works pretty well, too.

Installation

pip install panda3d-cefconsole

...or clone the code from GitHub. I'm a README.md, not a cop.

Trying out the Python subconsole

• cefconsole_demo

• F9 toggles the console

• In the Demo subconsole, you can click the text. This demonstrates a full JavaScript -> Python -> JavaScript roundtrip.

• In the Python console, add a Smiley ball:

  model = base.loader.load_model("models/smiley")
  model.reparent_to(base.render)
  base.cam.set_pos(0, -10, 0)
  

Using cefconsole

cefconsole_demo is a very rudimentary Panda3D application. Its code can be found in cefconsole/boilerplate.py in the function main(), but the relevant bits are these (edited for explanatory purposes):

from cefconsole import add_console
from cefconsole import DemoSubconsole
from cefconsole import PythonSubconsole


# This has to be done after ShowBase()

add_console(
    size=[-1, 1, -0.33, 1], # Don't cover the whole window
    console_open=True, # Whether to show console initially; default False
toggle='f9', # Panda3D event that toggles the console; default f9
subconsoles=[DemoSubconsole()], # Subconsole to be added immediately
)
# There's also `render_immediately`; If True, the console is rendered at the
# end of add_console, and no further subconsoles can be added.

# Now there's a base.console, so let's another subconsole to it.
base.console.add_subconsole(PythonSubconsole())

# After all subconsoles have been added, the console can be rendered.
base.console.render_console()

If render_immediate is set, but no subconsoles are given, the PythonSubconsole is added by default. So in the end, all you would have needed to start out is:

from cefconsole import add_console

add_console(render_immediately=True)

Adding Subconsoles

from cefconsole import Subconsole


class DemoSubconsole(Subconsole):
    name = "Demo"
    package = 'cefconsole'
    template_dir = 'templates'
    html = "demo.html"
    funcs = {'call_python': 'test_hook'}

def test_hook(self):
    print("Python handler `test_hook` for JavaScript hook `call_python` has been called.")
    self.console.exec_js_func('color_text', 'red')

• name is used for the text in the header where you switch between subconsoles, as ID for the subconsole's HTML div container's id, and as prefix for the jinja2 PrefixLoader, so you'll have to add it to paths in HTML templates.
• package is the name of the module in which your templates are stored (usually the same as the subconsole itself, because why wouldn't you?)
• template_dir is the path from the module to the templates.
• html is the subconsole's actual template, which gets included in the console's template.
• funcs is a mapping from JavaScript function names to Python method names. These JS hooks will be added automatically. For example, here's test_hook, which is called by a JS function, and is calling one in turn.

The corresponding HTML code:

<script>
  function color_text(color) {
      document.getElementById("colorable_text").style.color = color;
  }
</script>
<h1>A little demo subconsole</h1>
<p id="colorable_text" onclick="call_python();">
  Click this text to color it red.
</p>

As you see, when you click on the text, JS' call_python is called, which means that Python's DemoSubconsole.test_hook is called, which calls JS' color_text, and that's how you write Subconsoles.

base.console is a cefpanda.CEFPanda object, so further information on it can be found in the cefpanda repo.