Customizing Ginga

One of the primary guiding concepts behind the Ginga project is to provide convenient ways to build custom viewers. The reference viewer embodies this concept through the use of a flexible layout engine and the use of plugins to implement all the major user interface features. By modifying or replacing the layout and adding, subclassing or removing plugins you can completely change the look, feel and operation of the reference viewer.

This chapter explains how you can customize the Ginga reference viewer in various ways, as a user or a developer.

Configuration Options

Ginga examines a configuration directory on startup to check for any configuration files or customization of the default behavior.

Note

The configuration area is determined first by examining the command line option --basedir. If that is not set, then the environment variable GINGA_HOME is checked. If that is not set, then $HOME/.ginga (Mac OS X, Linux) or $HOMEDRIVE:$HOMEPATH\\.ginga (Windows) will be used.

Examples of the types of configuration files with comments describing the effects of the parameters can be found in .../ginga/examples/configs.

The config files that end in .cfg use a stripped down Pythonic format consisting of comments, blank lines and keyword = value pairs, where values are specified using Python literal syntax.

General Config Files

There is general top-level configuration file general.cfg in the configuration area. You can find an example in the examples area described above.

Binding Config File

One configuration file that many users will be interested in is the one controlling how keyboard and mouse/touch bindings are assigned. This is handled by the configuration file bindings.cfg. Several examples are stored in .../ginga/examples/bindings, including an example for users familiar with the ds9 mouse controls, and an example for users using a touchpad without a mouse (pinch zoom and scroll panning). Simply copy the appropriate file to your Ginga settings area as bindings.cfg.

Plugin Config Files

Many of the plugins have their own configuration file, with preferences that are only changed via that file. You can copy an example configuration file to your Ginga settings area and change the settings to your liking.

Here is an example of a plugin configuration file for the Ruler plugin:

#
# Ruler plugin preferences file
#
# Place this in file under ~/.ginga with the name "plugin_Ruler.cfg"

# Show plumb lines or not
show_plumb = True

# Show end values or not (end values are shown in the UI boxes,
# regardless)
show_ends = True

# Color for a drawn ruler
rule_color = 'green'

# Color used when drawing
draw_color = 'cyan'

# Units of distance.  Choices are 'arcmin', 'degrees' or 'pixels';
# the first two require a working WCS in the image.
units = 'arcmin'

# The unit for showing the angle of the ruler.
# Choices are 'degrees' or 'radians'
angle_unit = 'degrees'

Usually it is sufficient to simply close the plugin and open it again to pick up any settings changes, but some changes may require a viewer restart to take effect.

Channel Config Files

Channels also use configuration files to store many different settings for the channel viewer windows. When a channel is created, the reference viewer looks to see if there is a configuration file for that channel in the configuration area; if so, the settings therein are used to configure it. If not, the settings for the generic startup channel “Image” are used to configure the new channel. The “Preferences” plugin can be used to set many of the channel settings. If you set these for the “Image” channel and use the “Save” button, other channels will inherit them. You can also manually copy the example file from .../ginga/examples/configs/channel_Image.cfg to your configuration area and edit it if you prefer.

Customizing the Layout

Ginga has a flexible table-driven layout scheme for dynamically creating workspaces and mapping the available plugins to workspaces. This layout can be specified with a Python structure (layout) in the configuration area. If there is no file initially, Ginga will use the built in default layout. Ginga will will update its window size, position and some layout information to the layout file when the program is closed, creating a new custom layout. Upon a subsequent startup Ginga will attempt to restore the window to the saved configuration.

Note

The name of the layout file is set in the general configuration file (general.cfg) as the value for layout_file. Set it to “layout.json” if you prefer to use the JSON format or “layout” if you prefer to use the Python format (the default).

Note

If you don’t want Ginga to remember your changes to the window size or position, you can add the option save_layout = False to your general configuration file. Ginga will still read the layout from the file (if it exists–otherwise it will use the default, built-in layout), but will not update it when closing.

Note

Invoking the program with the --norestore option prevents it from reading the saved layout file, and forces use of the internal default layout table. This may be needed in some cases when the layout changes in an incompatible way between when the program was last stopped and when it was started again.

Format of the Layout Table

The table consists of a list containing nested lists. Each list represents a container or a non-container endpoint, and has the following format:

[type  config-dict  optional-content0 ... optional-contentN]

The first item in a list indicates the type of the container or object to be constructed. The following types are available:

  • seq: defines a sequence of top-level windows to be created

  • hpanel: a horizontal panel of containers, with handles to size them

  • vpanel: a vertical panel of containers, with handles to size them

  • hbox: a horizontal panel of containers of fixed size

  • vbox: a vertical panel of containers of fixed size

  • ws: a workspace that allows a plugin or a channel viewer to be loaded into it. A workspace can be configured in four ways: as a tabbed notebook (wstype="tabs"), as a stack (wstype="stack"), as an MDI (Multiple Document Interface, wstype="mdi") or a grid (wstype="grid").

In every case the second item in the sublist is a dictionary that provides some optional parameters that modify the characteristics of the widget. If there is no need to override the default parameters the dictionary can simply be empty. All types of containers honor the following parameters in this dict:

  • width: can specify a desired width in pixels for the container.

  • height: can specify a desired height in pixels for the container.

  • name: specifies a mapping of a name to the created container widget. The name is important especially for workspaces, as they may be referred to as an output destination when registering plugins.

The optional third and following items in a list are specifications for nested content. The format for nested content depends on the type of the container:

  • seq, hpanel and vpanel types expect the nested content items to be lists, as described above.

  • hbox and vbox content items can be lists (as described above) or dict s. A vbox dict should have a row value and optionally a stretch value; an hbox dict should have a col value and optionally a stretch value. The row and col values should be lists as described above.

  • The ws (workspace) type takes one optional content item, which should be a sublist containing 2-item lists (or tuples) with the format (name, content), where content is a list as described above. The name is used to identify each content item in the way appropriate for the workspace type, whether that is a notebook tab, MDI window titlebar, etc.

Here is the standard layout (Python format), as an example:

['seq',
 {},
 ['vbox',
  {'height': 700, 'name': 'top', 'width': 1400},
  {'row': ['hbox', {'name': 'menu'}], 'stretch': 0},
  {'row': ['hpanel',
           {'name': 'hpnl'},
           ['ws',
            {'group': 2,
             'height': -1,
             'name': 'left',
             'width': 300,
             'wstype': 'tabs'},
            [('Info',
              ['vpanel',
               {},
               ['ws',
                {'group': 3,
                 'height': 250,
                 'name': 'uleft',
                 'wstype': 'stack'}],
               ['ws',
                {'group': 3,
                 'height': 330,
                 'name': 'lleft',
                 'wstype': 'tabs'}]])]],
           ['vbox',
            {'name': 'main', 'width': 600},
            {'row': ['ws',
                     {'default': True,
                      'group': 1,
                      'name': 'channels',
                      'use_toolbar': True,
                      'wstype': 'tabs'}],
             'stretch': 1},
            {'row': ['ws', {'group': 99, 'name': 'cbar', 'wstype': 'stack'}],
             'stretch': 0},
            {'row': ['ws', {'group': 99, 'name': 'readout', 'wstype': 'stack'}],
             'stretch': 0},
            {'row': ['ws',
                     {'group': 99, 'name': 'operations', 'wstype': 'stack'}],
             'stretch': 0}],
           ['ws',
            {'group': 2,
             'height': -1,
             'name': 'right',
             'width': 400,
             'wstype': 'tabs'},
            [('Dialogs',
              ['ws', {'group': 2, 'name': 'dialogs', 'wstype': 'tabs'}])]]],
   'stretch': 1},
  {'row': ['ws',
           {'group': 2, 'height': 40, 'name': 'toolbar', 'wstype': 'stack'}],
   'stretch': 0},
  {'row': ['hbox', {'name': 'status'}], 'stretch': 0}]]

In the above example, we define a top-level window consisting of a vbox (named “top”) with 4 layers: a hbox (“menu”), hpanel (“hpnl”), a workspace (“toolbar”) and another hbox (“status”). The main horizontal panel (“hpnl”) has three containers: a workspace (“left”), a vbox (“main”) and a workspace (“right”). The “left” workspace is pre-populated with an “Info” tab containing a vertical panel of two workspaces: “uleft” and “lleft” (upper and lower left). The “right” workspace is pre-populated with a “Dialogs” tab containing an empty workspace. The “main” vbox is configured with four rows of workspaces: “channels”, “cbar”, “readout” and “operations”.

Note

The workspace that has as a configuration option default: True (in this example, “channels”) will be used as the default workspace where new channels should be created.

Customizing the set of plugins

In the configuration directory, the presence of a file plugins.json will override the built-in configuration of plugins. The file format is a JSON array containing JSON objects, each of which configures a plugin. Example:

 [
     {
         "__bunch__": true,
         "module": "Info",
         "tab": "Synopsis",
         "workspace": "lleft",
         "start": true,
         "hidden": true,
         "category": "System",
         "menu": "Info [G]",
         "ptype": "global"
    },
    ...
]

The keys for each object are defined as follows:

  • __bunch__: should be present and set to true to force deserialization to a Bunch.

  • module: The name of the module in the $PYTHONPATH containing the plugin.

  • class: if present, indicates the name of the class within the module that denotes the plugin (if not present the class is assumed to be named identically to the module).

  • tab: the name that the plugin should appear as when opened in a workspace (usually as a tab, but it depends on the type of workspace). Often the same name as the class, but can be different. If not present, defaults to the class or module name of the plugin.

  • workspace: the name of the workspace defined in the layout file (or default layout) where the plugin should be started (see section below on workspace customization).

  • start: true if the module is of the global type and should be started at program startup. Defaults to false.

  • hidden: true if the plugin should be hidden from the “Operation” and “Plugins” menus. Often paired with hidden being true for plugins that are considered to be a necessary part of continuous operation from program startup to shutdown. Defaults to false.

  • category: an arbitrary organizational name under which plugins are organized in the Operation and Plugins menus.

  • menu: a name for how the plugin should appear under the category in the menu structure. The convention is to append “[G]” if it is a global plugin.

  • ptype: either “local” or “global”, depending on whether the plugin is a local or global one.

  • optray: to prevent a control icon from appearing in the Operations plugin manager tray specify false. The default for non-hidden plugins is true and for hidden plugins false.

  • enabled: false to disable the plugin from being loaded.

See the standard set of plugins in .../ginga/examples/layouts/standard/plugins.json

Custom plugin directory

If there is a plugins directory in the configuration area, it is added to the PYTHONPATH for the purpose of loading plugins. You can put plugin modules in this directory, and then add entries to the plugins.json file described above to add new, custom plugins.

Customizing the Reference Viewer (with Python) During Initialization

For the ultimate flexibility, the reference viewer can be customized during viewer initialization using a Python module called ginga_config, which can be anywhere in the user’s Python import path, including in the Ginga configuration folder described above.

Specifically, this file will be imported and two methods will be run if defined: pre_gui_config(ginga_shell) and post_gui_config(ginga_shell). The parameter to each function is the main viewer shell. These functions can be used to define a different viewer layout, add or remove plugins, add menu entries, add custom image or star catalogs, etc. We will refer back to these functions in the sections below.

Workspace configuration

You can create a layout table (as described above in “Customizing the Workspace”) as a Python data structure, and then replace the default layout table in the pre_gui_config() method described above:

my_layout = [
              ...
             ]

def pre_gui_config(ginga_shell):
    ...

    ginga_shell.set_layout(my_layout)

If done in the pre_gui_config() method (as shown) the new layout will be the one that is used when the GUI is constructed. See the default layout in ~ginga.rv.main as an example.

Start Plugins and Create Channels

You can create channels and start plugins using the post_gui_config() method.

A plugin can be started automatically in post_gui_config() using the start_global_plugin() or start_local_plugin() methods, as appropriate:

def post_gui_config(ginga_shell):
    # Auto start global plugins
    ginga_shell.start_global_plugin('Zoom')
    ginga_shell.start_global_plugin('Header')

    # Auto start local plugin
    ginga_shell.add_channel('Image')
    ginga_shell.start_local_plugin('Image', 'Histogram', None)

Alternately, you can also start plugins via the command line interface using --plugins and -modules for local and global plugins, respectively. To load multiple plugins at once, use a comma-separated list. For example:

ginga --plugins=MyLocalPlugin,Imexam --modules=MyGlobalPlugin

Adding Plugins

A plugin can be added to the reference viewer in pre_gui_config() using the add_plugin() method with a specification (“spec”) for the plugin:

from ginga.misc.Bunch import Bunch

def pre_gui_config(ginga_shell):
    ...

    spec = Bunch(module='DQCheck', klass='DQCheck', workspace='dialogs',
                 category='Utils', ptype='local')
    ginga_shell.add_plugin(spec)

The above call would try to load a local plugin called “DQCheck” from a module called “DQCheck”. When invoked from the Operations menu it would occupy a spot in the “dialogs” workspace (see layout discussion above).

Disabling Plugins

Both local and global plugins can be disabled (thus, not shown in the reference viewer) using the --disable-plugins option in the command line interface. To remove multiple plugins at once, use a comma-separated list. For example:

ginga --disable-plugins=Zoom,Compose

Alternately, plugins can also be disabled via general.cfg configuration file. For example:

disable_plugins = "Zoom,Compose"

Finally, if you are using a custom “plugins.json” file as described above, you can simply set the enabled attribute to False in the JSON object for that plugin in the file.

Some plugins, like Operations, when disabled, may result in inconvenient GUI experience.

Making a Custom Startup Script

You can make a custom startup script to make the same reference viewer configuration available without relying on a custom set of startup files or the ginga_config module. To do this we make use of the main module:

import sys
from argparse import ArgumentParser

from ginga.rv.main import ReferenceViewer

# define your custom layout
my_layout = [ ... ]

# define your custom plugin list
plugins = [ ... ]

if __name__ == "__main__":
    viewer = ReferenceViewer(layout=my_layout)
    # add plugins
    for spec in plugins:
        viewer.add_plugin(spec)

    argprs = ArgumentParser(description="Run my custom viewer.")
    viewer.add_default_options(argprs)
    (options, args) = argprs.parse_known_args(sys_argv[1:])

    viewer.main(options, args)