Custom Gizmos

Last Updated: February 22, 2018

Tethys Extensions can be used to create custom gizmos, which can then be used by any app in portals where the extension is installed. This document will provide a brief overview of how to create a gizmo.

Anatomy of a Gizmo

Gizmos are essentially mini-templates that can be embedded in other templates using the gizmo tag. They are composed of three primary components:

  1. Gizmo Options Class

  2. Gizmo Template

  3. JavaScript and CSS Dependencies

Each component will be briefly introduced. To illustrate, we will show how a simplified version of the SelectInput gizmo could be implemented as a custom Gizmo in an extension.

Gizmo Organization

The files used to define custom gizmos must be organized in a specific way in your app extension. Each gizmo options class must be located in its own python module and the file should be located in the gizmos package of your extension. The template for the gizmo must an HTML file located within the templates/gizmos/ folder of your extension.

Gizmo files must follow a specific naming convention: the python module containing the gizmo options class and the name of the gizmo template must have the same name as the gizmo. For example, if the name of the gizmo you are creating is custom_select_input then the name of the gizmo template would be custom_select_input.html and the name of the gizmo options module would be custom_select_input.py.

JavaScript and CSS dependencies should be stored in the public directory of your extension as usual or be publicly available from a CDN or similar. Dependencies stored locally can be organized however you prefer within the public directory.

Finally, you must import the gizmo options class in the gizmos/__init__.py module. Only Gizmos imported here will be accessible. For the custom select input example, the file structure would look something like this:

python
tethysext-my_first_extension/
|-- tethysext/
|   |-- my_first_extension/
|   |   |-- gizmos/
|   |   |   |-- custom_select_input.py
|   |   |-- public/
|   |   |   |-- gizmos/
|   |   |   |   |-- custom_select_input/
|   |   |   |   |   |-- custom_select_input.css
|   |   |   |   |   |-- custom_select_input.js
|   |   |-- templates/
|   |   |   |-- gizmos/
|   |   |   |   |-- custom_select_input.html

Important

Gizmo names must be globally unique within a portal. If a portal has two extensions that implement gizmos with the same name, they will conflict and likely not work properly.

Gizmo Options Class

A gizmo options class is a class that inherits from the TethysGizmoOptions base class. It can be thought of as the context for the gizmo template. Any property or attribute of the gizmo options class will be available as a variable in the Gizmo Template.

For the custom select input gizmo, create a new python module in the gizmos package called custom_select_input.py and add the following contents:

python
from tethys_sdk.gizmos import TethysGizmoOptions


class CustomSelectInput(TethysGizmoOptions):
    """
    Custom select input gizmo.
    """
    gizmo_name = 'custom_select_input'

    def __init__(self, name, display_text='', options=(), initial=(), multiselect=False,
                 disabled=False, error='', **kwargs):
        """
        constructor
        """
        # Initialize parent
        super().__init__(**kwargs)

        # Initialize Attributes
        self.name = name
        self.display_text = display_text
        self.options = options
        self.initial = initial
        self.multiselect = multiselect
        self.disabled = disabled
        self.error = error

It is important that gizmo_name property is the same as the name of the python module and template for the gizmo. Also, it is important to include **kwargs as an argument to your contstructor and use it to initialize the parent TethysGizmoOptions object. This will catch any of the parameters that are common to all gizmos like attributes and classes.

After defining the gizmo options class, import it in the gizmos/__init__.py module:

python
from custom_select_input import CustomSelectInput

Gizmo Template

Gizmo templates are similar to the templates used for Tethys apps, but much simpler.

For the custom select input gizmo, create a new template in the templates/gizmos/ directory with the same name as your gizmo, custom_select_input.html, with the following contents:

django
{% load static %}

<div class="form-group {% if error %} has-error {% endif %}">
  {% if display_text %}
    <label class="control-label" for="{{ name }}">{{ display_text }}</label>
  {% endif %}
  <select id="{{ name }}"
          name="{{ name }}"
          class="select2{% if classes %} {{ classes }}{% endif %}"
          {% if attributes %}
            {% for key, value in attributes.items %}
              {{ key }}="{{ value }}"
            {% endfor %}
          {% endif %}
          {% if multiselect %}multiple{% endif %}
          {% if disabled %}disabled{% endif %}>
    {% for option, value in options %}
      {% if option in initial or value in initial %}
        <option value="{{value}}" selected="selected">{{ option }}</option>
      {% else %}
        <option value="{{value}}">{{ option }}</option>
      {% endif %}
    {% endfor %}
  </select>
  {% if error %}
  <p class="help-block">{{ error }}</p>
  {% endif %}
</div>

The variables in this template are defined by the attributes of the gizmo options object. Notice how the classes and attributes variables are handled. It is a good idea to handle these variables for each of your gizmos, because most gizmos support them and developers will expect them.

JavaScript and CSS Dependencies

Some gizmos have JavaScript and/or CSS dependencies. The TethysGizmoOptions base class provides methods for specifying different types of dependencies:

  • get_vendor_js: For vendor/3rd party javascript.

  • get_vendor_css: For vendor/3rd party css.

  • get_gizmo_js: For your custom javascript.

  • get_gizmo_css: For your custom css.

  • get_tethys_gizmos_js: For global gizmo javascript. Changing this could cause other gizmos to stop working. Best not to mess with it unless you know what you are doing.

  • get_tethys_gizmos_css: For global gizmo css. Changing this could cause other gizmos to stop working. Best not to mess with it unless you know what you are doing.

Note

Tethys provides Twitter Bootstrap and jQuery, so you don't need to include these as gizmo dependencies.

The custom select input depends on the select2 libraries and some custom javascript and css. Create custom_select_input.js and custom_select_input.css in the public/gizmos/custom_select_input/ directory, creating the directory as well. Add the following contents to each file:

Add this content to the custom_select_input.css file:

css
.select2 {
    width: 100%;
}

Add this content to the custom_select_input.js file:

javascript
$(document).ready(function() {
    $('.select2').select2();
});

Modify the gizmo options class to include these dependencies:

python
from tethys_sdk.gizmos import TethysGizmoOptions


class CustomSelectInput(TethysGizmoOptions):
    """
    Custom select input gizmo.
    """
    gizmo_name = 'custom_select_input'

    def __init__(self, name, display_text='', options=(), initial=(), multiselect=False,
                 disabled=False, error='', **kwargs):
        """
        constructor
        """
        # Initialize parent
        super().__init__(**kwargs)

        # Initialize Attributes
        self.name = name
        self.display_text = display_text
        self.options = options
        self.initial = initial
        self.multiselect = multiselect
        self.disabled = disabled
        self.error = error

    @staticmethod
    def get_vendor_js():
        """
        JavaScript vendor libraries.
        """
        return ('https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/select2/4.0.6-rc.0/js/select2.min.js',)

    @staticmethod
    def get_vendor_css():
        """
        CSS vendor libraries.
        """
        return ('https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/select2/4.0.6-rc.0/css/select2.min.css',)

    @staticmethod
    def get_gizmo_js():
        """
        JavaScript specific to gizmo.
        """
        return ('my_first_extension/gizmos/custom_select_input/custom_select_input.js',)

    @staticmethod
    def get_gizmo_css():
        """
        CSS specific to gizmo .
        """
        return ('my_first_extension/gizmos/custom_select_input/custom_select_input.css',)

Using a Custom Gizmo

To use a custom gizmo in an app, import the gizmo options object from the extension and create a new instance fo the gizmo in the app controller. Then use it with the gizmo template tag as normal.

Import and create a new instance of the gizmo in your controller:

python
from tethysext.my_first_extension.gizmos import CustomSelectInput


def my_app_controller(request):
    """
    Example controller using extension gizmo
    """
    my_select = CustomSelectInput(
        name = 'my_select',
        display_text = 'Select One:',
        options = (('Option 1', '1'), ('Option 2', '2'), ('Option 3', '3')),
        initial = ('2')
    )

    context = {
        'my_select': my_select,
    }
    return render(request, 'my_first_app/a_template.html', context)

Then use the gizmo as usual in a_template.html: