Raspbeery Pi UI design using drag & drop graphical/visual programming - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: ricko_uk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 01, 2022, 02:01:13 pm
content: Hi,I'm not really familiar with Raspberry Pi software side. Are there tools that allow you to develop fully functional UI very quickly with drag and drop style programming which then generates the code for you?So that - as an extremly simple example - if all you need is just switch betwene multiple screens when pressing various buttons said tools generate the entire code for you and you don't have to write a single line of code. And you can link properties/values of various widgets automatically and if one changes all linked ones change. Any such tool?On example is this tool (but it costs 7000 USD):https://youtu.be/BJ6oXZlA7X8?t=330In my specific design I will need just switching between a couple of screens each displaying simple vertical progress/level bars showing the level of an analog signal and the client asked specifically to use a Raspberry Pi platform.Thank you

author: rstofer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 01, 2022, 04:09:34 pm
content: You can search Google for 'raspberry pi drag and drop gui design'. Apparently Qt5 has drag-and-drop with a Python flavor - PyQt5. I haven't used it...https://www.pythonguis.com/installation/install-pyqt5-raspberry-pi/

author: ricko_uk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 01, 2022, 04:33:47 pm
content: Thank you rstofer,Qt5 drag and drop, for what I saw/understand, is just a classic GUI designer like Visual Studio or others. I was looking for something more like Nextion, DWIN, Stone HMI display solutions (where you design the entire flow and windows witching in their app and download the code) but for the Raspberry Pi.I am looking for something that has more functionality such as, for example, linking properties/variables or various widgets like in this tool (from 5:30 on):https://youtu.be/BJ6oXZlA7X8?t=330Any such thing that does not cost the 7,000 of that tool?Thank you

author: rstofer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 01, 2022, 05:04:56 pm
content: Those HMI solutions generate the code for interaction among the graphic elements and, for your application, that may be enough. None of them self-generate the application logic, you still have to code the call-back functions and that is the bulk of the work. Still, they make a nice HMI. I did a control panel using the GE Fanuc HMI controller (high $) and it came out pretty slick but this was over 20 years ago and things have moved on.It's a great application for a Raspberry Pi and a touchscreen display.If your application is at all like an HMI, there is stuff all over Google for 'hmi raspberry pi' but I still didn't see anything generating application logic. If that is even required...

author: pardo-bsso
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 01, 2022, 07:14:00 pm
content: Quote from: ricko_uk on September 01, 2022, 04:33:47 pmDepending on the complexity and if you are not in a rush many of us here can develop the end software for you starting from 2500 u$s (assuming you have a clear view of the requirements)

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 01, 2022, 07:22:13 pm
content: Now a question would be, do you really need a Raspberry Pi in your project? Or is it chosen specifically to implement a GUI with it?For simple GUIs, "intelligent" displays such as the Nextion stuff could be all that you need. It won't cost you $7000. And then possibly something simpler and lower power than a RPi to control them, that will also not require long boot times, face occasional SD card corruption, and so on. But we don't know your requirements so... just saying.https://nextion.tech/

author: rstofer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 01, 2022, 08:05:57 pm
content: It is also possible to make the Pi "Read Only" which may help with SD failures. Google for it...If you need to store data, send it to a NAS or other server.Boot time may be a non-issue as it may occur just once. HMIs don't typically shut down/reboot other than for power failures and a UPS system can solve that (assuming the UPS is reliable). Clearly, I'm thinking about industrial control applications...