Stages¶
Each step of the LAtools process is represented graphically by a stage, which houses the tool interface for manipulating the sample data at that point. Each stage is displayed between the navigation bar and graph pane at the top of the program interface.
Structure¶
In the program, a stage is a QWidget, which is stored on a QStackedWidget called stagesStack that displays only one stage at a time. These stages can be toggled through by incrementing the stack index of stagesStack, and they all use a QVBoxLayout. The behaviour of each stage is defined within a class which the MainWindow of latoolsgui creates and instance of in its initUI method.
Modification¶
Stages can be modified within their respective modules and have minimal impact on the rest of the program outside of the data manipulations they perform on the main data. The layout, design, and options available within each stage can all be modified within their respective __init__ method.
Stages can be removed, though this is done at the cost of losing key functionality within the LAtools process. To remove a stage, its instantiation in the initUI method of MainWindow should be removed. Lastly it should be removed from the list of stages at the top of the latoolsgui module.
Addition¶
If the existing stages are not enough, new ones can be added following the same design. A stage should have a class defined within a separate module which the MainWindow in latoolsgui instantiates in its initUI method. In order, a stage should have a QVBoxLayout made for it from a QWidget, which is added to the stagesStack. Then an instance of the stage class is created and passed a pointer to that layout. Lastly the stage should be added to the list of stages at the top of the latoolsgui module.