PyDM Launcher

PyDM provides a command-line launcher that makes it easier for users to quickly run UI files as well as code based screens. The launcher is responsible for setting up the Python logging module but it mainly just parses the command line parameters and sends them to the instantiated PyDMApplication.

The Launcher is available for Linux, OSX and Windows and it can be called using the command line:

pydm

This will result in the PyDM Main Window being displayed.

PyDM Main Window

Command Line Arguments

The PyDM Launcher accepts many command line arguments, here they are:

pydm [-h] [--homefile HOMEFILE] [--perfmon] [--profile] [--faulthandler]
     [--hide-nav-bar] [--hide-menu-bar] [--hide-status-bar]
     [--fullscreen] [--read-only] [--log_level {DEBUG,INFO,WARNING,ERROR,CRITICAL}]
     [--version] [-m MACRO] [--stylesheet STYLESHEET] [displayfile] ...

Where:

Argument

Description

DISPLAY_FILE (positional)
Loads a display from this file to show once PyDM has started.

-h, –help
Show the PyDM help message and exit.

-r, –recurse
Recursively search for the provided DISPLAY_FILE in the current working
directory and subfolders.

–homefile FILE
Path to a PyDM file to return to when the home button is clicked in the
navigation bar. This display remains loaded at all times, and is loaded
even when a display file is specified separately. If the specified
display file is identical to the home file, PyDM will not load two
instances of the display.
Default: None

–perfmon
Enable performance monitoring, and print CPU usage to the terminal.

–profile
Enable cProfile function profiling, printing on exit.

–faulthandler
Enable faulthandler to trace segmentation faults.

–hide-nav-bar
Start PyDM with the navigation bar hidden.

–hide-menu-bar
Start PyDM with the menu bar hidden.

–hide-status-bar
Start PyDM with the status bar hidden.

–fullscreen
Start PyDM in fullscreen mode.

–read-only
Start PyDM in read-only mode.

–log_level LEVEL
Configure level of log display.
Choices: DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR, CRITICAL
Default: INFO

–version
Show PyDM’s version number and exit.

-m, –macro STRING
Specify macro replacements to use, in JSON object format. Reminder: JSON
requires double quotes for strings, so you should wrap this whole argument
in single quotes.
Example: -m '{"sector": "LI25", "facility": "LCLS"}'
Macro replacements can also be specified as KEY=value pairs using a comma
as delimiter. If you want to use spaces after the delimiters or around the
= signs, wrap the entire set with quotes.
Example: -m "sector = LI25, facility=LCLS"
Default: None

–stylesheet FILE
Specify the full path to a CSS stylesheet file, which can be used to customize
the appearance of PyDM and Qt widgets.
Default: None

DISPLAY_ARGS… (positional)
Arguments to be passed to the PyDM client application (which is a QApplication
subclass).
Default: None

Note

It is not mandatory to use the PyDM Launcher to run your screen, but keep in mind that without it you will need to handle command line arguments, logging setup, and the instantiation of the PyDMApplication in your own code.