Table attributes: row height, row merge, row background color

[hoffenmerCode]

Are these possible?

1. change row height or column width
2. merge rows or columns
3. change background color of table cells

If yes, how? style=Pack doesn't work for the above. Please help.

[freakboy3742]

Generally speaking, no. Tables are native widgets, so they adopt the operating system-mandated style.

This means features like row height isn't under the control of the end-user; they're a function of how the OS draws content in the table.

There has been some discussion about specifying initial column widths; however, those API discussions haven't been completed. Cell background color could potentially fit into those discussions, but hasn't been to date.

As for merging rows/columns - while I'm familiar with the practice in the context of HTML tables, I'm not sure how that would map into a native widget. Although they share a name, they're not really the same concept.

More generally, you should be wary of "how can I do this HTML thing in Toga" lines of reasoning. Although we're using a CSS-like language for configuration, Toga isn't HTML - by design. We've deliberately restricted what can be done visually to preserve native look and feel, and we'll be hesitant to introduce features that allow developers to work around that design choice.

[hoffenmerCode]

Also, the SplitContainer sizing doesn't work for me on OSX:

`mainSplit = toga.SplitContainer()
splitLeftSearchContainer = toga.SplitContainer(direction=False)
splitRightCompanyContainer = toga.SplitContainer(direction=False)

    splitLeftSearchContainer.content=[(containerC, 0.4), (containerD,0.6)]
    splitRightCompanyContainer.content=[containerE, containerF]
    mainSplit.content = [(splitLeftSearchContainer, 0.4),
                            (splitRightCompanyContainer, 0.6)]`

Ideas?

[freakboy3742]

1. Toga is v0.3. Documentation is incomplete, and there are bugs. There's no magic solution for this, and no magic supply of hidden documentation.
2. One of the design ideas behind Toga is that GUIs should follow the UX guidelines for the platform. As a result, the API that Toga exposed doesn't map directly to specific widgets - it tries to capture "concepts". The Switch widget, for example, manifests as a checkbox on macOS, because that's what the macOS HIG recommends for boolean interactions. On iOS, it's a switch. So no - there's no plan to introduce a "toggle" widget, because some platforms (including macOS) advice against the use of that widget for boolean choices.
3. Yes. You're seeing an error that says the widget doesn't exist. That's because it hasn't been written yet.
4. The end goal is for Toga to be a product-capable GUI toolkit. However, that's obviously a big task, and we're only at v0.3 at present. That means there are bugs.

As for the SplitContainer widget - that sounds like a bug; it should be implemented on macOS. When you say "doesn't work" do you mean you're seeing an error, or that the behavior isn't changing?

[hoffenmerCode]

There is no error. The behavior is not changing.

[freakboy3742]

Interesting... looks like something isn't working with the macOS implementation. It definitely works on GTK. I'll need to investigate further.

[freakboy3742]

I've got a fix for this in #1300. Thanks for the report!