wxpython run when textctrl changes

Question

I am making a simple text editor in wxpython. I would like it to be able to edit code such as python, and as such I would like to have it highlight the text in a similar manner to IDLE or Notepad++. I know how I would highlight it, but I would like the best way of running it. I don't know if it is possible but what I would really like is to run whenever a key is pressed, and not on a loop checking if it is pressed, so as to save on processing.

import wx
class MainWindow(wx.Frame):
    def __init__(self, parent, title):
        wx.Frame.__init__(self, parent, title=title, size=(500,600))
        style = wx.TE_MULTILINE|wx.BORDER_SUNKEN|wx.TE_RICH2
        self.status_area = wx.TextCtrl(self, -1,
                                   pos=(10, 270),style=style,
                                   size=(380,150))
        self.status_area.AppendText("Type in your wonderfull code here.")
        fg = wx.Colour(200,80,100)
        at = wx.TextAttr(fg)
        self.status_area.SetStyle(3, 5, at)
        self.CreateStatusBar() # A Statusbar in the bottom of the window

        # Setting up the menu.
        filemenu= wx.Menu()

        filemenu.Append(wx.ID_ABOUT, "&About","Use to edit python code")
        filemenu.AppendSeparator()
        filemenu.Append(wx.ID_EXIT,"&Exit"," Terminate the program")

        # Creating the menubar.
        menuBar = wx.MenuBar()
        menuBar.Append(filemenu,"&File") # Adding the "filemenu" to the MenuBar
        self.SetMenuBar(menuBar)  # Adding the MenuBar to the Frame content.
        self.Show(True)


app = wx.App(False)
frame = MainWindow(None, "Python Coder")
app.MainLoop()

If a loop is needed what would be the best way to make it loop, with a while loop, or a

def Loop():
    <code>
    Loop()

My new code with the added bind:

import wx

class MainWindow(wx.Frame):
    def __init__(self, parent, title):
        wx.Frame.__init__(self, parent, title=title, size=(500,600))
        style = wx.TE_MULTILINE|wx.BORDER_SUNKEN|wx.TE_RICH2
        self.status_area = wx.TextCtrl(self, -1,
                                   pos=(10, 270),style=style,
                                   size=(380,150))
        #settup the syntax highlighting to run on a key press
        self.Bind(wx.EVT_CHAR, self.onKeyPress, self.status_area)
        self.status_area.AppendText("Type in your wonderfull code here.")
        fg = wx.Colour(200,80,100)
        at = wx.TextAttr(fg)
        self.status_area.SetStyle(3, 5, at)
        self.CreateStatusBar() # A Statusbar in the bottom of the window

        # Setting up the menu.
        filemenu= wx.Menu()

        filemenu.Append(wx.ID_ABOUT, "&About","Use to edit python code")
        filemenu.AppendSeparator()
        filemenu.Append(wx.ID_EXIT,"&Exit"," Terminate the program")

        # Creating the menubar.
        menuBar = wx.MenuBar()
        menuBar.Append(filemenu,"&File") # Adding the "filemenu" to the MenuBar
        self.SetMenuBar(menuBar)  # Adding the MenuBar to the Frame content.
        self.Show(True)


    def onKeyPress (self, event):
        print "KEY PRESSED"
        kc = event.GetKeyCode()
        if kc == WXK_SPACE or kc == WXK_RETURN:
            Line = self.status_area.GetValue()
            print Line
app = wx.App(False)
frame = MainWindow(None, "Python Coder")
app.MainLoop()

Answer 1

In your MainWindow __init__ function add this

self.Bind(wx.EVT_CHAR, self.onKeyPress, self.status_area)

then define onKeyPress in MainWindow

def onKeyPress (self, event):
    kc = event.GetKeyCode()
    if kc == WXK_SPACE or kc == WXK_RETURN:
        #Run your highlighting code here

Come to think of it, this might not be the most efficient way of doing code highlighting. Let me look this up. But in the meantime you can try this.

Edit: Take a look at this - StyledTextCtrl . I think its more along the lines of what you need.