How to allow the user to type only under certain conditions in pygame?

Question

When you click the textbox I want the user to be able to type letters by setting self.active to True. When you click off the text box I want the player to lose that ability by setting self.active to False. However when I click the text box, self.active becomes true for a split second before becoming False again. How do I fix this?

from pygame import *

init()
screen = display.set_mode((800, 600))

name_font = font.Font(None, 32)
name_text = ''


class Rectangle:

    def __init__(self, x, y):
        self.active = False
        self.x = x
        self.y = y
        self.text_surface = name_font.render(name_text, True, (255, 255, 255))
        self.rect_width = max(140, 10 + self.text_surface.get_width())
        self.input_rect = Rect(x, y, self.rect_width, 32)
        draw.rect(screen, (0, 0, 0), self.input_rect, 0)
        draw.rect(screen, (255, 255, 255), self.input_rect, 2)
        self.input_rect.w = self.text_surface.get_width() + 10
        screen.blit(self.text_surface, (self.input_rect.x + 5, self.input_rect.y + 5))

    def naming(self):
        global rect_1
        global name_text

        if events.type == MOUSEBUTTONDOWN:
            if self.input_rect.x + 150 >= mx >= self.input_rect.x - 10:
                if self.input_rect.y + 40 >= my >= self.input_rect.y - 10:
                    self.active = True
            if not self.input_rect.x + 150 >= mx >= self.input_rect.x - 10:
                if not self.input_rect.y + 40 >= my >= self.input_rect.y - 10:
                    self.active = False

        if self.active:
            if events.type == KEYDOWN:
                if keys[K_BACKSPACE]:
                    name_text = name_text[:-1]
                    screen.fill((0, 0, 0))
                    rect_1 = Rectangle(200, 200)
                else:
                    name_text += events.unicode


while True:
    rect_1 = Rectangle(200, 200)
    mx, my = mouse.get_pos()
    for events in event.get():
        keys = key.get_pressed()
        rect_1.naming()
        if events.type == QUIT:
            quit()

    display.update()
    time.delay(1)

Answer 1

Create the instance of Rectangle before the application loop, but you have to pass the list of events to the method naming and to handle all the relevant events in the method. Add a draw method to the class and draw the object in every frame:

class Rectangle:
    # [...]

    def naming(self, events):
        # [...]

        for event in evetnts:
            if e.type == KEYDOWN:
                # [...]

        
            if e.type == # [...]

    def draw(self, screen):
        # [...]

rect_1 = Rectangle(200, 200)

run = True
while run :
    
    events = event.get()
    for e in events:
        if e.type == QUIT:
            run = False
    
    rect_1.naming(events)

    # [...]

    rect_1.draw(screen)      

---

Complete example:

import pygame
from pygame import *

init()
screen = display.set_mode((800, 600))

name_font = font.Font(None, 32)
name_text = ''


class Rectangle:

    def __init__(self, x, y):
        self.active = False
        self.x = x
        self.y = y
        self.text_surface = name_font.render(name_text, True, (255, 255, 255))
        self.rect_width = max(140, 10 + self.text_surface.get_width())
        self.input_rect = Rect(x, y, self.rect_width, 32)
        draw.rect(screen, (0, 0, 0), self.input_rect, 0)
        draw.rect(screen, (255, 255, 255), self.input_rect, 2)
        self.input_rect.w = self.text_surface.get_width() + 10
        screen.blit(self.text_surface, (self.input_rect.x + 5, self.input_rect.y + 5))

    def naming(self, events):
        global rect_1
        global name_text

        for e in events:
            if e.type == MOUSEBUTTONDOWN:
                mx, my = e.pos
                if self.input_rect.x + 150 >= mx >= self.input_rect.x - 10:
                    if self.input_rect.y + 40 >= my >= self.input_rect.y - 10:
                        self.active = True
                if not self.input_rect.x + 150 >= mx >= self.input_rect.x - 10:
                    if not self.input_rect.y + 40 >= my >= self.input_rect.y - 10:
                        self.active = False

            if e.type == KEYDOWN:
                if self.active:
                    if e.key == K_BACKSPACE:
                        name_text = name_text[:-1]
                    else:
                        name_text += e.unicode
                    self.text_surface = name_font.render(name_text, True, (255, 255, 255))
    
    def draw(self, screen):
        draw.rect(screen, (0, 0, 0), self.input_rect, 0)
        draw.rect(screen, (255, 255, 255), self.input_rect, 2)
        self.input_rect.w = self.text_surface.get_width() + 10
        screen.blit(self.text_surface, (self.input_rect.x + 5, self.input_rect.y + 5))


rect_1 = Rectangle(200, 200)

run = True
while run :
    
    events = event.get()
    for e in events:
        if e.type == QUIT:
            run = False
    
    rect_1.naming(events)

    screen.fill(0)
    rect_1.draw(screen)  
    display.update()
    time.delay(1)