Build A Tkinter Settings Window For Spotify Auto-Skipper

by Alex Johnson 57 views

Hey there, fellow music lovers! Ever wished you could tweak your Spotify Auto-Skipper settings without diving into clunky .ini files? Well, you're in luck! In this guide, we're diving headfirst into building a slick, user-friendly settings window using Tkinter, Python's go-to library for creating graphical user interfaces (GUIs). This window will replace the old manual configuration, making it a breeze to customize your Spotify Auto-Skipper experience. So, buckle up, and let's get coding!

Why a Tkinter Settings Window?

Let's be honest, manually editing configuration files can be a pain. It's error-prone, unintuitive, and let's face it, a bit old-school. A Tkinter-based settings window offers a much more elegant and user-friendly solution. Here's why:

  • User-Friendliness: Instead of cryptic text files, we'll have a visually appealing interface with labeled fields, checkboxes, and sliders. This makes it super easy for anyone to understand and modify the settings.
  • Reduced Errors: The GUI prevents typos and formatting mistakes that can easily occur when manually editing a configuration file. Tkinter provides built-in validation, ensuring the entered values are in the correct format.
  • Improved Accessibility: A GUI is generally more accessible than editing a text file, particularly for users who may not be familiar with configuration file formats.
  • Enhanced Experience: A well-designed settings window provides a much smoother and more enjoyable user experience. It's simply more inviting and less intimidating.

So, by implementing a Tkinter settings window, we're not just improving the functionality of our application; we're also enhancing its usability and overall appeal.

Setting Up Your Development Environment

Before we start coding, let's make sure we have everything we need. This project relies on Python and the Tkinter library. If you don't have Python installed, you can download it from the official Python website (https://www.python.org/downloads/). Make sure to select the option to add Python to your PATH during the installation process.

Tkinter is typically included with standard Python installations, so you likely won't need to install it separately. However, just to be sure, you can run the following command in your terminal or command prompt:

python -m pip install tk

This command uses pip, Python's package installer, to install the tk package (which contains Tkinter) if it's not already present. After successful installation, you're all set to start building your Tkinter settings window. Consider using a code editor like Visual Studio Code, PyCharm, or Sublime Text to write and manage your Python code. These editors offer features like syntax highlighting, code completion, and debugging tools, which can significantly speed up the development process.

Designing the Settings Window Layout

Now, let's sketch out the layout of our settings window. We want it to be organized, intuitive, and easy to navigate. Here's a suggested structure:

  1. Main Window: The top-level window that will contain all the other widgets.
  2. Labels and Entry Fields for Last.fm Settings:
    • Username: A text field for the Last.fm username.
    • API Key: A text field for the Last.fm API key.
  3. Labels and Entry Fields for Spotify Settings:
    • Client ID: A text field for the Spotify client ID.
    • Client Secret: A text field for the Spotify client secret.
    • Refresh Token: A text field for the Spotify refresh token.
  4. Numeric Fields/Sliders for Configuration:
    • Skip Window (Days): A numeric field or slider to set the skip window in days.
    • Polling Interval: A numeric field or slider to set the polling interval (in seconds or minutes).
  5. Checkboxes for Feature Toggles:
    • Enable Liked Songs: A checkbox to enable or disable the liked songs feature.
    • Enable Restart Pattern: A checkbox to enable or disable the restart pattern feature.
  6. Buttons:
    • Save: A button to save the current settings to the configuration file.
    • Cancel: A button to discard any changes and close the window.

We'll use Tkinter's layout managers (like grid, pack, or place) to arrange these widgets within the window. The grid layout manager is often a good choice for this type of layout, as it allows us to organize widgets in a table-like structure.

Coding the Settings Window with Tkinter

Alright, let's get our hands dirty with some Python code! Here's a basic structure for our Tkinter settings window:

import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import ttk

class SettingsWindow(tk.Toplevel):
    def __init__(self, parent):
        super().__init__(parent)
        self.title("Spotify Auto-Skipper Settings")
        self.geometry("400x300") # Adjust size as needed

        # --- Widgets will be added here --- 

        self.create_widgets()

    def create_widgets(self):
        # --- Add your widgets here, using labels, entry fields, etc. ---
        # --- Use grid, pack, or place for layout ---
        pass

    def save_settings(self):
        # --- Code to save settings to a configuration file ---
        pass

    def cancel_changes(self):
        self.destroy()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    root = tk.Tk()
    root.title("Spotify Auto-Skipper")
    # --- Add a button to open the settings window --- 
    def open_settings():
        settings_window = SettingsWindow(root)
    settings_button = ttk.Button(root, text="Settings", command=open_settings)
    settings_button.pack(pady=20)
    root.mainloop()

In this code:

  • We import tkinter and ttk (themed widgets for a modern look).
  • We define a SettingsWindow class that inherits from tk.Toplevel. This creates a separate window.
  • The __init__ method initializes the window's title and size.
  • The create_widgets method (which we'll fill in shortly) will handle the creation and layout of all the settings widgets.
  • save_settings and cancel_changes will handle saving and closing the window. These functions are place holders and will be fully implemented in a later section.
  • The if __name__ == "__main__": block sets up the main application window (root) and adds a button to open the settings window. We now add a button to open the settings window, which helps us connect the user interface.

Now, let's fill in the create_widgets method to add our settings widgets and use the grid layout manager.

    def create_widgets(self):
        # Last.fm Settings
        ttk.Label(self, text="Last.fm Settings:").grid(row=0, column=0, columnspan=2, pady=5, sticky=tk.W)
        ttk.Label(self, text="Username:").grid(row=1, column=0, padx=5, sticky=tk.W)
        self.lastfm_username_entry = ttk.Entry(self)
        self.lastfm_username_entry.grid(row=1, column=1, padx=5, pady=5, sticky=tk.EW)
        ttk.Label(self, text="API Key:").grid(row=2, column=0, padx=5, sticky=tk.W)
        self.lastfm_api_key_entry = ttk.Entry(self, show="*") # Hide API key
        self.lastfm_api_key_entry.grid(row=2, column=1, padx=5, pady=5, sticky=tk.EW)

        # Spotify Settings
        ttk.Label(self, text="Spotify Settings:").grid(row=3, column=0, columnspan=2, pady=5, sticky=tk.W)
        ttk.Label(self, text="Client ID:").grid(row=4, column=0, padx=5, sticky=tk.W)
        self.spotify_client_id_entry = ttk.Entry(self)
        self.spotify_client_id_entry.grid(row=4, column=1, padx=5, pady=5, sticky=tk.EW)
        ttk.Label(self, text="Client Secret:").grid(row=5, column=0, padx=5, sticky=tk.W)
        self.spotify_client_secret_entry = ttk.Entry(self, show="*") # Hide secret
        self.spotify_client_secret_entry.grid(row=5, column=1, padx=5, pady=5, sticky=tk.EW)
        ttk.Label(self, text="Refresh Token:").grid(row=6, column=0, padx=5, sticky=tk.W)
        self.spotify_refresh_token_entry = ttk.Entry(self)
        self.spotify_refresh_token_entry.grid(row=6, column=1, padx=5, pady=5, sticky=tk.EW)

        # Configuration Settings
        ttk.Label(self, text="Configuration:").grid(row=7, column=0, columnspan=2, pady=5, sticky=tk.W)
        ttk.Label(self, text="Skip Window (Days):").grid(row=8, column=0, padx=5, sticky=tk.W)
        self.skip_window_spinbox = tk.Spinbox(self, from_=1, to=30, width=5) # Example spinbox
        self.skip_window_spinbox.grid(row=8, column=1, padx=5, pady=5, sticky=tk.EW)
        ttk.Label(self, text="Polling Interval:").grid(row=9, column=0, padx=5, sticky=tk.W)
        self.polling_interval_spinbox = tk.Spinbox(self, from_=10, to=600, width=5) # Example spinbox
        self.polling_interval_spinbox.grid(row=9, column=1, padx=5, pady=5, sticky=tk.EW)

        # Feature Toggles
        self.enable_liked_songs_var = tk.BooleanVar(value=True) # Default value
        self.enable_restart_pattern_var = tk.BooleanVar(value=False) # Default value
        ttk.Checkbutton(self, text="Enable Liked Songs", variable=self.enable_liked_songs_var).grid(row=10, column=0, columnspan=2, pady=2, padx=5, sticky=tk.W)
        ttk.Checkbutton(self, text="Enable Restart Pattern", variable=self.enable_restart_pattern_var).grid(row=11, column=0, columnspan=2, pady=2, padx=5, sticky=tk.W)

        # Buttons
        self.save_button = ttk.Button(self, text="Save", command=self.save_settings)
        self.save_button.grid(row=12, column=0, padx=5, pady=10, sticky=tk.E)
        self.cancel_button = ttk.Button(self, text="Cancel", command=self.cancel_changes)
        self.cancel_button.grid(row=12, column=1, padx=5, pady=10, sticky=tk.W)

In this updated create_widgets method:

  • We create labels and entry fields for all the settings, including Last.fm and Spotify credentials, using ttk.Label and ttk.Entry widgets.
  • We use a tk.Spinbox for numeric input for Skip Window and Polling Interval. You could also implement a slider using the Scale widget if you prefer.
  • We create checkboxes (ttk.Checkbutton) for the feature toggles and associate them with BooleanVar variables.
  • We add the Save and Cancel buttons, which will call the save_settings and cancel_changes methods.
  • The grid layout manager organizes the widgets in rows and columns.

Now, let's implement the save_settings method to save the settings to a JSON file (the actual file handling is in the next step). For now, we'll just print the values to the console.

    def save_settings(self):
        # Get values from widgets
        lastfm_username = self.lastfm_username_entry.get()
        lastfm_api_key = self.lastfm_api_key_entry.get()
        spotify_client_id = self.spotify_client_id_entry.get()
        spotify_client_secret = self.spotify_client_secret_entry.get()
        spotify_refresh_token = self.spotify_refresh_token_entry.get()
        skip_window = self.skip_window_spinbox.get()
        polling_interval = self.polling_interval_spinbox.get()
        enable_liked_songs = self.enable_liked_songs_var.get()
        enable_restart_pattern = self.enable_restart_pattern_var.get()

        # Print values (replace with saving to a file in next step)
        print("Last.fm Username:", lastfm_username)
        print("Last.fm API Key:", lastfm_api_key)
        print("Spotify Client ID:", spotify_client_id)
        print("Spotify Client Secret:", spotify_client_secret)
        print("Spotify Refresh Token:", spotify_refresh_token)
        print("Skip Window:", skip_window)
        print("Polling Interval:", polling_interval)
        print("Enable Liked Songs:", enable_liked_songs)
        print("Enable Restart Pattern:", enable_restart_pattern)

        # Close the window
        self.destroy()

This method retrieves the values from the widgets (entry fields, spinboxes, and checkboxes) and prints them to the console. In the next step, we'll replace the print statements with the code to save the settings to a JSON file.

Handling Configuration Files (JSON)

Now that we've created our settings window and can retrieve the user's input, let's focus on how to save and load these settings from a JSON file. This allows the user's preferences to persist across sessions.

First, make sure you have the json module, which is part of Python's standard library, so no additional installation is needed.

Here's how we'll modify the save_settings method and add a load_settings method:

import json
import os # Import the os module

    def save_settings(self):
        # Get values from widgets (same as before)
        lastfm_username = self.lastfm_username_entry.get()
        lastfm_api_key = self.lastfm_api_key_entry.get()
        spotify_client_id = self.spotify_client_id_entry.get()
        spotify_client_secret = self.spotify_client_secret_entry.get()
        spotify_refresh_token = self.spotify_refresh_token_entry.get()
        skip_window = self.skip_window_spinbox.get()
        polling_interval = self.polling_interval_spinbox.get()
        enable_liked_songs = self.enable_liked_songs_var.get()
        enable_restart_pattern = self.enable_restart_pattern_var.get()

        # Create a dictionary to hold the settings
        settings = {
            "lastfm_username": lastfm_username,
            "lastfm_api_key": lastfm_api_key,
            "spotify_client_id": spotify_client_id,
            "spotify_client_secret": spotify_client_secret,
            "spotify_refresh_token": spotify_refresh_token,
            "skip_window": int(skip_window),  # Convert to integer
            "polling_interval": int(polling_interval), # Convert to integer
            "enable_liked_songs": enable_liked_songs,
            "enable_restart_pattern": enable_restart_pattern
        }

        # Save settings to JSON file
        try:
            # Get the path to the user's home directory
            home_dir = os.path.expanduser("~")
            # Create a directory for the application if it doesn't exist
            app_dir = os.path.join(home_dir, ".spotify-auto-skipper")
            if not os.path.exists(app_dir):
                os.makedirs(app_dir)
            # Define the file path
            config_file_path = os.path.join(app_dir, "config.json")
            with open(config_file_path, "w") as f:
                json.dump(settings, f, indent=4)
            print("Settings saved successfully!")
        except Exception as e:
            print(f"Error saving settings: {e}")

        # Close the window
        self.destroy()

    def load_settings(self):
        # Get the path to the user's home directory
        home_dir = os.path.expanduser("~")
        # Create a directory for the application if it doesn't exist
        app_dir = os.path.join(home_dir, ".spotify-auto-skipper")
        # Define the file path
        config_file_path = os.path.join(app_dir, "config.json")

        try:
            if os.path.exists(config_file_path):
                with open(config_file_path, "r") as f:
                    settings = json.load(f)
                # Set the values in the widgets
                self.lastfm_username_entry.insert(0, settings.get("lastfm_username", ""))
                self.lastfm_api_key_entry.insert(0, settings.get("lastfm_api_key", ""))
                self.spotify_client_id_entry.insert(0, settings.get("spotify_client_id", ""))
                self.spotify_client_secret_entry.insert(0, settings.get("spotify_client_secret", ""))
                self.spotify_refresh_token_entry.insert(0, settings.get("spotify_refresh_token", ""))
                self.skip_window_spinbox.delete(0, tk.END)
                self.skip_window_spinbox.insert(0, str(settings.get("skip_window", 7))) # Default value 7
                self.polling_interval_spinbox.delete(0, tk.END)
                self.polling_interval_spinbox.insert(0, str(settings.get("polling_interval", 60))) # Default value 60
                self.enable_liked_songs_var.set(settings.get("enable_liked_songs", True))
                self.enable_restart_pattern_var.set(settings.get("enable_restart_pattern", False))
                print("Settings loaded successfully!")
            else:
                print("No configuration file found. Using default settings.")
        except FileNotFoundError:
            print("Configuration file not found.")
        except json.JSONDecodeError as e:
            print(f"Error decoding JSON: {e}. Using default settings.")
        except Exception as e:
            print(f"Error loading settings: {e}. Using default settings.")

Changes in save_settings:

  • We create a dictionary called settings to store all the settings. This dictionary will be converted to JSON format.
  • We use the json.dump() function to write the settings dictionary to a JSON file. The indent=4 argument makes the JSON output more readable.
  • We use a try-except block to handle potential errors during file writing.
  • Added home directory and configuration file path which are created in the user's home directory.

Changes in load_settings:

  • This method opens the configuration file in read mode ("r").
  • We use the json.load() function to load the settings from the JSON file into a dictionary.
  • We then retrieve the settings from the dictionary and set the corresponding values in the widgets.
  • We use settings.get("key", default_value) to safely access settings, providing default values if a setting is missing from the file.

Now, modify your SettingsWindow class to call load_settings when the window is initialized. Add this to your __init__ method, after calling self.geometry():

        self.load_settings()

This ensures that settings are loaded whenever the settings window is opened. The full class should look like this (including the changes in the previous steps):

import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import ttk
import json
import os

class SettingsWindow(tk.Toplevel):
    def __init__(self, parent):
        super().__init__(parent)
        self.title("Spotify Auto-Skipper Settings")
        self.geometry("400x350") # Adjust size as needed
        self.create_widgets()
        self.load_settings()

    def create_widgets(self):
        # Last.fm Settings
        ttk.Label(self, text="Last.fm Settings:").grid(row=0, column=0, columnspan=2, pady=5, sticky=tk.W)
        ttk.Label(self, text="Username:").grid(row=1, column=0, padx=5, sticky=tk.W)
        self.lastfm_username_entry = ttk.Entry(self)
        self.lastfm_username_entry.grid(row=1, column=1, padx=5, pady=5, sticky=tk.EW)
        ttk.Label(self, text="API Key:").grid(row=2, column=0, padx=5, sticky=tk.W)
        self.lastfm_api_key_entry = ttk.Entry(self, show="*") # Hide API key
        self.lastfm_api_key_entry.grid(row=2, column=1, padx=5, pady=5, sticky=tk.EW)

        # Spotify Settings
        ttk.Label(self, text="Spotify Settings:").grid(row=3, column=0, columnspan=2, pady=5, sticky=tk.W)
        ttk.Label(self, text="Client ID:").grid(row=4, column=0, padx=5, sticky=tk.W)
        self.spotify_client_id_entry = ttk.Entry(self)
        self.spotify_client_id_entry.grid(row=4, column=1, padx=5, pady=5, sticky=tk.EW)
        ttk.Label(self, text="Client Secret:").grid(row=5, column=0, padx=5, sticky=tk.W)
        self.spotify_client_secret_entry = ttk.Entry(self, show="*") # Hide secret
        self.spotify_client_secret_entry.grid(row=5, column=1, padx=5, pady=5, sticky=tk.EW)
        ttk.Label(self, text="Refresh Token:").grid(row=6, column=0, padx=5, sticky=tk.W)
        self.spotify_refresh_token_entry = ttk.Entry(self)
        self.spotify_refresh_token_entry.grid(row=6, column=1, padx=5, pady=5, sticky=tk.EW)

        # Configuration Settings
        ttk.Label(self, text="Configuration:").grid(row=7, column=0, columnspan=2, pady=5, sticky=tk.W)
        ttk.Label(self, text="Skip Window (Days):").grid(row=8, column=0, padx=5, sticky=tk.W)
        self.skip_window_spinbox = tk.Spinbox(self, from_=1, to=30, width=5) # Example spinbox
        self.skip_window_spinbox.grid(row=8, column=1, padx=5, pady=5, sticky=tk.EW)
        ttk.Label(self, text="Polling Interval:").grid(row=9, column=0, padx=5, sticky=tk.W)
        self.polling_interval_spinbox = tk.Spinbox(self, from_=10, to=600, width=5) # Example spinbox
        self.polling_interval_spinbox.grid(row=9, column=1, padx=5, pady=5, sticky=tk.EW)

        # Feature Toggles
        self.enable_liked_songs_var = tk.BooleanVar(value=True) # Default value
        self.enable_restart_pattern_var = tk.BooleanVar(value=False) # Default value
        ttk.Checkbutton(self, text="Enable Liked Songs", variable=self.enable_liked_songs_var).grid(row=10, column=0, columnspan=2, pady=2, padx=5, sticky=tk.W)
        ttk.Checkbutton(self, text="Enable Restart Pattern", variable=self.enable_restart_pattern_var).grid(row=11, column=0, columnspan=2, pady=2, padx=5, sticky=tk.W)

        # Buttons
        self.save_button = ttk.Button(self, text="Save", command=self.save_settings)
        self.save_button.grid(row=12, column=0, padx=5, pady=10, sticky=tk.E)
        self.cancel_button = ttk.Button(self, text="Cancel", command=self.cancel_changes)
        self.cancel_button.grid(row=12, column=1, padx=5, pady=10, sticky=tk.W)

    def save_settings(self):
        # Get values from widgets
        lastfm_username = self.lastfm_username_entry.get()
        lastfm_api_key = self.lastfm_api_key_entry.get()
        spotify_client_id = self.spotify_client_id_entry.get()
        spotify_client_secret = self.spotify_client_secret_entry.get()
        spotify_refresh_token = self.spotify_refresh_token_entry.get()
        skip_window = self.skip_window_spinbox.get()
        polling_interval = self.polling_interval_spinbox.get()
        enable_liked_songs = self.enable_liked_songs_var.get()
        enable_restart_pattern = self.enable_restart_pattern_var.get()

        # Create a dictionary to hold the settings
        settings = {
            "lastfm_username": lastfm_username,
            "lastfm_api_key": lastfm_api_key,
            "spotify_client_id": spotify_client_id,
            "spotify_client_secret": spotify_client_secret,
            "spotify_refresh_token": spotify_refresh_token,
            "skip_window": int(skip_window),  # Convert to integer
            "polling_interval": int(polling_interval), # Convert to integer
            "enable_liked_songs": enable_liked_songs,
            "enable_restart_pattern": enable_restart_pattern
        }

        # Save settings to JSON file
        try:
            # Get the path to the user's home directory
            home_dir = os.path.expanduser("~")
            # Create a directory for the application if it doesn't exist
            app_dir = os.path.join(home_dir, ".spotify-auto-skipper")
            if not os.path.exists(app_dir):
                os.makedirs(app_dir)
            # Define the file path
            config_file_path = os.path.join(app_dir, "config.json")
            with open(config_file_path, "w") as f:
                json.dump(settings, f, indent=4)
            print("Settings saved successfully!")
        except Exception as e:
            print(f"Error saving settings: {e}")

        # Close the window
        self.destroy()

    def load_settings(self):
        # Get the path to the user's home directory
        home_dir = os.path.expanduser("~")
        # Create a directory for the application if it doesn't exist
        app_dir = os.path.join(home_dir, ".spotify-auto-skipper")
        # Define the file path
        config_file_path = os.path.join(app_dir, "config.json")

        try:
            if os.path.exists(config_file_path):
                with open(config_file_path, "r") as f:
                    settings = json.load(f)
                # Set the values in the widgets
                self.lastfm_username_entry.insert(0, settings.get("lastfm_username", ""))
                self.lastfm_api_key_entry.insert(0, settings.get("lastfm_api_key", ""))
                self.spotify_client_id_entry.insert(0, settings.get("spotify_client_id", ""))
                self.spotify_client_secret_entry.insert(0, settings.get("spotify_client_secret", ""))
                self.spotify_refresh_token_entry.insert(0, settings.get("spotify_refresh_token", ""))
                self.skip_window_spinbox.delete(0, tk.END)
                self.skip_window_spinbox.insert(0, str(settings.get("skip_window", 7))) # Default value 7
                self.polling_interval_spinbox.delete(0, tk.END)
                self.polling_interval_spinbox.insert(0, str(settings.get("polling_interval", 60))) # Default value 60
                self.enable_liked_songs_var.set(settings.get("enable_liked_songs", True))
                self.enable_restart_pattern_var.set(settings.get("enable_restart_pattern", False))
                print("Settings loaded successfully!")
            else:
                print("No configuration file found. Using default settings.")
        except FileNotFoundError:
            print("Configuration file not found.")
        except json.JSONDecodeError as e:
            print(f"Error decoding JSON: {e}. Using default settings.")
        except Exception as e:
            print(f"Error loading settings: {e}. Using default settings.")

    def cancel_changes(self):
        self.destroy()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    root = tk.Tk()
    root.title("Spotify Auto-Skipper")
    def open_settings():
        settings_window = SettingsWindow(root)
    settings_button = ttk.Button(root, text="Settings", command=open_settings)
    settings_button.pack(pady=20)
    root.mainloop()

This completes the implementation of your Tkinter settings window. You now have a working GUI that allows users to modify and save their settings to a JSON configuration file. Remember to replace the placeholder comments with your own code to integrate this with your application's logic. This implementation gives a solid foundation for your Spotify Auto-Skipper settings window.

Enhancements and Next Steps

This is a great start, but there's always room for improvement! Here are a few ideas for enhancements and next steps:

  • Input Validation: Add input validation to ensure users enter valid data (e.g., check that the polling interval is a number within a reasonable range).
  • Error Handling: Implement more robust error handling to gracefully manage potential issues (e.g., invalid API keys, network errors).
  • User Feedback: Display visual cues (e.g., a