JBrowser Source Docs
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Settings and tool windows

Two base classes keep every window consistent with the main window:

Base For File
ChromeWindow tool windows: Settings, History, Bookmarks, Passwords, Downloads, Cookies, Permissions, user scripts, developer hosts ui/chrome_window.py
JDialog small modal prompts: sign-in, bookmark and space editors, the proxy dialog, the screen picker, the update dialog ui/dialogs/base.py

ChromeWindow uses the main window's technique: the whole window is client area, the system backdrop shows through translucent pixels, and a slim custom caption keeps drag, Snap Layouts and the window buttons. Subclasses fill self.root, optionally with a translucent navigation pane.

Opening a tool window#

ui.open_dialog("history")          # history, bookmarks, downloads, passwords, cookies, permissions, ...
ui.open_settings("privacy")        # a Settings page by key

BrowserController keeps one instance of each tool window in _dialogs and brings it to the front if it is already open. Dialog modules are imported lazily, the first time they are opened, which keeps start-up fast (the PyInstaller spec collects them explicitly for the same reason).

The Settings window#

SettingsWindow (ui/dialogs/settings.py) has a navigation pane of PAGES (General, Appearance, Search, Privacy and security, Clear browsing data, Passwords, Performance, Network and DNS, Downloads, Advanced, Reset and About) and, on the right, SettingCards: an icon, a title, a plain-language description and a control.

  • Helpers build the common controls: _toggle(key), _toggle_card(key, glyph, title, description) and _combo(key, options). Each writes straight into the settings store, so changes apply immediately.
  • The search box filters cards by their title and description text across all pages.
  • _listen(signal, slot) connects to app-wide signals and disconnects them when the window closes, so a closed Settings window never receives updates.
  • Every setting also has a command page in the Lazy Toolbar (Settings: <page>).

Writing a new dialog#

  1. Subclass ChromeWindow for a tool window or JDialog for a prompt.
  2. Paint with theme tokens and connect to theme().changed; use the reusable widgets.
  3. Keep the logic in a service; the dialog only shows and edits it.
  4. Add it to BrowserController.open_dialog() and give it a command in ui/actions.py.