1. Qube
2. Qube! Documentation
3. Developer's Guide
4. Customizing the Qube UI
5. Submission Interface Plugins

Submission Interface Plugins

Like the menu and panel plugin types, the submission plugins are written in Python 3. Each submission plugin is executed directly by the plugin system so, so for example, you can use Python to automate the building of parameters, pre-fill default values, or adapt to changes the user makes.

At last count Qube! UI ships with 33 submission plugins that you can find in the plugins/submission directory under the application directory (or under QubeUI\bin on Windows). Looking through the submission dialogs for each type in the UI and then reading the corresponding section of it's plugin file is a good way to quickly find how to do what you need in a particular situation.

Submission plugin terminology

Field

See parameter.

Page

Submission plugin pages are used to group related parameters. Only a single page is shown by the submission dialog at one time.

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Parameter

A submission plugin is built up of multiple parameters and is the main mechanism for getting input from the user. Some examples of submission parameters could be an output directory path, an image file type, or a verbosity flag. The terms parameter and field are synonymous and are used interchangeably in this documentation.

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Creating a new submission type plugin

The best place to start when creating a new submission plugin is to copy an existing one that's closest to what you intend to make. For the purposes of this documentation we'll start from scratch and create a new plugin for making proxy images using imagemagick.

The process is as follows:

1. Add the submission type.
2. Add a new page for the input path field.
3. Add parameters.
4. Override defaults for fields in the Qube Basics page.
5. Set the command template.

1. Add the submission type

...

# Create a new submission type
add_submission_type('Make proxy',
                    short_name='Make Proxy',
                    type="makeProxy",
                    has_range=False,
                    can_batch=False,
                    thread_control='all',
                    prototype="cmdline")

Check the documentation for add_submission_type() for information on the command's arguments.

,
                    group="Pipeline")

2. Add a new page for the input path field

Use pages to group related fields together. We add pages by calling add_page() with a single argument, the page's name.

...

After you add a page it becomes current, every field that follows is added to that page until you add a new one. We'll add a Source Path parameter field using add_field().

add_field("Source Path",
          type="path",
          required=True,
          destination="package.sourcePath")

...

Let's keep going and make a new Output page and parameter for the output path.

add_page("Output")

add_field("Destination Path",
          type="path",
          required=True,
          destination="package.destinationPath")

First we make a new page for our output parameters. The Destination Path parameter is nearly identical to our Source Path parameter so we 'll skip the explanation explaining it and move on.

add_field("ProxyScale",
          default=50,
          min=1,
          max=100,
          required=True,
          destination="package.proxyScale")

...

The command template works in the same way, where the parameter names act as the keys to the dictionary. In our example command template we make a new directory and then run magick to resize the images.

Submission Plugin Functions

add_submission_type

Create a new submission plugin. Each plugin should have exactly one call to add_submission_type() . 

add_page

Add a new page to the submission dialog and make it current. New fields are added to the current page.

add_field

Add a parameter to the current page.

Supported Parameter types

Common arguments

string

A simple single line text field.

text

A multi line text field.

bool

A checkbox.

int

A integer spinbox.

float

A floating point spinbox.

combo

A drop down menu, allows for a single selection from a list of items.

path

A single line text field with a browse button that opens a file dialog to select a directory path.

combo_path

The same as the path parameter type but also allows for selection of paths from a combo.

filename

A single line text field with a browse button that opens a file dialog to select a file path.

combo_file

The same as the filename parameter type but also allows for selection of file paths from a combo.

list

A list box where the user can select either a single or multiple values.

table

A table of values of given dimensions that the user can enter values.

datetime

A date and time selection parameter.

selectorString

A selectorString parameter uses a Python function to generate a list of strings, take this example from the Worker Selection page (found in python/99_qube_parameters.py in the standard plugin path on your system).

...

set_field

Set the value of an existing field.

set_command_template

Set the command template for Qube! jobs submitted with this submission type.