EZInput

Why EZInput?

🔄

Environment Auto-Detection

Automatically detects whether you're in Jupyter or terminal and displays the appropriate interface. No code changes needed.

💾

Value Persistence

Remembers your input values between sessions. Perfect for iterative workflows and parameter tuning.

📝

Shareable Configs

Save and load parameter sets as YAML files. Share configurations with your team or across projects.

🖥️

Notebook to CLI

Run Jupyter notebooks from the terminal with the ezinput command. Perfect for batch processing.

🎨

Rich Widget Library

Text input, sliders, dropdowns, file pickers, checkboxes, and more. All with consistent API across environments.

🔌

Simple Integration

Replace input() calls with EZInput widgets. Minimal code changes for maximum functionality gain.

Quick Start

Installation

pip install ezinput

For development version:

pip install git+https://github.com/HenriquesLab/EZInput.git

Your First GUI in 5 Lines

from ezinput import EZInput

gui = EZInput("my_first_app")
name = gui.add_text("name", "What's your name?")
age = gui.add_int_range("age", "Age:", 0, 120)
gui.show()

print(f"Hello {name.value}, you are {age.value} years old!")

This exact code works in both Jupyter notebooks and terminal! 🎉

📓 Jupyter Note: In notebooks, put the code that accesses .value (like the print statements) in a separate cell below gui.show(). Run it after you've entered your values!

Real-World Example: Image Analysis

from ezinput import EZInput
from pathlib import Path

# Create GUI with a memorable title (configs saved under this name)
gui = EZInput("image_segmentation_v3")

# File selection (text input with path)
input_file = gui.add_text("input_tif", "Input file path:", placeholder="/path/to/image.tif")

# Processing parameters with bounds
threshold = gui.add_float_range("threshold", "Threshold:", 0.0, 1.0)
min_size = gui.add_bounded_int_text("min_size", "Min object size:", 10, 1000)

# Optional settings
gpu_accel = gui.add_check("use_gpu", "Use GPU acceleration?")
method = gui.add_dropdown("method", ["watershed", "otsu", "adaptive"], 
                          "Segmentation method:")

# Display the GUI
gui.show()

# Access values
print(f"Processing {input_file.value}")
print(f"Threshold: {threshold.value}, Method: {method.value}")

📓 Jupyter Note: In notebooks, create a new cell after gui.show() for the code that accesses widget values. This allows you to interact with the widgets before accessing their values.

🖥️ Run Notebooks from Terminal

Execute your Jupyter notebooks as command-line tools with ezinput:

# Run a notebook from terminal
ezinput my_analysis.ipynb

# Works with EZInput GUIs inside the notebook!
# Prompts appear in terminal, configs are loaded automatically

Perfect for batch processing, automation, and integrating notebooks into pipelines.

🔥 Copy-Paste Anywhere

The same code works identically in:

Jupyter Notebook (.ipynb)
JupyterLab
Terminal Python scripts (.py)
IPython shell

No modifications needed! EZInput automatically detects the environment and adapts.

Widget Gallery

All the widgets you need, with consistent API across environments

📝 Text & Numbers

add_text() - Single line text
add_text_area() - Multi-line text
add_int_range() - Integer slider
add_float_range() - Float slider
add_int_text() - Integer text input
add_float_text() - Float text input
add_bounded_int_text() - Validated integers
add_bounded_float_text() - Validated floats

✅ Selection

add_check() - Checkbox/Yes-No
add_dropdown() - Selection from list

🎨 Display

add_label() - Static text/headers

Explore All Widgets →

Value Persistence & Configuration

Automatic Memory

# First run
gui = EZInput("analysis")
threshold = gui.add_float_range("thresh", "Threshold:", 0, 1)
gui.show()
# User enters 0.75

# Second run (tomorrow)
gui = EZInput("analysis")
threshold = gui.add_float_range("thresh", "Threshold:", 0, 1)
gui.show()
# Default is now 0.75! ✨

Save & Load Configs

# Save current parameters
gui.save_parameters("optimal_params.yml")

# Load saved parameters
gui.load_parameters("optimal_params.yml")

# Share with team!
# Config saved to: ~/.ezinput/optimal_params.yml

⚙️ Value Priority Order

Loaded parameters (from .yml file via load_parameters())
Remembered values (from previous sessions using remember_value=True parameter)
Explicit defaults (passed to widget methods)
Widget defaults (built-in fallbacks)

Learn More About Configuration →