Skip to content

Toolboxes

Jump to bottom
MedICS Docs edited this page Sep 16, 2026 · 1 revision

Toolboxes

Built-in toolboxes are static plugins loaded by ToolboxManager. Each toolbox is a BaseToolboxPlugin paired with a Qt widget.

How toolboxes open: They open as tabs in the central tab widget — not as dock panels. Checkboxes under the Toolboxes menu mainly control whether the toolbox icon appears on the activity bar.

Built-in toolboxes

Toolbox Role
PyEditor Python IDE: syntax highlighting, completions, AST outline, integrated terminal, run against the Jupyter kernel
ImportData Unified importer for DICOM, NIfTI, TIFF/PNG/JPEG, video, HDF5, MAT, NumPy, CSV, and related formats; background workers with progress
FilePreview Read-only preview of text, code, markdown, spreadsheets, 2-D images, and volumetric data

Custom tools should be packaged as extensions rather than patched into medics/toolboxes/.

PyEditor

  • Jedi-based completions
  • Indent / unindent with Tab / Shift-Tab
  • Line numbers and code outline helpers
  • Run code against the shared in-process Jupyter kernel
  • Integrated terminal for shell commands

Workspace variables created or updated while running are reflected in the Variables dock.

ImportData

Typical flow:

  1. Drop files / folders, or browse a DICOM series.
  2. Background worker loads data (with progress).
  3. Preview in an image view when applicable.
  4. Import into the workspace under a chosen name.

Supported families include DICOM series, image stacks, NIfTI, video frame stacks, HDF5 / .med, MAT, and common 2-D formats.

FilePreview

Double-click in Explorer or open the toolbox to inspect:

  • Text / code / markdown
  • Tables
  • 2-D images
  • Volumes (slice, window/level, basic transforms)

Preview is read-only — use ImportData or scripts when you need workspace variables.

Plugin contract (for authors)

Built-in toolboxes implement BaseToolboxPlugin with:

Method Purpose
get_name() / get_version() / get_description() / get_author() Metadata
get_toolbox_class() Widget class to instantiate
initialize(app_context) Receive the running app
create_instance(...) Build the widget
cleanup() Release resources

For third-party tools, prefer the extension system (ExtensionInterface + extension.json) instead of adding a core toolbox.

Related pages

MedICS Community Wiki · Main application docs · Auth / license topics omitted in this version

MedICS Wiki

Clone this wiki locally