User Interface

User Interface

MedICS is a single-window Qt desktop application. Toolboxes open as central tabs, while Explorer, Variables, Jupyter, and related panels live in docks.

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Main window layout

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Menu bar                                                     │
├────┬───────────────────────────────────────────────┬─────────┤
│    │                                               │         │
│ A  │              Central tab widget               │  Vars   │
│ c  │         (toolboxes, previews, extensions)     │  dock   │
│ t  │                                               │         │
│ i  ├───────────────────────────────────────────────┤         │
│ v  │  Bottom docks: Jupyter / Terminal / Logs      │         │
│ i  │                                               │         │
│ t  │                                               │         │
│ y  │                                               │         │
├────┴───────────────────────────────────────────────┴─────────┤
│  Status bar                                                   │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

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Core UI managers

The UI is assembled after core components initialize:

Manager	Role
MainWindowUI	QMainWindow + central QTabWidget
DockManager	File tree, variables, Jupyter, chat, logs, and other docks
MenuManager	Menu bar, dynamic toolbox/extension menus
ToolbarManager	Draggable activity / toolbar strip
StatusBarManager	Status messages and indicators

Theme (dark / light) is applied through QSS stylesheets via ThemeManager.

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Docks

Typical docks (names may vary slightly by version):

Dock	What it shows
Explorer	Current project folder; double-click to preview
Variables	In-memory workspace keys and shapes
Jupyter	In-process kernel sharing the workspace namespace
Terminal	Embedded shell
Logs	Application log viewer
Chat / Agent	Optional AI assistant panel (when enabled)

Double-clicking a central tab can toggle dock visibility (layout convenience).

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Menus (overview)

Menu	Common actions
File	Open folder, save / load workspace, preferences, quit
View	Theme, dock visibility
Toolboxes	Toggle activity-bar icons; open built-in toolboxes
Extensions	Show / manage installed extensions
Help	About, docs links

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Central tabs

Built-in toolboxes and many extensions open as tabs in the center:

• PyEditor — Python IDE
• ImportData — drag-and-drop importer
• FilePreview — read-only file / volume preview
• Extension windows when windowed is true in their manifest

See Toolboxes and Extensions.

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Themes

Theme ID	Typical look
dark	Material-style dark QSS
light	Light QSS

Change theme from View / Settings. The active theme is stored in config.ini under [Theme]. See Configuration.

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Tips

• Open a folder first so Explorer and relative paths make sense.
• Imported data appears in Variables and is visible to Jupyter / PyEditor.
• Prefer packaging new tools as extensions rather than editing built-in toolboxes.