Using Python and tkinter to build a simple output viewer for game dev build tools. See blog here: https://www.executionunit.com/blog/2012/10/26/using-python-and-tkinter-to-capture-script-output/

tkbuilder.py

"""main script that builds the interface and calls main.py"""

import subprocess
import sys
from tkinter import Tk, Text, BOTH, W, N, E, S, END, INSERT, HORIZONTAL, VERTICAL, NONE, StringVar

from tkinter.ttk import Frame, Button, Style, Scrollbar, Checkbutton
from os.path import join, dirname
from datetime import datetime

mainpath = join(dirname(__file__), "main.py")

#there has got to be a better way to do this in windows.
pythonpath = "python"
if sys.platform == "win32":
    pythonpath = "c:\python27\python.exe"


class AssetBuilder(Frame):

    def __init__(self, parent):
        Frame.__init__(self, parent)

        self.parent = parent

        self.initUI()

    def initUI(self):

        self.parent.title("Asset Builder")
        self.style = Style()
        self.style.theme_use("default")
        self.pack(fill=BOTH, expand=1)

        #create a grid 5x4 in to which we will place elements.
        self.columnconfigure(1, weight=1)
        self.columnconfigure(2, weight=0)
        self.columnconfigure(3, weight=0)
        self.columnconfigure(4, weight=0)
        self.columnconfigure(5, weight=0)
        self.rowconfigure(1, weight=1)
        self.rowconfigure(2, weight=0)
        self.rowconfigure(3, weight=0)

        #create the main text are with scrollbars
        xscrollbar = Scrollbar(self, orient=HORIZONTAL)
        xscrollbar.grid(row=2, column=1, columnspan=4, sticky=E + W)

        yscrollbar = Scrollbar(self, orient=VERTICAL)
        yscrollbar.grid(row=1, column=5, sticky=N + S)

        self.textarea = Text(self, wrap=NONE, bd=0,
                             xscrollcommand=xscrollbar.set,
                             yscrollcommand=yscrollbar.set)
        self.textarea.grid(row=1, column=1, columnspan=4, rowspan=1,
                            padx=0, sticky=E + W + S + N)

        xscrollbar.config(command=self.textarea.xview)
        yscrollbar.config(command=self.textarea.yview)

        #create the buttons/checkboxes to go along the bottom
        self.clearButton = Button(self, text="Clear")
        self.clearButton.grid(row=3, column=1, padx=5, pady=5, sticky=W)
        self.clearButton.bind("<ButtonRelease-1>", self.clearText)

        self.verboseVar = StringVar()
        verboseCheck = Checkbutton(self, text="Verbose", variable=self.verboseVar,
            onvalue="-v", offvalue="")
        verboseCheck.grid(row=3, column=2, padx=5, pady=5)

        self.forceVar = StringVar()
        forceCheck = Checkbutton(self, text="Force Build", variable=self.forceVar,
            onvalue="-f", offvalue="")
        forceCheck.grid(row=3, column=3, padx=5, pady=5)

        self.buildbutton = Button(self, text="Build")
        self.buildbutton.grid(row=3, column=4, padx=5, pady=5)
        self.buildbutton.bind("<ButtonRelease-1>", self.doBuild)

        #tags are used to colorise the text added to the text widget.
        # see self.addTtext and self.tagsForLine
        self.textarea.tag_config("errorstring", foreground="#CC0000")
        self.textarea.tag_config("infostring", foreground="#008800")

    def tagsForLine(self, line):
        """return a tuple of tags to be applied to the line of text 'line'
           when being added to the text widet"""
        l = line.lower()
        if "error" in l or "traceback" in l:
            return ("errorstring", )
        return ()

    def addText(self, str, tags=None):
        """Add a line of text to the textWidget. If tags is None then
        self.tagsForLine will be used to assign tags to the line"""
        self.textarea.insert(INSERT, str, tags or self.tagsForLine(str))
        self.textarea.yview(END)

    def clearText(self, event):
        """Clear all the text from the text widget"""
        self.textarea.delete("1.0", END)

    def moveCursorToEnd(self):
        """move the cursor to the end of the text widget's text"""
        self.textarea.mark_set("insert", END)

    def doBuild(self, event):
        """callback from the build button"""
        self.moveCursorToEnd()
        self.addText("Build Started %s\n" % (str(datetime.now())), ("infostring", ))

        cmdlist = filter(lambda x: x if x else None,
            [pythonpath, mainpath, self.verboseVar.get(), self.forceVar.get()])

        self.addText(" ".join(cmdlist) + "\n", ("infostring", ))

        proc = subprocess.Popen(cmdlist,
                                 stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
                                 stderr=subprocess.STDOUT,
                                 universal_newlines=True)

        while True:
            line = proc.stdout.readline()
            if not line:
                break
            self.addText(line)
            #this triggers an update of the text area, otherwise it doesn't update
            self.textarea.update_idletasks()

        self.addText("Build Finished %s\n" % (str(datetime.now())), ("infostring", ))
        self.addText("*" * 80 + "\n", ("infostring", ))


def main():
    root = Tk()
    root.geometry("650x400+300+300")
    AssetBuilder(root)
    root.mainloop()


if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()