wxPython: Hide a widget and remove the leftover space

Question

I want to hide a widget in a sizer and not leave an empty space. I do not want to remove the widget, because I want to show it again later.

Is there a way to hide a widget and have the shown widgets after it move over one space to fill the empty spot?

Here is a simple example of a space being left:

import wx

class MyPanel(wx.Panel):
    def __init__(self, parent):
        """Constructor"""
        wx.Panel.__init__(self, parent)

        sizer = wx.GridSizer(1, 3, 0, 0)

        a = wx.Button(self, -1, 'a')
        b = wx.Button(self, -1, 'b')
        c = wx.Button(self, -1, 'c')

        sizer.Add(a, 0, 0, 0)
        sizer.Add(b, 0, 0, 0)
        sizer.Add(c, 0, 0, 0)

        b.Hide()

        self.SetSizer(sizer)

class MyFrame(wx.Frame):
    def __init__(self):
        """Constructor"""
        wx.Frame.__init__(self, parent=None, title="Remove Spaces")
        panel = MyPanel(self)
        sizer = wx.BoxSizer(wx.VERTICAL)
        sizer.Add(panel, 1, wx.EXPAND)
        self.SetSizer(sizer)
        self.Fit()
        self.Show()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    app = wx.App(False)
    frame = MyFrame()
    app.MainLoop()

Answer 1

Do you have to use wx.GridSizer? Because it will give you a fixed layout, so even you hide a control the grid will still have that space displayed.

Have you considered using wx.GridBagSizer? Try this one:

class MyPanel(wx.Panel):
    def __init__(self, parent):
        """Constructor"""
        wx.Panel.__init__(self, parent)
        self.parent = parent

        self.sizer = wx.GridBagSizer()

        self.a = wx.Button(self, -1, 'a')
        self.b = wx.Button(self, -1, 'b')
        self.c = wx.Button(self, -1, 'c')
        self.a.Bind(wx.EVT_BUTTON, self.button_clicked)

        self.sizer.Add(self.a, pos=(0, 0))
        self.sizer.Add(self.b, pos=(0, 1))
        self.sizer.Add(self.c, pos=(0, 2))

        self.SetSizer(self.sizer)

    def button_clicked(self, event):
        if self.b.IsShown():
            self.b.Hide()
        else:
            self.b.Show()
        self.parent.Fit()

Using FlexGridSizer:

class MyPanel(wx.Panel):
    def __init__(self, parent):
        """Constructor"""
        wx.Panel.__init__(self, parent)
        self.parent = parent

        self.sizer = wx.FlexGridSizer(1, 3, 0, 0)

        self.a = wx.Button(self, -1, 'a')
        self.b = wx.Button(self, -1, 'b')
        self.c = wx.Button(self, -1, 'c')
        self.a.Bind(wx.EVT_BUTTON, self.button_clicked)

        self.sizer.Add(self.a)
        self.sizer.Add(self.b)
        self.sizer.Add(self.c)

        self.SetSizer(self.sizer)

    def button_clicked(self, event):
        if self.b.IsShown():
            self.b.Hide()
        else:
            self.b.Show()
        self.parent.Fit()