How to use the sublime plugin api to create a new layout and open a file in each cell

Question

I'm trying to write a plugin that will allow me to open a group of related files in one go. The premise being:

1. The plugin presents the user with a list of directories (ostensibly self contained ui components)
2. The user chooses a directory
3. The plugin creates a new 3 column layout
4. A .js file is opened in the first column from the selected directory
5. A .html file is opened in the second column from the selected directory
6. A .scss file is opened in the third column from the selected directory

So far, I've got the plugin presenting the user with a choice of directories, and creating the three column layout, but I can;t figure out how to traverse the three column layout to open files in new views

import sublime, sublime_plugin, os

class OpenSesameCommand(sublime_plugin.TextCommand):

    def run(self, edit):
        #This is the directory where the components are kept
        self.thedir = '/Users/tom/Documents/Tradeweb/tradeweb-uscc/src/js/components'
        self.window = sublime.active_window()

        #Get all directories in the component directory
        self.listings = [ name for name in os.listdir(self.thedir) if os.path.isdir(os.path.join(self.thedir, name)) ]

        #Show all directories in the quick panel
        self.window.show_quick_panel(self.listings, self.open_component, sublime.MONOSPACE_FONT)

    def open_component(self, index):

        # Generate file paths to the relevant files
        compName = self.listings[index]
        jsFile = self.create_file_ref(compName, 'js')
        htmlFile = self.create_file_ref(compName, 'html')
        sassFile = self.create_file_ref(compName, 'scss')

         #create a new layout
        self.window.set_layout({
            "cols": [0.0, 0.3, 0.6, 1.0],
            "rows": [0.0, 1.0],
            "cells": [ [0, 0, 1, 1], [1, 0, 1, 1], [2, 0, 2, 1]]
        })

            # ??? how can I set the focus on different columns

        #open files
        #self.window.open_file(htmlFile)
        #self.window.open_file(jsFile)
            #self.window.open_file(sassFile)


    def create_file_ref(self, component, type):
        componentDir = self.thedir + '/' + component + '/'
        return componentDir + component + '.' + type 

Looking through the API I get the impression it's going to have something to do with the view and group related methods on the Window object but I can't for the life of me piece it together.

If someone could point out how I could open a file in the third column for example, I'm sure I could take it from there.

BTW: This is the first time I've used python so please forgive any bad-practices (but please point them out).

Answer 1

You'll want to use

self.window.focus_group(0)
self.window.open_file(htmlFile)

self.window.focus_group(1)
self.window.open_file(jsFile)

self.window.focus_group(2)
self.window.open_file(sassFile)

or, equivalently,

for i, file in enumerate([htmlFile, jsFile, sassFile]):
    self.window.focus_group(i)
    self.window.open_file(file)

To set the layout, use this reference. A cache is here, 'cause it's down all the time.