New uigetfile

This version trys to import PyQt5 within the function.  It catches ImportErrors and should allow for pycroscopy to be imported even if PyQt5 is not found.

pycroscopy/io/io_utils.py

@@ -9,12 +9,47 @@ from __future__ import division, print_function, absolute_import, unicode_litera
 from multiprocessing import cpu_count
 from time import strftime
 from psutil import virtual_memory as vm
+from warnings import warn
 import h5py
 import numpy as np
 
 __all__ = ['getAvailableMem', 'getTimeStamp', 'transformToTargetType', 'transformToReal',
            'complex_to_float', 'compound_to_scalar', 'realToComplex', 'realToCompound', 'check_dtype',
-           'recommendCores']
+           'recommendCores', 'uiGetFile']
+
+
+def uiGetFile(filter='H5 file (*.h5)', caption='Select File'):
+    """
+    Presents a File dialog used for selecting the .mat file
+    and returns the absolute filepath of the selecte file\n
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    extension : String or list of strings
+        file extensions to look for
+    caption : (Optional) String
+        Title for the file browser window
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    file_path : String
+        Absolute path of the chosen file
+    """
+    try:
+        from PyQt5 import QtWidgets
+    except ImportError:
+        warn('The required package PyQt5 could not be imported.\n',
+             'Exiting uigetfile.  The user should specify the file path manually.')
+        return None
+    except:
+        raise
+
+    app = QtWidgets.QApplication([])
+    path = QtWidgets.QFileDialog.getOpenFileName(caption=caption, filter=filter)[0]
+    app.exit()
+    del app
+
+    return str(path)
 
 
 def getTimeStamp():