Python Programming/Tkinter

Tkinter is a Python wrapper for Tcl/Tk providing a cross-platform GUI toolkit. On Windows, it comes bundled with Python; on other operating systems, it can be installed. The set of available widgets is smaller than in some other toolkits, but since Tkinter widgets are extensible, many of the missing compound widgets can be created using the extensibility, such as combo box and scrolling pane. IDLE, Python's Integrated Development and Learning Environment, is written using Tkinter and is often distributed with Python. You can learn about features of Tkinter by playing around with menus and dialogs of IDLE. For instance, Options > Configure IDLE... dialog shows a broad variety of GUI elements including tabbed interface. You can learn about programming using Tkinter by studying IDLE source code, which, on Windows, is available e.g. in C:\Program Files\Python27\Lib\idlelib. Python 3: The examples on this page are for Python 2. In Python 3, what was previously module Tkinter is tkinter, what was tkMessageBox is messagebox, etc. Minimal example A minimal example: from Tkinter import * root = Tk() frame = Frame(root) frame.pack() label = Label(frame, text="Hey there.") label.pack() quitButton = Button(frame, text="Quit", command=frame.quit) quitButton.pack() root.mainloop() A minimal example made more compact - later references to GUI items not required: from Tkinter import * root = Tk() frame = Frame(root) frame.pack() Label(frame, text="Hey there.").pack() Button(frame, text="Quit", command=frame.quit).pack() root.mainloop() A minimal example creating an application class derived from Frame: from Tkinter import * class App(Frame): def __init__(self, master): Frame.__init__(self) self.label = Label(master, text="Hey there.") self.label.pack() self.quitButton = Button(master, text="Quit", command=self.quit) self.quitButton.pack() if __name__ == '__main__': root = Tk() app = App(root) root.mainloop() Message boxes Simple message boxes can be created using tkMessageBox as follows: import Tkinter, tkMessageBox Tkinter.Tk().withdraw() # Workaround: Hide the window answer = tkMessageBox.askokcancel("Confirmation", "File not saved. Discard?") answer = tkMessageBox.askyesno("Confirmation", "Do you really want to delete the file?") # Above, "OK" and "Yes" yield True, and "Cancel" and "No" yield False tkMessageBox.showwarning("Warning", "Timeout has elapsed.") tkMessageBox.showwarning("Warning", "Timeout has elapsed.", icon=tkMessageBox.ERROR) tkMessageBox.showerror("Warning", "Timeout has elapsed.") Links: The tkMessageBox dialogs module, infohost.nmt.edu Standard Dialogs, effbot.org File dialog File dialogs can be created as follows: import Tkinter, tkFileDialog Tkinter.Tk().withdraw() # Workaround: Hide the window filename1 = tkFileDialog.askopenfilename() filename2 = tkFileDialog.askopenfilename(initialdir=r"C:\Users") filename3 = tkFileDialog.asksaveasfilename() filename4 = tkFileDialog.asksaveasfilename(initialdir=r"C:\Users") if filename1 <> "": for line in open(filename1): # Dummy reading of the file dummy = line.rstrip() Links: The tkFileDialog module, infohost.nmt.edu File Dialogs, effbot.org tkFileDialog, tkinter.unpythonic.net Radio button A radio button can be used to create a simple choice dialog with multiple options: from Tkinter import * master = Tk() choices = [("Apple", "a"), ("Orange", "o"), ("Pear", "p")] defaultChoice = "a" userchoice = StringVar() userchoice.set(defaultChoice) def cancelAction(): userchoice.set("");master.quit() Label(master, text="Choose a fruit:").pack() for text, key in choices: Radiobutton(master, text=text, variable=userchoice, value=key).pack(anchor=W) Button(master, text="OK", command=master.quit).pack(side=LEFT, ipadx=10) Button(master, text="Cancel", command=cancelAction).pack(side=RIGHT, ipadx=10) mainloop() if userchoice.get() <>"": print userchoice.get() # "a", or "o", or "p" else: print "Choice canceled." An alternative to radio button that immediately reacts to button press: from Tkinter import * import os buttons = [("Users", r"C:\Users"), ("Windows", r"C:\Windows"), ("Program Files", r"C:\Program Files")] master = Tk() def open(filePath): def openInner(): os.chdir(filePath) # Cross platform #os.system('start "" "'+filePath+'') # Windows master.quit() return openInner Label(master, text="Choose a fruit:").pack() for buttonLabel, filePath in buttons: Button(master, text=buttonLabel, command=open(filePath)).pack(anchor=W) mainloop() Links: The Radiobutton widget, infohost.nmt.edu The Tkinter Radiobutton Widget, effbot.org List box A list box can be used to create a simple multiple-choice dialog: from Tkinter import * master = Tk() choices = ["Apple", "Orange", "Pear"] canceled = BooleanVar() def cancelAction(): canceled.set(True); master.quit() Label(master, text="Choose a fruit:").pack() listbox = Listbox(master, selectmode=EXTENDED) # Multiple options can be chosen for text in choices: listbox.insert(END, text) listbox.pack() Button(master, text="OK", command=master.quit).pack(side=LEFT, ipadx=10) Button(master, text="Cancel", command=cancelAction).pack(side=RIGHT, ipadx=10) mainloop() if not canceled.get(): print listbox.curselection() # A tuple of choice indices starting with 0 # The above is a tuple even if selectmode=SINGLE if "0" in listbox.curselection(): print "Apple chosen." if "1" in listbox.curselection(): print "Orange chosen." if "2" in listbox.curselection(): print "Pear chosen." else: print "Choice canceled." Links: The Listbox widget, infohost.nmt.edu The Tkinter Listbox Widget, effbot.org TKinter Listbox example (Python recipe), code.activestate.com Checkbox Checkbox or check button can be created as follows: from Tkinter import * root = Tk() checkbuttonState = IntVar() Checkbutton(root, text="Recursive", variable=checkbuttonState).pack() mainloop() print checkbuttonState.get() # 1 = checked; 0 = unchecked Links: The Checkbutton widget, infohost.nmt.edu The Tkinter Checkbutton Widget, effbot.org Entry Entry widget, a single-line text input field, can be used as follows: from Tkinter import * root = Tk() Label(text="Enter your first name:").pack() entryContent = StringVar() Entry(root, textvariable=entryContent).pack() mainloop() print entryContent.get() Links: The Entry widget, infohost.nmt.edu The Tkinter Entry Widget, effbot.org Menu Menus can be created as follows: from Tkinter import * root = Tk() def mycommand(): print "Chosen." menubar = Menu(root) menu1 = Menu(menubar, tearoff=0) menu1.add_command(label="New", command=mycommand) menu1.add_command(label="Clone", command=mycommand) menu1.add_separator() menu1.add_command(label="Exit", command=root.quit) menubar.add_cascade(label="Project", menu=menu1) menu2 = Menu(menubar, tearoff=0) menu2.add_command(label="Oval", command=mycommand) menu2.add_command(label="Rectangle", command=mycommand) menubar.add_cascade(label="Shapes", menu=menu2) root.config(menu=menubar) mainloop() Links: The Menu widget, infohost.nmt.edu The Tkinter Menu Widget, effbot.org LabelFrame A frame around other elements can be created using LabelFrame widget as follows: from Tkinter import * root = Tk() Label(text="Bus").pack() frame = LabelFrame(root, text="Fruits") # text is optional frame.pack() Label(frame, text="Apple").pack() Label(frame, text="Orange").pack() mainloop() Links: The LabelFrame widget, infohost.nmt.edu Tkinter LabelFrame Widget, effbot.org Message Message is like Label but ready to wrap across multiple lines. An example: from Tkinter import * root = Tk() Message(text="Lazy brown fox jumped. " * 5, width=100).pack() # width is optional mainloop() Links: The Message widget, infohost.nmt.edu The Tkinter Message Widget, effbot.org Option menu Drop-down list, in Tkinter option menu, can be created as follows: from Tkinter import * root = Tk() options = ["Apple", "Orange", "Pear"] selectedOption = StringVar() selectedOption.set("Apple") # Default OptionMenu(root, selectedOption, *options).pack() mainloop() print selectedOption.get() # The text in the options list Links: The OptionMenu widget, infohost.nmt.edu The Tkinter OptionMenu Widget, effbot.org Text Text widget is a more complex one, allowing editing of both plain and formatted text, including multiple fonts. Example to be added. Links: The Text widget, infohost.nmt.edu The Tkinter Text Widget, effbot.org Tcl/Tk version The Windows installer for Python 2.3 ships with Tcl/Tk 8.4.3. You can find out about the version: import Tkinter print Tkinter.TclVersion # Up to 8.5 print Tkinter.TkVersion # Up to 8.5 Links: What's new in Python 2.3, python.org Related books Tcl Programming/Tk External links 24.1. Tkinter — Python interface to Tcl/Tk, python.org Tkinter 8.5 reference: a GUI for Python, infohost.nmt.edu; the same as pdf An Introduction to Tkinter, effbot.org Tkinter Summary, staff.washington.edu TkInter, wiki.python.org GUI Tk « Python, java2s.com, many examples