839 lines
31 KiB
ReStructuredText
839 lines
31 KiB
ReStructuredText
:mod:`tkinter` --- Python interface to Tcl/Tk
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=============================================
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.. module:: Tkinter
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:synopsis: Old name for the tkinter module.
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.. module:: tkinter
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:synopsis: Interface to Tcl/Tk for graphical user interfaces
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.. moduleauthor:: Guido van Rossum <guido@Python.org>
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The :mod:`tkinter` package ("Tk interface") is the standard Python interface to
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the Tk GUI toolkit. Both Tk and :mod:`tkinter` are available on most Unix
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platforms, as well as on Windows and Macintosh systems. (Tk itself is not part
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of Python; it is maintained at ActiveState.)
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.. note::
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The :mod:`Tkinter` module has been renamed to a :mod:`tkinter` package in
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Python 3.0. All other Tkinter-related modules have been moved to submodules
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within that package (see their individual descriptions).
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All modules are importable under both names in Python 2.6 and the rest of the
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2.x series.
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.. seealso::
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`Python Tkinter Resources <http://www.python.org/topics/tkinter/>`_
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The Python Tkinter Topic Guide provides a great deal of information on using Tk
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from Python and links to other sources of information on Tk.
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`An Introduction to Tkinter <http://www.pythonware.com/library/an-introduction-to-tkinter.htm>`_
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Fredrik Lundh's on-line reference material.
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`Tkinter reference: a GUI for Python <http://infohost.nmt.edu/tcc/help/pubs/lang.html>`_
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On-line reference material.
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`Tkinter for JPython <http://jtkinter.sourceforge.net>`_
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The Jython interface to Tkinter.
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`Python and Tkinter Programming <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1884777813>`_
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The book by John Grayson (ISBN 1-884777-81-3).
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Tkinter Modules
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---------------
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Most of the time, the :mod:`tkinter` is all you really need, but a number
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of additional modules are available as well. The Tk interface is located in a
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binary module named :mod:`_tkinter`. This module contains the low-level
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interface to Tk, and should never be used directly by application programmers.
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It is usually a shared library (or DLL), but might in some cases be statically
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linked with the Python interpreter.
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In addition to the Tk interface module, :mod:`tkinter` includes a number of
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Python modules, :mod:`tkinter.constants` being one of the most important.
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Importing :mod:`tkinter` will automatically import :mod:`tkinter.constants`,
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so, usually, to use Tkinter all you need is a simple import statement::
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import tkinter
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Or, more often::
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from tkinter import *
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.. class:: Tk(screenName=None, baseName=None, className='Tk', useTk=1)
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The :class:`Tk` class is instantiated without arguments. This creates a toplevel
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widget of Tk which usually is the main window of an application. Each instance
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has its own associated Tcl interpreter.
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.. FIXME: The following keyword arguments are currently recognized:
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.. versionchanged:: 2.4
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The *useTk* parameter was added.
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.. function:: Tcl(screenName=None, baseName=None, className='Tk', useTk=0)
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The :func:`Tcl` function is a factory function which creates an object much like
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that created by the :class:`Tk` class, except that it does not initialize the Tk
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subsystem. This is most often useful when driving the Tcl interpreter in an
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environment where one doesn't want to create extraneous toplevel windows, or
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where one cannot (such as Unix/Linux systems without an X server). An object
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created by the :func:`Tcl` object can have a Toplevel window created (and the Tk
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subsystem initialized) by calling its :meth:`loadtk` method.
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.. versionadded:: 2.4
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Other modules that provide Tk support include:
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:mod:`tkinter.scrolledtext`
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Text widget with a vertical scroll bar built in.
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.. versionchanged:: 2.6
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Renamed from ``ScrolledText``.
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:mod:`tkinter.colorchooser`
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Dialog to let the user choose a color.
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.. versionchanged:: 2.6
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Renamed from ``tkColorChooser``.
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:mod:`commondialog`
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Base class for the dialogs defined in the other modules listed here.
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.. versionchanged:: 2.6
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Renamed from ``tkCommonDialog``.
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:mod:`filedialog`
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Common dialogs to allow the user to specify a file to open or save.
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.. versionchanged:: 2.6
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Renamed from ``tkFileDialog``.
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:mod:`tkinter.font`
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Utilities to help work with fonts.
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.. versionchanged:: 2.6
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Renamed from ``tkFont``.
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:mod:`tkinter.messagebox`
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Access to standard Tk dialog boxes.
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.. versionchanged:: 2.6
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Renamed from ``tkMessageBox``.
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:mod:`tkinter.simpledialog`
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Basic dialogs and convenience functions.
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.. versionchanged:: 2.6
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Renamed from ``tkSimpleDialog``.
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:mod:`tkinter.dnd`
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Drag-and-drop support for :mod:`tkinter`. This is experimental and should
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become deprecated when it is replaced with the Tk DND.
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.. versionchanged:: 2.6
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Renamed from ``Tkdnd``.
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:mod:`tkinter.turtle`
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Turtle graphics in a Tk window.
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.. versionchanged:: 2.6
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Renamed from ``turtle``.
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Tkinter Life Preserver
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----------------------
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.. sectionauthor:: Matt Conway
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This section is not designed to be an exhaustive tutorial on either Tk or
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Tkinter. Rather, it is intended as a stop gap, providing some introductory
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orientation on the system.
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Credits:
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* Tkinter was written by Steen Lumholt and Guido van Rossum.
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* Tk was written by John Ousterhout while at Berkeley.
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* This Life Preserver was written by Matt Conway at the University of Virginia.
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* The html rendering, and some liberal editing, was produced from a FrameMaker
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version by Ken Manheimer.
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* Fredrik Lundh elaborated and revised the class interface descriptions, to get
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them current with Tk 4.2.
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* Mike Clarkson converted the documentation to LaTeX, and compiled the User
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Interface chapter of the reference manual.
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How To Use This Section
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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This section is designed in two parts: the first half (roughly) covers
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background material, while the second half can be taken to the keyboard as a
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handy reference.
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When trying to answer questions of the form "how do I do blah", it is often best
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to find out how to do"blah" in straight Tk, and then convert this back into the
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corresponding :mod:`tkinter` call. Python programmers can often guess at the
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correct Python command by looking at the Tk documentation. This means that in
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order to use Tkinter, you will have to know a little bit about Tk. This document
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can't fulfill that role, so the best we can do is point you to the best
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documentation that exists. Here are some hints:
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* The authors strongly suggest getting a copy of the Tk man pages. Specifically,
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the man pages in the ``mann`` directory are most useful. The ``man3`` man pages
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describe the C interface to the Tk library and thus are not especially helpful
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for script writers.
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* Addison-Wesley publishes a book called Tcl and the Tk Toolkit by John
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Ousterhout (ISBN 0-201-63337-X) which is a good introduction to Tcl and Tk for
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the novice. The book is not exhaustive, and for many details it defers to the
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man pages.
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* :file:`tkinter/__init__.py` is a last resort for most, but can be a good
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place to go when nothing else makes sense.
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.. seealso::
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`ActiveState Tcl Home Page <http://tcl.activestate.com/>`_
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The Tk/Tcl development is largely taking place at ActiveState.
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`Tcl and the Tk Toolkit <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/020163337X>`_
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The book by John Ousterhout, the inventor of Tcl .
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`Practical Programming in Tcl and Tk <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0130220280>`_
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Brent Welch's encyclopedic book.
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A Simple Hello World Program
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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::
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from tkinter import *
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class Application(Frame):
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def say_hi(self):
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print "hi there, everyone!"
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def createWidgets(self):
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self.QUIT = Button(self)
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self.QUIT["text"] = "QUIT"
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self.QUIT["fg"] = "red"
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self.QUIT["command"] = self.quit
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self.QUIT.pack({"side": "left"})
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self.hi_there = Button(self)
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self.hi_there["text"] = "Hello",
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self.hi_there["command"] = self.say_hi
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self.hi_there.pack({"side": "left"})
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def __init__(self, master=None):
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Frame.__init__(self, master)
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self.pack()
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self.createWidgets()
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root = Tk()
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app = Application(master=root)
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app.mainloop()
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root.destroy()
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A (Very) Quick Look at Tcl/Tk
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-----------------------------
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The class hierarchy looks complicated, but in actual practice, application
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programmers almost always refer to the classes at the very bottom of the
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hierarchy.
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Notes:
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* These classes are provided for the purposes of organizing certain functions
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under one namespace. They aren't meant to be instantiated independently.
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* The :class:`Tk` class is meant to be instantiated only once in an application.
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Application programmers need not instantiate one explicitly, the system creates
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one whenever any of the other classes are instantiated.
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* The :class:`Widget` class is not meant to be instantiated, it is meant only
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for subclassing to make "real" widgets (in C++, this is called an 'abstract
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class').
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To make use of this reference material, there will be times when you will need
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to know how to read short passages of Tk and how to identify the various parts
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of a Tk command. (See section :ref:`tkinter-basic-mapping` for the
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:mod:`tkinter` equivalents of what's below.)
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Tk scripts are Tcl programs. Like all Tcl programs, Tk scripts are just lists
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of tokens separated by spaces. A Tk widget is just its *class*, the *options*
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that help configure it, and the *actions* that make it do useful things.
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To make a widget in Tk, the command is always of the form::
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classCommand newPathname options
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*classCommand*
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denotes which kind of widget to make (a button, a label, a menu...)
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*newPathname*
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is the new name for this widget. All names in Tk must be unique. To help
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enforce this, widgets in Tk are named with *pathnames*, just like files in a
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file system. The top level widget, the *root*, is called ``.`` (period) and
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children are delimited by more periods. For example,
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``.myApp.controlPanel.okButton`` might be the name of a widget.
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*options*
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configure the widget's appearance and in some cases, its behavior. The options
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come in the form of a list of flags and values. Flags are preceded by a '-',
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like Unix shell command flags, and values are put in quotes if they are more
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than one word.
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For example::
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button .fred -fg red -text "hi there"
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^ ^ \_____________________/
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class new options
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command widget (-opt val -opt val ...)
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Once created, the pathname to the widget becomes a new command. This new
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*widget command* is the programmer's handle for getting the new widget to
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perform some *action*. In C, you'd express this as someAction(fred,
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someOptions), in C++, you would express this as fred.someAction(someOptions),
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and in Tk, you say::
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.fred someAction someOptions
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Note that the object name, ``.fred``, starts with a dot.
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As you'd expect, the legal values for *someAction* will depend on the widget's
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class: ``.fred disable`` works if fred is a button (fred gets greyed out), but
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does not work if fred is a label (disabling of labels is not supported in Tk).
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The legal values of *someOptions* is action dependent. Some actions, like
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``disable``, require no arguments, others, like a text-entry box's ``delete``
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command, would need arguments to specify what range of text to delete.
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.. _tkinter-basic-mapping:
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Mapping Basic Tk into Tkinter
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-----------------------------
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Class commands in Tk correspond to class constructors in Tkinter. ::
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button .fred =====> fred = Button()
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The master of an object is implicit in the new name given to it at creation
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time. In Tkinter, masters are specified explicitly. ::
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button .panel.fred =====> fred = Button(panel)
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The configuration options in Tk are given in lists of hyphened tags followed by
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values. In Tkinter, options are specified as keyword-arguments in the instance
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constructor, and keyword-args for configure calls or as instance indices, in
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dictionary style, for established instances. See section
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:ref:`tkinter-setting-options` on setting options. ::
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button .fred -fg red =====> fred = Button(panel, fg = "red")
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.fred configure -fg red =====> fred["fg"] = red
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OR ==> fred.config(fg = "red")
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In Tk, to perform an action on a widget, use the widget name as a command, and
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follow it with an action name, possibly with arguments (options). In Tkinter,
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you call methods on the class instance to invoke actions on the widget. The
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actions (methods) that a given widget can perform are listed in the Tkinter.py
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module. ::
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.fred invoke =====> fred.invoke()
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To give a widget to the packer (geometry manager), you call pack with optional
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arguments. In Tkinter, the Pack class holds all this functionality, and the
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various forms of the pack command are implemented as methods. All widgets in
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:mod:`tkinter` are subclassed from the Packer, and so inherit all the packing
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methods. See the :mod:`tkinter.tix` module documentation for additional
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information on the Form geometry manager. ::
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pack .fred -side left =====> fred.pack(side = "left")
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How Tk and Tkinter are Related
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------------------------------
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From the top down:
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Your App Here (Python)
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A Python application makes a :mod:`tkinter` call.
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tkinter (Python Package)
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This call (say, for example, creating a button widget), is implemented in the
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*tkinter* package, which is written in Python. This Python function will parse
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the commands and the arguments and convert them into a form that makes them look
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as if they had come from a Tk script instead of a Python script.
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tkinter (C)
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These commands and their arguments will be passed to a C function in the
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*tkinter* - note the lowercase - extension module.
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Tk Widgets (C and Tcl)
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This C function is able to make calls into other C modules, including the C
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functions that make up the Tk library. Tk is implemented in C and some Tcl.
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The Tcl part of the Tk widgets is used to bind certain default behaviors to
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widgets, and is executed once at the point where the Python :mod:`tkinter`
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package is imported. (The user never sees this stage).
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Tk (C)
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The Tk part of the Tk Widgets implement the final mapping to ...
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Xlib (C)
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the Xlib library to draw graphics on the screen.
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Handy Reference
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---------------
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.. _tkinter-setting-options:
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Setting Options
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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Options control things like the color and border width of a widget. Options can
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be set in three ways:
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At object creation time, using keyword arguments
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::
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fred = Button(self, fg = "red", bg = "blue")
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After object creation, treating the option name like a dictionary index
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::
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fred["fg"] = "red"
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fred["bg"] = "blue"
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Use the config() method to update multiple attrs subsequent to object creation
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::
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fred.config(fg = "red", bg = "blue")
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For a complete explanation of a given option and its behavior, see the Tk man
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pages for the widget in question.
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Note that the man pages list "STANDARD OPTIONS" and "WIDGET SPECIFIC OPTIONS"
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for each widget. The former is a list of options that are common to many
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widgets, the latter are the options that are idiosyncratic to that particular
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widget. The Standard Options are documented on the :manpage:`options(3)` man
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page.
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No distinction between standard and widget-specific options is made in this
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document. Some options don't apply to some kinds of widgets. Whether a given
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widget responds to a particular option depends on the class of the widget;
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buttons have a ``command`` option, labels do not.
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The options supported by a given widget are listed in that widget's man page, or
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can be queried at runtime by calling the :meth:`config` method without
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arguments, or by calling the :meth:`keys` method on that widget. The return
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value of these calls is a dictionary whose key is the name of the option as a
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string (for example, ``'relief'``) and whose values are 5-tuples.
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Some options, like ``bg`` are synonyms for common options with long names
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(``bg`` is shorthand for "background"). Passing the ``config()`` method the name
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of a shorthand option will return a 2-tuple, not 5-tuple. The 2-tuple passed
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back will contain the name of the synonym and the "real" option (such as
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``('bg', 'background')``).
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+-------+---------------------------------+--------------+
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| Index | Meaning | Example |
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+=======+=================================+==============+
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| 0 | option name | ``'relief'`` |
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+-------+---------------------------------+--------------+
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| 1 | option name for database lookup | ``'relief'`` |
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+-------+---------------------------------+--------------+
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| 2 | option class for database | ``'Relief'`` |
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| | lookup | |
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+-------+---------------------------------+--------------+
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| 3 | default value | ``'raised'`` |
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+-------+---------------------------------+--------------+
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| 4 | current value | ``'groove'`` |
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+-------+---------------------------------+--------------+
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Example::
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>>> print fred.config()
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{'relief' : ('relief', 'relief', 'Relief', 'raised', 'groove')}
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Of course, the dictionary printed will include all the options available and
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their values. This is meant only as an example.
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The Packer
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^^^^^^^^^^
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.. index:: single: packing (widgets)
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The packer is one of Tk's geometry-management mechanisms. Geometry managers
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are used to specify the relative positioning of the positioning of widgets
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within their container - their mutual *master*. In contrast to the more
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cumbersome *placer* (which is used less commonly, and we do not cover here), the
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packer takes qualitative relationship specification - *above*, *to the left of*,
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*filling*, etc - and works everything out to determine the exact placement
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coordinates for you.
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The size of any *master* widget is determined by the size of the "slave widgets"
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inside. The packer is used to control where slave widgets appear inside the
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master into which they are packed. You can pack widgets into frames, and frames
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into other frames, in order to achieve the kind of layout you desire.
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Additionally, the arrangement is dynamically adjusted to accommodate incremental
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changes to the configuration, once it is packed.
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Note that widgets do not appear until they have had their geometry specified
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with a geometry manager. It's a common early mistake to leave out the geometry
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specification, and then be surprised when the widget is created but nothing
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appears. A widget will appear only after it has had, for example, the packer's
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:meth:`pack` method applied to it.
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The pack() method can be called with keyword-option/value pairs that control
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where the widget is to appear within its container, and how it is to behave when
|
|
the main application window is resized. Here are some examples::
|
|
|
|
fred.pack() # defaults to side = "top"
|
|
fred.pack(side = "left")
|
|
fred.pack(expand = 1)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Packer Options
|
|
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|
|
|
|
For more extensive information on the packer and the options that it can take,
|
|
see the man pages and page 183 of John Ousterhout's book.
|
|
|
|
anchor
|
|
Anchor type. Denotes where the packer is to place each slave in its parcel.
|
|
|
|
expand
|
|
Boolean, ``0`` or ``1``.
|
|
|
|
fill
|
|
Legal values: ``'x'``, ``'y'``, ``'both'``, ``'none'``.
|
|
|
|
ipadx and ipady
|
|
A distance - designating internal padding on each side of the slave widget.
|
|
|
|
padx and pady
|
|
A distance - designating external padding on each side of the slave widget.
|
|
|
|
side
|
|
Legal values are: ``'left'``, ``'right'``, ``'top'``, ``'bottom'``.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Coupling Widget Variables
|
|
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|
|
|
|
The current-value setting of some widgets (like text entry widgets) can be
|
|
connected directly to application variables by using special options. These
|
|
options are ``variable``, ``textvariable``, ``onvalue``, ``offvalue``, and
|
|
``value``. This connection works both ways: if the variable changes for any
|
|
reason, the widget it's connected to will be updated to reflect the new value.
|
|
|
|
Unfortunately, in the current implementation of :mod:`tkinter` it is not
|
|
possible to hand over an arbitrary Python variable to a widget through a
|
|
``variable`` or ``textvariable`` option. The only kinds of variables for which
|
|
this works are variables that are subclassed from a class called Variable,
|
|
defined in the :mod:`tkinter`.
|
|
|
|
There are many useful subclasses of Variable already defined:
|
|
:class:`StringVar`, :class:`IntVar`, :class:`DoubleVar`, and
|
|
:class:`BooleanVar`. To read the current value of such a variable, call the
|
|
:meth:`get` method on it, and to change its value you call the :meth:`set`
|
|
method. If you follow this protocol, the widget will always track the value of
|
|
the variable, with no further intervention on your part.
|
|
|
|
For example::
|
|
|
|
class App(Frame):
|
|
def __init__(self, master=None):
|
|
Frame.__init__(self, master)
|
|
self.pack()
|
|
|
|
self.entrythingy = Entry()
|
|
self.entrythingy.pack()
|
|
|
|
# here is the application variable
|
|
self.contents = StringVar()
|
|
# set it to some value
|
|
self.contents.set("this is a variable")
|
|
# tell the entry widget to watch this variable
|
|
self.entrythingy["textvariable"] = self.contents
|
|
|
|
# and here we get a callback when the user hits return.
|
|
# we will have the program print out the value of the
|
|
# application variable when the user hits return
|
|
self.entrythingy.bind('<Key-Return>',
|
|
self.print_contents)
|
|
|
|
def print_contents(self, event):
|
|
print "hi. contents of entry is now ---->", \
|
|
self.contents.get()
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Window Manager
|
|
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|
|
|
|
.. index:: single: window manager (widgets)
|
|
|
|
In Tk, there is a utility command, ``wm``, for interacting with the window
|
|
manager. Options to the ``wm`` command allow you to control things like titles,
|
|
placement, icon bitmaps, and the like. In :mod:`tkinter`, these commands have
|
|
been implemented as methods on the :class:`Wm` class. Toplevel widgets are
|
|
subclassed from the :class:`Wm` class, and so can call the :class:`Wm` methods
|
|
directly.
|
|
|
|
To get at the toplevel window that contains a given widget, you can often just
|
|
refer to the widget's master. Of course if the widget has been packed inside of
|
|
a frame, the master won't represent a toplevel window. To get at the toplevel
|
|
window that contains an arbitrary widget, you can call the :meth:`_root` method.
|
|
This method begins with an underscore to denote the fact that this function is
|
|
part of the implementation, and not an interface to Tk functionality.
|
|
|
|
Here are some examples of typical usage::
|
|
|
|
from tkinter import *
|
|
class App(Frame):
|
|
def __init__(self, master=None):
|
|
Frame.__init__(self, master)
|
|
self.pack()
|
|
|
|
|
|
# create the application
|
|
myapp = App()
|
|
|
|
#
|
|
# here are method calls to the window manager class
|
|
#
|
|
myapp.master.title("My Do-Nothing Application")
|
|
myapp.master.maxsize(1000, 400)
|
|
|
|
# start the program
|
|
myapp.mainloop()
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tk Option Data Types
|
|
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|
|
|
|
.. index:: single: Tk Option Data Types
|
|
|
|
anchor
|
|
Legal values are points of the compass: ``"n"``, ``"ne"``, ``"e"``, ``"se"``,
|
|
``"s"``, ``"sw"``, ``"w"``, ``"nw"``, and also ``"center"``.
|
|
|
|
bitmap
|
|
There are eight built-in, named bitmaps: ``'error'``, ``'gray25'``,
|
|
``'gray50'``, ``'hourglass'``, ``'info'``, ``'questhead'``, ``'question'``,
|
|
``'warning'``. To specify an X bitmap filename, give the full path to the file,
|
|
preceded with an ``@``, as in ``"@/usr/contrib/bitmap/gumby.bit"``.
|
|
|
|
boolean
|
|
You can pass integers 0 or 1 or the strings ``"yes"`` or ``"no"`` .
|
|
|
|
callback
|
|
This is any Python function that takes no arguments. For example::
|
|
|
|
def print_it():
|
|
print "hi there"
|
|
fred["command"] = print_it
|
|
|
|
color
|
|
Colors can be given as the names of X colors in the rgb.txt file, or as strings
|
|
representing RGB values in 4 bit: ``"#RGB"``, 8 bit: ``"#RRGGBB"``, 12 bit"
|
|
``"#RRRGGGBBB"``, or 16 bit ``"#RRRRGGGGBBBB"`` ranges, where R,G,B here
|
|
represent any legal hex digit. See page 160 of Ousterhout's book for details.
|
|
|
|
cursor
|
|
The standard X cursor names from :file:`cursorfont.h` can be used, without the
|
|
``XC_`` prefix. For example to get a hand cursor (:const:`XC_hand2`), use the
|
|
string ``"hand2"``. You can also specify a bitmap and mask file of your own.
|
|
See page 179 of Ousterhout's book.
|
|
|
|
distance
|
|
Screen distances can be specified in either pixels or absolute distances.
|
|
Pixels are given as numbers and absolute distances as strings, with the trailing
|
|
character denoting units: ``c`` for centimetres, ``i`` for inches, ``m`` for
|
|
millimetres, ``p`` for printer's points. For example, 3.5 inches is expressed
|
|
as ``"3.5i"``.
|
|
|
|
font
|
|
Tk uses a list font name format, such as ``{courier 10 bold}``. Font sizes with
|
|
positive numbers are measured in points; sizes with negative numbers are
|
|
measured in pixels.
|
|
|
|
geometry
|
|
This is a string of the form ``widthxheight``, where width and height are
|
|
measured in pixels for most widgets (in characters for widgets displaying text).
|
|
For example: ``fred["geometry"] = "200x100"``.
|
|
|
|
justify
|
|
Legal values are the strings: ``"left"``, ``"center"``, ``"right"``, and
|
|
``"fill"``.
|
|
|
|
region
|
|
This is a string with four space-delimited elements, each of which is a legal
|
|
distance (see above). For example: ``"2 3 4 5"`` and ``"3i 2i 4.5i 2i"`` and
|
|
``"3c 2c 4c 10.43c"`` are all legal regions.
|
|
|
|
relief
|
|
Determines what the border style of a widget will be. Legal values are:
|
|
``"raised"``, ``"sunken"``, ``"flat"``, ``"groove"``, and ``"ridge"``.
|
|
|
|
scrollcommand
|
|
This is almost always the :meth:`set` method of some scrollbar widget, but can
|
|
be any widget method that takes a single argument. Refer to the file
|
|
:file:`Demo/tkinter/matt/canvas-with-scrollbars.py` in the Python source
|
|
distribution for an example.
|
|
|
|
wrap:
|
|
Must be one of: ``"none"``, ``"char"``, or ``"word"``.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bindings and Events
|
|
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|
|
|
|
.. index::
|
|
single: bind (widgets)
|
|
single: events (widgets)
|
|
|
|
The bind method from the widget command allows you to watch for certain events
|
|
and to have a callback function trigger when that event type occurs. The form
|
|
of the bind method is::
|
|
|
|
def bind(self, sequence, func, add=''):
|
|
|
|
where:
|
|
|
|
sequence
|
|
is a string that denotes the target kind of event. (See the bind man page and
|
|
page 201 of John Ousterhout's book for details).
|
|
|
|
func
|
|
is a Python function, taking one argument, to be invoked when the event occurs.
|
|
An Event instance will be passed as the argument. (Functions deployed this way
|
|
are commonly known as *callbacks*.)
|
|
|
|
add
|
|
is optional, either ``''`` or ``'+'``. Passing an empty string denotes that
|
|
this binding is to replace any other bindings that this event is associated
|
|
with. Passing a ``'+'`` means that this function is to be added to the list
|
|
of functions bound to this event type.
|
|
|
|
For example::
|
|
|
|
def turnRed(self, event):
|
|
event.widget["activeforeground"] = "red"
|
|
|
|
self.button.bind("<Enter>", self.turnRed)
|
|
|
|
Notice how the widget field of the event is being accessed in the
|
|
:meth:`turnRed` callback. This field contains the widget that caught the X
|
|
event. The following table lists the other event fields you can access, and how
|
|
they are denoted in Tk, which can be useful when referring to the Tk man pages.
|
|
::
|
|
|
|
Tk Tkinter Event Field Tk Tkinter Event Field
|
|
-- ------------------- -- -------------------
|
|
%f focus %A char
|
|
%h height %E send_event
|
|
%k keycode %K keysym
|
|
%s state %N keysym_num
|
|
%t time %T type
|
|
%w width %W widget
|
|
%x x %X x_root
|
|
%y y %Y y_root
|
|
|
|
|
|
The index Parameter
|
|
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|
|
|
|
A number of widgets require"index" parameters to be passed. These are used to
|
|
point at a specific place in a Text widget, or to particular characters in an
|
|
Entry widget, or to particular menu items in a Menu widget.
|
|
|
|
Entry widget indexes (index, view index, etc.)
|
|
Entry widgets have options that refer to character positions in the text being
|
|
displayed. You can use these :mod:`tkinter` functions to access these special
|
|
points in text widgets:
|
|
|
|
AtEnd()
|
|
refers to the last position in the text
|
|
|
|
AtInsert()
|
|
refers to the point where the text cursor is
|
|
|
|
AtSelFirst()
|
|
indicates the beginning point of the selected text
|
|
|
|
AtSelLast()
|
|
denotes the last point of the selected text and finally
|
|
|
|
At(x[, y])
|
|
refers to the character at pixel location *x*, *y* (with *y* not used in the
|
|
case of a text entry widget, which contains a single line of text).
|
|
|
|
Text widget indexes
|
|
The index notation for Text widgets is very rich and is best described in the Tk
|
|
man pages.
|
|
|
|
Menu indexes (menu.invoke(), menu.entryconfig(), etc.)
|
|
Some options and methods for menus manipulate specific menu entries. Anytime a
|
|
menu index is needed for an option or a parameter, you may pass in:
|
|
|
|
* an integer which refers to the numeric position of the entry in the widget,
|
|
counted from the top, starting with 0;
|
|
|
|
* the string ``'active'``, which refers to the menu position that is currently
|
|
under the cursor;
|
|
|
|
* the string ``"last"`` which refers to the last menu item;
|
|
|
|
* An integer preceded by ``@``, as in ``@6``, where the integer is interpreted
|
|
as a y pixel coordinate in the menu's coordinate system;
|
|
|
|
* the string ``"none"``, which indicates no menu entry at all, most often used
|
|
with menu.activate() to deactivate all entries, and finally,
|
|
|
|
* a text string that is pattern matched against the label of the menu entry, as
|
|
scanned from the top of the menu to the bottom. Note that this index type is
|
|
considered after all the others, which means that matches for menu items
|
|
labelled ``last``, ``active``, or ``none`` may be interpreted as the above
|
|
literals, instead.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Images
|
|
^^^^^^
|
|
|
|
Bitmap/Pixelmap images can be created through the subclasses of
|
|
:class:`tkinter.Image`:
|
|
|
|
* :class:`BitmapImage` can be used for X11 bitmap data.
|
|
|
|
* :class:`PhotoImage` can be used for GIF and PPM/PGM color bitmaps.
|
|
|
|
Either type of image is created through either the ``file`` or the ``data``
|
|
option (other options are available as well).
|
|
|
|
The image object can then be used wherever an ``image`` option is supported by
|
|
some widget (e.g. labels, buttons, menus). In these cases, Tk will not keep a
|
|
reference to the image. When the last Python reference to the image object is
|
|
deleted, the image data is deleted as well, and Tk will display an empty box
|
|
wherever the image was used.
|
|
|