PYTHON - GUI PROGRAMMING

Python provides various options for developing graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Most important are listed below:

• Tkinter: Tkinter is the Python interface to the Tk GUI toolkit shipped with Python. We would look this option in this chapter.
• wxPython: This is an open-source Python interface for wxWindowshttp://wxpython.org.
• JPython: JPython is a Python port for Java which gives Python scripts seamless access to Java class libraries on the local machine http://www.jython.org.

There are many other interfaces available, which you can find them on the net.

Tkinter Programming

Tkinter is the standard GUI library for Python. Python when combined with Tkinter provides a fast and easy way to create GUI applications. Tkinter provides a powerful object-oriented interface to the Tk GUI toolkit.

Creating a GUI application using Tkinter is an easy task. All you need to do is perform the following steps:

• Import the Tkinter module.
• Create the GUI application main window.
• Add one or more of the above-mentioned widgets to the GUI application.
• Enter the main event loop to take action against each event triggered by the user.

Example


Tkinter Widgets

Tkinter provides various controls, such as buttons, labels and text boxes used in a GUI application. These controls are commonly called widgets.

There are currently 15 types of widgets in Tkinter. We present these widgets as well as a brief description in the following table:

Operator	Description
Button	The Button widget is used to display buttons in your application.
Canvas	The Canvas widget is used to draw shapes, such as lines, ovals, polygons and rectangles, in your application.
Checkbutton	The Checkbutton widget is used to display a number of options as checkboxes. The user can select multiple options at a time.
Entry	The Entry widget is used to display a single-line text field for accepting values from a user.
Frame	The Frame widget is used as a container widget to organize other widgets.
Label	The Label widget is used to provide a single-line caption for other widgets. It can also contain images.
Listbox	The Listbox widget is used to provide a list of options to a user.
Menubutton	The Menubutton widget is used to display menus in your application.
Menu	The Menu widget is used to provide various commands to a user. These commands are contained inside Menubutton.
Message	The Message widget is used to display multiline text fields for accepting values from a user.
Radiobutton	The Radiobutton widget is used to display a number of options as radio buttons. The user can select only one option at a time.
Scale	The Scale widget is used to provide a slider widget.
Scrollbar	The Scrollbar widget is used to add scrolling capability to various widgets, such as list boxes.
Text	The Text widget is used to display text in multiple lines.
Toplevel	The Toplevel widget is used to provide a separate window container.
Spinbox	The Spinbox widget is a variant of the standard Tkinter Entry widget, which can be used to select from a fixed number of values.
PanedWindow	A PanedWindow is a container widget that may contain any number of panes, arranged horizontally or vertically.
LabelFrame	A labelframe is a simple container widget. Its primary purpose is to act as a spacer or container for complex window layouts.
tkMessageBox	This module is used to display message boxes in your applications.

Let us study these widgets in detail:

1. Button

The Button widget is used to add buttons in a Python application. These buttons can display text or images that convey the purpose of the buttons. You can attach a function or a method to a button which is called automatically when you click the button.

Syntax

Here is the simple syntax to create this widget:


Parameters

• master: This represents the parent window.
• options: Here is the list of most commonly used options for this widget. These options can be used as key-value pairs separated by commas.

Option	Description
activebackground	Background color when the button is under the cursor.
activeforeground	Foreground color when the button is under the cursor.
bd	Border width in pixels. Default is 2.
bg	Normal background color.
command	Function or method to be called when the button is clicked.
fg	Normal foreground (text) color.
font	Text font to be used for the button's label.
height	Height of the button in text lines (for textual buttons) or pixels (for images).
highlightcolor	The color of the focus highlight when the widget has focus.
image	Image to be displayed on the button (instead of text).
justify	How to show multiple text lines: LEFT to left-justify each line; CENTER to center them; or RIGHT to right-justify.
padx	Additional padding left and right of the text.
pady	Additional padding above and below the text.
relief	Relief specifies the type of the border. Some of the values are SUNKEN, RAISED, GROOVE, and RIDGE.
state	Set this option to DISABLED to gray out the button and make it unresponsive. Has the value ACTIVE when the mouse is over it. Default is NORMAL.
underline	Default is -1, meaning that no character of the text on the button will be underlined. If nonnegative, the corresponding text character will be underlined.
width	Width of the button in letters (if displaying text) or pixels (if displaying an image).
wraplength	If this value is set to a positive number, the text lines will be wrapped to fit within this length.

Methods

Following are commonly used methods for this widget:

Medthod	Description
flash()	Causes the button to flash several times between active and normal colors. Leaves the button in the state it was in originally. Ignored if the button is disabled.
invoke()	Calls the button's callback, and returns what that function returns. Has no effect if the button is disabled or there is no callback.

Example

Try the following example yourself:


2. Canvas

The Canvas is a rectangular area intended for drawing pictures or other complex layouts. You can place graphics, text, widgets2. or frames on a Canvas.

Syntax

Here is the simple syntax to create this widget:


Parameters

• master: This represents the parent window.
• options: Here is the list of most commonly used options for this widget. These options can be used as key-value pairs separated by commas.

Option	Description
bd	Border width in pixels. Default is 2.
bg	Normal background color.
confine	If true (the default), the canvas cannot be scrolled outside of the scrollregion.
cursor	Cursor used in the canvas like arrow, circle, dot etc.
height	Size of the canvas in the Y dimension.
highlightcolor	Color shown in the focus highlight.
relief	Relief specifies the type of the border. Some of the values are SUNKEN, RAISED, GROOVE, and RIDGE.
scrollregion	A tuple (w, n, e, s) that defines over how large an area the canvas can be scrolled, where w is the left side, n the top, e the right side, and s the bottom.
width	Size of the canvas in the X dimension.
xscrollincrement	If you set this option to some positive dimension, the canvas can be positioned only on multiples of that distance, and the value will be used for scrolling by scrolling units, such as when the user clicks on the arrows at the ends of a scrollbar.
xscrollcommand	If the canvas is scrollable, this attribute should be the .set() method of the horizontal scrollbar.
yscrollincrement	Works like xscrollincrement, but governs vertical movement.
yscrollcommand	If the canvas is scrollable, this attribute should be the .set() method of the vertical scrollbar.

The Canvas widget can support the following standard items:

arc . Creates an arc item, which can be a chord, a pieslice or a simple arc.


image . Creates an image item, which can be an instance of either the BitmapImage or the PhotoImage classes.


line . Creates a line item.


oval . Creates a circle or an ellipse at the given coordinates. It takes two pairs of coordinates; the top left and bottom right corners of the bounding rectangle for the oval.


polygon . Creates a polygon item that must have at least three vertices.


Example

Try the following example yourself:


3. Checkbutton

The Checkbutton widget is used to display a number of options to a user as toggle buttons. The user can then select one or more options by clicking the button corresponding to each option.

You can also display images in place of text.

Syntax

Here is the simple syntax to create this widget:


Parameters

• master: This represents the parent window.
• options: Here is the list of most commonly used options for this widget. These options can be used as key-value pairs separated by commas.

Option	Description
activebackground	Background color when the checkbutton is under the cursor.
activeforeground	Foreground color when the checkbutton is under the cursor.
bg	The normal background color displayed behind the label and indicator.
bitmap	To display a monochrome image on a button.
bd	The size of the border around the indicator. Default is 2 pixels.
command	A procedure to be called every time the user changes the state of this checkbutton.
cursor	If you set this option to a cursor name (arrow, dot etc.), the mouse cursor will change to that pattern when it is over the checkbutton.
disabledforeground	The foreground color used to render the text of a disabled checkbutton. The default is a stippled version of the default foreground color.
font	The font used for the text.
fg	The color used to render the text.
height	The number of lines of text on the checkbutton. Default is 1.
highlightcolor	The color of the focus highlight when the checkbutton has the focus.
image	To display a graphic image on the button.
justify	If the text contains multiple lines, this option controls how the text is justified: CENTER, LEFT, or RIGHT.
offvalue	Normally, a checkbutton's associated control variable will be set to 0 when it is cleared (off). You can supply an alternate value for the off state by setting offvalue to that value.
onvalue	Normally, a checkbutton's associated control variable will be set to 1 when it is set (on). You can supply an alternate value for the on state by setting onvalue to that value.
padx	How much space to leave to the left and right of the checkbutton and text. Default is 1 pixel.
pady	How much space to leave above and below the checkbutton and text. Default is 1 pixel.
relief	With the default value, relief=FLAT, the checkbutton does not stand out from its background. You may set this option to any of the other styles
selectcolor	The color of the checkbutton when it is set. Default is selectcolor="red".
selectimage	If you set this option to an image, that image will appear in the checkbutton when it is set.
state	The default is state=NORMAL, but you can use state=DISABLED to gray out the control and make it unresponsive. If the cursor is currently over the checkbutton, the state is ACTIVE.
text	The label displayed next to the checkbutton. Use newlines ("\n") to display multiple lines of text.
underline	With the default value of -1, none of the characters of the text label are underlined. Set this option to the index of a character in the text (counting from zero) to underline that character.
variable	The control variable that tracks the current state of the checkbutton. Normally this variable is an IntVar, and 0 means cleared and 1 means set, but see the offvalue and onvalue options above.
width	The default width of a checkbutton is determined by the size of the displayed image or text. You can set this option to a number of characters and the checkbutton will always have room for that many characters.
wraplength	Normally, lines are not wrapped. You can set this option to a number of characters and all lines will be broken into pieces no longer than that number.

Methods

Following are commonly used methods for this widget:

Medthod	Description
deselect()	Clears (turns off) the checkbutton.
flash()	Flashes the checkbutton a few times between its active and normal colors, but leaves it the way it started.
invoke()	You can call this method to get the same actions that would occur if the user clicked on the checkbutton to change its state.
select()	Sets (turns on) the checkbutton.
toggle()	Clears the checkbutton if set, sets it if cleared.

Example

Try the following example yourself:


4. Entry

The Entry widget is used to accept single-line text strings from a user.

• If you want to display multiple lines of text that can be edited, then you should use the Text widget.
• If you want to display one or more lines of text that cannot be modified by the user, then you should use the Label widget.

Syntax

Here is the simple syntax to create this widget:


Parameters

• master: This represents the parent window.

options: Here is the list of most commonly used options for this widget. These options can be used as key-value pairs separated by commas.

Option	Description
bg	The normal background color displayed behind the label and indicator.
bd	The size of the border around the indicator. Default is 2 pixels.
command	A procedure to be called every time the user changes the state of this checkbutton.
cursor	If you set this option to a cursor name (arrow, dot etc.), the mouse cursor will change to that pattern when it is over the checkbutton.
font	The font used for the text.
exportselection	By default, if you select text within an Entry widget, it is automatically exported to the clipboard. To avoid this exportation, use exportselection=0.
fg	The color used to render the text.
highlightcolor	The color of the focus highlight when the checkbutton has the focus.
justify	If the text contains multiple lines, this option controls how the text is justified: CENTER, LEFT, or RIGHT.
relief	With the default value, relief=FLAT, the checkbutton does not stand out from its background. You may set this option to any of the other styles
selectbackground	The background color to use displaying selected text.
selectborderwidth	The width of the border to use around selected text. The default is one pixel.
selectforeground	The foreground (text) color of selected text.
show	Normally, the characters that the user types appear in the entry. To make a .password. entry that echoes each character as an asterisk, set show="*".
state	The default is state=NORMAL, but you can use state=DISABLED to gray out the control and make it unresponsive. If the cursor is currently over the checkbutton, the state is ACTIVE.
textvariable	In order to be able to retrieve the current text from your entry widget, you must set this option to an instance of the StringVar class.
width	The default width of a checkbutton is determined by the size of the displayed image or text. You can set this option to a number of characters and the checkbutton will always have room for that many characters.
xscrollcommand	If you expect that users will often enter more text than the onscreen size of the widget, you can link your entry widget to a scrollbar.

Methods

Following are commonly used methods for this widget:

Medthod	Description
delete ( first, last=None )	Deletes characters from the widget, starting with the one at index first, up to but not including the character at position last. If the second argument is omitted, only the single character at position first is deleted.
get()	Returns the entry's current text as a string.
icursor ( index )	Set the insertion cursor just before the character at the given index.
index ( index )	Shift the contents of the entry so that the character at the given index is the leftmost visible character. Has no effect if the text fits entirely within the entry.
insert ( index, s )	Inserts string s before the character at the given index.
select_adjust ( index )	This method is used to make sure that the selection includes the character at the specified index.
select_clear()	Clears the selection. If there isn't currently a selection, has no effect.
select_from ( index )	Sets the ANCHOR index position to the character selected by index, and selects that character.
select_present()	If there is a selection, returns true, else returns false.
select_range ( start, end )	Sets the selection under program control. Selects the text starting at the start index, up to but not including the character at the end index. The start position must be before the end position.
select_to ( index )	Selects all the text from the ANCHOR position up to but not including the character at the given index.
xview ( index )	This method is useful in linking the Entry widget to a horizontal scrollbar.
xview_scroll ( number, what )	Used to scroll the entry horizontally. The what argument must be either UNITS, to scroll by character widths, or PAGES, to scroll by chunks the size of the entry widget. The number is positive to scroll left to right, negative to scroll right to left.

Example

Try the following example yourself:


5. Frame

The Frame widget is very important for the process of grouping and organizing other widgets in a somehow friendly way. It works like a container, which is responsible for arranging the position of other widgets.

It uses rectangular areas in the screen to organize the layout and to provide padding of these widgets. A frame can also be used as a foundation class to implement complex widgets.

Syntax

Here is the simple syntax to create this widget:


Parameters:

• master: This represents the parent window.
• options: Here is the list of most commonly used options for this widget. These options can be used as key-value pairs separated by commas.

Option	Description
bg	The normal background color displayed behind the label and indicator.
bd	The size of the border around the indicator. Default is 2 pixels.
cursor	If you set this option to a cursor name (arrow, dot etc.), the mouse cursor will change to that pattern when it is over the checkbutton.
height	The vertical dimension of the new frame.
highlightbackground	Color of the focus highlight when the frame does not have focus.
highlightcolor	Color shown in the focus highlight when the frame has the focus.
highlightthickness	Thickness of the focus highlight.
relief	With the default value, relief=FLAT, the checkbutton does not stand out from its background. You may set this option to any of the other styles
width	The default width of a checkbutton is determined by the size of the displayed image or text. You can set this option to a number of characters and the checkbutton will always have room for that many characters.

Example

Try the following example yourself:


When the above code is executed, it produces the following result::

6. Label

This widget implements a display box where you can place text or images. The text displayed by this widget can be updated at any time you want.

It is also possible to underline part of the text (like to identify a keyboard shortcut) and span the text across multiple lines.

Syntax

Here is the simple syntax to create this widget:


Parameters

• master: This represents the parent window.
• options: Here is the list of most commonly used options for this widget. These options can be used as key-value pairs separated by commas.

Option	Description
anchor	This options controls where the text is positioned if the widget has more space than the text needs. The default is anchor=CENTER, which centers the text in the available space.
bg	The normal background color displayed behind the label and indicator.
bitmap	Set this option equal to a bitmap or image object and the label will display that graphic.
bd	The size of the border around the indicator. Default is 2 pixels.
cursor	If you set this option to a cursor name (arrow, dot etc.), the mouse cursor will change to that pattern when it is over the checkbutton.
font	If you are displaying text in this label (with the text or textvariable option, the font option specifies in what font that text will be displayed.
fg	If you are displaying text or a bitmap in this label, this option specifies the color of the text. If you are displaying a bitmap, this is the color that will appear at the position of the 1-bits in the bitmap.
height	The vertical dimension of the new frame.
image	To display a static image in the label widget, set this option to an image object.
justify	Specifies how multiple lines of text will be aligned with respect to each other: LEFT for flush left, CENTER for centered (the default), or RIGHT for right-justified.
padx	Extra space added to the left and right of the text within the widget. Default is 1.
pady	Extra space added above and below the text within the widget. Default is 1.
relief	Specifies the appearance of a decorative border around the label. The default is FLAT; for other values.
text	To display one or more lines of text in a label widget, set this option to a string containing the text. Internal newlines ("\n") will force a line break.
textvariable	To slave the text displayed in a label widget to a control variable of class StringVar, set this option to that variable.
underline	You can display an underline (_) below the nth letter of the text, counting from 0, by setting this option to n. The default is underline=-1, which means no underlining.
width	Width of the label in characters (not pixels!). If this option is not set, the label will be sized to fit its contents.
wraplength	You can limit the number of characters in each line by setting this option to the desired number. The default value, 0, means that lines will be broken only at newlines.

Example

Try the following example yourself:


7. Listbox

The Listbox widget is used to display a list of items from which a user can select a number of items

Syntax

Here is the simple syntax to create this widget:


Parameters

• master: This represents the parent window.
• options: Here is the list of most commonly used options for this widget. These options can be used as key-value pairs separated by commas.

Option	Description
bg	The normal background color displayed behind the label and indicator.
bd	The size of the border around the indicator. Default is 2 pixels.
cursor	The cursor that appears when the mouse is over the listbox.
font	The font used for the text in the listbox.
fg	The color used for the text in the listbox.
height	Number of lines (not pixels!) shown in the listbox. Default is 10.
highlightcolor	Color shown in the focus highlight when the widget has the focus.
highlightthickness	Thickness of the focus highlight.
relief	Selects three-dimensional border shading effects. The default is SUNKEN.
selectbackground	The background color to use displaying selected text.
selectmode	Determines how many items can be selected, and how mouse drags affect the selection: BROWSE: Normally, you can only select one line out of a listbox. If you click on an item and then drag to a different line, the selection will follow the mouse. This is the default. SINGLE: You can only select one line, and you can't drag the mouse.wherever you click button 1, that line is selected. MULTIPLE: You can select any number of lines at once. Clicking on any line toggles whether or not it is selected. EXTENDED: You can select any adjacent group of lines at once by clicking on the first line and dragging to the last line.
width	The width of the widget in characters. The default is 20.
xscrollcommand	If you want to allow the user to scroll the listbox horizontally, you can link your listbox widget to a horizontal scrollbar.
yscrollcommand	If you want to allow the user to scroll the listbox vertically, you can link your listbox widget to a vertical scrollbar.

Methods

Methods on listbox objects include:

Option	Description
activate ( index )	Selects the line specifies by the given index.
curselection()	Returns a tuple containing the line numbers of the selected element or elements, counting from 0. If nothing is selected, returns an empty tuple.
delete ( first, last=None )	Deletes the lines whose indices are in the range [first, last]. If the second argument is omitted, the single line with index first is deleted.
get ( first, last=None )	Returns a tuple containing the text of the lines with indices from first to last, inclusive. If the second argument is omitted, returns the text of the line closest to first.
index ( i )	If possible, positions the visible part of the listbox so that the line containing index i is at the top of the widget.
insert ( index, *elements )	Insert one or more new lines into the listbox before the line specified by index. Use END as the first argument if you want to add new lines to the end of the listbox.
nearest ( y )	Return the index of the visible line closest to the y-coordinate y relative to the listbox widget.
see ( index )	Adjust the position of the listbox so that the line referred to by index is visible.
size()	Returns the number of lines in the listbox.
xview()	To make the listbox horizontally scrollable, set the command option of the associated horizontal scrollbar to this method.
xview_moveto ( fraction )	Scroll the listbox so that the leftmost fraction of the width of its longest line is outside the left side of the listbox. Fraction is in the range [0,1].
xview_scroll ( number, what )	Scrolls the listbox horizontally. For the what argument, use either UNITS to scroll by characters, or PAGES to scroll by pages, that is, by the width of the listbox. The number argument tells how many to scroll.
yview()	To make the listbox vertically scrollable, set the command option of the associated vertical scrollbar to this method.
yview_moveto ( fraction )	Scroll the listbox so that the top fraction of the width of its longest line is outside the left side of the listbox. Fraction is in the range [0,1].
yview_scroll ( number, what )	Scrolls the listbox vertically. For the what argument, use either UNITS to scroll by lines, or PAGES to scroll by pages, that is, by the height of the listbox. The number argument tells how many to scroll.

Example

Try the following example yourself:


8. MenuButton

A menubutton is the part of a drop-down menu that stays on the screen all the time. Every menubutton is associated with a Menu widget that can display the choices for that menubutton when the user clicks on it.

Syntax

Here is the simple syntax to create this widget:


Parameters

• master: This represents the parent window.
• options: Here is the list of most commonly used options for this widget. These options can be used as key-value pairs separated by commas.

Option	Description
activebackground	The background color when the mouse is over the menubutton.
activeforeground	The foreground color when the mouse is over the menubutton.
anchor	This options controls where the text is positioned if the widget has more space than the text needs. The default is anchor=CENTER, which centers the text.
bg	The normal background color displayed behind the label and indicator.
bitmap	To display a bitmap on the menubutton, set this option to a bitmap name.
bd	The size of the border around the indicator. Default is 2 pixels.
cursor	The cursor that appears when the mouse is over this menubutton.
direction	Set direction=LEFT to display the menu to the left of the button; use direction=RIGHT to display the menu to the right of the button; or use direction='above' to place the menu above the button.
disabledforeground	The foreground color shown on this menubutton when it is disabled.
fg	The foreground color when the mouse is not over the menubutton.
height	The height of the menubutton in lines of text (not pixels!). The default is to fit the menubutton's size to its contents.
highlightcolor	Color shown in the focus highlight when the widget has the focus.
image	To display an image on this menubutton,
justify	This option controls where the text is located when the text doesn't fill the menubutton: use justify=LEFT to left-justify the text (this is the default); use justify=CENTER to center it, or justify=RIGHT to right-justify.
menu	To associate the menubutton with a set of choices, set this option to the Menu object containing those choices. That menu object must have been created by passing the associated menubutton to the constructor as its first argument.
padx	How much space to leave to the left and right of the text of the menubutton. Default is 1.
pady	How much space to leave above and below the text of the menubutton. Default is 1.
relief	Selects three-dimensional border shading effects. The default is RAISED.
state	Normally, menubuttons respond to the mouse. Set state=DISABLED to gray out the menubutton and make it unresponsive.
text	To display text on the menubutton, set this option to the string containing the desired text. Newlines ("\n") within the string will cause line breaks.
textvariable	You can associate a control variable of class StringVar with this menubutton. Setting that control variable will change the displayed text.
underline	Normally, no underline appears under the text on the menubutton. To underline one of the characters, set this option to the index of that character.
width	The width of the widget in characters. The default is 20.
wraplength	Normally, lines are not wrapped. You can set this option to a number of characters and all lines will be broken into pieces no longer than that number.

Example

Try the following example yourself:


9. Menu

The goal of this widget is to allow us to create all kinds of menus that can be used by our applications. The core functionality provides ways to create three menu types: pop-up, toplevel and pull-down.

It is also possible to use other extended widgets to implement new types of menus, such as the OptionMenu widget, which implements a special type that generates a pop-up list of items within a selection.

Syntax

Here is the simple syntax to create this widget:


Parameters

• master: This represents the parent window.
• options: Here is the list of most commonly used options for this widget. These options can be used as key-value pairs separated by commas.

Option	Description
activebackground	The background color that will appear on a choice when it is under the mouse.
activeborderwidth	Specifies the width of a border drawn around a choice when it is under the mouse. Default is 1 pixel.
activeforeground	The foreground color that will appear on a choice when it is under the mouse.
bg	The background color for choices not under the mouse.
bd	The width of the border around all the choices. Default is 1.
cursor	The cursor that appears when the mouse is over the choices, but only when the menu has been torn off.
disabledforeground	The color of the text for items whose state is DISABLED.
font	The default font for textual choices.
fg	The foreground color used for choices not under the mouse.
postcommand	You can set this option to a procedure, and that procedure will be called every time someone brings up this menu.
relief	The default 3-D effect for menus is relief=RAISED.
image	To display an image on this menubutton.
selectcolor	Specifies the color displayed in checkbuttons and radiobuttons when they are selected.
tearoff	Normally, a menu can be torn off, the first position (position 0) in the list of choices is occupied by the tear-off element, and the additional choices are added starting at position 1. If you set tearoff=0, the menu will not have a tear-off feature, and choices will be added starting at position 0.
title	Normally, the title of a tear-off menu window will be the same as the text of the menubutton or cascade that lead to this menu. If you want to change the title of that window, set the title option to that string.

Methods

These methods are available on Menu objects:

Option	Description
add_command (options)	Adds a menu item to the menu.
add_radiobutton( options )	Creates a radio button menu item.
add_checkbutton( options )	Creates a check button menu item.
add_cascade(options)	Creates a new hierarchical menu by associating a given menu to a parent menu
add_separator()	Adds a separator line to the menu.
add( type, options )	Adds a specific type of menu item to the menu.
delete( startindex [, endindex ])	Deletes the menu items ranging from startindex to endindex.
entryconfig( index, options )	Allows you to modify a menu item, which is identified by the index, and change its options.
index(item)	Returns the index number of the given menu item label.
insert_separator ( index )	Insert a new separator at the position specified by index.
invoke ( index )	Calls the command callback associated with the choice at position index. If a checkbutton, its state is toggled between set and cleared; if a radiobutton, that choice is set.
type ( index )	Returns the type of the choice specified by index: either "cascade", "checkbutton", "command", "radiobutton", "separator", or "tearoff".

Example

Try the following example yourself:


10. Message

This widget provides a multiline and noneditable object that displays texts, automatically breaking lines and justifying their contents.

Its functionality is very similar to the one provided by the Label widget, except that it can also automatically wrap the text, maintaining a given width or aspect ratio.

Syntax

Here is the simple syntax to create this widget:


Parameters 11.master: This represents the parent window.
12.options: Here is the list of most commonly used options for this widget. These options can be used as key-value pairs separated by commas.

Option	Description
anchor	This options controls where the text is positioned if the widget has more space than the text needs. The default is anchor=CENTER, which centers the text in the available space.
bg	The normal background color displayed behind the label and indicator.
bitmap	Set this option equal to a bitmap or image object and the label will display that graphic.
bd	The size of the border around the indicator. Default is 2 pixels.
cursor	If you set this option to a cursor name (arrow, dot etc.), the mouse cursor will change to that pattern when it is over the checkbutton.
font	If you are displaying text in this label (with the text or textvariable option, the font option specifies in what font that text will be displayed.
fg	If you are displaying text or a bitmap in this label, this option specifies the color of the text. If you are displaying a bitmap, this is the color that will appear at the position of the 1-bits in the bitmap.
height	The vertical dimension of the new frame.
image	To display a static image in the label widget, set this option to an image object.
justify	Specifies how multiple lines of text will be aligned with respect to each other: LEFT for flush left, CENTER for centered (the default), or RIGHT for right-justified.
padx	Extra space added to the left and right of the text within the widget. Default is 1.
pady	Extra space added above and below the text within the widget. Default is 1.
relief	Specifies the appearance of a decorative border around the label. The default is FLAT; for other values.
text	To display one or more lines of text in a label widget, set this option to a string containing the text. Internal newlines ("\n") will force a line break.
textvariable	To slave the text displayed in a label widget to a control variable of class StringVar, set this option to that variable.
underline	You can display an underline (_) below the nth letter of the text, counting from 0, by setting this option to n. The default is underline=-1, which means no underlining.
width	Width of the label in characters (not pixels!). If this option is not set, the label will be sized to fit its contents.
wraplength	You can limit the number of characters in each line by setting this option to the desired number. The default value, 0, means that lines will be broken only at newlines.

Example

Try the following example yourself:


11. Radiobutton

This widget implements a multiple-choice button, which is a way to offer many possible selections to the user and lets user choose only one of them.

In order to implement this functionality, each group of radiobuttons must be associated to the same variable and each one of the buttons must symbolize a single value. You can use the Tab key to switch from one radionbutton to another.

Syntax

Here is the simple syntax to create this widget:


Parameters

• master: This represents the parent window.
• options: Here is the list of most commonly used options for this widget. These options can be used as key-value pairs separated by commas.

Option	Description
activebackground	The background color when the mouse is over the radiobutton.
activeforeground	The foreground color when the mouse is over the radiobutton.
anchor	If the widget inhabits a space larger than it needs, this option specifies where the radiobutton will sit in that space. The default is anchor=CENTER.
bg	The normal background color behind the indicator and label.
bitmap	To display a monochrome image on a radiobutton, set this option to a bitmap.
borderwidth	The size of the border around the indicator part itself. Default is 2 pixels.
command	A procedure to be called every time the user changes the state of this radiobutton.
cursor	If you set this option to a cursor name (arrow, dot etc.), the mouse cursor will change to that pattern when it is over the radiobutton.
font	The font used for the text.
fg	The color used to render the text.
height	The number of lines (not pixels) of text on the radiobutton. Default is 1.
highlightbackground	The color of the focus highlight when the radiobutton does not have focus.
highlightcolor	The color of the focus highlight when the radiobutton has the focus.
image	To display a graphic image instead of text for this radiobutton, set this option to an image object.
justify	If the text contains multiple lines, this option controls how the text is justified: CENTER (the default), LEFT, or RIGHT.
padx	How much space to leave to the left and right of the radiobutton and text. Default is 1.
pady	How much space to leave above and below the radiobutton and text. Default is 1.
relief	Specifies the appearance of a decorative border around the label. The default is FLAT; for other values.
selectcolor	The color of the radiobutton when it is set. Default is red.
selectimage	If you are using the image option to display a graphic instead of text when the radiobutton is cleared, you can set the selectimage option to a different image that will be displayed when the radiobutton is set.
state	The default is state=NORMAL, but you can set state=DISABLED to gray out the control and make it unresponsive. If the cursor is currently over the radiobutton, the state is ACTIVE.
text	The label displayed next to the radiobutton. Use newlines ("\n") to display multiple lines of text.
textvariable	To slave the text displayed in a label widget to a control variable of class StringVar, set this option to that variable.
underline	You can display an underline (_) below the nth letter of the text, counting from 0, by setting this option to n. The default is underline=-1, which means no underlining.
value	When a radiobutton is turned on by the user, its control variable is set to its current value option. If the control variable is an IntVar, give each radiobutton in the group a different integer value option. If the control variable is a StringVar, give each radiobutton a different string value option.
variable	The control variable that this radiobutton shares with the other radiobuttons in the group. This can be either an IntVar or a StringVar.
width	Width of the label in characters (not pixels!). If this option is not set, the label will be sized to fit its contents.
wraplength	You can limit the number of characters in each line by setting this option to the desired number. The default value, 0, means that lines will be broken only at newlines.

Methods

Methods	Description
deselect()	Clears (turns off) the radiobutton.
flash()	Flashes the radiobutton a few times between its active and normal colors, but leaves it the way it started.
invoke()	You can call this method to get the same actions that would occur if the user clicked on the radiobutton to change its state.
select()	Sets (turns on) the radiobutton.

Example:

Try the following example yourself:


The Scale widget provides a graphical slider object that allows you to select values from a specific scale.

Syntax

Here is the simple syntax to create this widget:


Parameters

• master: This represents the parent window.
• options: Here is the list of most commonly used options for this widget. These options can be used as key-value pairs separated by commas.

Option	Description
activebackground	The background color when the mouse is over the scale.
bg	The background color of the parts of the widget that are outside the trough.
bd	Width of the 3-d border around the trough and slider. Default is 2 pixels.
command	A procedure to be called every time the slider is moved. This procedure will be passed one argument, the new scale value. If the slider is moved rapidly, you may not get a callback for every possible position, but you'll certainly get a callback when it settles.
cursor	If you set this option to a cursor name (arrow, dot etc.), the mouse cursor will change to that pattern when it is over the scale.
digits	The way your program reads the current value shown in a scale widget is through a control variable. The control variable for a scale can be an IntVar, a DoubleVar (float), or a StringVar. If it is a string variable, the digits option controls how many digits to use when the numeric scale value is converted to a string.
font	The font used for the label and annotations.
fg	The color of the text used for the label and annotations.
from_	A float or integer value that defines one end of the scale's range.
highlightbackground	The color of the focus highlight when the scale does not have focus.
highlightcolor	The color of the focus highlight when the scale has the focus.
label	You can display a label within the scale widget by setting this option to the label's text. The label appears in the top left corner if the scale is horizontal, or the top right corner if vertical. The default is no label.
length	The length of the scale widget. This is the x dimension if the scale is horizontal, or the y dimension if vertical. The default is 100 pixels.
orient	Set orient=HORIZONTAL if you want the scale to run along the x dimension, or orient=VERTICAL to run parallel to the y-axis. Default is horizontal.
relief	Specifies the appearance of a decorative border around the label. The default is FLAT; for other values.
repeatdelay	This option controls how long button 1 has to be held down in the trough before the slider starts moving in that direction repeatedly. Default is repeatdelay=300, and the units are milliseconds.
resolution	Normally, the user will only be able to change the scale in whole units. Set this option to some other value to change the smallest increment of the scale's value. For example, if from_=-1.0 and to=1.0, and you set resolution=0.5, the scale will have 5 possible values: -1.0, -0.5, 0.0, +0.5, and +1.0.
showvalue	Normally, the current value of the scale is displayed in text form by the slider (above it for horizontal scales, to the left for vertical scales). Set this option to 0 to suppress that label.
sliderlength	Normally the slider is 30 pixels along the length of the scale. You can change that length by setting the sliderlength option to your desired length.
state	Normally, scale widgets respond to mouse events, and when they have the focus, also keyboard events. Set state=DISABLED to make the widget unresponsive.
takefocus	Normally, the focus will cycle through scale widgets. Set this option to 0 if you don't want this behavior.
tickinterval	To display periodic scale values, set this option to a number, and ticks will be displayed on multiples of that value. For example, if from_=0.0, to=1.0, and tickinterval=0.25, labels will be displayed along the scale at values 0.0, 0.25, 0.50,0.75, and 1.00. These labels appear below the scale if horizontal, to its left if vertical. Default is 0, which suppresses display of ticks.
to	A float or integer value that defines one end of the scale's range; the other end is defined by the from_ option, discussed above. The to value can be either greater than or less than the from_ value. For vertical scales, the to value defines the bottom of the scale; for horizontal scales, the right end.
troughcolor	The color of the trough.
variable	The control variable for this scale, if any. Control variables may be from class IntVar, DoubleVar (float), or StringVar. In the latter case, the numerical value will be converted to a string.
width	The width of the trough part of the widget. This is the x dimension for vertical scales and the y dimension if the scale has orient=HORIZONTAL. Default is 15 pixels.

Methods
Scale objects have these methods:

Methods	Description
get()	This method returns the current value of the scale.
set ( value )	Sets the scale's value.

Example

Try the following example yourself:


13. Scrollbar

This widget provides a slide controller that is used to implement vertical scrolled widgets, such as Listbox, Text and Canvas. Note that you can also create horizontal scrollbars on Entry widgets.

Syntax:

Here is the simple syntax to create this widget:


Parameters

• master: This represents the parent window.
• options: Here is the list of most commonly used options for this widget. These options can be used as key-value pairs separated by commas.

Option	Description
activebackground	The color of the slider and arrowheads when the mouse is over them.
bg	The color of the slider and arrowheads when the mouse is not over them.
bd	The width of the 3-d borders around the entire perimeter of the trough, and also the width of the 3-d effects on the arrowheads and slider. Default is no border around the trough, and a 2-pixel border around the arrowheads and slider.
command	A procedure to be called whenever the scrollbar is moved.
cursor	The cursor that appears when the mouse is over the scrollbar.
elementborderwidth	The width of the borders around the arrowheads and slider. The default is elementborderwidth=-1, which means to use the value of the borderwidth option.
highlightbackground	The color of the focus highlight when the scrollbar does not have focus.
highlightcolor	The color of the focus highlight when the scrollbar has the focus.
highlightthickness	The thickness of the focus highlight. Default is 1. Set to 0 to suppress display of the focus highlight.
jump	This option controls what happens when a user drags the slider. Normally (jump=0), every small drag of the slider causes the command callback to be called. If you set this option to 1, the callback isn't called until the user releases the mouse button.
orient	Set orient=HORIZONTAL for a horizontal scrollbar, orient=VERTICAL for a vertical one.
repeatdelay	This option controls how long button 1 has to be held down in the trough before the slider starts moving in that direction repeatedly. Default is repeatdelay=300, and the units are milliseconds.
repeatinterval	repeatinterval
takefocus	Normally, you can tab the focus through a scrollbar widget. Set takefocus=0 if you don't want this behavior.
troughcolor	The color of the trough.
width	Width of the scrollbar (its y dimension if horizontal, and its x dimension if vertical). Default is 16.

Methods

Scrollbar objects have these methods:

Methods	Description
get()	Returns two numbers (a, b) describing the current position of the slider. The a value gives the position of the left or top edge of the slider, for horizontal and vertical scrollbars respectively; the b value gives the position of the right or bottom edge.
set ( first, last )	To connect a scrollbar to another widget w, set w's xscrollcommand or yscrollcommand to the scrollbar's set() method. The arguments have the same meaning as the values returned by the get() method.

Example

Try the following example yourself:


14. Text

Text widgets provide advanced capabilities that allow you to edit a multiline text and format the way it has to be displayed, such as changing its color and font.

You can also use elegant structures like tabs and marks to locate specific sections of the text, and apply changes to those areas. Moreover, you can embed windows and images in the text because this widget was designed to handle both plain and formatted text.

Syntax

Here is the simple syntax to create this widget:


Parameters

master: This represents the parent window. options: Here is the list of most commonly used options for this widget. These options can be used as key-value pairs separated by commas.

Option	Description
bg	The default background color of the text widget.
bd	The width of the border around the text widget. Default is 2 pixels.
cursor	The cursor that will appear when the mouse is over the text widget.
exportselection	Normally, text selected within a text widget is exported to be the selection in the window manager. Set exportselection=0 if you don't want that behavior.
font	The default font for text inserted into the widget.
fg	The color used for text (and bitmaps) within the widget. You can change the color for tagged regions; this option is just the default.
height	The height of the widget in lines (not pixels!), measured according to the current font size.
highlightbackground	The color of the focus highlight when the text widget does not have focus.
highlightcolor	The color of the focus highlight when the text widget has the focus.
highlightthickness	The thickness of the focus highlight. Default is 1. Set highlightthickness=0 to suppress display of the focus highlight.
insertbackground	The color of the insertion cursor. Default is black.
insertborderwidth	Size of the 3-D border around the insertion cursor. Default is 0.
insertofftime	The number of milliseconds the insertion cursor is off during its blink cycle. Set this option to zero to suppress blinking. Default is 300.
insertontime	The number of milliseconds the insertion cursor is on during its blink cycle. Default is 600.
insertwidth	Width of the insertion cursor (its height is determined by the tallest item in its line). Default is 2 pixels.
padx	The size of the internal padding added to the left and right of the text area. Default is one pixel.
pady	The size of the internal padding added above and below the text area. Default is one pixel.
relief	The 3-D appearance of the text widget. Default is relief=SUNKEN.
selectbackground	The background color to use displaying selected text.
selectborderwidth	The width of the border to use around selected text.
spacing1	This option specifies how much extra vertical space is put above each line of text. If a line wraps, this space is added only before the first line it occupies on the display. Default is 0.
spacing2	This option specifies how much extra vertical space to add between displayed lines of text when a logical line wraps. Default is 0.
spacing3	This option specifies how much extra vertical space is added below each line of text. If a line wraps, this space is added only after the last line it occupies on the display. Default is 0.
state	Normally, text widgets respond to keyboard and mouse events; set state=NORMAL to get this behavior. If you set state=DISABLED, the text widget will not respond, and you won't be able to modify its contents programmatically either.
tabs	This option controls how tab characters position text.
width	The width of the widget in characters (not pixels!), measured according to the current font size.
wrap	This option controls the display of lines that are too wide. Set wrap=WORD and it will break the line after the last word that will fit. With the default behavior, wrap=CHAR, any line that gets too long will be broken at any character.
xscrollcommand	To make the text widget horizontally scrollable, set this option to the set() method of the horizontal scrollbar.
yscrollcommand	To make the text widget vertically scrollable, set this option to the set() method of the vertical scrollbar.

Methods

Text objects have these methods:

Methods & Description

delete(startindex .................................[,endindex]) This method deletes a specific character or a range of text.

get(startindex .................................[,endindex]) This method returns a specific character or a range of text.

index(index) Returns the absolute value of an index based on the given index.

insert(index .................................[,string]...) This method inserts strings at the specified index location.

see(index) This method returns true if the text located at the index position is visible.

Text widgets support three distinct helper structures: Marks, Tabs, and Indexes:

Marks are used to bookmark positions between two characters within a given text. We have the following methods available when handling marks:

Methods & Description

index(mark) Returns the line and column location of a specific mark.

mark_gravity(mark .................................[,gravity]) Returns the gravity of the given mark. If the second argument is provided, the gravity is set for the given mark.

mark_names() Returns all marks from the Text widget.

mark_set(mark, .................................index) Informs a new position to the given mark.

mark_unset(mark) Removes the given mark from the Text widget.

Tags are used to associate names to regions of text which makes easy the task of modifying the display settings of specific text areas. Tags are also used to bind event callbacks to specific ranges of text.

Following are the available methods for handling tabs:

Methods and Description

tag_add(tagname, .................................startindex[,endindex]............. ...) This method tags either the position defined by startindex, or a range delimited by the positions startindex and endindex.

tag_config You can use this method to configure the tag properties, which include, justify(center, left, or right), tabs(this property has the same functionality of the Text widget tabs's property), and underline(used to underline the tagged text).

tag_delete(tagname) This method is used to delete and remove a given tag.

tag_remove(tagname .................................[,startindex[.endindex]]............. ...) After applying this method, the given tag is removed from the provided area without deleting the actual tag definition.

Example

Try the following example yourself:


15. TopLevel

Toplevel widgets work as windows that are directly managed by the window manager. They do not necessarily have a parent widget on top of them.

Your application can use any number of top-level windows.

Syntax

Here is the simple syntax to create this widget:


Parameters:

• options: Here is the list of most commonly used options for this widget. These options can be used as key-value pairs separated by commas.

Option	Description
bg	The background color of the window.
bd	Border width in pixels; default is 0.
cursor	The cursor that appears when the mouse is in this window.
class_	Normally, text selected within a text widget is exported to be the selection in the window manager. Set exportselection=0 if you don't want that behavior.
font	The default font for text inserted into the widget.
fg	The color used for text (and bitmaps) within the widget. You can change the color for tagged regions; this option is just the default.
height	Window height.
relief	Normally, a top-level window will have no 3-d borders around it. To get a shaded border, set the bd option larger that its default value of zero, and set the relief option to one of the constants.
width	The desired width of the window.

Methods

Toplevel objects have these methods:

Methods and Description

deiconify() Displays the window, after using either the iconify or the withdraw methods.

frame() Returns a system-specific window identifier.

group(window) Adds the window to the window group administered by the given window.

iconify() Turns the window into an icon, without destroying it.

protocol(name, function) Registers a function as a callback which will be called for the given protocol.

iconify() Turns the window into an icon, without destroying it.

state() Returns the current state of the window. Possible values are normal, iconic, withdrawn and icon.

transient([master]) Turns the window into a temporary(transient) window for the given master or to the window's parent, when no argument is given.

withdraw() Removes the window from the screen, without destroying it.

maxsize(width, height) Defines the maximum size for this window.

minsize(width, height) Defines the minimum size for this window.

positionfrom(who) Defines the position controller.

resizable(width, height) Defines the resize flags, which control whether the window can be resized.

sizefrom(who) Defines the size controller.

title(string) Defines the window title.

Example

Try following example yourself:


16. SpinBox

The Spinbox widget is a variant of the standard Tkinter Entry widget, which can be used to select from a fixed number of values.

Syntax

Here is the simple syntax to create this widget:


Parameters

• master: This represents the parent window.
• options: Here is the list of most commonly used options for this widget. These options can be used as key-value pairs separated by commas.

Option	Description
activebackground	The color of the slider and arrowheads when the mouse is over them.
bg	The color of the slider and arrowheads when the mouse is over them.
bd	The width of the 3-d borders around the entire perimeter of the trough, and also the width of the 3-d effects on the arrowheads and slider. Default is no border around the trough, and a 2-pixel border around the arrowheads and slider.
command	A procedure to be called whenever the scrollbar is moved.
cursor	The cursor that appears when the mouse is over the scrollbar.
disabledbackground	The text color to use when the widget is disabled.
disabledforeground	The text color to use when the widget is disabled.
fg	Text color.
font	The font to use in this widget.
format	Format string. No default value.
from_	The minimum value. Used together with to to limit the spinbox range.
justify	Default is LEFT
relief	Default is SUNKEN.
repeatdelay	Together with repeatinterval, this option controls button auto-repeat. Both values are given in milliseconds.
repeatinterval	See repeatdelay.
state	One of NORMAL, DISABLED, or "readonly". Default is NORMAL.
textvariable	No default value.
to	See from.
validate	Validation mode. Default is NONE.
validatecommand	Validation callback. No default value.
values	A tuple containing valid values for this widget. Overrides from/to/increment.
vcmd	Same as validatecommand.
width	Widget width, in character units. Default is 20.
wrap	If true, the up and down buttons will wrap around.
xscrollcommand	Used to connect a spinbox field to a horizontal scrollbar. This option should be set to the set method of the corresponding scrollbar.

Methods

Spinbox objects have these methods:

Methods and Description

delete(startindex [,endindex]) This method deletes a specific character or a range of text.

get(startindex [,endindex]) This method returns a specific character or a range of text.

identify(x, y) Identifies the widget element at the given location.

index(index) Returns the absolute value of an index based on the given index.

insert(index [,string]...) This method inserts strings at the specified index location.

invoke(element) Invokes a spinbox button.

Example

Try the following example yourself:


17. PanelWindow

A PanedWindow is a container widget that may contain any number of panes, arranged horizontally or vertically.

Each pane contains one widget and each pair of panes is separated by a moveable (via mouse movements) sash. Moving a sash causes the widgets on either side of the sash to be resized.

Syntax

Here is the simple syntax to create this widget:


Parameters

18. master: This represents the parent window.
19. options: Here is the list of most commonly used options for this widget. These options can be used as key-value pairs separated by commas.

Option	Description
bg	The color of the slider and arrowheads when the mouse is not over them.
bd	The width of the 3-d borders around the entire perimeter of the trough, and also the width of the 3-d effects on the arrowheads and slider. Default is no border around the trough, and a 2-pixel border around the arrowheads and slider.
borderwidth	Default is 2.
cursor	The cursor that appears when the mouse is over the window.
handlepad	Default is 8.
handlesize	Default is 8.
height	No default value.
orient	Default is HORIZONTAL.
relief	Default is FLAT.
sashcursor	No default value.
sashrelief	Default is RAISED.
sashwidth	Default is 2.
showhandle	No default value
width	No default value.

Methods

PanedWindow objects have these methods:

Methods and Description

add(child, options) Adds a child window to the paned window.

get(startindex [,endindex]) This method returns a specific character or a range of text.

config(options) Modifies one or more widget options. If no options are given, the method returns a dictionary containing all current option values.

Example

Try the following example yourself. Here's how to create a 3-pane widget:


20. LabelFrame

A labelframe is a simple container widget. Its primary purpose is to act as a spacer or container for complex window layouts.

This widget has the features of a frame plus the ability to display a label.

Syntax

Here is the simple syntax to create this widget:


Parameters

21. master: This represents the parent window.
22. options: Here is the list of most commonly used options for this widget. These options can be used as key-value pairs separated by commas.

Option	Description
bg	The normal background color displayed behind the label and indicator.
bd	The size of the border around the indicator. Default is 2 pixels.
cursor	If you set this option to a cursor name (arrow, dot etc.), the mouse cursor will change to that pattern when it is over the checkbutton.
font	The vertical dimension of the new frame.
height	The vertical dimension of the new frame.
labelAnchor	Specifies where to place the label.
highlightbackground	Color of the focus highlight when the frame does not have focus.
highlightcolor	Color shown in the focus highlight when the frame has the focus.
highlightthickness	Thickness of the focus highlight.
relief	With the default value, relief=FLAT, the checkbutton does not stand out from its background. You may set this option to any of the other styles
text	Specifies a string to be displayed inside the widget.
width	Specifies the desired width for the window.

Example

Try the following example yourself. Here is how to create a labelframe widget:


23. tkMessageBox

The tkMessageBox module is used to display message boxes in your applications. This module provides a number of functions that you can use to display an appropriate message.

Some of these functions are showinfo, showwarning, showerror, askquestion, askokcancel, askyesno, and askretryignore.

Syntax:

Here is the simple syntax to create this widget:


Parameters

24. FunctionName: This is the name of the appropriate message box function.

25. title: This is the text to be displayed in the title bar of a message box.

26. message: This is the text to be displayed as a message.

27. options: options are alternative choices that you may use to tailor a standard message box. Some of the options that you can use are default and parent. The default option is used to specify the default button, such as ABORT, RETRY, or IGNORE in the message box. The parent option is used to specify the window on top of which the message box is to be displayed.

You could use one of the following functions with dialogue box:

28. showinfo()
29. showwarning()
30. showerror ()
31. askquestion()
32. askokcancel()
33. askyesno ()
34. askretrycancel ()

Example

Try the following example yourself:


Let us take a look at how some of their common attributes,such as sizes, colors, and fonts are specified.

1. Dimensions
2. Colors
3. Fonts
4. Anchors
5. Relief styles
6. Bitmaps
7. Cursors

Let us study them briefly:

Dimensions

Various lengths, widths, and other dimensions of widgets can be described in many different units.

35. If you set a dimension to an integer, it is assumed to be in pixels.
36. You can specify units by setting a dimension to a string containing a number followed by.

Character	Description
c	Centimeters
i	Inches
m	Millimeters
p	Printer's points (about 1/72")

Length options:

Tkinter expresses a length as an integer number of pixels. Here is the list of common length options:

37. borderwidth: Width of the border which gives a three-dimensional look to the widget.

38. highlightthickness: Width of the highlight rectangle when the widget has focus.

39. padX padY: Extra space the widget requests from its layout manager beyond the minimum the widget needs to display its contents in the x and y directions.

40. selectborderwidth: Width of the three-dimentional border around selected items of the widget.

41. wraplength: Maximum line length for widgets that perform word wrapping.

42. height: Desired height of the widget; must be greater than or equal to 1.

43. underline: Index of the character to underline in the widget's text (0 is the first character, 1 the second one, and so on).

44. width: Desired width of the widget.

45. Colors
Tkinter represents colors with strings. There are two general ways to specify colors in Tkinter:

46. You can use a string specifying the proportion of red, green and blue in hexadecimal digits. For example, "#fff" is white, "#000000" is black, "#000fff000" is pure green, and "#00ffff" is pure cyan (green plus blue).
47. You can also use any locally defined standard color name. The colors "white", "black", "red", "green", "blue", "cyan", "yellow", and "magenta" will always be available.

Color options
The common color options are:

48. activebackground: Background color for the widget when the widget is active.

49. activeforeground: Foreground color for the widget when the widget is active.

50. background: Background color for the widget. This can also be represented as bg.

51. disabledforeground: Foreground color for the widget when the widget is disabled.

52. foreground: Foreground color for the widget. This can also be represented as fg.

53. highlightbackground: Background color of the highlight region when the widget has focus.

54. highlightcolor: Foreground color of the highlight region when the widget has focus.

55. selectbackground: Background color for the selected items of the widget.

56. selectforeground: Foreground color for the selected items of the widget.

57. Fonts
There may be up to three ways to specify type style.

Simple Tuple Fonts

As a tuple whose first element is the font family, followed by a size in points, optionally followed by a string containing one or more of the style modifiers bold, italic, underline and overstrike.

Example

58. ("Helvetica", "16") for a 16-point Helvetica regular. 59. ("Times", "24", "bold italic") for a 24-point Times bold italic.

Font object Fonts

You can create a "font object" by importing the tkFont module and using its Font class constructor:


Here is the list of options:

60. family: The font family name as a string.

61. size: The font height as an integer in points. To get a font n pixels high, use -n.

62. weight: "bold" for boldface, "normal" for regular weight.

63. slant: "italic" for italic, "roman" for unslanted.

64. underline: 1 for underlined text, 0 for normal.

65. overstrike: 1 for overstruck text, 0 for normal.

Example


X Window Fonts

If you are running under the X Window System, you can use any of the X font names.

For example, the font named "-*-lucidatypewriter-medium-r-*-*-*-140-*-*-*-*-*-*" is the author's favorite fixed-width font for onscreen use. Use the xfontsel program to help you select pleasing fonts.

66. Anchors

Anchors are used to define where text is positioned relative to a reference point.

Here is list of possible constants, which can be used for Anchor attribute.

67. NW
68. N
69. NE
70. W
71. CENTER
72. E
73. SW
74. S
75. SE

For example, if you use CENTER as a text anchor, the text will be centered horizontally and vertically around the reference point.

Anchor NW will position the text so that the reference point coincides with the northwest (top left) corner of the box containing the text.

Anchor W will center the text vertically around the reference point, with the left edge of the text box passing through that point, and so on.

If you create a small widget inside a large frame and use the anchor=SE option, the widget will be placed in the bottom right corner of the frame. If you used anchor=N instead, the widget would be centered along the top edge.
Example

The relief style of a widget refers to certain simulated 3-D effects around the outside of the widget. Here is a screenshot of a row of buttons exhibiting all the possible relief styles:

Here is list of possible constants which can be used for relief attribute.

77. FLAT
78. RAISED
79. SUNKEN
80. GROOVE
81. RIDGE

Example


82. Bitmaps

This attribute to displays a bitmap. There are following type of bitmaps available:

83. "error"
84. "gray75"
85. "gray50"
86. "gray25"
87. "gray12"
88. "hourglass"
89. "info"
90. "questhead"
91. "question"
92. "warning"
Example


93. Cursors

Python Tkinter supports quite a number of different mouse cursors available. The exact graphic may vary according to your operating system.

Here is the list of interesting ones:

94. "arrow"

95. "circle"

96. "clock"

97. "cross"

98. "dotbox"

99. "exchange"

100. "fleur"

101. "heart"

102. "heart"

103. "man"

104. "mouse"

105. "pirate"

106. "plus"

107. "shuttle"

108. "sizing"

109. "spider"

110. "spraycan"

111. "star"

112. "target"

113. "tcross"

114. "trek"

115. "watch"

Example

Try the following example by moving cursor on different buttons:


Geometry Management

All Tkinter widgets have access to specific geometry management methods, which have the purpose of organizing widgets throughout the parent widget area. Tkinter exposes the following geometry manager classes: pack, grid, and place.

116. The pack() Method - This geometry manager organizes widgets in blocks before placing them in the parent widget.

117. The grid() Method- This geometry manager organizes widgets in a table-like structure in the parent widget.

118. The place() Method -This geometry manager organizes widgets by placing them in a specific position in the parent widget.

Let us study the geometry management methods briefly:

pack()

This geometry manager organizes widgets in blocks before placing them in the parent widget.

Syntax


Here is the list of possible options:

119. expand: When set to true, widget expands to fill any space not otherwise used in widget's parent.

120. fill: Determines whether widget fills any extra space allocated to it by the packer, or keeps its own minimal dimensions: NONE (default), X (fill only horizontally), Y (fill only vertically), or BOTH (fill both horizontally and vertically).

121. side: Determines which side of the parent widget packs against: TOP (default), BOTTOM, LEFT, or RIGHT.

Example

Try the following example by moving cursor on different buttons:


122. column : The column to put widget in; default 0 (leftmost column).

123. columnspan: How many columns widgetoccupies; default 1.

124. ipadx, ipady :How many pixels to pad widget, horizontally and vertically, inside widget's borders.

125. padx, pady : How many pixels to pad widget, horizontally and vertically, outside v's borders.

126. row: The row to put widget in; default the first row that is still empty.

127. rowspan : How many rowswidget occupies; default 1.

128. sticky : What to do if the cell is larger than widget. By default, with sticky='', widget is centered in its cell. sticky may be the string concatenation of zero or more of N, E, S, W, NE, NW, SE, and SW, compass directions indicating the sides and corners of the cell to which widget sticks.

Example

Try the following example by moving cursor on different buttons:


This would produce the following result displaying 12 labels arrayed in a 3 x 4 grid:

129. 3. place()

This geometry manager organizes widgets by placing them in a specific position in the parent widget.

Syntax


Here is the list of possible options:

130. anchor : The exact spot of widget other options refer to: may be N, E, S, W, NE, NW, SE, or SW, compass directions indicating the corners and sides of widget; default is NW (the upper left corner of widget)

131. bordermode : INSIDE (the default) to indicate that other options refer to the parent's inside (ignoring the parent's border); OUTSIDE otherwise.

132. height, width : Height and width in pixels.

133. relheight, relwidth : Height and width as a float between 0.0 and 1.0, as a fraction of the height and width of the parent widget.

134. relx, rely : Horizontal and vertical offset as a float between 0.0 and 1.0, as a fraction of the height and width of the parent widget.

135. x, y : Horizontal and vertical offset in pixels.

Example

Try the following example by moving cursor on different buttons:

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