Develop Reference

How can I place a widget at the very bottom of a tkinter window when positioning with .grid()?

I am aware that you cannot use different types of geometry managers within the same Tkinter window, such as .grid() and .pack(). I have a window that has been laid out using .grid() and I am now trying to add a status bar that would be snapped to the bottom of the window. The only method I have found online for this is to use .pack(side = BOTTOM), which will not work since the rest of the window uses .grid().
Is there a way that I can select the bottom of the window to place widgets from when using .grid()?

from tkinter import *
from tkinter.ttk import *
import tkinter as tk
class sample(Frame):
def __init__(self,master=None):
Frame.__init__(self, master)
self.status = StringVar()
self.status.set("Initializing")
statusbar = Label(root,textvariable = self.status,relief = SUNKEN, anchor = W)
statusbar.pack(side = BOTTOM, fill = X)
self.parent1 = Frame()
self.parent1.pack(side = TOP)
self.createwidgets()
def createwidgets(self):
Label(self.parent1,text = "Grid 1,1").grid(row = 1, column = 1)
Label(self.parent1,text = "Grid 1,2").grid(row = 1, column = 2)
Label(self.parent1,text = "Grid 2,1").grid(row = 2, column = 1)
Label(self.parent1,text = "Grid 2,2").grid(row = 2, column = 2)
if __name__ == '__main__':
root = Tk()
app = sample(master=root)
app.mainloop()
So using labels since I was kinda lazy to do other stuff, you can do frames to ensure that each section of your window can be packed/grid as required. Frames will be a useful tool for you to use when trying to arrange your widgets. Note that using a class can make things a little easier when deciding your parents. So imagine each frame is a parent and their children can be packed as required. So I would recommend drawing out your desired GUI and see how you will arrange them. Also if you want to add another frame within a frame simply do:
self.level2 = Frame(self.parent1)
You can check out additional settings in the docs
http://effbot.org/tkinterbook/frame.htm
PS: I am using a class hence the self, if you don't want to use classes then its okay to just change it to be without a class. Classes make it nicer to read though

Just give it a row argument that is larger than any other row. Then, give a weight to at least one of the rows before it.
Even better is to use frames to organize your code. Pack the scrollbar on the bottom and a frame above it. Then, use grid for everything inside the frame.
Example:
# layout of the root window
main = tk.Frame(root)
statusbar = tk.Label(root, text="this is the statusbar", anchor="w")
statusbar.pack(side="bottom", fill="x")
main.pack(side="top", fill="both", expand=True)
# layout of the main window
for row in range(1, 10):
label = tk.Label(main, text=f"R{row}")
label.grid(row=row, sticky="nsew")
main.grid_rowconfigure(row, weight=1)
...

Scrollable Frame with fill in Python Tkinter

I am trying to implement a scrollable frame in Python with Tkinter:
if the content changes, the size of the widget is supposed to stay constant (basically, I don't really care whether the size of the scrollbar is subtracted from the frame or added to the parent, although I do think that it would make sense if this was consistent but that does not seem to be the case currently)
if the content becomes too big a scrollbar shall appear so that one can scroll over the entire content (but not further)
if the content fits entirely into the widget the scrollbar shall disappear and it shall not be possible to scroll anymore (no need to scroll, because everything is visible)
if the req size of the content becomes smaller than the widget, the content shall fill the widget
I am surprised how difficult it seems to get this running, because it seems like a pretty basic functionality.
The first three requirements seem relatively easy but I am having a lot of trouble since trying to fill the widget.
The following implementation has the following problems:
first time a scrollbar appears, frame does not fill canvas (seems to depend on available space):
add one column. The horizontal scrollbar appears. Between the scrollbar and the white background of the frame the red background of the canvas becomes visible. This red area looks around as high as the scrollbar.
When adding or removing a row or column or resizing the window the red area disappears and does not seem to appear again.
size jumps:
add elements until horizontal scrollbar becomes visible. make window wider (not higher). the height [!] of the window increases with a jump.
infinite loop:
add rows until the vertical scrollbar appears, remove one row so that vertical scrollbar disappears again, add one row again. The window's size is rapidly increasing and decreasing. The occurence of this behaviour depends on the size of the window. The loop can be broken by resizing or closing the window.
What am I doing wrong?
Any help would be appreciated.
#!/usr/bin/env python
# based on https://stackoverflow.com/q/30018148
try:
import Tkinter as tk
except:
import tkinter as tk
# I am not using something like vars(tk.Grid) because that would override too many methods.
# Methods like Grid.columnconfigure are suppossed to be executed on self, not a child.
GM_METHODS_TO_BE_CALLED_ON_CHILD = (
'pack', 'pack_configure', 'pack_forget', 'pack_info',
'grid', 'grid_configure', 'grid_forget', 'grid_remove', 'grid_info',
'place', 'place_configure', 'place_forget', 'place_info',
)
class AutoScrollbar(tk.Scrollbar):
'''
A scrollbar that hides itself if it's not needed.
Only works if you use the grid geometry manager.
'''
def set(self, lo, hi):
if float(lo) <= 0.0 and float(hi) >= 1.0:
self.grid_remove()
else:
self.grid()
tk.Scrollbar.set(self, lo, hi)
def pack(self, *args, **kwargs):
raise TclError('Cannot use pack with this widget.')
def place(self, *args, **kwargs):
raise TclError('Cannot use place with this widget.')
#TODO: first time a scrollbar appears, frame does not fill canvas (seems to depend on available space)
#TODO: size jumps: add elements until horizontal scrollbar becomes visible. make widget wider. height jumps from 276 to 316 pixels although it should stay constant.
#TODO: infinite loop is triggered by
# - add rows until the vertical scrollbar appears, remove one row so that vertical scrollbar disappears again, add one row again (depends on size)
# was in the past triggered by:
# - clicking "add row" very fast at transition from no vertical scrollbar to vertical scrollbar visible
# - add columns until horizontal scrollbar appears, remove column so that horizointal scrollbar disappears again, add rows until vertical scrollbar should appear
class ScrollableFrame(tk.Frame):
def __init__(self, master, *args, **kwargs):
self._parentFrame = tk.Frame(master)
self._parentFrame.grid_rowconfigure(0, weight = 1)
self._parentFrame.grid_columnconfigure(0, weight = 1)
# scrollbars
hscrollbar = AutoScrollbar(self._parentFrame, orient = tk.HORIZONTAL)
hscrollbar.grid(row = 1, column = 0, sticky = tk.EW)
vscrollbar = AutoScrollbar(self._parentFrame, orient = tk.VERTICAL)
vscrollbar.grid(row = 0, column = 1, sticky = tk.NS)
# canvas & scrolling
self.canvas = tk.Canvas(self._parentFrame,
xscrollcommand = hscrollbar.set,
yscrollcommand = vscrollbar.set,
bg = 'red', # should not be visible
)
self.canvas.grid(row = 0, column = 0, sticky = tk.NSEW)
hscrollbar.config(command = self.canvas.xview)
vscrollbar.config(command = self.canvas.yview)
# self
tk.Frame.__init__(self, self.canvas, *args, **kwargs)
self._selfItemID = self.canvas.create_window(0, 0, window = self, anchor = tk.NW)
# bindings
self.canvas.bind('<Enter>', self._bindMousewheel)
self.canvas.bind('<Leave>', self._unbindMousewheel)
self.canvas.bind('<Configure>', self._onCanvasConfigure)
# geometry manager
for method in GM_METHODS_TO_BE_CALLED_ON_CHILD:
setattr(self, method, getattr(self._parentFrame, method))
def _bindMousewheel(self, event):
# Windows
self.bind_all('<MouseWheel>', self._onMousewheel)
# Linux
self.bind_all('<Button-4>', self._onMousewheel)
self.bind_all('<Button-5>', self._onMousewheel)
def _unbindMousewheel(self, event):
# Windows
self.unbind_all('<MouseWheel>')
# Linux
self.unbind_all('<Button-4>')
self.unbind_all('<Button-5>')
def _onMousewheel(self, event):
if event.delta < 0 or event.num == 5:
dy = +1
elif event.delta > 0 or event.num == 4:
dy = -1
else:
assert False
if (dy < 0 and self.canvas.yview()[0] > 0.0) \
or (dy > 0 and self.canvas.yview()[1] < 1.0):
self.canvas.yview_scroll(dy, tk.UNITS)
return 'break'
def _onCanvasConfigure(self, event):
self._updateSize(event.width, event.height)
def _updateSize(self, canvWidth, canvHeight):
hasChanged = False
requWidth = self.winfo_reqwidth()
newWidth = max(canvWidth, requWidth)
if newWidth != self.winfo_width():
hasChanged = True
requHeight = self.winfo_reqheight()
newHeight = max(canvHeight, requHeight)
if newHeight != self.winfo_height():
hasChanged = True
if hasChanged:
print("update size ({width}, {height})".format(width = newWidth, height = newHeight))
self.canvas.itemconfig(self._selfItemID, width = newWidth, height = newHeight)
return True
return False
def _updateScrollregion(self):
bbox = (0,0, self.winfo_reqwidth(), self.winfo_reqheight())
print("updateScrollregion%s" % (bbox,))
self.canvas.config( scrollregion = bbox )
def updateScrollregion(self):
# a function called with self.bind('<Configure>', ...) is called when resized or scrolled but *not* when widgets are added or removed (is called when real widget size changes but not when required/requested widget size changes)
# => useless for calling this function
# => this function must be called manually when adding or removing children
# The content has changed.
# Therefore I need to adapt the size of self.
# I need to update before measuring the size.
# It does not seem to make a difference whether I use update_idletasks() or update().
# Therefore according to Bryan Oakley I better use update_idletasks https://stackoverflow.com/a/29159152
self.update_idletasks()
self._updateSize(self.canvas.winfo_width(), self.canvas.winfo_height())
# update scrollregion
self._updateScrollregion()
def setWidth(self, width):
print("setWidth(%s)" % width)
self.canvas.configure( width = width )
def setHeight(self, height):
print("setHeight(%s)" % width)
self.canvas.configure( height = height )
def setSize(self, width, height):
print("setSize(%sx%s)" % (width, height))
self.canvas.configure( width = width, height = height )
# ==================== TEST ====================
if __name__ == '__main__':
class Test(object):
BG_COLOR = 'white'
PAD_X = 1
PAD_Y = PAD_X
# ---------- initialization ----------
def __init__(self):
self.root = tk.Tk()
self.buttonFrame = tk.Frame(self.root)
self.buttonFrame.pack(side=tk.TOP)
self.scrollableFrame = ScrollableFrame(self.root, bg=self.BG_COLOR)
self.scrollableFrame.pack(side=tk.TOP, expand=tk.YES, fill=tk.BOTH)
self.scrollableFrame.grid_columnconfigure(0, weight=1)
self.scrollableFrame.grid_rowconfigure(0, weight=1)
self.contentFrame = tk.Frame(self.scrollableFrame, bg=self.BG_COLOR)
self.contentFrame.grid(row=0, column=0, sticky=tk.NSEW)
self.labelRight = tk.Label(self.scrollableFrame, bg=self.BG_COLOR, text="right")
self.labelRight.grid(row=0, column=1)
self.labelBottom = tk.Label(self.scrollableFrame, bg=self.BG_COLOR, text="bottom")
self.labelBottom.grid(row=1, column=0)
tk.Button(self.buttonFrame, text="add row", command=self.addRow).grid(row=0, column=0)
tk.Button(self.buttonFrame, text="remove row", command=self.removeRow).grid(row=1, column=0)
tk.Button(self.buttonFrame, text="add column", command=self.addColumn).grid(row=0, column=1)
tk.Button(self.buttonFrame, text="remove column", command=self.removeColumn).grid(row=1, column=1)
self.row = 0
self.col = 0
def start(self):
self.addRow()
widget = self.contentFrame.grid_slaves()[0]
width = widget.winfo_width() + 2*self.PAD_X + self.labelRight.winfo_width()
height = 4.9*( widget.winfo_height() + 2*self.PAD_Y ) + self.labelBottom.winfo_height()
#TODO: why is size saved in event different from what I specify here?
self.scrollableFrame.setSize(width, height)
# ---------- add ----------
def addRow(self):
if self.col == 0:
self.col = 1
columns = self.col
for col in range(columns):
button = self.addButton(self.row, col)
self.row += 1
self._onChange()
def addColumn(self):
if self.row == 0:
self.row = 1
rows = self.row
for row in range(rows):
button = self.addButton(row, self.col)
self.col += 1
self._onChange()
def addButton(self, row, col):
button = tk.Button(self.contentFrame, text = '--------------------- %d, %d ---------------------' % (row, col))
# note that grid(padx) seems to behave differently from grid_columnconfigure(pad):
# grid : padx = "Optional horizontal padding to place around the widget in a cell."
# grid_rowconfigure: pad = "Padding to add to the size of the largest widget in the row when setting the size of the whole row."
# http://effbot.org/tkinterbook/grid.htm
button.grid(row=row, column=col, sticky=tk.NSEW, padx=self.PAD_X, pady=self.PAD_Y)
# ---------- remove ----------
def removeRow(self):
if self.row <= 0:
return
self.row -= 1
columns = self.col
if columns == 0:
return
for button in self.contentFrame.grid_slaves():
info = button.grid_info()
if info['row'] == self.row:
button.destroy()
self._onChange()
def removeColumn(self):
if self.col <= 0:
return
self.col -= 1
rows = self.row
if rows == 0:
return
for button in self.contentFrame.grid_slaves():
info = button.grid_info()
if info['column'] == self.col:
button.destroy()
self._onChange()
# ---------- other ----------
def _onChange(self):
print("=========== user action ==========")
print("new size: %s x %s" % (self.row, self.col))
self.scrollableFrame.updateScrollregion()
def mainloop(self):
self.root.mainloop()
test = Test()
test.start()
test.mainloop()
EDIT: I do not think that this is a duplicate of this question. The answer to that question is certainly a good starting point if you don't know how to start. It explains the basic concept of how to handle scrollbars in Tkinter. That however, is not my problem. I think that I am aware of the basic idea and I think that I have implemented that.
I have noticed that the answer mentions the possibility of directly drawing on the canvas instead of putting a frame on it. However, I would like to have a reusable solution.
My problem is that when I tried to implement that the content shall fill the frame (like with pack(expand=tk.YES, fill=tk.BOTH)) if the req size is smaller than the size of the canvas the three above listed weird effects occured which I do not understand. Most importantly that is that the program runs into an infinite loop when I add and remove rows as described (without changing the window size).
EDIT 2: I have reduced the code even further:
# based on https://stackoverflow.com/q/30018148
try:
import Tkinter as tk
except:
import tkinter as tk
class AutoScrollbar(tk.Scrollbar):
def set(self, lo, hi):
if float(lo) <= 0.0 and float(hi) >= 1.0:
self.grid_remove()
else:
self.grid()
tk.Scrollbar.set(self, lo, hi)
class ScrollableFrame(tk.Frame):
# ---------- initialization ----------
def __init__(self, master, *args, **kwargs):
self._parentFrame = tk.Frame(master)
self._parentFrame.grid_rowconfigure(0, weight = 1)
self._parentFrame.grid_columnconfigure(0, weight = 1)
# scrollbars
hscrollbar = AutoScrollbar(self._parentFrame, orient = tk.HORIZONTAL)
hscrollbar.grid(row = 1, column = 0, sticky = tk.EW)
vscrollbar = AutoScrollbar(self._parentFrame, orient = tk.VERTICAL)
vscrollbar.grid(row = 0, column = 1, sticky = tk.NS)
# canvas & scrolling
self.canvas = tk.Canvas(self._parentFrame,
xscrollcommand = hscrollbar.set,
yscrollcommand = vscrollbar.set,
bg = 'red', # should not be visible
)
self.canvas.grid(row = 0, column = 0, sticky = tk.NSEW)
hscrollbar.config(command = self.canvas.xview)
vscrollbar.config(command = self.canvas.yview)
# self
tk.Frame.__init__(self, self.canvas, *args, **kwargs)
self._selfItemID = self.canvas.create_window(0, 0, window = self, anchor = tk.NW)
# bindings
self.canvas.bind('<Configure>', self._onCanvasConfigure)
# ---------- setter ----------
def setSize(self, width, height):
print("setSize(%sx%s)" % (width, height))
self.canvas.configure( width = width, height = height )
# ---------- listen to GUI ----------
def _onCanvasConfigure(self, event):
self._updateSize(event.width, event.height)
# ---------- listen to model ----------
def updateScrollregion(self):
self.update_idletasks()
self._updateSize(self.canvas.winfo_width(), self.canvas.winfo_height())
self._updateScrollregion()
# ---------- internal ----------
def _updateSize(self, canvWidth, canvHeight):
hasChanged = False
requWidth = self.winfo_reqwidth()
newWidth = max(canvWidth, requWidth)
if newWidth != self.winfo_width():
hasChanged = True
requHeight = self.winfo_reqheight()
newHeight = max(canvHeight, requHeight)
if newHeight != self.winfo_height():
hasChanged = True
if hasChanged:
print("update size ({width}, {height})".format(width = newWidth, height = newHeight))
self.canvas.itemconfig(self._selfItemID, width = newWidth, height = newHeight)
return True
return False
def _updateScrollregion(self):
bbox = (0,0, self.winfo_reqwidth(), self.winfo_reqheight())
print("updateScrollregion%s" % (bbox,))
self.canvas.config( scrollregion = bbox )
# ==================== TEST ====================
if __name__ == '__main__':
labels = list()
def createLabel():
print("========= create label =========")
l = tk.Label(frame, text="test %s" % len(labels))
l.pack(anchor=tk.W)
labels.append(l)
frame.updateScrollregion()
def removeLabel():
print("========= remove label =========")
labels[-1].destroy()
del labels[-1]
frame.updateScrollregion()
root = tk.Tk()
tk.Button(root, text="+", command=createLabel).pack()
tk.Button(root, text="-", command=removeLabel).pack()
frame = ScrollableFrame(root, bg="white")
frame._parentFrame.pack(expand=tk.YES, fill=tk.BOTH)
createLabel()
frame.setSize(labels[0].winfo_width(), labels[0].winfo_height()*5.9)
#TODO: why is size saved in event object different from what I have specified here?
root.mainloop()
procedure to reproduce the infinite loop is unchanged:
click "+" until the vertical scrollbar appears, click "-" once so that vertical scrollbar disappears again, click "+" again. The window's size is rapidly increasing and decreasing. The occurence of this behaviour depends on the size of the window. The loop can be broken by resizing or closing the window.
to reproduce the jump in size:
click "+" until horizontal [!] scrollbar appears (the window height then increases by the size of the scrollbar, which is ok). Increase width of window until horizontal scrollbar disappears. The height [!] of the window increases with a jump.
to reproduce that the canvas is not filled:
comment out the line which calls frame.setSize. Click "+" until vertical scrollbar appears.
Between the scrollbar and the white background of the frame the red background of the canvas becomes visible. This red area looks around as wide as the scrollbar. When clicking "+" or "-" or resizing the window the red area disappears and does not seem to appear again.

Python inherit from tk.Frame with internal Layout and Scrollbars

I have worked with the AutoScrollbar (http://effbot.org/zone/tkinter-autoscrollbar.htm), and added a horizontal one too.
from Tkconstants import VERTICAL, N, S, HORIZONTAL, W, E, END
import Tkinter as Tk
class AutoScrollbar(Tk.Scrollbar):
""" a scrollbar that hides itself if it's not needed. only
works if you use the grid geometry manager."""
def set(self, lo, hi):
if float(lo) <= 0.0 and float(hi) >= 1.0:
# grid_remove is currently missing from Tkinter!
self.tk.call("grid", "remove", self)
else:
self.grid()
Tk.Scrollbar.set(self, lo, hi)
def pack(self, **kw):
raise Tk.TclError, "cannot use pack with this widget"
def place(self, **kw):
raise Tk.TclError, "cannot use place with this widget"
if __name__ == '__main__':
root = Tk.Tk()
scrollbarY = AutoScrollbar(root,orient=VERTICAL)
scrollbarY.grid(column=1, row=0,sticky=N+S)
scrollbarX = AutoScrollbar(root,orient=HORIZONTAL)
scrollbarX.grid(column=0, row=1,sticky=W+E)
mylist = Tk.Listbox(root, xscrollcommand = scrollbarX.set, yscrollcommand = scrollbarY.set )
for line in range(50):
mylist.insert(END, "This is line number " + str(line) + ", and then just for whatever reason this text goes on and on")
mylist.grid(column=0, row=0,sticky=N+S+E+W)
scrollbarX.config( command = mylist.xview )
scrollbarY.config( command = mylist.yview )
root.columnconfigure(0, weight=1)
root.rowconfigure(0, weight=1)
Tk.mainloop()
Now I thought: wouldn't it be rad to have this functionality without all the clutter?
So I set out to code a tk.Frame with autohiding scrollbars.
The Idea is: you add a Widget to the AutoscrollFrame, the Atuoscrollframe internally puts that widget at (0,0) on a 2x2 grid, with (0,1) and (1,0) being x- and y- autohiding scrollbars and (1,1) being left blank.
The scrollbars would of course only be visible if they are needed.
Now this idea seemed pretty easy to implement in my head. Sadly I soon saw that it wasn't.
What method do I have to override to implement the 'add child widget to frame' functionality (that adds the widget not to the frame in general but to the (0,0) grid position and also registers the scrollbars with the widget)?
My code so far looks like this:
import Tkinter as tk
from Tkconstants import VERTICAL, N, S, HORIZONTAL, W, E, END
class AutoscrollFrame(tk.Frame):
"""A Frame extension that automatically adds scrollbars
if the content of the frame exceeds it's dimensions.
"""
def __init__(self,master,*args,**kwargs):
self.master = master
super(AutoscrollFrame,self).__init__(master=master,*args,**kwargs)
self.scrollbarY = _AutoScrollbar(self,orient=VERTICAL)
self.scrollbarY.grid(column=1, row=0,sticky=N+S)
self.scrollbarX = _AutoScrollbar(self,orient=HORIZONTAL)
self.scrollbarX.grid(column=0, row=1,sticky=W+E)
self.columnconfigure(0, weight=1)
self.rowconfigure(0, weight=1)
def add_child_placeholder(self,child):
self.child = child
self.child.config(xscrollcommand=scrollbarX.set, yscrollcommand=scrollbarY.set )
self.child.grid(column=0, row=0,sticky=N+S+E+W)
self.scrollbarX.config( command = self.child.xview )
self.scrollbarY.config( command = self.child.yview )
the add_child_placeholder is a prototype for the method I'd like to call when something like this happens:
frame = AutoscrollFrame(root)
myList = tk.Listbox(frame)
meaning if I set the frame as master to another Widget, I want to call the frames add_child_placeholder method.
Is this a sensible way to do it? I'm not totally sure this isn't a brainfart, so a little help would be greatly appreciated.
PS: I wanted to add this functionality to tk.Frame (as opposed to tk.ListBox) since I'm not yet sure if Listbox is what I will end up using.

How do I create a Tiling layout / Flow layout in TkInter?

I want to to fill my window with, say, labels and I want them to wrap once the column would be bigger than the current window (or rather parent frame) size.
I've tried using the grid layout, but then I have to calculate the size of the content of each row myself, to know when to put the next element in the next row.
The reason I ask, is because I want to create some sort of tiled file icons.
Or asked differently, is there something like Swing's FlowLayout for TkInter?

What I do when I want something like this is use the text widget for a container. The text widget can have embedded widgets, and they wrap just like text. As long as your widgets are all the same height the effect is pretty nice.
For example (cut and pasted from the question at the author's request):
textwidget = tk.Text(master)
textwidget.pack(side=tk.LEFT, fill=tk.BOTH)
for f in os.listdir('/tmp'):
textwidget.window_create(tk.INSERT, window=tk.Label(textwidget, text=f))

Here is a way to make flow behavior inside a frame.
I wrote a function that will do this. Basically you pass a frame to the function (not root or top level) and the function will look at all the children of the frame, go through them measure their sizes and place them in the frame.
Here is the placement procedure
Place the first widget, and move x over an amount equal to its width.
Measure the next widget.
If placing the next widget would cause it to goes past the frame width, bump its x value to 0 and bump it down a y value equal to the largest widget in the current row (start a new row).
Reset the value of the largest widget since you are starting a new row.
Keep repeating until all widgets are placed.
Bind that procedure to the resizing of the frame event.
I used 3 functions to make this work:
The function that runs the procedure.
The function that binds the resizing of the frame to the function.
The function that unbinds the resizing of the frame.
Here are the functions:
from tkinter import *
def _reorganizeWidgetsWithPlace(frame):
widgetsFrame = frame
widgetDictionary = widgetsFrame.children
widgetKeys = [] # keys in key value pairs of the childwidgets
for key in widgetDictionary:
widgetKeys.append(key)
# initialization/priming loop
width = 0
i = 0
x = 0
y = 0
height = 0
maxheight = 0
# loop/algorithm for sorting
while i < len(widgetDictionary):
height = widgetDictionary[widgetKeys[i]].winfo_height()
if height > maxheight:
maxheight = height
width = width + widgetDictionary[widgetKeys[i]].winfo_width()
# always place first widget at 0,0
if i == 0:
x = 0
y = 0
width = widgetDictionary[widgetKeys[i]].winfo_width()
# if after adding width, this exceeds the frame width, bump
# widget down. Use maximimum height so far to bump down
# set x at 0 and start over with new row, reset maxheight
elif width > widgetsFrame.winfo_width():
y = y + maxheight
x = 0
width = widgetDictionary[widgetKeys[i]].winfo_width()
maxheight = height
# if after adding width, the widget row length does not exceed
# frame with, add the widget at the start of last widget's
# x value
else:
x = width-widgetDictionary[widgetKeys[i]].winfo_width()
# place the widget at the determined x value
widgetDictionary[widgetKeys[i]].place(x=x, y=y)
i += 1
widgetsFrame.update()
def organizeWidgetsWithPlace(frame):
_reorganizeWidgetsWithPlace(frame)
frame.bind("<Configure>", lambda event: _reorganizeWidgetsWithPlace(frame))
_reorganizeWidgetsWithPlace(frame)
def stopOrganizingWidgetsWithPlace(frame):
frame.unbind("<Configure>")
And here is an example of them in use:
def main():
root = Tk()
root.geometry("250x250")
myframe = Frame(root)
# make sure frame expands to fill parent window
myframe.pack(fill="both", expand=1)
buttonOrganize = Button(myframe, text='start organizing',
command=lambda: organizeWidgetsWithPlace(myframe))
buttonOrganize.pack()
buttonStopOrganize = Button(myframe, text='stop organizing',
command=lambda: stopOrganizingWidgetsWithPlace(myframe))
buttonStopOrganize.pack()
##### a bunch of widgets #####
button = Button(myframe, text="---a random Button---")
canvas = Canvas(myframe, width=80, height=20, bg="orange")
checkbutton = Checkbutton(myframe, text="---checkbutton----")
entry = Entry(myframe, text="entry")
label = Label(myframe, text="Label", height=4, width=20)
listbox = Listbox(myframe, height=3, width=20)
message = Message(myframe, text="hello from Message")
radioButton = Radiobutton(myframe, text="radio button")
scale_widget = Scale(myframe, from_=0, to=100, orient=HORIZONTAL)
scrollbar = Scrollbar(myframe)
textbox = Text(myframe, width=3, height=2)
textbox.insert(END, "Text Widget")
spinbox = Spinbox(myframe, from_=0, to=10)
root.mainloop()
main()
Notice:
That you do not need to grid, pack or place them. As long as you specify the frame, that will all be done at once when the function is called. So that is very convenient. And it can be annoying if you grid a widget, then try to pack another, then try to place another and you get that error that you can only use one geometry manager. I believe this will simply overwrite the previous choices and place them. I believe you can just drop this function in and it will take over management. So far that has always worked for me, but I think you should really not try to mix and match geometry managers.
Notice that initially the buttons are packed, but after pressing the button, they are placed.
I have added the "WithPlace" naming to the functions because I have a similar set of functions that do something very similar with the grid manager.

Tkinter custom window

I want to make a window in Tk that has a custom titlebar and frame. I have seen many questions on this website dealing with this, but what I'm looking for is to actually render the frame using a canvas, and then to add the contents to the canvas. I cannot use a frame to do this, as the border is gradiented.
According to this website: http://effbot.org/tkinterbook/canvas.htm#Tkinter.Canvas.create_window-method, I cannot put any other canvas items on top of a widget (using the create_window method), but I need to do so, as some of my widgets are rendered using a canvas.
Any suggestions on how to do this? I'm clueless here.
EDIT: Bryan Oakley confirmed that rendering with a canvas would be impossible. Would it then be possible to have a frame with a custom border color? And if so, could someone give a quick example? I'm sort of new with python.

You can use the canvas as if it were a frame in order to draw your own window borders. Like you said, however, you cannot draw canvas items on top of widgets embedded in a canvas; widgets always have the highest stacking order. There is no way around that, though it's not clear if you really need to do that or not.
Here's a quick and dirty example to show how to create a window with a gradient for a custom border. To keep the example short I didn't add any code to allow you to move or resize the window. Also, it uses a fixed color for the gradient.
import Tkinter as tk
class GradientFrame(tk.Canvas):
'''A gradient frame which uses a canvas to draw the background'''
def __init__(self, parent, borderwidth=1, relief="sunken"):
tk.Canvas.__init__(self, parent, borderwidth=borderwidth, relief=relief)
self._color1 = "red"
self._color2 = "black"
self.bind("<Configure>", self._draw_gradient)
def _draw_gradient(self, event=None):
'''Draw the gradient'''
self.delete("gradient")
width = self.winfo_width()
height = self.winfo_height()
limit = width
(r1,g1,b1) = self.winfo_rgb(self._color1)
(r2,g2,b2) = self.winfo_rgb(self._color2)
r_ratio = float(r2-r1) / limit
g_ratio = float(g2-g1) / limit
b_ratio = float(b2-b1) / limit
for i in range(limit):
nr = int(r1 + (r_ratio * i))
ng = int(g1 + (g_ratio * i))
nb = int(b1 + (b_ratio * i))
color = "#%4.4x%4.4x%4.4x" % (nr,ng,nb)
self.create_line(i,0,i,height, tags=("gradient",), fill=color)
self.lower("gradient")
class SampleApp(tk.Tk):
def __init__(self):
tk.Tk.__init__(self)
self.wm_overrideredirect(True)
gradient_frame = GradientFrame(self)
gradient_frame.pack(side="top", fill="both", expand=True)
inner_frame = tk.Frame(gradient_frame)
inner_frame.pack(side="top", fill="both", expand=True, padx=8, pady=(16,8))
b1 = tk.Button(inner_frame, text="Close",command=self.destroy)
t1 = tk.Text(inner_frame, width=40, height=10)
b1.pack(side="top")
t1.pack(side="top", fill="both", expand=True)
if __name__ == "__main__":
app = SampleApp()
app.mainloop()

Here is a rough example where the frame, titlebar and close button are made with canvas rectangles:
import Tkinter as tk
class Application(tk.Tk):
def __init__(self):
tk.Tk.__init__(self)
# Get rid of the os' titlebar and frame
self.overrideredirect(True)
self.mCan = tk.Canvas(self, height=768, width=768)
self.mCan.pack()
# Frame and close button
self.lFrame = self.mCan.create_rectangle(0,0,9,769,
outline='lightgrey', fill='lightgrey')
self.rFrame = self.mCan.create_rectangle(760,0,769,769,
outline='lightgrey', fill='lightgrey')
self.bFrame = self.mCan.create_rectangle(0,760,769,769,
outline='lightgrey', fill='lightgrey')
self.titleBar = self.mCan.create_rectangle(0,0,769,20,
outline='lightgrey', fill='lightgrey')
self.closeButton = self.mCan.create_rectangle(750,4,760, 18,
activefill='red', fill='darkgrey')
# Binds
self.bind('<1>', self.left_mouse)
self.bind('<Escape>', self.close_win)
# Center the window
self.update_idletasks()
xp = (self.winfo_screenwidth() / 2) - (self.winfo_width() / 2)
yp = (self.winfo_screenheight() / 2) - (self.winfo_height() / 2)
self.geometry('{0}x{1}+{2}+{3}'.format(self.winfo_width(),
self.winfo_height(),
xp, yp))
def left_mouse(self, event=None):
obj = self.mCan.find_closest(event.x,event.y)
if obj[0] == self.closeButton:
self.destroy()
def close_win(self, event=None):
self.destroy()
app = Application()
app.mainloop()
If I were going to make a custom GUI frame I would consider creating it with images,
made with a program like Photoshop, instead of rendering canvas objects.
Images can be placed on a canvas like this:
self.ti = tk.PhotoImage(file='test.gif')
self.aImage = mCanvas.create_image(0,0, image=self.ti,anchor='nw')
More info →here←