Tutorials Applied Visualizaton

GUIs with Tkinter

Summer Term 2010 Why GUI?
Part III - GUIs with Tkinter • Because this is nice
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $ python dosomething.py file1
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $ python dosomething.py file2
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $ python dosomething.py file3
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $ python dosomething.py file4
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $ python dosomething.py file5
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $ python dosomething.py file6
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $ python dosomething.py file7
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $ python dosomething.py file8
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $ python dosomething.py file9
...

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GUIs with Tkinter GUIs with Tkinter

Why GUI? Why GUI?
• But this is nicer • Or the “visualization” way
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $ python doisosurface.py 50
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $ python doisosurface.py 900
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $ python doisosurface.py 1250
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $
[20:51:11] lyra:~ $

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GUIs with Tkinter GUIs with Tkinter
Why GUI? Tkinter
• Or the “visualization” way • Python interface for Tk
• Tk is a library for rapid GUI scripting
• Easy to use
• Good integration in VTK
• Widely available

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GUIs with Tkinter GUIs with Tkinter

Tkinter comes as module for Python Insertion - Python classes
• import Tkinter • The expressions
from Tkinter import * root = Tk()
Tkinter.wantobjects = 0 # WINDOWS users btn = Button(root, text="Quit", command=root.quit)

def say_hi():
print "Hello Class"
• instantiate Python classes
root = Tk()

btn = Button(root, text="Quit", command=root.quit)

• Classes have the usual meaning in Python
btn.pack()
• Definition of objects with attributes and methods
btn2 = Button(root, text="Say Hi", command=say_hi)
btn2.pack() • In order to encapsulate and hide behavior
root.mainloop()

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GUIs with Tkinter GUIs with Tkinter
Insertion - Python classes Tk GUI’s are built hierarchical
• Instantiation uses function syntax • You need one root window
root = Tk() root = Tk()

btn = Button(root, text="Quit", command=root.quit)

• Does not have to be called root, but it usually is
• Attributes and methods are referenced with the • Then you can create other elements as children of that
“.” operator root window (e.g. a Button)
btn.pack() btn = Button(root, text="Quit", command=root.quit)

someotherclass.value = 10

• Syntax is quite similar to that of accessing module

contents

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GUIs with Tkinter GUIs with Tkinter

Tk GUI’s are built hierarchical Tk GUI’s are built hierarchical
Root Window • Of course you can have more than
(Tk()) one hierarchy
Toplevel

Frame Button Root

Window Frame Button

Frame Button
... Button ...
Button

Button ...

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GUIs with Tkinter GUIs with Tkinter
The mainloop() method The event loop in GUI programs
• Last call you issue actively in the entry method
• Starts message processing
• From there, any GUI application is event driven!

• There is usually only one mainloop per thread

(i.e. in our case only one mainloop at all)

• That is why we must differentiate between the Root

window (Tk()) and another Toplevel window
Your script Command Function
(aka Event Handler)

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GUIs with Tkinter GUIs with Tkinter

Widgets Widgets
• Tkinter supports 15 core widgets • Tkinter supports 15 core widgets
• Button • Message
• Canvas • Radiobutton
• Checkbutton • Scale
• Entry • Scrollbar
• Frame • Text
• Label • Toplevel
• Listbox
• Menu
• Menubutton

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GUIs with Tkinter GUIs with Tkinter
Widgets Widgets
• Use all the same configuration interface • You can use a dictionary interface
• Works by keyword arguments >>> w["text"]
'button'
>>> w["text"] = "hello"
w = widgetclass(parent, option=value, ...) >>>

• The cget method lets you get an option value • The “keys()” method works as you would expect
w = Button(root, text="button", command=hello) >>> w.keys()
w.cget('command') ['activebackground', 'activeforeground', 'anchor', 'background', 'bd',
>>> '225192hello' 'bg', 'bitmap', 'borderwidth', 'command', 'compound', 'cursor', 'default',
w.cget('text') 'disabledforeground', 'fg', 'font', 'foreground', 'height',
>>> 'button' 'highlightbackground', 'highlightcolor', 'highlightthickness', 'image',
'justify', 'overrelief', 'padx', 'pady', 'relief', 'repeatdelay',
'repeatinterval', 'state', 'takefocus', 'text', 'textvariable',
'underline', 'width', 'wraplength']
>>>

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GUIs with Tkinter GUIs with Tkinter

Widgets Widgets
• The pack() method • Pack has some useful options
>>> w.pack() >>> w.pack(side=LEFT, fill=BOTH)

• Tells the widget to size itself fit to the given contents • side specifies which side to pack the widget against
and make itself visible • fill specifies if the widget should occupy all the space
• Consequence given to it by its parent
• If you forget to call pack() you won’t see your widget! • expand specifies whether the widget is allowed to
expand in order to fill up empty space

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GUIs with Tkinter GUIs with Tkinter
Commonly used widgets Commonly used widgets
• Button • Canvas
• The probably most widely used control in the world • A surface area you can draw on
• Most important options window = Toplevel(width=800, height=600)
tfCanvas = Canvas(ctrlWindow, width=400, height=250, relief=RAISED,
selectbackground='grey')
• command tfCanvas.pack(anchor=NW, side=TOP)

• The method to call when the button is hit ...

• text tfCanvas.create_line(xs,ys,xe,ye, fill=”black”)

• The text on the button

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GUIs with Tkinter GUIs with Tkinter

Commonly used widgets Commonly used widgets
• Canvas - has many methods • Checkbutton
• create_arc • Represents a variable that can have two distinct values
• create_bitmap • Needs a Tkinter variable to work with
• create_polygon var = IntVar() # this is Tkinters way of saying: I want an int
c = Checkbutton(root, text=”Hello”, variable=var)
• ... c.pack()

• Items can be named, queried and so on • Default is: Button selected, var = 1, 0 otherwise
• Details when we need them • You can query the variable like this
• If you are interested anyway, see the tutorial
value = var.get()

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GUIs with Tkinter GUIs with Tkinter
Commonly used widgets Commonly used widgets
• Checkbutton • Entry
• Has a command option that is called when the state • Represents a single line text entry field
changes root = Tk()

e = Entry(root, width=55)
var = IntVar() # this is Tkinters way of saying: I want an int e.pack()
def say_hello(): def say_hello():
print “Hello”, var.get() print e.get()
c = Checkbutton(root, text=”Hello”, command=say_hello, variable=var)
c.pack() b = Button(root,text="Hello", command=say_hello)
b.pack()

qb = Button(root, text="Quit", command=root.quit)

qb.pack()

root.mainloop()

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GUIs with Tkinter GUIs with Tkinter

Commonly used widgets Commonly used widgets
• Label • Listbox
• Displays text or an image • Displays a list of alternatives
root = Tk() • Very useful for selection purposes
l = Label(root, text="This is rather boring, I suppose") lb = Listbox(root, selectmode=MULTIPLE)
l.pack()
for i in range(10):
qb = Button(root, text="Quit", command=root.quit) lb.insert(END, str(i))
qb.pack()
lb.pack()
root.mainloop()
def say_hello():
print str(lb.curselection())

b = Button(root,text="Hello", command=say_hello)
b.pack()

qb = Button(root, text="Quit", command=root.quit)

qb.pack()

root.mainloop()

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GUIs with Tkinter GUIs with Tkinter
Commonly used widgets Commonly used widgets
• Radiobutton root = Tk()
MODES = [
("Monochrome", "1"),
• Used to select one out of several alternatives ("Grayscale", "L"),
("True color", "RGB"),
• Similar to a checkbutton, but ]
("Color separation", "CMYK"),

• For correct behaviour, all buttons in a group have to v = StringVar()

v.set("L") # initialize
point to the same variable for text, mode in MODES:
v = IntVar() b = Radiobutton(root, text=text, variable=v, value=mode)
Radiobutton(root, text="One", variable=v, value=1).pack(anchor=W) b.pack(anchor=W)
Radiobutton(root, text="Two", variable=v, value=2).pack(anchor=W)
def say_hello():
print v.get()

b = Button(root,text="Hello", command=say_hello)
b.pack()

qb = Button(root, text="Quit", command=root.quit)

qb.pack()

root.mainloop()

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GUIs with Tkinter GUIs with Tkinter

Commonly used widgets Commonly used widgets
• Scale • Text
• The scale widget allows you to set a numerical value by • Used to enter multiline text
drawing a slider root = Tk()

root = Tk() t = Text(root, width=100, height=50)

t.pack()
def dragged(event):
print s.get() def get_value():
v = t.get(1.0,END)
s = Scale(root, orient=HORIZONTAL, from_=10, to_=100, label="Test", command=dragged) print v
s.pack()
b = Button(root, text="Get Value", fg="red", command=get_value)
def get_value(): b.pack()
print s.get()
qb = Button(root, text="Quit", command=root.quit)
b = Button(root, text="Get Value", fg="red", command=get_value) qb.pack()
b.pack()
root.mainloop()
qb = Button(root, text="Quit", command=root.quit)
qb.pack()

root.mainloop()

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GUIs with Tkinter GUIs with Tkinter
Commonly used widgets Commonly used widgets
• Text • Toplevel
• Example 2 • A toplevel finally can be used to create more windows
root = Tk()

t = Text(root, width=100, height=50) root = Tk()

t.pack()
tl = Toplevel()
def execute():
chunk = t.get(1.0,END) t = Text(tl, width=100, height=50)
obj = compile(chunk, '<string>', 'exec') t.pack()
exec obj
def get_value():
b = Button(root, text="Execute", fg="red", command=execute) v = t.get(1.0,END)
b.pack() print v

qb = Button(root, text="Quit", command=root.quit) b = Button(root, text="Get Value", fg="red", command=get_value)

qb.pack() b.pack()

root.mainloop() qb = Button(root, text="Quit", command=root.quit)

qb.pack()

root.mainloop()

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GUIs with Tkinter GUIs with Tkinter

Commonly used widgets Events and Bindings
• Not discussed • Important, since you not only want to react to button
• Frame clicks or selections but also
• Menu • Mouse clicks anywhere
• Menubutton • Mouse movement
• Message • Keyboard input
• Scrollbar
• We won’t need them
• If you are interested, refer to the documentation

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GUIs with Tkinter GUIs with Tkinter
Events and Bindings Events and Bindings
• You bind events to widgets using bind() • Event attributes
widget.bind(event, eventhandler) event.widget # the widget generating the event
event.x # current mouse x position in pixels
event.y # current mouse y position in pixels
• Where event handler has the form event.x_root
event.y_root
# current position relative to upper left screen corner

def eventhandler(event): event.char # the character code (keyboard event)

#do something event.keysym # key symbol (keyboard event)
event.keycode # key code (keyboard event)
event.num # the button number (mouse click events)
event.width # new with of the widget (resize event)
event.height # new height of the widget (resize event)
• Whenever “event” happens on the widget, the event event.type # event type sent

handler gets called and gets passed an event structure

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GUIs with Tkinter GUIs with Tkinter

Events and Bindings Events and Bindings
from Tkinter import * • Event types
root = Tk() • <Button-1>, <Button-2>, ...
def eventtest(event): • Mouse button X pressed
print "Mouse: " , str( (event.x,event.y) )
• <B1-Motion>, <B2-Motion>, ...
tl = Toplevel() • Mouse moved while button X pressed
t = Text(tl, width=100, height=50) • <ButtonRelease-1>, <ButtonRelease-2>, ...
t.pack()
• Mouse button X released
t.bind("<Button-1>", eventtest) • <Double-Button-1>, <Double-Button-2>, ...
def get_value(): • Can you guess that one? :-)
v = t.get(1.0,END)
print v • <Enter>
b = Button(root, text="Get Value", fg="red", command=get_value)
• Mouse pointer entered the widget area
b.pack() • <Leave>
qb = Button(root, text="Quit", command=root.quit) • Mouse pointer left the widget area
qb.pack()

root.mainloop()

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GUIs with Tkinter GUIs with Tkinter
Events and Bindings Events and Bindings
• Event types • Bindings
• <Return> • The bind() method creates an instance binding
• User pressed the return key
• Can use BackSpace, Tab, Shift_L, Shift_R, Control_L, Alt_L, and so on
• Event handlers are executed on a specific widget instance
• <Key> • You can also bind at toplevel, class or application level
• User pressed any key (query via event.char)
• a, b, c, ...
• Toplevel uses bind() on toplevel window
• User pressed a, b, c ... most printable characters can be used as is • On a class of widgets use bind_class()
• <Shift-Up> • But, don’t do that, really...
• User pressed Shift and the UP arrow
• For application level use bind_all() on the root window
• Most key events can be prefixed by Alt, Shift and Control

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GUIs with Tkinter GUIs with Tkinter

Events and Bindings Comprehensive tutorial and reference
• Bindings
root = Tk()

def eventtest(event):
print "Mouse: " , str( (event.x,event.y) )

tl = Toplevel() http://www.pythonware.com/library/tkinter/
t = Text(tl, width=100, height=50)
t.pack()
introduction/index.htm
root.bind_all("<Enter>", eventtest)

def get_value():
v = t.get(1.0,END)
print v

b = Button(root, text="Get Value", fg="red", command=get_value)

b.pack()

qb = Button(root, text="Quit", command=root.quit)

qb.pack()

root.mainloop()

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