Python Tkinter
BY: GAYATRI D. KAMTEKAR
Introduction
Python provides the standard library Tkinter for creating the graphical user interface for
desktop-based applications.
Developing desktop-based applications with python Tkinter is not a complex task.
An empty Tkinter top-level window can be created by using the following steps.
1. import the Tkinter module.
2. Create the main application window.
3. Add the widgets like labels, buttons, frames, etc. to the window.
4. Call the main event loop so that the actions can take place on the user's computer
screen.
• Importing tkinter is same as importing any other module in the Python
code. Note that the name of the module in Python 2.x is ‘Tkinter’ and in
Python 3.x it is ‘tkinter’.
import tkinter
• There are two main methods used which the user needs to remember
while creating the Python application with GUI.
• Tk(screenName=None, baseName=None, className=’Tk’,
useTk=1):
To create a main window, tkinter offers a method
‘Tk(screenName=None, baseName=None, className=’Tk’, useTk=1)’. To
change the name of the window, you can change the className to the
desired one. The basic code used to create the main window of the
application is:
m=tkinter.Tk() where m is the name of the main window
object
• mainloop():
There is a method known by the name mainloop() is used when
your application is ready to run. mainloop() is an infinite loop used to run
the application, wait for an event to occur and process the event as long as
the window is not closed.
m.mainloop()
Example: Output:
from tkinter import *
#creating the application main window.
top = Tk()
#Entering the event main loop
top.mainloop()
Python tkinter Geometry
The Tkinter geometry specifies the method by using which, the widgets are represented on display.
The python Tkinter provides the following geometry methods.
1. The pack() method
2. The grid() method
3. The place() method
1. The pack() method:
The pack() widget is used to organize widget in the block. The positions widgets added to
the python application using the pack() method can be controlled by using the various options
specified in the method call.
However, the controls are less and widgets are generally added in the less organized
manner.
Syntax: widget.pack(options)
• expand: If the expand is set to true, the widget expands to fill any space.
• Fill: By default, the fill is set to NONE. However, we can set it to X or Y to determine whether the
widget contains any extra space.
• size: it represents the side of the parent to which the widget is to be placed on the window.
Python tkinter pack()method
Example:
from tkinter import *
parent = Tk() Output:
redbutton = Button(parent, text = "Red", fg =
"red")
redbutton.pack( side = LEFT)
greenbutton = Button(parent, text = "Black", fg
= "black")
greenbutton.pack( side = RIGHT )
bluebutton = Button(parent, text = "Blue", fg =
"blue")
bluebutton.pack( side = TOP )
blackbutton = Button(parent, text = "Green", fg
= "red")
blackbutton.pack( side = BOTTOM)
parent.mainloop()
Python Tkinter grid() method
• The grid() geometry manager organizes the widgets in the tabular form. We can specify the rows and
columns as the options in the method call. We can also specify the column span (width) or
rowspan(height) of a widget.
• Syntax:
widget.grid(options)
A list of possible options that can be passed inside the grid() method is given below.
• Column: The column number in which the widget is to be placed. The leftmost column is represented
by 0.
• Columnspan: The width of the widget. It represents the number of columns up to which, the column
is expanded.
• ipadx, ipady: It represents the number of pixels to pad the widget inside the widget's border.
• padx, pady: It represents the number of pixels to pad the widget outside the widget's border.
• row: The row number in which the widget is to be placed. The topmost row is represented by 0.
• rowspan: The height of the widget, i.e. the number of the row up to which the widget is expanded.
• Sticky: If the cell is larger than a widget, then sticky is used to specify the position of the widget
inside the cell. It may be the concatenation of the sticky letters representing the position of the
widget. It may be N, E, W, S, NE, NW, NS, EW, ES.
Python Tkinter grid()
method
Example:
Output:
from tkinter import *
parent = Tk()
name = Label(parent,text = "Name").grid(row = 0, column =
0)
e1 = Entry(parent).grid(row = 0, column = 1)
password = Label(parent,text = "Password").grid(row = 1, col
umn = 0)
e2 = Entry(parent).grid(row = 1, column = 1)
submit = Button(parent, text = "Submit").grid(row = 4, colum
n = 0)
parent.mainloop()
Python Tkinter place() method
• The place() geometry manager organizes the widgets to the specific x and y coordinates.
• Syntax:
widget.place(options)
A list of possible options is given below.
• Anchor: It represents the exact position of the widget within the container. The default value
(direction) is NW (the upper left corner)
• bordermode: The default value of the border type is INSIDE that refers to ignore the parent's
inside the border. The other option is OUTSIDE.
• height, width: It refers to the height and width in pixels.
• relheight, relwidth: It is represented as the float between 0.0 and 1.0 indicating the fraction of
the parent's height and width.
• relx, rely: It is represented as the float between 0.0 and 1.0 that is the offset in the horizontal
and vertical direction.
• x, y: It refers to the horizontal and vertical offset in the pixels.
Python Tkinter place() method
• Example:
• Output:
from tkinter import *
top = Tk()
top.geometry("400x250")
name = Label(top, text = "Name").place(x = 30,y = 50)
email = Label(top, text = "Email").place(x = 30, y = 90)
password = Label(top, text = "Password").place(x = 30,
y = 130)
e1 = Entry(top).place(x = 80, y = 50)
e2 = Entry(top).place(x = 80, y = 90)
e3 = Entry(top).place(x = 95, y = 130)
top.mainloop()
Tkinter widgets
Tkinter widgets
