I'm trying to write a function to disable a widget in a tkinter program depending on the value of a checkbutton. I want this function to be general: That is, I can pass it the widget and associated check variable and it will disable the widget (if the variable is checked the right way).
Here is an abstracted version of my code
import tkinter
class App:
def __init__(self,root):
widg = tkinter.Scale(root,from_=0,to=100)
checkvar = tkinter.IntVar()
checker = tkinter.Checkbutton(root,variable=checkvar,command=self.check(var,checkvar))
widg.grid()
checker.grid()
widg.configure(state=tkinter.DISABLED)
widg.configure(state=tkinter.NORMAL)
def check(self,widget,var):
if var.get()==1:
widget.configure(state=tkinter.DISABLED)
elif var.get()==0:
widget.configure(state=tkinter.NORMAL)
m = tkinter.Tk()
f=App(m)
It is intended to function such that clicking the checkbutton triggers the callback - check - with the parameters of the widget and the check variable. Then it will evaluate whether the widget should be on or off and change its state accordingly. There are no errors but the state doesn't change. What am I missing here?
Thanks
The command argument simply takes the uncalled function so passing arguments to it takes some workaround.
So it expects self.check rather than self.check() since the widget will call the function later.
I've found that using partial is a workaround for passing the arguments.
import tkinter
from functools import partial
class App:
def __init__(self,root):
widg = tkinter.Scale(root,from_=0,to=100)
checkvar = tkinter.IntVar()
checker = tkinter.Checkbutton(root,variable=checkvar,command=partial(self.check, widg, checkvar))
widg.grid()
checker.grid()
widg.configure(state=tkinter.DISABLED)
widg.configure(state=tkinter.NORMAL)
def check(self,widget,var):
if var.get()==1:
widget.configure(state=tkinter.DISABLED)
elif var.get()==0:
widget.configure(state=tkinter.NORMAL)
m = tkinter.Tk()
f=App(m)
m.mainloop()
Credit to my friend JB for helping me with this.
As user Axe319 suggested, the problem is just that tkinter doesn't expect to pass any parameters. It is possible to work around this by using a lambda function. The line that defines the checker variable, in my original post line 8, can be rewritten as such:
self.checker = tkinter.Checkbutton(root,variable=checkvar,command=lambda:self.check(self.widg,checkvar))
and it will work as intended.
What is the recommended technique for interactively validating content in a tkinter Entry widget?
I've read the posts about using validate=True and validatecommand=command, and it appears that these features are limited by the fact that they get cleared if the validatecommand command updates the Entry widget's value.
Given this behavior, should we bind on the KeyPress, Cut, and Paste events and monitor/update our Entry widget's value through these events? (And other related events that I might have missed?)
Or should we forget interactive validation altogether and only validate on FocusOut events?
The correct answer is, use the validatecommand attribute of the widget. Unfortunately this feature is severely under-documented in the Tkinter world, though it is quite sufficiently documented in the Tk world. Even though it's not documented well, it has everything you need to do validation without resorting to bindings or tracing variables, or modifying the widget from within the validation procedure.
The trick is to know that you can have Tkinter pass in special values to your validate command. These values give you all the information you need to know to decide on whether the data is valid or not: the value prior to the edit, the value after the edit if the edit is valid, and several other bits of information. To use these, though, you need to do a little voodoo to get this information passed to your validate command.
Note: it's important that the validation command returns either True or False. Anything else will cause the validation to be turned off for the widget.
Here's an example that only allows lowercase. It also prints the values of all of the special values for illustrative purposes. They aren't all necessary; you rarely need more than one or two.
import tkinter as tk # python 3.x
# import Tkinter as tk # python 2.x
class Example(tk.Frame):
def __init__(self, parent):
tk.Frame.__init__(self, parent)
# valid percent substitutions (from the Tk entry man page)
# note: you only have to register the ones you need; this
# example registers them all for illustrative purposes
#
# %d = Type of action (1=insert, 0=delete, -1 for others)
# %i = index of char string to be inserted/deleted, or -1
# %P = value of the entry if the edit is allowed
# %s = value of entry prior to editing
# %S = the text string being inserted or deleted, if any
# %v = the type of validation that is currently set
# %V = the type of validation that triggered the callback
# (key, focusin, focusout, forced)
# %W = the tk name of the widget
vcmd = (self.register(self.onValidate),
'%d', '%i', '%P', '%s', '%S', '%v', '%V', '%W')
self.entry = tk.Entry(self, validate="key", validatecommand=vcmd)
self.text = tk.Text(self, height=10, width=40)
self.entry.pack(side="top", fill="x")
self.text.pack(side="bottom", fill="both", expand=True)
def onValidate(self, d, i, P, s, S, v, V, W):
self.text.delete("1.0", "end")
self.text.insert("end","OnValidate:\n")
self.text.insert("end","d='%s'\n" % d)
self.text.insert("end","i='%s'\n" % i)
self.text.insert("end","P='%s'\n" % P)
self.text.insert("end","s='%s'\n" % s)
self.text.insert("end","S='%s'\n" % S)
self.text.insert("end","v='%s'\n" % v)
self.text.insert("end","V='%s'\n" % V)
self.text.insert("end","W='%s'\n" % W)
# Disallow anything but lowercase letters
if S == S.lower():
return True
else:
self.bell()
return False
if __name__ == "__main__":
root = tk.Tk()
Example(root).pack(fill="both", expand=True)
root.mainloop()
For more information about what happens under the hood when you call the register method, see Why is calling register() required for tkinter input validation?
For the canonical documentation see the Validation section of the Tcl/Tk Entry man page
After studying and experimenting with Bryan's code, I produced a minimal version of input validation. The following code will put up an Entry box and only accept numeric digits.
from tkinter import *
root = Tk()
def testVal(inStr,acttyp):
if acttyp == '1': #insert
if not inStr.isdigit():
return False
return True
entry = Entry(root, validate="key")
entry['validatecommand'] = (entry.register(testVal),'%P','%d')
entry.pack()
root.mainloop()
Perhaps I should add that I am still learning Python and I will gladly accept any and all comments/suggestions.
Use a Tkinter.StringVar to track the value of the Entry widget. You can validate the value of the StringVar by setting a trace on it.
Here's a short working program that accepts only valid floats in the Entry widget.
try:
from tkinter import *
except ImportError:
from Tkinter import * # Python 2
root = Tk()
sv = StringVar()
def validate_float(var):
new_value = var.get()
try:
new_value == '' or float(new_value)
validate_float.old_value = new_value
except:
var.set(validate_float.old_value)
validate_float.old_value = '' # Define function attribute.
# trace wants a callback with nearly useless parameters, fixing with lambda.
sv.trace('w', lambda nm, idx, mode, var=sv: validate_float(var))
ent = Entry(root, textvariable=sv)
ent.pack()
ent.focus_set()
root.mainloop()
Bryan's answer is correct, however no one mentioned the 'invalidcommand' attribute of the tkinter widget.
A good explanation is here:
http://infohost.nmt.edu/tcc/help/pubs/tkinter/web/entry-validation.html
Text copy/pasted in case of broken link
The Entry widget also supports an invalidcommand option that specifies a callback function that is called whenever the validatecommand returns False. This command may modify the text in the widget by using the .set() method on the widget's associated textvariable. Setting up this option works the same as setting up the validatecommand. You must use the .register() method to wrap your Python function; this method returns the name of the wrapped function as a string. Then you will pass as the value of the invalidcommand option either that string, or as the first element of a tuple containing substitution codes.
Note:
There is only one thing that I cannot figure out how to do: If you add validation to an entry, and the user selects a portion of the text and types a new value, there is no way to capture the original value and reset the entry. Here's an example
Entry is designed to only accept integers by implementing 'validatecommand'
User enters 1234567
User selects '345' and presses 'j'. This is registered as two actions: deletion of '345', and insertion of 'j'. Tkinter ignores the deletion and acts only on the insertion of 'j'. 'validatecommand' returns False, and the values passed to the 'invalidcommand' function are as follows: %d=1, %i=2, %P=12j67, %s=1267, %S=j
If the code does not implement an 'invalidcommand' function, the 'validatecommand' function will reject the 'j' and the result will be 1267. If the code does implement an 'invalidcommand' function, there is no way to recover the original 1234567.
Define a function returning a boolean that indicates whether the input is valid.Register it as a Tcl callback, and pass the callback name to the widget as a validatecommand.
For example:
import tkinter as tk
def validator(P):
"""Validates the input.
Args:
P (int): the value the text would have after the change.
Returns:
bool: True if the input is digit-only or empty, and False otherwise.
"""
return P.isdigit() or P == ""
root = tk.Tk()
entry = tk.Entry(root)
entry.configure(
validate="key",
validatecommand=(
root.register(validator),
"%P",
),
)
entry.grid()
root.mainloop()
Reference.
While studying Bryan Oakley's answer, something told me that a far more general solution could be developed. The following example introduces a mode enumeration, a type dictionary, and a setup function for validation purposes. See line 48 for example usage and a demonstration of its simplicity.
#! /usr/bin/env python3
# https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4140437
import enum
import inspect
import tkinter
from tkinter.constants import *
Mode = enum.Enum('Mode', 'none key focus focusin focusout all')
CAST = dict(d=int, i=int, P=str, s=str, S=str,
v=Mode.__getitem__, V=Mode.__getitem__, W=str)
def on_validate(widget, mode, validator):
# http://www.tcl.tk/man/tcl/TkCmd/ttk_entry.htm#M39
if mode not in Mode:
raise ValueError('mode not recognized')
parameters = inspect.signature(validator).parameters
if not set(parameters).issubset(CAST):
raise ValueError('validator arguments not recognized')
casts = tuple(map(CAST.__getitem__, parameters))
widget.configure(validate=mode.name, validatecommand=[widget.register(
lambda *args: bool(validator(*(cast(arg) for cast, arg in zip(
casts, args)))))]+['%' + parameter for parameter in parameters])
class Example(tkinter.Frame):
#classmethod
def main(cls):
tkinter.NoDefaultRoot()
root = tkinter.Tk()
root.title('Validation Example')
cls(root).grid(sticky=NSEW)
root.grid_rowconfigure(0, weight=1)
root.grid_columnconfigure(0, weight=1)
root.mainloop()
def __init__(self, master, **kw):
super().__init__(master, **kw)
self.entry = tkinter.Entry(self)
self.text = tkinter.Text(self, height=15, width=50,
wrap=WORD, state=DISABLED)
self.entry.grid(row=0, column=0, sticky=NSEW)
self.text.grid(row=1, column=0, sticky=NSEW)
self.grid_rowconfigure(1, weight=1)
self.grid_columnconfigure(0, weight=1)
on_validate(self.entry, Mode.key, self.validator)
def validator(self, d, i, P, s, S, v, V, W):
self.text['state'] = NORMAL
self.text.delete(1.0, END)
self.text.insert(END, 'd = {!r}\ni = {!r}\nP = {!r}\ns = {!r}\n'
'S = {!r}\nv = {!r}\nV = {!r}\nW = {!r}'
.format(d, i, P, s, S, v, V, W))
self.text['state'] = DISABLED
return not S.isupper()
if __name__ == '__main__':
Example.main()
import tkinter
tk=tkinter.Tk()
def only_numeric_input(e):
#this is allowing all numeric input
if e.isdigit():
return True
#this will allow backspace to work
elif e=="":
return True
else:
return False
#this will make the entry widget on root window
e1=tkinter.Entry(tk)
#arranging entry widget on screen
e1.grid(row=0,column=0)
c=tk.register(only_numeric_input)
e1.configure(validate="key",validatecommand=(c,'%P'))
tk.mainloop()
#very usefull for making app like calci
Here's an improved version of #Steven Rumbalski's answer of validating the Entry widgets value by tracing changes to a StringVar — which I have already debugged and improved to some degree by editing it in place.
The version below puts everything into a StringVar subclass to encapsulates what's going on better and, more importantly allow multiple independent instances of it to exist at the same time without interfering with each other — a potential problem with his implementation because it utilizes function attributes instead of instance attributes, which are essentially the same thing as global variables and can lead to problems in such a scenario.
try:
from tkinter import *
except ImportError:
from Tkinter import * # Python 2
class ValidateFloatVar(StringVar):
"""StringVar subclass that only allows valid float values to be put in it."""
def __init__(self, master=None, value=None, name=None):
StringVar.__init__(self, master, value, name)
self._old_value = self.get()
self.trace('w', self._validate)
def _validate(self, *_):
new_value = self.get()
try:
new_value == '' or float(new_value)
self._old_value = new_value
except ValueError:
StringVar.set(self, self._old_value)
root = Tk()
ent = Entry(root, textvariable=ValidateFloatVar(value=42.0))
ent.pack()
ent.focus_set()
ent.icursor(END)
root.mainloop()
This code can help if you want to set both just digits and max characters.
from tkinter import *
root = Tk()
def validate(P):
if len(P) == 0 or len(P) <= 10 and P.isdigit(): # 10 characters
return True
else:
return False
ent = Entry(root, validate="key", validatecommand=(root.register(validate), '%P'))
ent.pack()
root.mainloop()
Responding to orionrobert's problem of dealing with simple validation upon substitutions of text through selection, instead of separate deletions or insertions:
A substitution of selected text is processed as a deletion followed by an insertion. This may lead to problems, for example, when the deletion should move the cursor to the left, while a substitution should move the cursor to the right. Fortunately, these two processes are executed immediately after one another.
Hence, we can differentiate between a deletion by itself and a deletion directly followed by an insertion due to a substitution because the latter has does not change the idle flag between deletion and insertion.
This is exploited using a substitutionFlag and a Widget.after_idle().
after_idle() executes the lambda-function at the end of the event queue:
class ValidatedEntry(Entry):
def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
self.tclValidate = (self.register(self.validate), '%d', '%i', '%P', '%s', '%S', '%v', '%V', '%W')
# attach the registered validation function to this spinbox
self.config(validate = "all", validatecommand = self.tclValidate)
def validate(self, type, index, result, prior, indelText, currentValidationMode, reason, widgetName):
if typeOfAction == "0":
# set a flag that can be checked by the insertion validation for being part of the substitution
self.substitutionFlag = True
# store desired data
self.priorBeforeDeletion = prior
self.indexBeforeDeletion = index
# reset the flag after idle
self.after_idle(lambda: setattr(self, "substitutionFlag", False))
# normal deletion validation
pass
elif typeOfAction == "1":
# if this is a substitution, everything is shifted left by a deletion, so undo this by using the previous prior
if self.substitutionFlag:
# restore desired data to what it was during validation of the deletion
prior = self.priorBeforeDeletion
index = self.indexBeforeDeletion
# optional (often not required) additional behavior upon substitution
pass
else:
# normal insertion validation
pass
return True
Of course, after a substitution, while validating the deletion part, one still won’t know whether an insert will follow.
Luckily however, with:
.set(),
.icursor(),
.index(SEL_FIRST),
.index(SEL_LAST),
.index(INSERT),
we can achieve most desired behavior retrospectively (since the combination of our new substitutionFlag with an insertion is a new unique and final event.
I have a question on multiprocessing and tkinter. I am having some problems getting my process to function parallel with the tkinter GUI. I have created a simple example to practice and have been reading up to understand the basics of multiprocessing. However when applying them to tkinter, only one process runs at the time. (Using Multiprocessing module for updating Tkinter GUI) Additionally, when I added the queue to communicate between processes, (How to use multiprocessing queue in Python?), the process won't even start.
Goal:
I would like to have one process that counts down and puts the values in the queue and one to update tkinter after 1 second and show me the values.
All advice is kindly appreciated
Kind regards,
S
EDIT: I want the data to be available when the after method is being called. So the problem is not with the after function, but with the method being called by the after function. It will take 0.5 second to complete the calculation each time. Consequently the GUI is unresponsive for half a second, each second.
EDIT2: Corrections were made to the code based on the feedback but this code is not running yet.
class Countdown():
"""Countdown prior to changing the settings of the flows"""
def __init__(self,q):
self.master = Tk()
self.label = Label(self.master, text="", width=10)
self.label.pack()
self.counting(q)
# Countdown()
def counting(self, q):
try:
self.i = q.get()
except:
self.label.after(1000, self.counting, q)
if int(self.i) <= 0:
print("Go")
self.master.destroy()
else:
self.label.configure(text="%d" % self.i)
print(i)
self.label.after(1000, self.counting, q)
def printX(q):
for i in range(10):
print("test")
q.put(9-i)
time.sleep(1)
return
if __name__ == '__main__':
q = multiprocessing.Queue()
n = multiprocessing.Process(name='Process2', target=printX, args = (q,))
n.start()
GUI = Countdown(q)
GUI.master.mainloop()
Multiprocessing does not function inside of the interactive Ipython notebook.
Multiprocessing working in Python but not in iPython As an alternative you can use spyder.
No code will run after you call mainloop until the window has been destroyed. You need to start your other process before you call mainloop.
You are calling wrong the after function. The second argument must be the name of the function to call, not a call to the function.
If you call it like
self.label.after(1000, self.counting(q))
It will call counting(q) and wait for a return value to assign as a function to call.
To assign a function with arguments the syntax is
self.label.after(1000, self.counting, q)
Also, start your second process before you create the window and call counting.
n = multiprocessing.Process(name='Process2', target=printX, args = (q,))
n.start()
GUI = Countdown(q)
GUI.master.mainloop()
Also you only need to call mainloop once. Either position you have works, but you just need one
Edit: Also you need to put (9-i) in the queue to make it count down.
q.put(9-i)
Inside the printX function
First of all I'm using python 3.3 & 3.2 on windows and Linux respectively.
I am starting to build an rpn calculator. It looks like cross-platform key listeners is a kind of holy grail for python. So far this seems to be doing the trick, but I've created other problems:
I cannot get away from the global variable for entries and using my
stack.
It looks like I have to build the program from inside
callback()
Here is a rough skeleton that shows my direction. Am I missing a way to pass information in and out of callback()
The goal was to build an RPN class before i found myself stuck inside callback().
import tkinter as tk
entry = ""
stack = list()
operators = {"+",
"-",
"*",
"/",
"^",
"sin",
"cos",
"tan"}
def operate(_op):
if _op == "+":
print("plus")
def callback(event):
global entry, stack
entry = entry + event.char
if event.keysym == 'Escape': # exit program
root.destroy()
elif event.keysym=='Return': # push string onto stack TODO
print(entry)
entry = ""
elif entry in operators:
operate(entry)
root = tk.Tk()
root.withdraw()
root.bind('<Key>', callback)
root.mainloop()
You have several options to do what you want to do.
1. Use a Class for your application
The canonical way of doing what you wish without resorting to a global variable is to place the application within a class, and pass a method as a callback (see print_contents) the following is straight from the docs:
class App(Frame):
def __init__(self, master=None):
Frame.__init__(self, master)
self.pack()
self.entrythingy = Entry()
self.entrythingy.pack()
# here is the application variable
self.contents = StringVar()
# set it to some value
self.contents.set("this is a variable")
# tell the entry widget to watch this variable
self.entrythingy["textvariable"] = self.contents
# and here we get a callback when the user hits return.
# we will have the program print out the value of the
# application variable when the user hits return
self.entrythingy.bind('<Key-Return>',
self.print_contents)
def print_contents(self, event):
print("hi. contents of entry is now ---->",
self.contents.get())
2. Curry the callback over your state
You can also use Python's functional programming constructs to curry a function over a global variable and then pass the curried function as a callback.
import functools
global_var = {}
def callback(var, event):
pass
#...
root.bind('<Key>', functools.partial(callback, global_var))
Although this probably isn't what you want.
3. Use a global variable
Sometimes, a global variable is ok.
4. Re-architect for cleanliness and readability
However, you most definitely do not have to build your program inside the callback.
In fact, I would recommend that you create a suite of test with various valid and invalid input, and make a Calculator class or function that takes a string input of RPN commands and returns a value. This is easy to test without a tkinter interface, and will be far more robust.
Then, use your callback to build a string which you pass to your Calculator.
If you want incremental calculation (ie, you're building a simulator), then simply make your Calculator accept single tokens rather than entire equations, but the design remains similar. All the state is then encapsulated inside the Calculator rather than globally.