GUI Programming

Topics
Graphical User Interfaces
Using the tkinter Module
Display Text with Label Widgets
Organizing Widgets with Frames
Button Widgets and Info Dialog Boxes
Getting Input with the Entry Widget
Using Labels as Output Fields
Radio Buttons and Check Buttons
 Graphical User Interfaces
User Interface: the part of the computer
with which the user interacts
Command line interface: displays a
prompt and the user types a command
that is then executed
Graphical User Interface (GUI): allows
users to interact with a program
through graphical elements on the
screen
Graphical User Interfaces
(cont’d.)
 Graphical User Interfaces
(cont’d.)
Dialog boxes: small windows that
display information and allow the user
to perform actions
Responsible for most of the interaction
through GUI
User interacts with graphical elements such
as icons, buttons, and slider bars
 GUI Programs Are Event-
Driven
In text-based environments, programs
determine the order in which things
happen
The user can only enter data in the order
requested by the program
GUI environment is event-driven
The user determines the order in which things
happen
User causes events to take place and the program
responds to the events
Using the tkinter Module
No GUI programming features built into
Python
tkinter module: allows you to create
simple GUI programs
Comes with Python
Widget: graphical element that the user
can interact with or view
Presented by a GUI program
Using the tkinter Module
(cont’d.)
Programs that use tkinter do not always
run reliably under IDLE
For best results run them from operating system
command prompt
Most programmers take an object-oriented
approach when writing GUI programs
__init__ method builds the GUI
When an instance is created the GUI appears on
the screen
 Display Text with Label
Widgets
Label widget: displays a single line of
text in a window
Made by creating an instance of tkinter
module’s Label class
Format:
tkinter.Label(self.main_window, \
text = 'my text')
First argument references the root widget, second
argument shows text that should appear in label
 Display Text with Label
Widgets (cont’d.)
pack method: determines where a
widget should be positioned and makes
it visible when the main window is
displayed
Called for each widget in a window
Receives an argument to specify positioning
Positioning depends on the order in which widgets
were added to the main window
Valid arguments: side='top', side='left',
side='right'
Display Text with Label
Widgets (cont’d.)
 Organizing Widgets with
Frames
Frame widget: container that holds
other widgets
Useful for organizing and arranging groups of
widgets in a window
The contained widgets are added to the frame
widget which contains them
Example:
tkinter.Label(self.top_frame, \
text = 'hi')
Organizing Widgets with
Frames (cont’d.)
 Button Widgets and Info
Dialog Boxes
Button widget: widget that the user can
click to cause an action to take place
When creating a button can specify:
Text to appear on the face of the button
A callback function
Callback function: function or method
that executes when the user clicks the
button
Also known as an event handler
 Button Widgets and Info
Dialog Boxes (cont’d.)
Info dialog box: a dialog box that
shows information to the user
Format for creating an info dialog box:
Import tkinter.messagebox module
tkinter.messagebox.showinfo(title, \
message)
title is displayed in dialog box’s title bar
message is an informational string displayed in the main
part of the dialog box
Button Widgets and Info
Dialog Boxes (cont’d.)
 Creating a Quit Button
Quit button: closes the program when
the user clicks it
To create a quit button in Python:
Create a Button widget
Set the root widget’s destroy method as the
callback function
When the user clicks the button the destroy
method is called and the program ends
Getting Input with the Entry
Widget
Entry widget: rectangular area that the
user can type text into
Used to gather input in a GUI program
Typically followed by a button for submitting the
data
The button’s callback function retrieves the data
from the Entry widgets and processes it
Entry widget’s get method: used to retrieve
the data from an Entry widget
Returns a string
Getting Input with the Entry
Widget (cont’d.)
Using Labels as Output Fields
Can use Label widgets to dynamically
display output
Used to replace info dialog box
Create empty Label widget in main window,
and write code that displays desired data in
the label when a button is clicked
Using Labels as Output Fields
(cont’d.)
StringVar class: tkinter module
class that can be used along with
Label widget to display data
Create StringVar object and then create
Label widget and associate it with the
StringVar object
Subsequently, any value stored in the
StringVar object with automatically be
displayed in the Label widget
Using Labels as Output Fields
(cont’d.)
 Radio Buttons and Check
Buttons
Radio button: small circle that appears
filled when it is selected and appears
empty when it is deselected
Useful when you want the user to select one
choice from several possible options
Radiobutton widgets: created using
tkinter module’s Radiobutton class
Radiobutton widgets are mutually exclusive
Only one radio button in a container may be selected
at any given time
 Radio Buttons and Check
Buttons (cont’d)
IntVar class: a tkinter module class
that can be used along with
Radiobutton widgets
Steps for use:
Associate group of Radiobutton widgets with the
same IntVar object
Assign unique integer to each Radiobutton
When a Radiobutton widgets is selected, its
unique integer is stored in the IntVar object
Can be used to select a default radio button
 Using Callback Functions
with Radiobuttons
You can specify a callback function with
Radiobutton widgets
Provide an argument
command=self.my_method when creating
the Radiobutton widget
The command will execute immediately when
the radio button is selected
Replaces the need for a user to click OK or
submit before determining which
Radiobutton is selected
 Check Buttons
Check button: small box with a label
appearing next to it; check mark indicates
when it is selected
User is allowed to select any or all of the check
buttons that are displayed in a group
Not mutually exclusive
Checkbutton widgets: created using
tkinter module’s Checkbutton class
Associate different IntVar object with each
Checkbutton widget
 Summary
This chapter covered:
Graphical user interfaces and their role as
event-driven programs
The tkinter module, including:
Creating a GUI window
Adding widgets to a GUI window
Organizing widgets in frames
Receiving input and providing output using widgets
Creating buttons, check buttons, and radio buttons