Python Tkinter Menu Widget
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Python Tkinter Menu Widget
Tkinter is a popular GUI (Graphical User Interface) toolkit that comes with Python. It provides a wide range of widgets and tools to create interactive and user-friendly desktop applications. One of the important widgets in Tkinter is the Menu widget.
This lesson covers the basics of creating menus in Tkinter, a popular Python GUI toolkit. It explains the different types of menus that can be created, such as top-level, pull-down, pop-up, tear-off, menubutton, and option menus. It provides code examples for each type of menu and explains how to use the various methods available for menus in Tkinter. These methods include adding items to a menu, inserting new items at a specific index, invoking items, and retrieving the type of an item. By following the examples in this lesson, you can create your own customized menus for your Tkinter-based Python applications
Types of tkinter menus
In Tkinter, there are different types of menus that can be created using the Menu widget. The main types of Tkinter menus are:
Top-level menus:
These menus are typically displayed at the top of the application window, and are usually created using the Menu() method. They can contain one or more menu items, such as commands, check buttons, radio buttons, and separators.
Pull-down menus:
Pull-down menus are created using the add_cascade() method, and are typically displayed when the user clicks on a menu item in the top-level menu.
Pop-up menus:
Pop-up menus are also known as context menus, and are usually displayed when the user right-clicks on a specific widget, such as a canvas or a listbox. They can be created using the Menu() method and the post() method to display the menu.
Tear-off menus:
Tear-off menus are a feature of top-level menus that allow users to detach a menu from the main application window and move it around as a separate window. This feature can be enabled by setting the tearoff option to True when creating the top-level menu.
Menubuttons:
A Menubutton is a widget that is used to display a menu when clicked. It is created using the Menubutton() method and can be associated with a Menu object using the menu option.
Option menus:
An OptionMenu is a widget that displays a list of options, and allows the user to select one of the options. It is created using the OptionMenu() method and can be associated with a Menu object and a variable that stores the selected option.
Overall, Tkinter provides various types of menus to create user-friendly GUI applications.
syntax to create tkinter menu
Here is an example syntax to create a basic Tkinter menu:
import tkinter as tk # Create the main window root = tk.Tk() # Create the menu object menu = tk.Menu(root) Create the file menu file_menu = tk.Menu(menu, tearoff=0) file_menu.add_command(label="New") file_menu.add_command(label="Open") file_menu.add_command(label="Save") file_menu.add_separator() file_menu.add_command(label="Exit", command=root.quit) # Add the file menu to the menu object menu.add_cascade(label="File", menu=file_menu) # Add the menu object to the main window root.config(menu=menu) # Run the main loop root.mainloop()
In this example, we first import the tkinter module and create the main window using the Tk() method. Then, we create a Menu object using the Menu() method and create a file menu using the Menu() method with the tearoff option set to 0 to disable the tear-off feature.
We add some menu items to the file menu using the add_command() method and a separator using the add_separator() method. We also associate the Exit menu item with the quit method of the main window.
Next, we add the file menu to the menu object using the add_cascade() method, and add the menu object to the main window using the config() method with the menu option.
Finally, we run the main loop using the mainloop() method of the main window. This will display the main window with the file menu at the top.
How to create Top-level menus
To create a top-level menu in Tkinter, you can follow these steps:
1-Create the main window using the Tk() method.
2-Create the menu object using the Menu() method.
3-Create a top-level menu using the Menu() method and add it to the menu object using the add_cascade() method.
4-Add menu items to the top-level menu using the add_command(), add_checkbutton(), add_radiobutton(), or add_separator() methods.
5-Add the menu object to the main window using the config() method with the menu option.
6-Run the main loop using the mainloop() method of the main window.
Here is an example code to create a top-level menu in Tkinter:
import tkinter as tk # Create the main window root = tk.Tk() # Create the menu object menu = tk.Menu(root) # Create the file menu file_menu = tk.Menu(menu, tearoff=0) file_menu.add_command(label="New") file_menu.add_command(label="Open") file_menu.add_command(label="Save") file_menu.add_separator() file_menu.add_command(label="Exit", command=root.quit) # Create the edit menu edit_menu = tk.Menu(menu, tearoff=0) edit_menu.add_command(label="Cut") edit_menu.add_command(label="Copy") edit_menu.add_command(label="Paste") # Add the file and edit menus to the menu object menu.add_cascade(label="File", menu=file_menu) menu.add_cascade(label="Edit", menu=edit_menu) # Add the menu object to the main window root.config(menu=menu) # Run the main loop root.mainloop()
In this example, we create a top-level menu for the File menu and the Edit menu. We add menu items to each top-level menu using the add_command() method, and we add a separator to the File menu using the add_separator() method. We also associate the Exit menu item with the quit method of the main window.
We add the top-level menus to the menu object using the add_cascade() method, and we add the menu object to the main window using the config() method with the menu option. Finally, we run the main loop using the mainloop() method of the main window. This will display the main window with the File and Edit menus at the top.
How to create Pull-down menus
To create a pull-down menu in Tkinter, you can follow these steps:
1-Create the main window using the Tk() method.
2-Create the menu object using the Menu() method.
3-Create a top-level menu using the Menu() method and add it to the menu object using the add_cascade() method.
4-Add pull-down menus to the top-level menu using the Menu() method and the add_cascade() method.
4-Add menu items to the pull-down menus using the add_command(), add_checkbutton(), add_radiobutton(), or add_separator() methods.
5-Add the menu object to the main window using the config() method with the menu option.
6-Run the main loop using the mainloop() method of the main window.
Here is an example code to create a pull-down menu in Tkinter:
import tkinter as tk # Create the main window root = tk.Tk() # Create the menu object menu = tk.Menu(root) # Create the file menu file_menu = tk.Menu(menu, tearoff=0) file_menu.add_command(label="New") file_menu.add_command(label="Open") file_menu.add_command(label="Save") file_menu.add_separator() file_menu.add_command(label="Exit", command=root.quit) # Create the edit menu edit_menu = tk.Menu(menu, tearoff=0) edit_menu.add_command(label="Cut") edit_menu.add_command(label="Copy") edit_menu.add_command(label="Paste") # Add the file and edit menus to the menu object menu.add_cascade(label="File", menu=file_menu) menu.add_cascade(label="Edit", menu=edit_menu) # Create a pull-down menu for the "Open" menu item open_menu = tk.Menu(file_menu, tearoff=0) open_menu.add_command(label="File") open_menu.add_command(label="Folder") file_menu.add_cascade(label="Open", menu=open_menu) # Add the menu object to the main window root.config(menu=menu) # Run the main loop root.mainloop()
In this example, we create a pull-down menu for the Open menu item under the File menu. We add menu items to the pull-down menu using the add_command() method. We also add the pull-down menu to the File menu using the add_cascade() method.
We add the top-level menus and pull-down menus to the menu object using the add_cascade() method, and we add the menu object to the main window using the config() method with the menu option. Finally, we run the main loop using the mainloop() method of the main window. This will display the main window with the File and Edit menus at the top, and a pull-down menu under the File menu.
How to create Pop-up menus
To create a pop-up menu in Tkinter, you can follow these steps:
1-Create the main window using the Tk() method.
2-Create the menu object using the Menu() method.
3-Add menu items to the menu object using the add_command(), add_checkbutton(), add_radiobutton(), or add_separator() methods.
4-Create a function that will display the pop-up menu when a certain event occurs.
Create the pop-up menu using the Menu() method and add menu items to it using the add_command(), add_checkbutton(), add_radiobutton(), or add_separator() methods.
5-Bind the function to the event that will trigger the pop-up menu using the bind() method on the widget that will trigger the pop-up menu.
6-Run the main loop using the mainloop() method of the main window.
Here is an example code to create a pop-up menu in Tkinter:
Example
import tkinter as tk
# Create the main window
root = tk.Tk()
# Create the menu object
menu = tk.Menu(root)
# Add menu items to the menu object
menu.add_command(label="Cut")
menu.add_command(label="Copy")
menu.add_command(label="Paste")
# Create the pop-up menu
popup_menu = tk.Menu(root, tearoff=0)
popup_menu.add_command(label="New")
popup_menu.add_command(label="Open")
popup_menu.add_command(label="Save")
popup_menu.add_separator()
popup_menu.add_command(label="Exit", command=root.quit)
# Create the function to display the pop-up menu
def show_popup_menu(event):
popup_menu.tk_popup(event.x_root, event.y_root)
# Bind the function to the right-click event on the main window
root.bind("<Button-3>", show_popup_menu)
# Run the main loop
root.mainloop()
In this example, we create a pop-up menu that will appear when the user right-clicks on the main window. We add menu items to the pop-up menu using the add_command() method, and we add the pop-up menu to the main window using the tk_popup() method in the show_popup_menu() function.
We bind the show_popup_menu() function to the right-click event on the main window using the bind() method with the <Button-3> event. Finally, we run the main loop using the mainloop() method of the main window. This will display the main window, and the pop-up menu will appear when the user right-clicks on it.
Example :
#Import the required libraries
from tkinter import *
from tkinter import ttk
#Create an instance of Tkinter frame
win = Tk()
#Set the geometry of the Tkinter library
win.geometry("700x350")
label = Label(win, text="Right-click to display a menu", font= ('Arial 18'))
label.pack(pady= 40)
#Add Menu
popup = Menu(win, tearoff=0)
#Adding Menu Items
popup.add_command(label="File")
popup.add_command(label="open")
popup.add_separator()
popup.add_command(label="Save")
popup.add_separator()
popup.add_command(label="close")
def menu_popup(event):
# display the popup menu
try:
popup.tk_popup(event.x_root, event.y_root, 0)
finally:
#Release the grab
popup.grab_release()
win.bind("<Button-3>", menu_popup)
button = ttk.Button(win, text="Quit", command=win.destroy)
button.pack()
mainloop()
How to create Tear-off menus
Tear-off menus are menus that can be detached from the main menu window and floated as separate windows on the desktop. To create a tear-off menu in Tkinter, you can use the tearoff option when creating a Menu object.
Here’s an example code to create a tear-off menu in Tkinter:
import tkinter as tk
# Create the main window
root = tk.Tk()
# Create the menu object with tear-off option
menu = tk.Menu(root, tearoff=0)
# Add menu items to the menu object
menu.add_command(label="File")
menu.add_command(label="Edit")
menu.add_command(label="View")
# Create a function to show the tear-off menu
def show_tearoff_menu():
# Display the tear-off menu
menu.tk_popup(root.winfo_x() + 50, root.winfo_y() + 50)
# Add a button to show the tear-off menu
button = tk.Button(root, text="Show tear-off menu", command=show_tearoff_menu)
button.pack()
# Run the main loop
root.mainloop()
In this example, we create a Menu object with the tearoff option set to 0, which disables the default behavior of allowing the user to tear off the menu. We then add some menu items to the menu object.
We create a function show_tearoff_menu() that will be called when the button is clicked. Inside the function, we display the menu using the tk_popup() method, which takes the x and y coordinates of the menu as arguments.
We add a Button widget to the main window that will call the show_tearoff_menu() function when clicked. Finally, we run the main loop using the mainloop() method of the main window.
When the button is clicked, the show_tearoff_menu() function will be called, and the tear-off menu will be displayed at an offset of (50,50) from the top-left corner of the main window.
How to create Menubuttons
A Menubutton in Tkinter is a widget that displays a menu when clicked. It’s similar to a Button widget, but it has an arrow on the right side that indicates that a menu is available.
Here’s an example code to create a Menubutton in Tkinter:
import tkinter as tk # Create the main window root = tk.Tk() # Create a variable to store the selected value selected_value = tk.StringVar() # Create the Menubutton menubutton = tk.Menubutton(root, text="Select a value", relief="raised", indicatoron=True, direction="below", anchor="c", width=20, height=2) # Create the menu object menu = tk.Menu(menubutton, tearoff=0) # Add menu items to the menu object menu.add_radiobutton(label="Value 1", variable=selected_value, value="Value 1") menu.add_radiobutton(label="Value 2", variable=selected_value, value="Value 2") menu.add_radiobutton(label="Value 3", variable=selected_value, value="Value 3") # Associate the menu with the Menubutton menubutton.configure(menu=menu) # Pack the Menubutton menubutton.pack() # Run the main loop root.mainloop()
In this example, we first create a StringVar() variable to store the selected value from the menu.
We then create a Menubutton widget and configure its appearance using various options such as text, relief, indicatoron, direction, anchor, width, and height.
We create a Menu object, add some radio buttons to it using the add_radiobutton() method, and associate the menu with the Menubutton widget using the configure() method.
Finally, we pack the Menubutton widget into the main window and run the main loop using the mainloop() method.
When the user clicks the Menubutton, the associated menu will be displayed, and the selected value will be stored in the selected_value variable.
How to create Option menus
An OptionMenu in Tkinter is a widget that provides a list of options for the user to select from. It’s similar to a Menubutton widget, but it displays the selected option as a label rather than a button.
Here’s an example code to create an OptionMenu in Tkinter:
import tkinter as tk # Create the main window root = tk.Tk() # Create a variable to store the selected value selected_value = tk.StringVar() # Create the OptionMenu option_menu = tk.OptionMenu(root, selected_value, "Value 1", "Value 2", "Value 3") # Pack the OptionMenu option_menu.pack() # Run the main loop root.mainloop()
In this example, we first create a StringVar() variable to store the selected value from the OptionMenu.
We then create an OptionMenu widget and pass the StringVar variable as the first argument, followed by the list of options to display.
Finally, we pack the OptionMenu widget into the main window and run the main loop using the mainloop() method.
When the user selects an option from the OptionMenu, the selected value will be stored in the selected_value variable.