18. tk Text

See: https://docs.python.org/3/library/tkinter.html#tkinter.Text
See: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/python-tkinter-text-widget/

18.1. Usage

The tkinter.Text widget provides a versatile multi-line text area that you can use for various purposes such as comments or descriptions
To create a multi-line text widget the general syntax is (assuming import via "import tkinter as tk"):
text_widget  = tk.Text(parent, option=value)
parent is the window or frame object.
Options can be passed as parameters separated by commas.
Options can also be changed or added anew after widget creation.
text_widget.config(option=value)
text_widget is the Text widget object.
Options can be passed as parameters separated by commas.

18.2. Text widget example

../_images/text.png
The code below sets some widget options at creation.
It also uses .config() to add other custom options.
import tkinter as tk


root = tk.Tk()
root.title("Text Widget Example")
root.geometry("300x200")

# Create a Text widget
text = tk.Text(root, height=6, width=40, wrap="word", font=("Arial", 12))
text.pack(padx=10, pady=10)

# Insert initial content
text.insert(
    "1.0", "Welcome to \nthe Text Widget!\nIt has multiline text.")

# Customize options
text.config(
    bg="#fafafa",  # Background color
    fg="blue",  # Text color
    borderwidth=1,  # Border width
    relief="solid",  # Border style
    insertbackground="red",  # Insertion cursor color
    selectbackground="red",   # Selection background color
    state="normal",  # Enable editing (use "disabled" to disable)
    padx=10,
    pady=10
)

root.mainloop()

Tasks

  1. Modify the given Tkinter code to change the following options to use a background color of light yellow, a text color of dark green, a background selection color of purple, a border width of 2, a border style of "groove" and disabled state so it can't be edited.

    ../_images/text_question.png

Modify the given Tkinter code to change the following options to use a background color of light yellow, a text color of dark green, a background selection color of purple, a border width of 2, a border style of "groove" and disabled state so it can't be edited.

import tkinter as tk

root = tk.Tk()
root.title("Text Widget Questions")

# Create a Text widget
text = tk.Text(root, height=6, width=40, wrap="word", font=("Arial", 12))
text.pack(padx=10, pady=10)

# Insert initial content
text.insert(
    "1.0", "Welcome to \nthe Text Widget!\nIt has multiline text.")

# Customize options
text.config(
    bg="light yellow",  # Background color
    fg="dark green",  # Text color
    borderwidth=2,  # Border width
    relief="groove",  # Border style
    insertbackground="red",  # Insertion cursor color
    selectbackground="purple",   # Selection background color
    state="disabled",  # Disable editing
    padx=10,
    pady=10
)

root.mainloop()

18.3. Methods

Insert text using text_widget.insert("1.0", "text").
Retrieve all text using text = text_widget.get("1.0", tk.END).
Delete all text using text_widget.delete("1.0", tk.END).
Scroll to the end using text_widget.see(tk.END).
Configure a tag for text using text_widget.tag_configure("red", foreground="red").
Text widget positions use the format "line.character".
For example, "1.0" is the first character on the first line.
The integer before the decimal represents the line number (1-indexed), and the integer after represents the character column (0-indexed).
text_widget.tag_configure(tag_name, option=value)
Configures the appearance of the specified text tag.
Use text_widget.tag_configure("red", foreground="red") to create a tag to be used to display tagged text in red.
Multiple options can be specified, for example text_widget.tag_configure("heading", font=("Arial", 16, "bold"), foreground="red").
text_widget.insert(index, text, *tags)
Inserts text at the specified index.
Use text_widget.insert("1.0", "Hello") to insert text at the beginning of the Text widget.
Use text_widget.insert(tk.END, "Hello") to append text to the end of the existing text.
*tags are zero or more tag names to apply to the inserted text. For multiple tages, quote them as a tuple.
Use text_widget.insert(tk.END, "Error", "red") to insert text using the red tag.
If index is outside the valid range, Tk adjusts it to the nearest valid position.
text_widget.get(start, end)
Retrieves the text between start and end.
Use text_widget.get("1.0", tk.END) to retrieve all text.
text_widget.delete(start, end)
Deletes the text between start and end.
Use text_widget.delete("1.0", tk.END) to clear the widget.
text_widget.see(index)
Scrolls the Text widget so that the specified index is visible.
Use text_widget.see(tk.END) to scroll to the end of the text.
Commonly used after inserting text so the most recently added text is visible.

18.4. Parameter syntax

text_widget = tk.Text(parent, option=value)
parent is the window or frame object.
Options can be passed as parameters separated by commas.

Parameters:

autoseparators
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, autoseparators=1)
Description: Enables automatic separator insertion when typing.
Default: 1
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, autoseparators=1)
background
bg
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, background="color")
Description: Sets the background color of the text widget.
Default: SystemWindow
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, background="lightyellow")
borderwidth
bd
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, borderwidth=border_width)
Description: Sets the border width of the text widget.
Default: 1
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, borderwidth=2)
blockcursor
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, blockcursor=0)
Description: Sets the cursor style; a block or normal cursor.
Default: 0
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, blockcursor=1)
cursor
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, cursor="cursor_type")
Description: Sets the mouse cursor when hovering over the text widget.
Default: xterm
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, cursor="hand2")
exportselection
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, exportselection=1)
Description: Allows the text selection to be copied to the clipboard.
Default: 1
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, exportselection=1)
font
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, font=("font_name", size, "style"))
Description: Specifies the font type, size, and style for the text.
Default: TkFixedFont
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, font=("Arial", 12, "italic"))
foreground
fg
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, foreground="color")
Description: Sets the foreground color (text color) of the text widget.
Default: SystemWindowText
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, foreground="black")
height
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, height=height_value)
Description: Sets the height of the text widget in lines.
Default: 24
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, height=10)
highlightbackground
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, highlightbackground="color")
Description: Sets the background color when the text widget does not have focus.
Default: SystemButtonFace
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, highlightbackground="gray")
highlightcolor
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, highlightcolor="color")
Description: Sets the color of the highlight when the text widget has focus.
Default: SystemWindowFrame
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, highlightcolor="blue")
highlightthickness
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, highlightthickness=thickness)
Description: Sets the thickness of the highlight border.
Default: 0
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, highlightthickness=2)
inactiveselectbackground
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, inactiveselectbackground="color")
Description: Sets the background color for selected text when the widget is inactive.
Default: None
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, inactiveselectbackground="lightgray")
insertbackground
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, insertbackground="color")
Description: Sets the color of the insertion cursor (caret).
Default: SystemWindowText
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, insertbackground="red")
insertborderwidth
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, insertborderwidth=width)
Description: Sets the width of the border around the insertion cursor.
Default: 0
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, insertborderwidth=2)
insertofftime
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, insertofftime=milliseconds)
Description: Sets the time the cursor stays off (in milliseconds).
Default: 300
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, insertofftime=500)
insertontime
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, insertontime=milliseconds)
Description: Sets the time the cursor stays on (in milliseconds).
Default: 600
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, insertontime=800)
insertunfocussed
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, insertunfocussed="style")
Description: Sets the style of the cursor when the widget is unfocused.
Default: none
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, insertunfocussed="underline")
insertwidth
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, insertwidth=width)
Description: Sets the width of the insertion cursor.
Default: 2
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, insertwidth=5)
maxundo
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, maxundo=number)
Description: Sets the maximum number of undo operations.
Default: 0 (unlimited)
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, maxundo=100)
padx
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, padx=padding_value)
Description: Sets the horizontal padding within the text widget.
Default: 1
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, padx=10)
pady
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, pady=padding_value)
Description: Sets the vertical padding within the text widget.
Default: 1
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, pady=10)
relief
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, relief="style")
Description: Sets the border style of the text widget. Options include flat, raised, sunken, groove, ridge.
Default: sunken
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, relief="flat")
selectbackground
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, selectbackground="color")
Description: Sets the background color of the selected text.
Default: SystemHighlight
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, selectbackground="lightblue")
selectborderwidth
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, selectborderwidth=width)
Description: Sets the border width of the selection.
Default: 0
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, selectborderwidth=1)
selectforeground
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, selectforeground="color")
Description: Sets the text color of the selected text.
Default: SystemHighlightText
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, selectforeground="white")
setgrid
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, setgrid=0)
Description: tells the window manager to resize the window in character-sized increments.
Default: 0
setgrid=0 tells the window manager to resize the window in pixel-sized increments.
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, setgrid=1)
setgrid=1 tells the window manager to resize the window in character-sized increments. This means that the window will snap to sizes that fit an integer number of characters, which is particularly useful for text editors where you want to ensure the window size accommodates full lines or rows of text.
spacing1
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, spacing1=spacing_value)
Description: Sets the spacing before paragraphs.
Default: 0
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, spacing1=5)
spacing2
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, spacing2=spacing_value)
Description: Sets the spacing between lines.
Default: 0
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, spacing2=3)
spacing3
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, spacing3=spacing_value)
Description: Sets the spacing after paragraphs.
Default: 0
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, spacing3=5)
state
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, state="state_type")
Description: Sets the state of the text widget. Options include normal or disabled.
Default: normal
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, state="disabled")
tabs
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, tabs=tab_stops)
Description: Sets tab stops for the text widget.
Default: None
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, tabs=4)
tabstyle
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, tabstyle="style")
Description: Specifies the style for tab stops. Options include tabular.
Default: tabular
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, tabstyle="tabular")
takefocus
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, takefocus=1)
Description: Allows the text widget to take focus on click.
Default: None
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, takefocus=1)
undo
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, undo=0)
Description: Enables the undo feature for the text widget.
Default: 0
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, undo=1)
width
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, width=width_value)
Description: Sets the width of the text widget in characters.
Default: 80
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, width=50)
wrap
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, wrap="mode")
Description: Sets the text wrapping mode. Options are none, char, or word.
Default: char
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, wrap="word")
xscrollcommand
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, xscrollcommand=command)
Description: Configures the command for horizontal scrolling.
Default: None
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, xscrollcommand=my_xscroll_command)
yscrollcommand
Syntax: text_widget = tk.Text(parent, yscrollcommand=command)
Description: Configures the command for vertical scrolling.
Default: None
Example: text_widget = tk.Text(root, yscrollcommand=my_yscroll_command)

18.5. Default options

Code to display the default value for each Text option is shown below.
import tkinter as tk

root = tk.Tk()

widget = tk.Text(root)
widget_options = widget.keys()

for option in widget_options:
    print(f"{option}: {widget.cget(option)}")  # cget retrieves the current value of the option