Python Tkinter Checkbutton Widget
In this tutorial, we will cover Tkinter Checkbutton widget in Python, which is used to create checkboxes on GUI while developing desktop applications using Tkinter.
If you want to display a number of options in a form, where users can check to select any option, we can use the Tkinter Checkbutton widget. It allows you to select multiple options or a single option at a time just by clicking the button corresponding to each option.
For example, in a form, you see option to fill in your Gender, it has options, Male, Female, Others, etc., and you can tick on any of the options, that is a checkbox. We use the <input> tag in HTML, to create checkbox
It can either contain text or image. There are a number of options available to configure the Checkbutton widget as per your requirement.
Tkinter Checkbutton Widget
The syntax of the checkbutton widget is given below:
w = CheckButton(master, option=value)
In the above syntax, the master parameter denotes the parent window. You can use many options to configure your checkbutton widget and these options are written as comma-separated key-value pair.
Tkinter Checkbutton Widget Options
Following are the various options used with checkbutton widgets:
| Option name |
Description |
activebackground |
This option indicates the background color of the checkbutton at the time when the checkbutton is under the cursor. |
bd |
This option indicates the size of the border around the corner. The default size is 2 pixels. |
bg |
This option is used to represent the background color of the checkbutton. |
bitmap |
This option is mainly used to display the image on the button. |
command |
The command option is used to set the function call which is scheduled at the time when the state of checkbutton is changed. |
activeforeground |
This option mainly represents the foreground color of the button when the checkbutton is under the cursor. |
fg |
This option represents the text color of the checkbutton. |
font |
This option indicates the font of the checkbutton. |
height |
This option indicates the height of the button. This height indicates the number of text lines in the case of text lines and it indicates the number of pixels in the case of images. the default value is 1. |
| image |
This option indicates the image representing the checkbutton. |
cursor |
This option helps in changing the mouse pointer to the cursor name when it is over the checkbutton. |
disableforeground |
This option is the color which is used to indicate the text of a disabled checkbutton. |
higlightcolor |
This option indicates the highlight color when there is a focus on the checkbutton |
justify |
This option is used to indicate the way by which the multiple text lines are represented. For left justification, it is set to LEFT and it is set to RIGHT for the right justification, and CENTER for the center justification. |
padx |
This option indicates the padding of the checkbutton in the horizontal direction. |
pady |
This option indicates the padding of the checkbutton in the vertical direction. |
underline |
This option is used to underline the text of the checkbutton. |
width |
This option specifies the width of the checkbutton. For textual buttons, It exists as a number of letters or for image buttons it indicates the pixels. |
Wraplength |
In the case If this option is set to an integer number, then the text will be broken into the number of pieces. |
variable |
This option is mainly used to represents the associated variable that is used to track the state of the checkbutton |
offvalue |
The associated control variable of checkbutton is set to 0 by default if the button is (off). you can also change the state of an unchecked variable to some other one. |
onvalue |
The associated control variable of checkbutton will be set to 1 when it is set (on). Any alternate value will be supplied for the on state by setting onvalue to that value. |
text |
This option is used to indicate the label just next to the checkbutton. For multiple lines use "\n". |
state |
This option mainly used to represent the state of the checkbutton. Its default value= normal. It can be changed to DISABLED to make the checkbutton unresponsive. The value of this button is ACTIVE when checkbutton is under focus |
selectcolor |
This option indicates the color of the checkbutton when it is set. Its default value is Red. |
selectimage |
This option indicates the image on the checkbutton when it is set. |
Tkinter Checkbutton Widget Methods:
Following are the methods used with checkbutton widgets:
| Method Name |
Description |
invoke() |
This method in checkbutton widget is used to invoke the method associated with the checkbutton. |
select() |
This method in the checkbutton widget is called to turn on the checkbutton. |
deselect() |
This method in the checkbutton widget is called to turn off the checkbutton. |
toggle() |
This method in the checkbutton widget is used to toggle between the different Checkbuttons. |
flash() |
This method in the checkbutton widget is used to flashed between active and normal colors. |
Tkinter Checkbutton Widget Example
Below we have a basic example of this widget to gain a basic understanding of this method:
from tkinter import *
root = Tk()
root.geometry("300x300")
w = Label(root, text ='StudyTonight', fg="Blue",font = "100")
w.pack()
Checkbutton1 = IntVar()
Checkbutton2 = IntVar()
Checkbutton3 = IntVar()
Button1 = Checkbutton(root, text = "Homepage",
variable = Checkbutton1,
onvalue = 1,
offvalue = 0,
height = 2,
width = 10)
Button2 = Checkbutton(root, text = "Tutorials",
variable = Checkbutton2,
onvalue = 1,
offvalue = 0,
height = 2,
width = 10)
Button3 = Checkbutton(root, text = "Contactus",
variable = Checkbutton3,
onvalue = 1,
offvalue = 0,
height = 2,
width = 10)
Button1.pack()
Button2.pack()
Button3.pack()
mainloop()
As you can see in the code above, three IntVar() variables are created and then we have created three checkbutton with different text like Homepage, Tutorials, and Contactus.
So we have created here checkbuttons using some options like text, variable, onvalue, offvalue, height and width. You can try using more options.
Summary
So in this tutorial we learned how to create check boxes in a GUI application using Tkinter checkbutton widget.
