Python in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition

Layout Management

In all examples so far, we have made widgets visible via method pack. This is typical of real-life Tkinter usage. However, two other layout managers are sometimes useful. This section covers all three layout managers provided by Tkinter: the packer, gridder, and placer. Never mix layout managers for the same container widget: all children of a given container widget must be handled by the same layout manager, or very strange effects (including Tkinter going into infinite loops) may result.

The Packer

Calling method pack on a widget delegates widget layout management to a simple, flexible layout manager known as the Packer. The Packer sizes and positions widgets within a container (parent) widget according to each widget’s space needs (including padx and pady). Each widget w supplies the following Packer-related methods.

pack

w.pack(**pack_options) Delegates layout management to the packer. pack_options may include: expand When true, w expands to fill any space not otherwise used in w’s parent. fill Determines whether w fills any extra space allocated to it by the packer or keeps its own minimal dimensions: NONE (default), X (fill only horizontally), Y (fill only vertically), or BOTH (fill both horizontally and vertically). side Determines which side of the parent w packs against: TOP (default), BOTTOM, LEFT, or RIGHT. To avoid confusion, don’t mix different values for option side= in widgets that are children of the same container. When more than one child requests the ...