Python Tkinter: Adding widgets to file dialogs

Question

I am using Tkinter with Python 2.6 and 2.7 for programming graphic user interfaces.

These User Interfaces contain dialogs for opening files and saving data from the tkFileDialog module. I would like to adapt the dialogs and add some further entry widgets e.g. for letting the user leave comments.

Is there any way for doing so?

It seems that the file dialogs are taken directly from the operating system. In Tkinter they are derived from the Dialog class in the tkCommonDialog module and call the tk.call("tk_getSaveFile") method of a frame widget (in this case for saving data).

I could not find out where this method is defined.

Answer 1

call method is defined in _tkinter.c, but there is nothing interesting for your particular task there. It just calls a Tcl command, and the command tk_getSaveFile does all the work.

And yes, when there is a native file dialog on the operating system, tk_getSaveFile uses them (e.g. GetSaveFileName is used on Windows). It could be possible to add widgets there, but not without tampering with C sources of Tk. If you're sure that your target uses non-native Tk dialogs, you could add something to its widget hierarchy by hacking ::tk::dialog::file:: procedure from Tk (see library/tkfbox.tcl).

I would rather take an alternative implementation of tk_getSaveFile, written in pure Tcl/Tk and never using the OS facility. This way, we can be sure that its layout is the same for all OSes, and it won't suddenly change with a new version of Tk. It's still far from trivial to provide a convenient API for python around it, but at least, it is possible.

Answer 2

I had to get rid of the canvasx/y statements. That line now simply reads set item [$data(canvas) find closest $x $y], which works well. $data(canvas) canvasx $x for its own works well but not in connection with find closest, neither if it is written in two lines.