How do I display tooltips in Tkinter?
Tooltips are those little bits of text that popup when the mouse hovers over a widget for a certain duration of time.
How can I add a tooltip message to my tkinter Python application?
I tried the code in the blog post mentioned by ars, and also tried the code from the IDLE lib.
While both worked, I didn't like how the tooltip from IDLE was limited in size (had to manually enter new lines as separate lists) , and how the tips appeared immediately in the code form the blog post.
So I made a hybrid between the two. It lets you specify a wrap length and hover time, with no restriction on each:
""" tk_ToolTip_class101.py
gives a Tkinter widget a tooltip as the mouse is above the widget
tested with Python27 and Python34 by vegaseat 09sep2014
www.daniweb.com/programming/software-development/code/484591/a-tooltip-class-for-tkinter
Modified to include a delay time by Victor Zaccardo, 25mar16
"""
try:
# for Python2
import Tkinter as tk
except ImportError:
# for Python3
import tkinter as tk
class CreateToolTip(object):
"""
create a tooltip for a given widget
"""
def __init__(self, widget, text='widget info'):
self.waittime = 500 #miliseconds
self.wraplength = 180 #pixels
self.widget = widget
self.text = text
self.widget.bind("<Enter>", self.enter)
self.widget.bind("<Leave>", self.leave)
self.widget.bind("<ButtonPress>", self.leave)
self.id = None
self.tw = None
def enter(self, event=None):
self.schedule()
def leave(self, event=None):
self.unschedule()
self.hidetip()
def schedule(self):
self.unschedule()
self.id = self.widget.after(self.waittime, self.showtip)
def unschedule(self):
id = self.id
self.id = None
if id:
self.widget.after_cancel(id)
def showtip(self, event=None):
x = y = 0
x, y, cx, cy = self.widget.bbox("insert")
x += self.widget.winfo_rootx() + 25
y += self.widget.winfo_rooty() + 20
# creates a toplevel window
self.tw = tk.Toplevel(self.widget)
# Leaves only the label and removes the app window
self.tw.wm_overrideredirect(True)
self.tw.wm_geometry("+%d+%d" % (x, y))
label = tk.Label(self.tw, text=self.text, justify='left',
background="#ffffff", relief='solid', borderwidth=1,
wraplength = self.wraplength)
label.pack(ipadx=1)
def hidetip(self):
tw = self.tw
self.tw= None
if tw:
tw.destroy()
# testing ...
if __name__ == '__main__':
root = tk.Tk()
btn1 = tk.Button(root, text="button 1")
btn1.pack(padx=10, pady=5)
button1_ttp = CreateToolTip(btn1, \
'Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, '
'consectetur, adipisci velit. Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum '
'quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit. Neque porro quisquam '
'est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit.')
btn2 = tk.Button(root, text="button 2")
btn2.pack(padx=10, pady=5)
button2_ttp = CreateToolTip(btn2, \
"First thing's first, I'm the realest. Drop this and let the whole world "
"feel it. And I'm still in the Murda Bizness. I could hold you down, like "
"I'm givin' lessons in physics. You should want a bad Vic like this.")
root.mainloop()
Screenshot:
The Pmw.Balloon class from the Pmw toolkit for Tkinter will draw tool tips.
Also take a look at this blog post, which adapts some code from IDLE used for displaying tool tips with Tkinter.
First of all, I really like Alberto Vassena's tool tip and I tried to comment on his post with this bug correction, but as a new user I do not have enough points to make a comment, so I am making an answer. I hope this is acceptable.
There was a very small bug in Alberto Vassena's excellent answer and improved ToolTip.
Bug: For the actual label his code calls ttk.Label instead of tk.Label This resulted in the tooltip box being rendered but not the actual text until a further UI event such as another mouse move or a keyboard event.
Here is the corrected code for a full copy & paste:
import tkinter as tk
import tkinter.ttk as ttk
class Tooltip:
'''
It creates a tooltip for a given widget as the mouse goes on it.
see:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3221956/
what-is-the-simplest-way-to-make-tooltips-
in-tkinter/36221216#36221216
http://www.daniweb.com/programming/software-development/
code/484591/a-tooltip-class-for-tkinter
- Originally written by vegaseat on 2014.09.09.
- Modified to include a delay time by Victor Zaccardo on 2016.03.25.
- Modified
- to correct extreme right and extreme bottom behavior,
- to stay inside the screen whenever the tooltip might go out on
the top but still the screen is higher than the tooltip,
- to use the more flexible mouse positioning,
- to add customizable background color, padding, waittime and
wraplength on creation
by Alberto Vassena on 2016.11.05.
Tested on Ubuntu 16.04/16.10, running Python 3.5.2
TODO: themes styles support
'''
def __init__(self, widget,
*,
bg='#FFFFEA',
pad=(5, 3, 5, 3),
text='widget info',
waittime=400,
wraplength=250):
self.waittime = waittime # in miliseconds, originally 500
self.wraplength = wraplength # in pixels, originally 180
self.widget = widget
self.text = text
self.widget.bind("<Enter>", self.onEnter)
self.widget.bind("<Leave>", self.onLeave)
self.widget.bind("<ButtonPress>", self.onLeave)
self.bg = bg
self.pad = pad
self.id = None
self.tw = None
def onEnter(self, event=None):
self.schedule()
def onLeave(self, event=None):
self.unschedule()
self.hide()
def schedule(self):
self.unschedule()
self.id = self.widget.after(self.waittime, self.show)
def unschedule(self):
id_ = self.id
self.id = None
if id_:
self.widget.after_cancel(id_)
def show(self):
def tip_pos_calculator(widget, label,
*,
tip_delta=(10, 5), pad=(5, 3, 5, 3)):
w = widget
s_width, s_height = w.winfo_screenwidth(), w.winfo_screenheight()
width, height = (pad[0] + label.winfo_reqwidth() + pad[2],
pad[1] + label.winfo_reqheight() + pad[3])
mouse_x, mouse_y = w.winfo_pointerxy()
x1, y1 = mouse_x + tip_delta[0], mouse_y + tip_delta[1]
x2, y2 = x1 + width, y1 + height
x_delta = x2 - s_width
if x_delta < 0:
x_delta = 0
y_delta = y2 - s_height
if y_delta < 0:
y_delta = 0
offscreen = (x_delta, y_delta) != (0, 0)
if offscreen:
if x_delta:
x1 = mouse_x - tip_delta[0] - width
if y_delta:
y1 = mouse_y - tip_delta[1] - height
offscreen_again = y1 < 0 # out on the top
if offscreen_again:
# No further checks will be done.
# TIP:
# A further mod might automagically augment the
# wraplength when the tooltip is too high to be
# kept inside the screen.
y1 = 0
return x1, y1
bg = self.bg
pad = self.pad
widget = self.widget
# creates a toplevel window
self.tw = tk.Toplevel(widget)
# Leaves only the label and removes the app window
self.tw.wm_overrideredirect(True)
win = tk.Frame(self.tw,
background=bg,
borderwidth=0)
label = tk.Label(win,
text=self.text,
justify=tk.LEFT,
background=bg,
relief=tk.SOLID,
borderwidth=0,
wraplength=self.wraplength)
label.grid(padx=(pad[0], pad[2]),
pady=(pad[1], pad[3]),
sticky=tk.NSEW)
win.grid()
x, y = tip_pos_calculator(widget, label)
self.tw.wm_geometry("+%d+%d" % (x, y))
def hide(self):
tw = self.tw
if tw:
tw.destroy()
self.tw = None
if __name__ == '__main__':
import random
def further_text():
# texts generated at http://lorem-ipsum.perbang.dk/
short_text = ('Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, mauris tellus, '
'porttitor torquent eu. Magna aliquet lorem, '
'cursus sit ac, in in. Dolor aliquet, cum integer. '
'Proin aliquet, porttitor pulvinar mauris. Tellus '
'lectus, amet cras, neque lacus quis. Malesuada '
'nibh. Eleifend nam, in eget a. Nec turpis, erat '
'wisi semper')
medium_text = ('Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, suspendisse aenean '
'ipsum sollicitudin, pellentesque nunc ultrices ac '
'ut, arcu elit turpis senectus convallis. Ac orci '
'pretium sed gravida, tortor nulla felis '
'consectetuer, mauris egestas est erat. Ut enim '
'tellus at diam, ac sagittis vel proin. Massa '
'eleifend orci tortor sociis, scelerisque in pede '
'metus phasellus, est tempor gravida nam, ante '
'fusce sem tempor. Mi diam auctor vel pede, mus '
'non mi luctus luctus, lectus sit varius repellat '
'eu')
long_text = ('Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, velit eu nam cursus '
'quisque gravida sollicitudin, felis arcu interdum '
'error quam quis massa, et velit libero ligula est '
'donec. Suspendisse fringilla urna ridiculus dui '
'volutpat justo, quisque nisl eget sed blandit '
'egestas, libero nullam magna sem dui nam, auctor '
'vehicula nunc arcu vel sed dictum, tincidunt vitae '
'id tristique aptent platea. Lacus eros nec proin '
'morbi sollicitudin integer, montes suspendisse '
'augue lorem iaculis sed, viverra sed interdum eget '
'ut at pulvinar, turpis vivamus ac pharetra nulla '
'maecenas ut. Consequat dui condimentum lectus nulla '
'vitae, nam consequat fusce ac facilisis eget orci, '
'cras enim donec aenean sed dolor aliquam, elit '
'lorem in a nec fringilla, malesuada curabitur diam '
'nonummy nisl nibh ipsum. In odio nunc nec porttitor '
'ipsum, nunc ridiculus platea wisi turpis praesent '
'vestibulum, suspendisse hendrerit amet quis vivamus '
'adipiscing elit, ut dolor nec nonummy mauris nec '
'libero, ad rutrum id tristique facilisis sed '
'ultrices. Convallis velit posuere mauris lectus sit '
'turpis, lobortis volutpat et placerat leo '
'malesuada, vulputate id maecenas at a volutpat '
'vulputate, est augue nec proin ipsum pellentesque '
'fringilla. Mattis feugiat metus ultricies repellat '
'dictum, suspendisse erat rhoncus ultricies in ipsum, '
'nulla ante pellentesque blandit ligula sagittis '
'ultricies, sed tortor sodales pede et duis platea')
text = random.choice([short_text, medium_text, long_text, long_text])
return '\nFurther info: ' + text
def main_01(wraplength=200):
# alias
stuff = further_text
root = tk.Tk()
frame = ttk.Frame(root)
btn_ne = ttk.Button(frame, text='North East')
btn_se = ttk.Button(frame, text='South East')
btn_sw = ttk.Button(frame, text='South West')
btn_nw = ttk.Button(frame, text='North West')
btn_center = ttk.Button(frame, text='Center')
btn_n = ttk.Button(frame, text='North')
btn_e = ttk.Button(frame, text='East')
btn_s = ttk.Button(frame, text='South')
btn_w = ttk.Button(frame, text='West')
Tooltip(btn_nw, text='North West' + stuff(), wraplength=wraplength)
Tooltip(btn_ne, text='North East' + stuff(), wraplength=wraplength)
Tooltip(btn_se, text='South East' + stuff(), wraplength=wraplength)
Tooltip(btn_sw, text='South West' + stuff(), wraplength=wraplength)
Tooltip(btn_center, text='Center' + stuff(), wraplength=wraplength)
Tooltip(btn_n, text='North' + stuff(), wraplength=wraplength)
Tooltip(btn_e, text='East' + stuff(), wraplength=wraplength)
Tooltip(btn_s, text='South' + stuff(), wraplength=wraplength)
Tooltip(btn_w, text='West' + stuff(), wraplength=wraplength)
r = 0
c = 0
pad = 10
btn_nw.grid(row=r, column=c, padx=pad, pady=pad, sticky=tk.NW)
btn_n.grid(row=r, column=c + 1, padx=pad, pady=pad, sticky=tk.N)
btn_ne.grid(row=r, column=c + 2, padx=pad, pady=pad, sticky=tk.NE)
r += 1
btn_w.grid(row=r, column=c + 0, padx=pad, pady=pad, sticky=tk.W)
btn_center.grid(row=r, column=c + 1, padx=pad, pady=pad,
sticky=tk.NSEW)
btn_e.grid(row=r, column=c + 2, padx=pad, pady=pad, sticky=tk.E)
r += 1
btn_sw.grid(row=r, column=c, padx=pad, pady=pad, sticky=tk.SW)
btn_s.grid(row=r, column=c + 1, padx=pad, pady=pad, sticky=tk.S)
btn_se.grid(row=r, column=c + 2, padx=pad, pady=pad, sticky=tk.SE)
frame.grid(sticky=tk.NSEW)
for i in (0, 2):
frame.rowconfigure(i, weight=1)
frame.columnconfigure(i, weight=1)
root.rowconfigure(0, weight=1)
root.columnconfigure(0, weight=1)
root.title('Tooltip wraplength = {}'.format(wraplength))
root.mainloop()
def main():
print('Trying out three different wraplengths:')
for i, wl in enumerate((200, 250, 400), 1):
print(' ', i)
main_01(wl)
print('Done.')
main()
I would not recommend to use Tix widgets, since Tix is basically not supported anymore and usually causes a lot of problems.
The following is an example of a tooltip directly taken from the Python's idlelib module:
# general purpose 'tooltip' routines - currently unused in idlefork
# (although the 'calltips' extension is partly based on this code)
# may be useful for some purposes in (or almost in ;) the current project scope
# Ideas gleaned from PySol
from tkinter import *
class ToolTipBase:
def __init__(self, button):
self.button = button
self.tipwindow = None
self.id = None
self.x = self.y = 0
self._id1 = self.button.bind("<Enter>", self.enter)
self._id2 = self.button.bind("<Leave>", self.leave)
self._id3 = self.button.bind("<ButtonPress>", self.leave)
def enter(self, event=None):
self.schedule()
def leave(self, event=None):
self.unschedule()
self.hidetip()
def schedule(self):
self.unschedule()
self.id = self.button.after(1500, self.showtip)
def unschedule(self):
id = self.id
self.id = None
if id:
self.button.after_cancel(id)
def showtip(self):
if self.tipwindow:
return
# The tip window must be completely outside the button;
# otherwise when the mouse enters the tip window we get
# a leave event and it disappears, and then we get an enter
# event and it reappears, and so on forever :-(
x = self.button.winfo_rootx() + 20
y = self.button.winfo_rooty() + self.button.winfo_height() + 1
self.tipwindow = tw = Toplevel(self.button)
tw.wm_overrideredirect(1)
tw.wm_geometry("+%d+%d" % (x, y))
self.showcontents()
def showcontents(self, text="Your text here"):
# Override this in derived class
label = Label(self.tipwindow, text=text, justify=LEFT,
background="#ffffe0", relief=SOLID, borderwidth=1)
label.pack()
def hidetip(self):
tw = self.tipwindow
self.tipwindow = None
if tw:
tw.destroy()
class ToolTip(ToolTipBase):
def __init__(self, button, text):
ToolTipBase.__init__(self, button)
self.text = text
def showcontents(self):
ToolTipBase.showcontents(self, self.text)
class ListboxToolTip(ToolTipBase):
def __init__(self, button, items):
ToolTipBase.__init__(self, button)
self.items = items
def showcontents(self):
listbox = Listbox(self.tipwindow, background="#ffffe0")
listbox.pack()
for item in self.items:
listbox.insert(END, item)
You could also import the module directly and use it:
from idlelib.ToolTip import *
def main():
root = Tk()
b = Button(root, text="Hello", command=root.destroy)
b.pack()
root.update()
tip = ListboxToolTip(b, ["Hello", "world"])
root.mainloop()
if __name__ == '__main__':
main()
I am using Python 3.4, and it is possible that other Python's distributions do not contain this ToolTip module.