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Column

Column documentation

A container element that is used to create a layout within your window's layout

Column(
    layout,
    background_color = None,
    size = (None, None),
    s = (None, None),
    size_subsample_width = 1,
    size_subsample_height = 2,
    pad = None,
    p = None,
    scrollable = False,
    vertical_scroll_only = False,
    right_click_menu = None,
    key = None,
    k = None,
    visible = True,
    justification = None,
    element_justification = None,
    vertical_alignment = None,
    grab = None,
    expand_x = None,
    expand_y = None,
    metadata = None,
    sbar_trough_color = None,
    sbar_background_color = None,
    sbar_arrow_color = None,
    sbar_width = None,
    sbar_arrow_width = None,
    sbar_frame_color = None,
    sbar_relief = None
)

Parameter Descriptions

Name Type Default Description
background_color str None color of background of entire Column
element_justification str None All elements inside the Column will have this justification 'left', 'right', 'center' are valid values
expand_x bool None If True the column will automatically expand in the X direction to fill available space
expand_y bool None If True the column will automatically expand in the Y direction to fill available space
grab bool None If True can grab this element and move the window around. Default is False
justification str None set justification for the Column itself. Note entire row containing the Column will be affected
k str or int or tuple or object None Same as the Key. You can use either k or key. Which ever is set will be used.
key str or int or tuple or object None Value that uniquely identifies this element from all other elements. Used when Finding an element or in return values. Must be unique to the window
layout List[List[Element]] Layout that will be shown in the Column container
metadata Any None User metadata that can be set to ANYTHING
p (int, int or (int, int),(int,int) or int,(int,int)) or ((int, int),int) or int None Same as pad parameter. It's an alias. If EITHER of them are set, then the one that's set will be used. If BOTH are set, pad will be used
pad (int, int or (int, int),(int,int) or int,(int,int)) or ((int, int),int) or int None Amount of padding to put around element in pixels (left/right, top/bottom) or ((left, right), (top, bottom)) or an int. If an int, then it's converted into a tuple (int, int)
right_click_menu List[List[ List[str] or str ]] None A list of lists of Menu items to show when this element is right clicked. See user docs for exact format.
s (int or None, int or None) (None, None) Same as size parameter. It's an alias. If EITHER of them are set, then the one that's set will be used. If BOTH are set, size will be used
sbar_arrow_color str None Scrollbar color of the arrow at the ends of the scrollbar (it looks like a button). Switches to background color when mouse is over
sbar_arrow_width int None Scrollbar width of the arrow on the scrollbar. It will potentially impact the overall width of the scrollbar
sbar_background_color str None Scrollbar color of the background of the arrow buttons at the ends AND the color of the "thumb" (the thing you grab and slide). Switches to arrow color when mouse is over
sbar_frame_color str None Scrollbar Color of frame around scrollbar (available only on some ttk themes)
sbar_relief str None Scrollbar relief that will be used for the "thumb" of the scrollbar (the thing you grab that slides). Should be a constant that is defined at starting with "RELIEF_" - RELIEF_RAISED, RELIEF_SUNKEN, RELIEF_FLAT, RELIEF_RIDGE, RELIEF_GROOVE, RELIEF_SOLID
sbar_trough_color str None Scrollbar color of the trough
sbar_width int None Scrollbar width in pixels
scrollable bool False if True then scrollbars will be added to the column. If you update the contents of a scrollable column, be sure and call Column.contents_changed also
size (int or None, int or None) (None, None) (width, height) size in pixels (doesn't work quite right, sometimes only 1 dimension is set by tkinter. Use a Sizer Element to help set sizes
size_subsample_height float 2 Determines the size of a scrollable height based on 1/size_subsample * required size. 1 = match the contents exactly, 2 = 1/2 contents size, 3 = 1/3. Can be a fraction to make larger than required..
size_subsample_width float 1 Determines the size of a scrollable column width based on 1/size_subsample * required size. 1 = match the contents exactly, 2 = 1/2 contents size, 3 = 1/3. Can be a fraction to make larger than required.
vertical_alignment str None Place the column at the 'top', 'center', 'bottom' of the row (can also use t,c,r). Defaults to no setting (tkinter decides)
vertical_scroll_only bool False if True then no horizontal scrollbar will be shown if a scrollable column
visible bool True set visibility state of the element

Class Properties

key
metadata
visible
widget

key

Returns key for the element. This is a READONLY property. Keys can be any hashable object (basically anything except a list... tuples are ok, but not lists)

key
Parameter Descriptions

Name Type Default Description
RETURN Any The window's Key

metadata

Metadata is an Element property that you can use at any time to hold any value

metadata
Parameter Descriptions

Name Type Default Description
RETURN Any the current metadata value

visible

Returns visibility state for the element. This is a READONLY property

visible
Parameter Descriptions

Name Type Default Description
RETURN bool Visibility state for element

widget

Returns tkinter widget for the element. This is a READONLY property. The implementation is that the Widget member variable is returned. This is a backward compatible addition

widget
Parameter Descriptions

Name Type Default Description
RETURN (tkinter.Widget) The element's underlying tkinter widget

Class Methods

 def add_row
 def bind
 def block_focus
 def contents_changed
 def expand
 def get_next_focus
 def get_previous_focus
 def get_size
 def grab_anywhere_exclude
 def grab_anywhere_include
 def hide_row
 def layout
 def remove_tooltip
 def save_element_screenshot_to_disk
 def set_cursor
 def set_focus
 def set_hscroll_position
 def set_right_click_menu
 def set_size
 def set_tooltip
 def set_vscroll_position
 def unbind
 def unhide_row
 def update

add_row

Not recommended user call. Used to add rows of Elements to the Column Element.

add_row(
    args = *<1 or N objects>
)

Parameter Descriptions

Name Type Default Description
*args List[Element] The list of elements for this row

bind

Used to add tkinter events to an Element. The tkinter specific data is in the Element's member variable user_bind_event

bind(
    bind_string,
    key_modifier,
    propagate = True
)

Parameter Descriptions

Name Type Default Description
bind_string str The string tkinter expected in its bind function
key_modifier str Additional data to be added to the element's key when event is returned
propagate bool True If True then tkinter will be told to propagate the event to the element

block_focus

Enable or disable the element from getting focus by using the keyboard. If the block parameter is True, then this element will not be given focus by using the keyboard to go from one element to another. You CAN click on the element and utilize it.

block_focus(
    block = True
)

Parameter Descriptions

Name Type Default Description
block bool True if True the element will not get focus via the keyboard

contents_changed

When a scrollable column has part of its layout changed by making elements visible or invisible or the layout is extended for the Column, then this method needs to be called so that the new scroll area is computed to match the new contents.

contents_changed()

expand

Causes the Element to expand to fill available space in the X and Y directions. Can specify which or both directions

expand(
    expand_x = False,
    expand_y = False,
    expand_row = True
)

Parameter Descriptions

Name Type Default Description
expand_row bool True If True the row containing the element will also expand. Without this your element is "trapped" within the row
expand_x bool False If True Element will expand in the Horizontal directions
expand_y bool False If True Element will expand in the Vertical directions

get_next_focus

Gets the next element that should get focus after this element.

get_next_focus()

Parameter Descriptions

Name Type Default Description
RETURN Element Element that will get focus after this one

get_previous_focus

Gets the element that should get focus previous to this element.

get_previous_focus()

Parameter Descriptions

Name Type Default Description
RETURN Element Element that should get the focus before this one

get_size

Return the size of an element in Pixels. Care must be taken as some elements use characters to specify their size but will return pixels when calling this get_size method.

get_size()

Parameter Descriptions

Name Type Default Description
RETURN (int, int) width and height of the element

grab_anywhere_exclude

Excludes this element from being used by the grab_anywhere feature Handy for elements like a Graph element when dragging is enabled. You want the Graph element to get the drag events instead of the window dragging.

grab_anywhere_exclude()

grab_anywhere_include

Includes this element in the grab_anywhere feature This will allow you to make a Multline element drag a window for example

grab_anywhere_include()

hide_row

Hide the entire row an Element is located on. Use this if you must have all space removed when you are hiding an element, including the row container

hide_row()

layout

Can use like the Window.Layout method, but it's better to use the layout parameter when creating

layout(
    rows
)

Parameter Descriptions

Name Type Default Description
rows List[List[Element]] The rows of Elements
RETURN Column Used for chaining

remove_tooltip

Removes a previiously created tooltip for an element

remove_tooltip()

save_element_screenshot_to_disk

Saves an image of the PySimpleGUI window provided into the filename provided

save_element_screenshot_to_disk(
    filename = None
)

Parameter Descriptions

Name Type Default Description
RETURN (PIL.ImageGrab or None) A PIL ImageGrab object that can be saved or manipulated

set_cursor

Sets the cursor for the current Element. "Cursor" is used in 2 different ways in this call. For the parameter "cursor" it's actually the mouse pointer. If you do not want any mouse pointer, then use the string "none" For the parameter "cursor_color" it's the color of the beam used when typing into an input element

set_cursor(
    cursor = None,
    cursor_color = None
)

Parameter Descriptions

Name Type Default Description
cursor str None The tkinter cursor name
cursor_color str None color to set the "cursor" to

set_focus

Sets the current focus to be on this element

set_focus(
    force = False
)

Parameter Descriptions

Name Type Default Description
force bool False if True will call focus_force otherwise calls focus_set

set_hscroll_position

Attempts to set the horizontal scroll postition for an element's Widget

set_hscroll_position(
    percent_from_left
)

Parameter Descriptions

Name Type Default Description
percent_from_left float From 0 to 1.0, the percentage from the left to move scrollbar to

set_right_click_menu

Sets a right click menu for an element. If a menu is already set for the element, it will call the tkinter destroy method to remove it

set_right_click_menu(
    menu = None
)

Parameter Descriptions

Name Type Default Description
menu List[List[ List[str] or str ]] None A list of lists of Menu items to show when this element is right clicked. See user docs for exact format.

set_size

Changes the size of an element to a specific size. It's possible to specify None for one of sizes so that only 1 of the element's dimensions are changed.

set_size(
    size = (None, None)
)

Parameter Descriptions

Name Type Default Description
size (int, int) (None, None) The size in characters, rows typically. In some cases they are pixels

set_tooltip

Called by application to change the tooltip text for an Element. Normally invoked using the Element Object such as: window.Element('key').SetToolTip('New tip').

set_tooltip(
    tooltip_text
)

Parameter Descriptions

Name Type Default Description
tooltip_text str or None the text to show in tooltip. If None then no tip will be shown

set_vscroll_position

Attempts to set the vertical scroll postition for an element's Widget

set_vscroll_position(
    percent_from_top
)

Parameter Descriptions

Name Type Default Description
percent_from_top float From 0 to 1.0, the percentage from the top to move scrollbar to

unbind

Removes a previously bound tkinter event from an Element.

unbind(
    bind_string
)

Parameter Descriptions

Name Type Default Description
bind_string str The string tkinter expected in its bind function

unhide_row

Unhides (makes visible again) the row container that the Element is located on. Note that it will re-appear at the bottom of the window / container, most likely.

unhide_row()

update

Changes some of the settings for the Column Element. Must call Window.Read or Window.Finalize prior

Changes will not be visible in your window until you call window.read or window.refresh.

If you change visibility, your element may MOVE. If you want it to remain stationary, use the "layout helper" function "pin" to ensure your element is "pinned" to that location in your layout so that it returns there when made visible.

update(
    visible = None
)

Parameter Descriptions

Name Type Default Description
visible bool None control visibility of element