Creating a Tkinter GUI Application With Multiple Pages

Python’s Tkinter library is a powerful tool for creating user interfaces. One common feature many developers look for in GUI applications is the ability to have multiple pages or screens. This can be useful for organizing content, navigating through different sections of an application, or creating a multi-step form. In this article, we will cover how to create a Tkinter GUI application with multiple pages and how to switch between them.

Creating Multiple Pages in Tkinter

To create a Tkinter application with multiple pages, we can use the `ttk.Notebook` widget. This widget allows us to add multiple tabs, each containing a different page. We can then add different widgets to each page, creating a unique layout and content for each section of our application.

Example:

import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import ttk

class MultiPageApp(tk.Tk):
    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
        tk.Tk.__init__(self, *args, **kwargs)
        self.title("MultiPage Tkinter App")
        
		# Create a container to hold the different pages
        self.container = ttk.Notebook(self)
        self.container.pack(fill="both", expand=True)
        
        # Add pages to the container
        self.page1 = tk.Frame(self.container)
        self.page2 = tk.Frame(self.container)
        
        self.container.add(self.page1, text="Page 1")
        self.container.add(self.page2, text="Page 2")
        
        # Add widgets to each page
        label1 = tk.Label(self.page1, text="This is Page 1")
        label1.pack()
        
        label2 = tk.Label(self.page2, text="This is Page 2")
        label2.pack()

app = MultiPageApp()
app.mainloop()
	

Switching Between Pages

Now that we have created multiple pages in our Tkinter application, we can add buttons or other widgets to allow the user to switch between them. We can use the `container.select()` method to set which page is currently shown. We can also bind events to different widgets to switch pages based on user interaction, such as clicking a button or selecting an item from a dropdown menu.

Example:

class MultiPageApp(tk.Tk):
    # (...)

    def show_page1(self):
        self.container.select(self.page1)
    
    def show_page2(self):
        self.container.select(self.page2)

    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
        # (...)
        
        # Add buttons to switch between pages
        btn1 = tk.Button(self, text="Show Page 1", command=self.show_page1)
        btn1.pack()
        
        btn2 = tk.Button(self, text="Show Page 2", command=self.show_page2)
        btn2.pack()

app = MultiPageApp()
app.mainloop()
	

Conclusion

Creating a Tkinter GUI application with multiple pages allows us to design more complex interfaces and improve the user experience. By using the `ttk.Notebook` widget and adding buttons to switch between pages, we can create a versatile and dynamic application that can adapt to different user needs and scenarios.

With this knowledge, you can now start building your own multi-page Tkinter applications, implementing features such as pagination, navigation, and multi-step forms.