Python PySimpleGUI Tutorial #02: Creating Buttons and Menu Elements

In this tutorial, we will be focusing on how to create buttons and menu elements using Python PySimpleGUI library. PySimpleGUI is a powerful, easy-to-use GUI library for Python that allows you to quickly create GUI applications with minimal code.

To get started, make sure you have PySimpleGUI installed on your machine. You can install it using pip:

pip install PySimpleGUI

Now, let’s dive into creating buttons and menu elements in PySimpleGUI.

Creating Buttons:
Buttons are one of the most common GUI elements used in applications. In PySimpleGUI, you can create buttons using the Button element. Here’s an example of how to create a basic window with a button:

import PySimpleGUI as sg

layout = [[sg.Button('Click me')]]

window = sg.Window('Button Example', layout)

while True:
    event, values = window.read()

    if event == sg.WIN_CLOSED:
        break

window.close()

In this code snippet, we create a simple window with a single button labeled "Click me". The sg.Window function is used to create a window with the specified layout, and the window.read() function is used to read events from the window. When the button is clicked, the event variable will be set to the button’s text.

Creating Menu Elements:
Menu elements are used to create dropdown menus in GUI applications. PySimpleGUI provides the Menu and Menu Element elements for creating menu elements. Here’s an example of how to create a window with a simple dropdown menu:

import PySimpleGUI as sg

layout = [
    [sg.Menu([
        ['File', ['Open', 'Save', 'Exit']],
        ['Edit', ['Cut', 'Copy', 'Paste']]
    ])]
]

window = sg.Window('Menu Example', layout)

while True:
    event, values = window.read()

    if event == sg.WIN_CLOSED:
        break

window.close()

In this code snippet, we create a window with a menu containing two main menu items: "File" and "Edit". Each main menu item has a dropdown menu associated with it, containing the specified submenu items.

Overall, PySimpleGUI provides a simple and intuitive way to create buttons and menu elements in GUI applications. By following the examples provided in this tutorial, you should be able to easily create buttons and menu elements for your own PySimpleGUI applications.