In this tutorial, I will explain how to create a Python Tkinter panel with search functionality. As a software developer, I recently faced a challenge where I needed to display a large amount of data in a user-friendly manner. The solution was to create a Tkinter panel with search capabilities. Throughout this article, I’ll share my experience and provide you with a step-by-step guide to building your own Tkinter panel.
Create a Python Tkinter Panel
Let us see how to create a Python Tkinter Panel.
Read How to Create Scrollable Frames with Python Tkinter
1. Panel
The panel behaves like a container, it contains several panes as a child widget and is arranged vertically or horizontally. The child widget can be resized by the user and every pane contains one widget.
Syntax:
p1 = PanedWindow(master,options)Example:
from tkinter import *
ws=Tk()
ws.title("Python Guides")
ws.geometry("500x300")
p1 = PanedWindow()
p1.pack(fill=BOTH, expand=1)
left = Label(p1, text="Left Panel")
p1.add(left)
p2 = PanedWindow(p1, orient=VERTICAL)
p1.add(p2)
top = Label(p2, text="Top Panel")
p2.add(top)
bottom = Label(p2, text="Bottom Panel")
p2.add(bottom)
ws.mainloop()You can see the output in the screenshot below.
We can see a paned window is created inside the window there is a child window. As we set PanedWindow(p1, orient=VERTICAL) , we want to place the child window from top to bottom.
Check out How to Display Images in Python Tkinter?
2. Add a Panel
a panel window is a container we can add anything inside it like buttons, labels, and entry widgets. We can also add panels to the main window by PanedWindow(master, options).
from tkinter import *
ws = Tk()
ws.title("Python Guides")
ws.geometry("500x300")
pawin = PanedWindow(orient ='vertical')
top = Button(pawin, text ="Heya Click Me !\n I am a button")
top.pack(side = TOP)
pawin.add(top)
button = Checkbutton(pawin, text ="Choose Me !")
button.pack(side = TOP)
pawin.add(button)
pawin.pack(fill = BOTH, expand = True)
pawin.configure(relief = RAISED)
ws.mainloop()You can see the output in the screenshot below.
We divide a paned window into two panes. One is the button pane and the other is the checkbox pane.
Read How to Use Colors in Python Tkinter?
3. Scroll Panel
Scroll Panel is used for scrolling the panel window in a predefined direction (Horizontal or vertical).
from tkinter import *
class ScrollBar:
def __init__(self):
ws = Tk()
ws.title("Python Guides")
ws.geometry("200x200")
pw = PanedWindow(orient ='vertical')
h1 = Scrollbar(ws, orient = 'horizontal')
h1.pack(side = BOTTOM, fill = X)
v1 = Scrollbar(ws)
v1.pack(side = RIGHT, fill = Y)
t1 = Text(ws, width = 15, height = 15, wrap = NONE,
xscrollcommand = h1.set,
yscrollcommand = v1.set)
for i in range(20):
t1.insert(END,"Python Guides Tutorial..!!\n")
t1.pack(side=TOP, fill=X)
h1.config(command=t1.xview)
v1.config(command=t1.yview)
ws.mainloop()
s1 = ScrollBar()You can see the output in the screenshot below.
We can see there is only a vertical scroll panel when we want to read the whole content from top to bottom. Then we scroll the vertical scroll panel.
Check out How to Create a Text Box in Python Tkinter?
Create a Python Tkinter Panel with Search Functionality
Now that you have a plan in place, let’s start building the Tkinter panel. We’ll break down the process into smaller steps.
Step 1: Import Required Libraries
Begin by importing the necessary libraries. In this case, we’ll be using Tkinter for creating the GUI.
import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import ttkStep 2: Create the Main Window
Create the main window for your Tkinter application. Set a title and specify the window size.
window = tk.Tk()
window.title("Customer Data Panel")
window.geometry("800x600")Step 3: Create Input Fields and Buttons
Add input fields and buttons to your panel based on your planned layout. For example, let’s add an entry field for searching customer names and a button to trigger the search.
search_label = ttk.Label(window, text="Search Customer:")
search_label.pack()
search_entry = ttk.Entry(window)
search_entry.pack()
search_button = ttk.Button(window, text="Search", command=search_customers)
search_button.pack()Read How to Create Labels in Python with Tkinter?
Step 4: Implement Search Functionality
Create a function that handles the search functionality. This function will be called when the search button is clicked. It should retrieve the search query from the input field and filter the data accordingly.
def filtered_customers(query):
# Sample customer data
customer_data = [
{"name": "Alice Johnson", "email": "alice@example.com", "phone": "123-456-7890"},
{"name": "Bob Smith", "email": "bob@example.com", "phone": "987-654-3210"},
{"name": "Charlie Brown", "email": "charlie@example.com", "phone": "555-555-5555"},
]
# Filter customers based on the query
return [customer for customer in customer_data if query.lower() in customer["name"].lower()]
def search_customers():
query = search_entry.get()
# Clear previous results
result_tree.delete(*result_tree.get_children())
# Populate Treeview with filtered results
customers = filtered_customers(query)
for customer in customers:
result_tree.insert("", tk.END, values=(customer["name"], customer["email"], customer["phone"]))Step 5: Display Search Results
Create a display area to show the search results. You can use a Tkinter Treeview widget to present the data in a tabular format.
result_frame = ttk.Frame(window)
result_frame.pack(fill=tk.BOTH, expand=True)Step 6: Populate the Treeview with Data
Retrieve the data from your data source and populate the Treeview widget with the retrieved data. This can be done within the search_customers function.
result_tree = ttk.Treeview(result_frame, columns=("Name", "Email", "Phone"))
result_tree.heading("Name", text="Name")
result_tree.heading("Email", text="Email")
result_tree.heading("Phone", text="Phone")
result_tree.pack(fill=tk.BOTH, expand=True)Step 7: Run the Tkinter Application
Finally, run the Tkinter application by calling the mainloop method.
window.mainloop()You can see the output of the above code in the screenshot below.
By default, the Treeview widget includes a hierarchical tree column that appears as a blank first column Since we have not specified a primary column. This is useful when you need to create a collapsible tree structure.
Read How to Create Buttons in Python with Tkinter?
Best Practices and Optimization
When building a Tkinter panel with search functionality, consider the following best practices and optimization techniques:
- Code Organization: Organize your code into logical sections and use meaningful variable and function names. This improves code readability and maintainability.
- Performance Optimization: If you’re dealing with large datasets, optimize your search algorithms to ensure fast response times. Consider using techniques like indexing or caching to speed up the search process.
- Error Handling: Implement proper error handling to gracefully handle unexpected situations, such as invalid user inputs or database connection issues.
- User Experience: Focus on creating a user-friendly interface. Provide clear instructions, use appropriate labels and placeholders, and ensure that the panel is visually appealing and intuitive to use.
Check out How to Create a Menu Bar in Tkinter?
Conclusion
In this tutorial, I have explained how to create a Python Tkinter panel with search functionality. I discussed how to create a Python Tkinter adding a panel and scroll panel. I also discussed how to create a Python Tkinter Panel with search functionality step by step and some best practices.
You may read:
- How to Use Tkinter Entry Widget in Python?
- How to Create and Customize Listboxes in Python Tkinter?
- How to Create Checkboxes in Python Tkinter?
I am Bijay Kumar, a Microsoft MVP in SharePoint. Apart from SharePoint, I started working on Python, Machine learning, and artificial intelligence for the last 5 years. During this time I got expertise in various Python libraries also like Tkinter, Pandas, NumPy, Turtle, Django, Matplotlib, Tensorflow, Scipy, Scikit-Learn, etc… for various clients in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, etc. Check out my profile.
