Listbox widget : Options for user to select

Code is here

import tkinter as tk
my_w = tk.Tk()
my_w.geometry("400x250")  # Size of the window 
my_w.title("www.plus2net.com") # Window title
font1=['Arial',15,'normal'] # Font type,size, style 
    
lb1 = tk.Listbox(my_w,height=6,font=font1,bg='lightgreen')
lb1.grid(row=1,column=1,padx=30,pady=20) 
    
lb1.insert(1,'PHP') # Adding element to Listbox
lb1.insert(1,'MySQL')
lb1.insert(3,'Python')
lb1.insert(4,'JavaScript')

my_w.mainloop()  # Keep the window open

Tkinter Listbox widget to show options for user selection

Index of Listbox elements starts from 0 .

import tkinter as tk
my_w = tk.Tk()
my_w.geometry("500x500")  # Size of the window 

lb1 = tk.Listbox(my_w)
lb1.grid(row=1,column=1) 

lb1.insert(1,'PHP')   # Adding one element to Listbox 
lb1.insert(2,'Python')
lb1.insert(3,'MySQL')

print(lb1.get(0))  # Output PHP
print(lb1.get(2))  # Output MySQL

my_w.mainloop()  # Keep the window open

Add elements by using a List and displaying the first element using ACTIVE

import tkinter as tk
my_w = tk.Tk()
my_w.geometry("500x300")  # Size of the window 

lb1 = tk.Listbox(my_w)
lb1.grid(row=1,column=1) 
my_list=['PHP','Python','MySQL']
for element in my_list:
    lb1.insert(tk.END,element)
print(lb1.get(tk.ACTIVE))    # print the first element only 
my_w.mainloop()  # Keep the window open

Read and print the selected element on Click event of a button.

import tkinter as tk
my_w = tk.Tk()
my_w.geometry("500x500")  # Size of the window 

def my_upd():
    print(lb1.get(tk.ACTIVE))     # The selected element  
        
lb1 = tk.Listbox(my_w,height=4)
lb1.grid(row=1,column=1) 
my_list=['PHP','Python','MySQL']
for element in my_list:
    lb1.insert(tk.END,element)

    
b1 = tk.Button(my_w, text='Show', width=10,
	bg='yellow',command=lambda: my_upd())
b1.grid(row=1,column=2) 

my_w.mainloop()  # Keep the window open

Read the selected element on click.

import tkinter as tk
my_w = tk.Tk()
my_w.geometry("500x500")  # Size of the window 

def my_upd(my_widget):
    my_w = my_widget.widget
    index = int(my_w.curselection()[0])
    value = my_w.get(index)
    print ("You selected item ",index, value) 
    
    
lb1 = tk.Listbox(my_w,height=4)
lb1.grid(row=1,column=1) 
my_list=['PHP','Python','MySQL']
for element in my_list:
    lb1.insert(tk.END,element)
    
lb1.bind('<<ListboxSelect>>', my_upd)
    
my_w.mainloop()  # Keep the window open

In above code we can replace the code inside my_upd() like this also.

def my_upd(my_widget):
    selected_indices = lb1.curselection() # index of selected
    print(selected_indices) # the tuple with selected index 
    print(lb1.get(selected_indices)) # value

Delete Elements of a Listbox

We can delete selected elements or all elements or by position of the element. You can uncomment the respective line and check how to remove items.

import tkinter as tk
my_w = tk.Tk()
my_w.geometry("500x500") 

def my_upd():
    lb1.delete(tk.ANCHOR)  # Delete selected element
    #lb1.delete(2)  # Remove the 2nd position element 
        
lb1 = tk.Listbox(my_w,height=6)
lb1.grid(row=1,column=1) 
my_list=['PHP','Python','MySQL','JavaScript','JQuery']
for element in my_list:
    lb1.insert(tk.END,element)

#lb1.delete(0,END)     # Delete all elements 

b1 = tk.Button(my_w, text="Delete", command=lambda: my_upd())
b1.grid(row=1,column=2) 
    
my_w.mainloop()

We can directly write our delete command with onClick event of the button.

b1 = tk.Button(my_w, text="Delete", command=lambda lb1=lb1: lb1.delete(tk.ANCHOR))

Displaying selected item of Listbox on a Label

Updating Label with Listbox user selected Option Part III

Here we have connected one StringVar() str1 to the Label lb2. Once the user selects any option, the function my_upd() is triggered and the value of the StringVar() str1 is updated by reading the selected element.

import tkinter as tk

my_w = tk.Tk()
my_w.geometry("450x200")  # Size of the window 
font1=['Arial',15,'normal'] # Font type,size, style 

lb1 = tk.Listbox(my_w,height=6,font=font1,bg='lightgreen')
lb1.grid(row=1,column=1,padx=30,pady=20) 

my_list=['PHP','Python','MySQL','HTML','JQuery']
for element in my_list:
    lb1.insert(tk.END,element)

str1=tk.StringVar(value='plus2net') # common string Variable
lb2=tk.Label(my_w,bg='lightyellow',textvariable=str1,font=font1)
lb2.grid(row=1,column=3,padx=5,pady=20)

def my_upd(my_widget): # Triggers on selection of Listbox
    selected_indices = lb1.curselection() #index 
    str1.set(lb1.get(selected_indices)) # Update StrinvVar() 

lb1.bind('<<ListboxSelect>>', my_upd) # binding select event 
my_w.mainloop()  # Keep the window open

Multiple selection of options of a Listbox

Displaying Multiple selections of options of a Listbox in a Label Part IV

We will modify the above code and add the option selectmode='multiple' to the Listbox. Inside the function my_upd() our variable selected_indices will hold a list of indices of the selected ( multiple ) options. Using this list we will prepare a string and update the StringVar() str1.

import tkinter as tk

my_w = tk.Tk()
my_w.geometry("450x200")  # Size of the window 
font1=['Arial',15,'normal'] # Font type,size, style 

lb1 = tk.Listbox(my_w,height=6,selectmode='multiple',
                 width=10,font=font1,bg='lightgreen')
lb1.grid(row=1,column=1,padx=10,pady=20) 

my_list=['PHP','Python','MySQL','HTML','JQuery']
for element in my_list:
    lb1.insert(tk.END,element)

str1=tk.StringVar(value='plus2net') # common string Variable
lb2=tk.Label(my_w,bg='lightyellow',textvariable=str1,font=font1)
lb2.grid(row=1,column=2,padx=1,pady=20)

def my_upd(my_widget): # Triggers on selection of Listbox
    selected_indices = lb1.curselection() #index 
    #my_list=map(lambda n:lb1.get(n),selected_indices)
    my_list=list() # blank list 
    for i in selected_indices:
        #print(lb1.get(i))
        my_list.append(lb1.get(i)) # adding to list
    my_str=",".join(map(str,my_list)) # convert to string
    str1.set(my_str) # Update stringVar()

lb1.bind('<<ListboxSelect>>', my_upd) # binding select event 
my_w.mainloop()  # Keep the window open

Reading elements from Listbox

We can add elements to Listbox by using listvariable option. Using this same variable we can get all the items of the listbox as Tuple.

import tkinter as tk
my_w = tk.Tk()
my_w.geometry("500x500")  # Size of the window 
my_list=['PHP','Python','MySQL']
my_list_v=tk.Variable(value=my_list)
lb1 = tk.Listbox(my_w,listvariable=my_list_v)
lb1.grid(row=1,column=1) 
d1=my_list_v.get() # get all the elements of listbox as tuple. 
print(d1)# print all elements 
my_w.mainloop()  # Keep the window open

Adding Scrollbar to Listbox widget

bg	Background colour of the Listbox `lb1 = tk.Listbox(my_w,height=3,bg='yellow')`
bd	Border width of the Listbox `lb1 = tk.Listbox(my_w,height=3,bd=5)`
cursor	cursor that will appear once the mouse is over the text box `lb1 = tk.Listbox(my_w,height=3,cursor='boat')` You can get a list of cursor shapes in our Tkinter button page
font	Font size style of the button `import tkinter as tk my_w=tk.Tk() my_w.geometry('200x100') lb1 = tk.Listbox(my_w,height=3,font=18) b1.grid(row=1,column=1) my_w.mainloop()` We can use variable for type and style. `import tkinter as tk my_w=tk.Tk() my_w.geometry('200x100') my_font=('times', 8, 'underline') lb1 = tk.Listbox(my_w,height=3,font=my_font) b1.grid(row=1,column=1) my_w.mainloop()`
fg	Same as foreground `lb1 = tk.Listbox(my_w,height=3,fg='green')`
height	Height of the Listbox `lb1 = tk.Listbox(my_w, height=3)`

highlightcolor : Border colour when the Listbox is in focus.

lb1 = tk.Listbox(my_w,height=3,highlightcolor='yellow',highlightthickness=5)

highlightthickness : Thickness of selected Listbox border

lb1 = tk.Listbox(my_w,height=3,highlightcolor='yellow',highlightthickness=5)

relief

The Listbox ( borders ) 3 D effect style.
It can take these values raised , sunken ,flat, ridge, solid & groove

#relief  
import tkinter as tk
my_w = tk.Tk()
my_w.geometry("200x400") 

lb1 = tk.Label(my_w,  text='relief' ) 
lb1.grid(row=1,column=1) 

lb1 = tk.Label(my_w,  text='raised' ) 
lb1.grid(row=2,column=1)
lb1 = tk.Listbox(my_w,height=3,relief='raised')
lb1.grid(row=2,column=2) 

lb1.insert(1,'PHP')  
lb1.insert(2,'Python')
lb1.insert(3,'MySQL')

lb1 = tk.Label(my_w,  text='sunken' ) 
lb1.grid(row=3,column=1)
l2 = tk.Listbox(my_w,height=3,relief='sunken')
l2.grid(row=3,column=2) 

l2.insert(1,'PHP')  
l2.insert(2,'Python')
l2.insert(3,'MySQL')

lb1 = tk.Label(my_w,  text='flat' ) 
lb1.grid(row=4,column=1)
l3 = tk.Listbox(my_w,height=3,relief='flat')
l3.grid(row=4,column=2) 


l3.insert(1,'PHP')  
l3.insert(2,'Python')
l3.insert(3,'MySQL')

lb1 = tk.Label(my_w,  text='ridge' ) 
lb1.grid(row=5,column=1)
l4 = tk.Listbox(my_w,height=3,relief='ridge')
l4.grid(row=5,column=2) 

l4.insert(1,'PHP')  
l4.insert(2,'Python')
l4.insert(3,'MySQL')

lb1 = tk.Label(my_w,  text='solid' ) 
lb1.grid(row=6,column=1)
l5 = tk.Listbox(my_w,height=3,relief='solid')
l5.grid(row=6,column=2) 

l5.insert(1,'PHP')  
l5.insert(2,'Python')
l5.insert(3,'MySQL')

lb1 = tk.Label(my_w,  text='groove' ) 
lb1.grid(row=7,column=1)
l6 = tk.Listbox(my_w,height=3,relief='groove')
l6.grid(row=7,column=2) 

l6.insert(1,'PHP')  
l6.insert(2,'Python')
l6.insert(3,'MySQL')

my_w.mainloop()

selectbackground:Background colour once element is selected.

lb1 = tk.Listbox(my_w,height=3, selectbackground='yellow')

selectforeground :Foreground (font ) colour once element is selected.

lb1 = tk.Listbox(my_w,height=3, selectforeground='green')

selectmode: It can be SINGLE, BROWSE, MULTIPLE, EXTENDED

lb1 = tk.Listbox(my_w,height=3,selectmode='multiple')

state	values= normal, active or disabled `lb1 = tk.Listbox(my_w,height=3,state='disable')`
width	width of the button in Chars `lb1 = tk.Listbox(my_w,height=3,width=7)`

Exercise on Listbox
By using a text box add elements to a Listbox
Create a button to delete all elements of a Listbox, Another button to delete selected element
Create a Listbox with 10 items. Create a button to delete 2nd element. Check what happens if multiple time the button is clicked.
In first column create a Listbox with PHP, MySQL & Python as elements.
In Second column create three checkbuttons for PHP, MySQL & Python
In third column create three radiobuttons for PHP, MySQL & Python.

On selection ( click ) of PHP ( or any other option ) in first column (having listbox) , respective checkbox ( PHP ) and radiobutton (PHP) should be selected.
Use the CSV file at the end of the dictionary tutorial. Then read the data and populate one listbox with student names. Then on selection of any student name the respective subject marks with attendance should populate. You should continue with printing of total mark and attendance

Solution
Listbox options from Database Table ( as source ) Tkinter Autocomplete using Entry & Listbox.

Python Tkinter Label Python- Tutorials

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel here

Listbox : Options for user to select. Part I

Delete Elements of a Listbox

Displaying selected item of Listbox on a Label

Multiple selection of options of a Listbox

Reading elements from Listbox

Subscribe