Python Tkinter Scale Widget

In this post, you will learn about the Python Tkinter scale widget.

Python provides various libraries for developing Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) applications, such as PyQT, Tkinter, Kivy, and PySide. Tkinter is the standard GUI library that provides a fast and easy way to create GUI applications. It is also called the Tk interface. It is an original GUI library for Tcl (Tool Command Language). Tkinter comes pre-installed with Python. The greatest strength of Tkinter is its straightforwardness.

Python Tkinter provides a Scale widget to create a slider. It allows a user to select a numeric value by moving a slider knob along a scale. We can arrange the slider horizontally or vertically. The Scale widget creates a graphical object that allows a user to set a value by moving an indicator.

Syntax of scale() widget

scale(parent, options,...)

Here, the word parent is used to represent the parent window. These are the lists of options for the scale widget.

Option	Description
activebackground	To set the color of the slider when the mouse is over the scale.
bg	To set the background color of the parts of the widget that are outside of the trough.
bd	To set the 3-d border around the slider.
command	The procedure is called every time the slider is moved.
cursor	To change the cursor icon when the mouse is over the scale.
digits	A control variable to read the current value shown in a scale widget. It can be an IntVar, DoubleVar, or a StringVar.
font	The font type used for labels or annotations.
fg	To set the foreground color of the text.
from_	It contains one end of the scale. This is the top end of the vertical scale and the left end of the horizontal scale.
highlightbackground	To set the color of the focus highlight when the widget does not have focus.
highlightcolor	To set the color of the focus highlight when the widget has focus.
highlightthickness	To set the thickness of the focus highlight.
label	To set a label within the scale widget.
length	The length of the scale widget. By default, they are 100 pixels.
orient	Set orient = HORIZONTAL if you want the scale to run along the x direction.
relief	To set a border around the label.
repeatdelay	To set the duration up to which the button is pressed before the slider starts moving in that direction repeatedly.
resolution	This is the smallest unit that the user will be able to change the scale in whole units.
showvalue	To show the current value of the scale in text form via the slider. Set this option to 0 to suppress that label.
state	By default, the scale widget is activate. We can set this value to 'DISABLED' for making it unresponsive.
takefocus	The focus will cycle through the scale widgets by default. We can set this option to 0.
tickinterval	No ticks are displayed by default. We can set this option to a periodic number.
to	It contains one end of the scale. This is the bottom end for the vertical scale and the right end for the horizontal scale.
troughcolor	To set the color of the trough.
variable	It shows a control variable for the scale.
width	The width of the trough part of the widget.

Methods of scale widget

get() - This method returns the current value of the scale.
set(value) - This method sets the scale's value.

Simple tkinter scale widget Program

Here is the basic scale slider program -

from tkinter import *
master = Tk()
w = Scale(master, from_=0, to=50)
w.pack()
w = Scale(master, from_=0, to=50, orient=HORIZONTAL)
w.pack()
mainloop()

Output of the above code- Python Tkinter Scale

Tkinter scale get value

In the given tkinter scale widget program, we are getting the current value of the scale.

from tkinter import *

def getValue():
   selection = "Value = " + str(var.get())
   label.config(text = selection)

root = Tk()
var = DoubleVar()
scale = Scale( root, variable = var )
scale.pack(anchor=CENTER)

button = Button(root, text="Get Scale Value", command=getValue)
button.pack(anchor=CENTER)

label = Label(root)
label.pack()

root.mainloop()

Output of the above code: Python Tkinter Scale

Advance Tkinter Scale Program

Here, we have added more options to the scale widget for enhancing the features of the scroller. We have defined 'onScroll()' method that will be called every time the slider is moved and we have created a button that is attached with 'readScale()' method to read the current slider value.

from tkinter import *

class TkSlider(Frame):
    def __init__(self,parent=None):
        Frame.__init__(self,parent)
        self.pack()
        self.var = IntVar()
        
        Scale(self,label='Miles',
            command=self.onScroll,
            variable = self.var,
            from_=0 , to=100,
            length=200,
            tickinterval=20,
            orient=HORIZONTAL,
            bg="#8ED2C9",
            fg="black",
            troughcolor="#006495",
            width=20  ).pack()
        
        Button(self , text='Read',
               command=self.readScale).pack(pady=10)

    def onScroll(self, value):
        print ('Current Value = ' , value)

    def readScale(self):
        print ('Read Scroller = ' , self.var.get())

if __name__ == '__main__' :
    TkSlider().mainloop()

Output of the above code-

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