Highlight text when clicked in tkinter

Question

I'm working on my Python program (on an Ubuntu system), and I have little idea of what I am doing: I am importing media filenames from a folder, and print it in a Text widget, and then click it to open on VLC Player. I just want to add an additional feature, that is: when I click on any filename, it should be highlight and then open on VLC.

Can you please guide me on how can I do it?

import subprocess,os
from Tkinter import *

def viewFile():
    tex.delete('1.0', END)
    for f in os.listdir(path):
        if f.endswith('.h264'):
            linkname="link-" + f
            tex.insert(END,f + "\n", linkname)
            tex.tag_configure(linkname, foreground="blue", underline=True)
            tex.tag_bind(linkname, "<1>", lambda event, filename =path+'/'+f: subprocess.call(['vlc',filename]))    # Video play on VLC Player

if __name__ == '__main__':

    root = Tk()
    step= root.attributes('-fullscreen', True)

    step = LabelFrame(root,text="FILE MANAGER", font = "Arial 20 bold   italic")
    step.grid(row=1, columnspan=7, sticky='W',padx=100, pady=5, ipadx=130, ipady=25)

    Button(step,    text="ViewFile",        font = "Arial 8 bold    italic",    activebackground="turquoise",   width=30, height=5, command=viewFile).grid      (row= 6, column =3)
    Button(step,    text="Exit",            font = "Arial 8 bold    italic",    activebackground="turquoise",   width=20, height=5, command=root.quit).grid     (row= 6, column =5)

    tex = Text(master=root)                                      # TextBox For Displaying File Information
    scr=Scrollbar(root,orient =VERTICAL,command=tex.yview)
    scr.grid(row=8, column=2, rowspan=15, columnspan=1, sticky=NS)
    tex.grid(row=8, column=1, sticky=E)
    tex.config(yscrollcommand=scr.set,font=('Arial', 8, 'bold', 'italic'))

    global process
    path = os.path.expanduser("~/python")                   # Define path To play, delete, or rename video

    root.mainloop()

Is there a reason you're using a text widget rather than a listbox? A listbox has this behavior built-in. — Bryan Oakley, Jan 15 '15 at 21:58
I am not good in Python, somebody just advice me to use TextBOx that's y — Fahadkalis, Jan 15 '15 at 22:01

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:43

I modified your example to have the lines highlight. How to highlight a line is explained here. Basicly I added a text_click_callback that check which line is clicked and highlight it and calls vlc. I changed the input folder, to be able to execute the code, as I dont have any video files to work with.

import subprocess,os
from Tkinter import *


def text_click_callback(event):
    # an event to highlight a line when single click is done
    line_no = event.widget.index("@%s,%s linestart" % (event.x, event.y))
    #print(line_no)
    line_end = event.widget.index("%s lineend" % line_no)
    event.widget.tag_remove("highlight", 1.0, "end")
    event.widget.tag_add("highlight", line_no, line_end)
    event.widget.tag_configure("highlight", background="yellow")




def viewFile():
    tex.delete('1.0', END)

    for f in os.listdir(path):
        #if f.endswith('.h264'):
        linkname="link-" + f
        tex.insert(END,f + "\n", linkname)
        tex.tag_configure(linkname, foreground="blue", underline=True)
        tex.tag_bind(linkname, "<Button-1>", text_click_callback )    # highlight a line
        tex.tag_bind(linkname, "<Double-Button-1>", lambda event, filename =path+'/'+f: subprocess.call(['vlc',filename]) )    # Video play on VLC Player



if __name__ == '__main__':

    root = Tk()
    #step= root.attributes('-fullscreen', True)

    step = LabelFrame(root,text="FILE MANAGER", font = "Arial 20 bold   italic")
    step.grid(row=1, columnspan=7, sticky='W',padx=100, pady=5, ipadx=130, ipady=25)

    Button(step,    text="ViewFile",        font = "Arial 8 bold    italic",    activebackground="turquoise",   width=30, height=5, command=viewFile).grid      (row= 6, column =3)
    Button(step,    text="Exit",            font = "Arial 8 bold    italic",    activebackground="turquoise",   width=20, height=5, command=root.quit).grid     (row= 6, column =5)

    tex = Text(master=root)                                      # TextBox For Displaying File Information
    scr=Scrollbar(root,orient =VERTICAL,command=tex.yview)
    scr.grid(row=8, column=2, rowspan=15, columnspan=1, sticky=NS)
    tex.grid(row=8, column=1, sticky=E)
    tex.config(yscrollcommand=scr.set,font=('Arial', 8, 'bold', 'italic'))

    global process
    path = os.path.expanduser("/tmp")                   # Define path To play, delete, or rename video

    root.mainloop()

How it works is shown below:

enter image description here

But I think Bryan Oakley is right. A listbox would be better for this. Nevertheless, if you want to keep using Text, you can do as in the example provided.

Thanks for your coorporation.....is that possible, single will highlight and double will open file on VLC Player — Fahadkalis, Jan 16 '15 at 01:13
@FahadUddin Yes, you can do it. Just added `` button. Please have a look at edited code. — Marcin, Jan 16 '15 at 01:32
Thanks for your too much help n guidance....Is that possible, highlighted filename can be save in a variable — Fahadkalis, Jan 16 '15 at 15:46
Is there a Python function that will allow me to capture the text that is currently highlighted with the cursor and store it in a variable? — Fahadkalis, Jan 19 '15 at 15:16

Highlight text when clicked in tkinter

1 Answers1