How to return a value of a function given as a command in tkinter

Question

I\'ve written a very simple code with python tkinter, it contains an input box. I\'d like to keep the value inserted by the user to myself, in case I need to use it

Answer 1

I would recommend using OOP approach, to have an object retaining a state:

import tkinter as tk


class Program:
    def __init__(self):
        self.root = tk.Tk()
        self.name_label = tk.Label(self.root, text='Username',
                                   font=('calibre', 10, 'bold'))
        self.name_entry = tk.Entry(self.root, font=('calibre', 10, 'normal'))
        self.sub_btn = tk.Button(self.root, text='Submit', command=self.submit)
        self.submitted_var = tk.StringVar()

        self.submitted_label = tk.Label(self.root, text="Submitted name: ")
        self.submitted_entry = tk.Label(self.root, textvariable=self.submitted_var)

    def setup(self):
        self.submitted_label.grid(row=0, column=0)
        self.submitted_entry.grid(row=0, column=1)
        self.name_label.grid(row=1, column=0)
        self.name_entry.grid(row=1, column=1)
        self.sub_btn.grid(row=2, column=1)

    def submit(self):
        self.submitted_var.set(self.name_entry.get())

    def run(self):
        self.setup()
        self.root.mainloop()

if __name__ == '__main__':
    Program().run()

Then you can use self.submitted_var.get() anywhere to get the last submitted value. Although, the more straight-forward way would be to link a StringVar directly to name_entry, but then it would change every time the Entry widget value changes, rendering the submit button useless.

Answer 2

Most times, callbacks drop the return value (all tkinter callbacks do), if any. This is because is is a bit awkward to manage return values using the observer pattern which is most often used for callbacks.

There are two main ways to transfer a value from the CB to where it is needed:

One is to use a container object - that may be a simple python list or dict, or a more elaborate data class that is accessible by the callback, and mutated to assign the proper values to it.

here is a very simple example using a dictionary:

import tkinter as tk 

def print_info():
    print(f'from print_info: {information_transfer}')

def submit(): 
    information_transfer['name'] = name_entry.get() 
    print(f'after input: {information_transfer}')
       
root=tk.Tk()   
root.geometry("600x400") 
   
name_label = tk.Label(root, text = 'Username', font=('calibre', 10, 'bold')) 
name_entry = tk.Entry(root, font=('calibre', 10, 'normal')) 
     
sub_btn = tk.Button(root,text='Submit', command=submit)
info_btn = tk.Button(root,text='print info', command=print_info)


name_label.grid(row=0, column=0) 
name_entry.grid(row=0, column=1)  
sub_btn.grid(row=2, column=1) 
info_btn.grid(row=3, column=1) 

information_transfer = {'name': None, 'other': None}
print(f'before input: {information_transfer}')

root.mainloop()

Another is the OOP approach described by @DavidGildour in another answer.