How to use tix balloon on a function event?

Question

I have a program that will count the index length of a highlighted area. I wanted to use tix balloon to show the the result. But in order to use the tix balloon, it required me bind it to the a widget. Instead of binding it to a whole widget, I only want the balloon to show once when a certain event is being called.

Demo of my program (Count start and end index of the highlighted area)

Expected output The balloon will show the result beside the highlighted area

Code

root.mainloop()from tkinter import *

import tkinter.tix as tkx

def print_count(event):
    if text.tag_ranges('sel'):
        global s0 , s1
        s0 = text.index("sel.first")
        s1 = text.index("sel.last")
        countstringstart = s0.split('.')[1]
        countstringend = s1.split('.')[1]
        print(countstringstart)
        print(countstringend)
        waitshowballon()

root = tkx.Tk()
global text
text = Text(root)
text.bind('<ButtonRelease-1>', print_count)
text.pack()

def waitshowballon():
    tooltip = tkx.Balloon(root, initwait=100)
    tooltip.bind_widget(text, balloonmsg=s0)

root.mainloop()

Answer 1

Create your own tooltip. tix don't seem to provide position parameter.

Creating your own tooltip is quite simpler than you think. This answer will give you an idea on how to make your own tooltip.

Create a show function that takes the indexes as parameters. Use .bbox(index) to get the position of the index and display the tooltip just above the selected letter.

Sample code:

from tkinter import *

class TextToolTip:

    def __init__(self, root, widget:Text, delay=0):
        
        self.parent = root
        self.delay = delay
        self.widget = widget
        
        self.top = None
        self.pos_x, self.pos_y = 0, 0

        self.i0, self.i1 = "", ""
        self.after_id = None

        self.msg=''
        
        self.bind()
        
    def bind(self):
        self.parent.bind('<Button>', self.hide)
        self.parent.bind('<Configure>', self.move)
        self.widget.tag_bind('sel', '<Enter>', self._display) #  remove this if hover tooltip is not necessary
        self.widget.tag_bind('sel', '<Leave>', self.tempHide)
                

    def tempHide(self, event):
        # similar to hide method the only difference is that this does't reset self.i0 and self.i1
        if self.top:
            self.top.destroy()
            self.top = None

    
    def hide(self, event=None):
        # destroys the top level
        if self.top:
            self.top.destroy()
            self.top = None
      
        self.i0, self.i1 = "", ""

    def move(self, event):
        # moves the tooltip along with the window
        if self.top:
            x, y = self.calcPos()
            if x and y:
                self.top.wm_geometry(f"+{x}+{y}")
                
            else:
                self.hide()

    def _display(self, event=None):
        # creates the tool tip
        if self.top is None:
            self.top = Toplevel(self.parent)
            self.top.wm_overrideredirect(True)
            
            label = Label(self.top, text=self.msg, justify='left',
                           background="black", foreground='white',
                          relief='solid', borderwidth=1)

            label.pack()
            
            x, y = self.calcPos()
            if x and y:
                self.top.wm_geometry(f"+{x}+{y}")
                    
            else:
                self.hide()
                return         

    def calcPos(self):  # calculates the position to display the tool tip
        
        try:
            self.widget.update_idletasks()
            b1, b2 = self.widget.bbox(self.i0), self.widget.bbox(self.i1)
            win_x, win_y = self.parent.winfo_x(), self.parent.winfo_y()
            return win_x + ((b2[0]+b1[0])//2), win_y + b1[1]

        except Exception:

            return None, None
            
    def show(self, msg, i0, i1):  
        """ pass in the index and the message (note: must pass a valid index ctrl+a might not provide
                correct index. A simple conditionl stmt to check should do the job.)"""
        if self.top:
            self.hide()

        if self.after_id:
            self.parent.after_cancel(self.after_id)
            self.after_id = None
        
        self.i0, self.i1 = i0, i1
        self.msg = msg
        self.after_id = self.parent.after(self.delay, self._display)
        
        
def print_count(event):
    if text.tag_ranges('sel'):
        global s0 , s1
        s0 = text.index("sel.first")
        s1 = text.index("sel.last")
        countstringstart = s0.split('.')[1]
        countstringend = s1.split('.')[1]

        waitshowballon(countstringstart, countstringend)

    else:
        tooltip.hide()    

    
root = Tk()

text = Text(root)
text.bind('<<Selection>>', print_count)
text.pack()

tooltip = TextToolTip(root, text, 500)  # pass in the rot, text widget and delay


def waitshowballon(cs, ce):
 
    tooltip.show(f"{cs}-{ce}", s0, s1)

root.mainloop()