Movatterモバイル変換

Maxim Maeder · 10 min read · Updated mar 2023 ·GUI Programming

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In this article, we will make a simple file explorer with Python and its GUI LibraryTkinter. We are adopting some features from the standard file explorer like the line-edit add the top, opening files with their usual program, and adding new files or folders.

Let's get started!

Imports

As always, we import the needed libraries. We get theos module; this holds a special role since we do all the file interactions using it, such as getting all files in a directory or adding files. Thectypes import is optional; we simply enable high dpi (dots per inch). Calling the function in the last line will do just that. This will result in smoother graphics:

from tkinter import *import osimport ctypesimport pathlib# Increas Dots Per inch so it looks sharperctypes.windll.shcore.SetProcessDpiAwareness(True)

Tkinter Setup

Now we set up Tkinter. We start by making a newTk() object. After that, we set the window title.

Next, we configure one column and one row. These two functions (grid_columnconfigure(), andgrid_rowconfigure()) ensure that the second column and the second row expand. We will place our most essential widgets there, so they get a lot of space. Keep in mind that you can call these functions on any container widget.

root = Tk()# set a title for our file explorer main windowroot.title('Simple Explorer')root.grid_columnconfigure(1, weight=1)root.grid_rowconfigure(1, weight=1)

Handler Functions

After the Tkinter setup, we will continue making some functions that handle most things happening when the user does something.

Some of these functions have the parameterevent=None and you notice that these event parameters aren't used in the function. This is because the functions are being called from two inputs. For one, there are called from buttons or menus, and these kinds of calls don't send any arguments to the supplied command functions.

On the other hand, keyboard bindings will send the keyboard event to the function, but we don't need that info. This parameter will ensure that the functions will be called correctly in either case.

Stringvar Change Event

Let's start with thepathChange() function. This will be called every time our path changes. We will bind aStringVar to it. It will update the list of files and folders and is responsible for displaying them.

We start by getting a list of all files and folders in a given path with theos.listdir() function. After that, we clear our list with itsdelete(start, end) method. Last but not least, we loop over every item in the directory list and insert it into the list with theinsert(index, name) method.

def pathChange(*event):    # Get all Files and Folders from the given Directory    directory = os.listdir(currentPath.get())    # Clearing the list    list.delete(0, END)    # Inserting the files and directories into the list    for file in directory:        list.insert(0, file)

Changing Path by Click or Enter

ThechangePathByClick() function does what it says on the box: It handles when the user clicks on an item in the list and then changes the path or opens the file.

We start by getting the name of the picked item by combining two functions. We supply thelist.get() with the first value that is returned by thelist.curselection().

The latter returns an array of all the selected items; that's why we only need the first item. We continue by joining withos.path.join() this picked file or folder with our current path, which is stored in aStringVar.

We check if the given path is a file with theos.path.isfile(path) function. If this turns out to beTrue, we call theos.startfile(path) with our path to open the file with its standard program. If it'sFalse, we will set theStringVar to the new path, which triggers thepathChange() function we defined earlier and update the displayed files.

def changePathByClick(event=None):    # Get clicked item.    picked = list.get(list.curselection()[0])    # get the complete path by joining the current path with the picked item    path = os.path.join(currentPath.get(), picked)    # Check if item is file, then open it    if os.path.isfile(path):        print('Opening: '+path)        os.startfile(path)    # Set new path, will trigger pathChange function.    else:        currentPath.set(path)

Going One Folder Up

In thechangePathByClick(), we made it so we can enter folders; now we want the opposite: we want to be able to go back.

Here we will use theparent attribute ofpathlib.Path() object to get the parent folder of our current one. After that, we just need to call theset(string) function on ourStringVar and set it to this new path. This will once again trigger thepathChange() function.

def goBack(event=None):    # get the new path    newPath = pathlib.Path(currentPath.get()).parent    # set it to currentPath    currentPath.set(newPath)    # simple message    print('Going Back')

Generating and Opening New File or Folder Popup

In this function, we will make a popup that appears when clicking a menu button.

We start by getting a global variable calledtop that is defined outside the function, and we need to do this, so the other function has access to this variable.

It holds the window object, which is made in the following line withToplevel(). Because it is a new window, it also has thetitle() andgeometry() functions that set the name and dimensions of the window.

We also set both axes to not resizeable with theresizeable(False, False) method. After this, we configure some columns and make a label that tells the user what to do.

We define anEntry() that receives anotherStringVar which holds our new folder or file. This is also done to give the other function access to this function. In the end, we make a button that calls this function:

def open_popup():    global top    top = Toplevel(root)    top.geometry("250x150")    top.resizable(False, False)    top.title("Child Window")    top.columnconfigure(0, weight=1)    Label(top, text='Enter File or Folder name').grid()    Entry(top, textvariable=newFileName).grid(column=0, pady=10, sticky='NSEW')    Button(top, text="Create", command=newFileOrFolder).grid(pady=10, sticky='NSEW')

New File or Folder

The below handles making new files or folders.

We first start by checking if the path name provided by the user is a file or a path. We cannot do this with theos.path.isfile(path) because it checks if the file exists.

That's why we split the string by'.' and check if the resulting array has another length than one. A string will likefile.txt will result toTrue, and something likefolder/path isFalse. If it is a file name, we create it by simply opening the path with the built-in functionopen(path, mode) because if the file doesn't exist, it will make it. If it is a folder name, we need theos module and itsmkdir() function to make the new directory.

After that, we close the popup window with itsdestroy() method. and we call thepathChange() function so the directory is updated:

def newFileOrFolder():    # check if it is a file name or a folder    if len(newFileName.get().split('.')) != 1:        open(os.path.join(currentPath.get(), newFileName.get()), 'w').close()    else:        os.mkdir(os.path.join(currentPath.get(), newFileName.get()))    # destroy the top    top.destroy()    pathChange()top = ''

String Variables

Now we have made all the needed functions, let's continue with the string variables:

newFileName: is the new file used when requesting to create a new file or folder.
currentPath: is the current path variable. We connect any changes made to it with itstrace() method.

# String variablesnewFileName = StringVar(root, "File.dot", 'new_name')currentPath = StringVar(    root,    name='currentPath',    value=pathlib.Path.cwd())# Bind changes in this variable to the pathChange functioncurrentPath.trace('w', pathChange)

Widgets

Let's set up some widgets! We start by making the button that goes a folder up. It calls thegoBack() method because we supplied a reference to its command parameter.

We then place it on the grid with thegrid() method. Thesticky parameter means where the widget should expand to. We supply it withNSEW which means it will expand in all directions.

After that, we connect theAlt-Up keyboard shortcut with the same function called by the button.

In the end, we make anEntry() that holds the path we are currently in. For it to work correctly with theStringVar we have to set thetextvariable parameter to our string variable. We also place this on the grid and set some padding withipadx andipady.

Button(root, text='Folder Up', command=goBack).grid(    sticky='NSEW', column=0, row=0)# Keyboard shortcut for going uproot.bind("<Alt-Up>", goBack)Entry(root, textvariable=currentPath).grid(    sticky='NSEW', column=1, row=0, ipady=10, ipadx=10)

The following widget is the list that displays the files and folders of the current path, and we also bind some keyboard events that happen on it to ourchangePathByClick() function:

# List of files and folderlist = Listbox(root)list.grid(sticky='NSEW', column=1, row=1, ipady=10, ipadx=10)# List Acceleratorslist.bind('<Double-1>', changePathByClick)list.bind('<Return>', changePathByClick)

The last widget is just a simplemenubar with two buttons, one that opens the new file or folder window and one that quits the program. We can quit the program withroot.quit():

# Menumenubar = Menu(root)# Adding a new File buttonmenubar.add_command(label="Add File or Folder", command=open_popup)# Adding a quit button to the Menubarmenubar.add_command(label="Quit", command=root.quit)# Make the menubar the Main Menuroot.config(menu=menubar)

The Main Loop

Now before we start the main loop, we call thepathChange() function so the list is generated for the first time:

# Call the function so the list displayspathChange('')# run the main programroot.mainloop()

Showcase

Let's run it. You can take a look at the file explorer in action:

Showcase of our file explorer made with Python

Conclusion

Excellent! You have successfully created a simple file explorer using Python code! See how you can add more features to this program, such as renaming files or sorting the files and folders.

Here are some related tutorials:

Happy coding ♥

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