How do I display tooltips in Tkinter?

Question

Tooltips are those little bits of text that popup when the mouse hovers over a widget for a certain duration of time.

How can I add a tooltip message to my tkinter Python application?

Answer 1

tkinter-tooltip is mature and works great for me. I can skip all the blabby tkinter lines and directly use the code.

Here is their hello world:

import tkinter as tk
import tkinter.ttk as ttk
from tktooltip import ToolTip

app = tk.Tk()
b = ttk.Button(app, text="Button")
b.pack()
ToolTip(b, msg="Hover info")
app.mainloop()

Answer 2

I would not recommend to use Tix widgets, since Tix is basically not supported anymore and usually causes a lot of problems.

The following is an example of a tooltip directly taken from the Python's idlelib module:

# general purpose 'tooltip' routines - currently unused in idlefork
# (although the 'calltips' extension is partly based on this code)
# may be useful for some purposes in (or almost in ;) the current project scope
# Ideas gleaned from PySol

from tkinter import *


class ToolTipBase:

    def __init__(self, button):
        self.button = button
        self.tipwindow = None
        self.id = None
        self.x = self.y = 0
        self._id1 = self.button.bind("<Enter>", self.enter)
        self._id2 = self.button.bind("<Leave>", self.leave)
        self._id3 = self.button.bind("<ButtonPress>", self.leave)

    def enter(self, event=None):
        self.schedule()

    def leave(self, event=None):
        self.unschedule()
        self.hidetip()

    def schedule(self):
        self.unschedule()
        self.id = self.button.after(1500, self.showtip)

    def unschedule(self):
        id = self.id
        self.id = None
        if id:
            self.button.after_cancel(id)

    def showtip(self):
        if self.tipwindow:
            return
        # The tip window must be completely outside the button;
        # otherwise when the mouse enters the tip window we get
        # a leave event and it disappears, and then we get an enter
        # event and it reappears, and so on forever :-(
        x = self.button.winfo_rootx() + 20
        y = self.button.winfo_rooty() + self.button.winfo_height() + 1
        self.tipwindow = tw = Toplevel(self.button)
        tw.wm_overrideredirect(1)
        tw.wm_geometry("+%d+%d" % (x, y))
        self.showcontents()

    def showcontents(self, text="Your text here"):
        # Override this in derived class
        label = Label(self.tipwindow, text=text, justify=LEFT,
                      background="#ffffe0", relief=SOLID, borderwidth=1)
        label.pack()

    def hidetip(self):
        tw = self.tipwindow
        self.tipwindow = None
        if tw:
            tw.destroy()


class ToolTip(ToolTipBase):

    def __init__(self, button, text):
        ToolTipBase.__init__(self, button)
        self.text = text

    def showcontents(self):
        ToolTipBase.showcontents(self, self.text)


class ListboxToolTip(ToolTipBase):

    def __init__(self, button, items):
        ToolTipBase.__init__(self, button)
        self.items = items

    def showcontents(self):
        listbox = Listbox(self.tipwindow, background="#ffffe0")
        listbox.pack()
        for item in self.items:
            listbox.insert(END, item)

You could also import the module directly and use it:

from idlelib.tooltip import * ##corrected wrong import

def main():
    root = Tk()
    b = Button(root, text="Hello", command=root.destroy)
    b.pack()
    root.update()
    tip = ListboxToolTip(b, ["Hello", "world"])
    root.mainloop()

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

I am using Python 3.4, and it is possible that other Python's distributions do not contain this ToolTip module.

Answer 3

This series of answers has been very useful to me, and I would like to share my improvements to this community effort. In my use case, several nested widgets can have tooltips. As a consequence, the previous implementation let all the tooltips to appear at once, stacking them and making it clumsy and impossible to read. My modified tooltip uses a common semaphore for all the tooltips to synchronize. (Also, I reformatted the docstring to make it nicer in sphinx rendering)

class Semaphore:
    "A semaphore letting several tooltips synchronising themself."

    def __init__(self):
        self.state = None
        self.held = False

    def request(self, ident):
        if self.held:
            return False

        self.state = ident
        return True

    def hold(self, ident):
        if self.held:
            return False

        if self.state is not ident:
            return False

        self.held = True
        return True

    def release(self, ident):
        if self.held and self.state is ident:
            self.held = False
            self.state = None


_default_sem = Semaphore()


class Tooltip:
    """Create a floating tooltip next to the attached widget.

    Credits:

    - Originally written by vegaseat on 2014.09.09 (`blog post`_).
    - Modified to include a delay time by Victor Zaccardo on 2016.03.25 (`stackoverflow answer 1`_).
    - Modified by Alberto Vassena on 2016.11.05 (`stackoverflow answer 2`_):

        - to correct extreme right and extreme bottom behavior,
        - to stay inside the screen whenever the tooltip might go out on
          the top but still the screen is higher than the tooltip,
        - to use the more flexible mouse positioning,
        - to add customizable background color, padding, waittime and
          wraplength on creation

    - Modified to fix a scheduling bug by Erik Bethke on 2016.12.29 (`stackoverflow answer 3`_).
    - Modified by Théo Cavignac to prevent more than one visible tooltip at
      a time, causing superpositions of tooltips in complex widget tree,
      on 2022.09.04 (in `tkgen sources`_).

    Tested on Archlinux (kernel 6.2.2), running Python 3.10.9

    .. _blog post: http://www.daniweb.com/programming/software-development/code/484591/a-tooltip-class-for-tkinter
    .. _stackoverflow answer 1: https://stackoverflow.com/a/36221216/6324751
    .. _stackoverflow answer 2: https://stackoverflow.com/a/41079350/6324751
    .. _stackoverflow answer 3: https://stackoverflow.com/a/41381685/6324751
    .. _tkgen sources: https://git.sr.ht/~lattay/python-tkgen/tree/bdb9ba3c1ee173d2765966cd23f5acdb6f07007f/item/tkform/tooltip.py#L36-197
    """

    def __init__(
        self,
        widget,
        *,
        bg="#FFFFEA",
        pad=(5, 3, 5, 3),
        text="widget info",
        waittime=200,
        wraplength=250,
        sem=_default_sem
    ):

        self.waittime = waittime  # in miliseconds, originally 500
        self.wraplength = wraplength  # in pixels, originally 180
        self.widget = widget
        self.text = text
        self.widget.bind("<Enter>", self.onEnter)
        self.widget.bind("<Leave>", self.onLeave)
        self.widget.bind("<ButtonPress>", self.onLeave)
        self.bg = bg
        self.pad = pad
        self.id = None
        self.tw = None
        self.ident = object()
        self.sem = sem

    def onEnter(self, event=None):
        self.schedule()

    def onLeave(self, event=None):
        self.unschedule()
        self.hide()

    def schedule(self):
        if self.sem.request(self.ident):
            self.unschedule()
            self.id = self.widget.after(self.waittime, self.show)

    def unschedule(self):
        self.sem.release(self.ident)
        id_ = self.id
        self.id = None
        if id_:
            self.widget.after_cancel(id_)

    def show(self):
        if not self.sem.hold(self.ident):
            return

        def tip_pos_calculator(widget, label, *, tip_delta=(10, 5), pad=(5, 3, 5, 3)):

            w = widget

            s_width, s_height = w.winfo_screenwidth(), w.winfo_screenheight()

            width, height = (
                pad[0] + label.winfo_reqwidth() + pad[2],
                pad[1] + label.winfo_reqheight() + pad[3],
            )

            mouse_x, mouse_y = w.winfo_pointerxy()

            x1, y1 = mouse_x + tip_delta[0], mouse_y + tip_delta[1]
            x2, y2 = x1 + width, y1 + height

            x_delta = x2 - s_width
            if x_delta < 0:
                x_delta = 0
            y_delta = y2 - s_height
            if y_delta < 0:
                y_delta = 0

            offscreen = (x_delta, y_delta) != (0, 0)

            if offscreen:

                if x_delta:
                    x1 = mouse_x - tip_delta[0] - width

                if y_delta:
                    y1 = mouse_y - tip_delta[1] - height

            offscreen_again = y1 < 0  # out on the top

            if offscreen_again:
                # No further checks will be done.

                # TIP:
                # A further mod might automagically augment the
                # wraplength when the tooltip is too high to be
                # kept inside the screen.
                y1 = 0

            return x1, y1

        bg = self.bg
        pad = self.pad
        widget = self.widget

        # creates a toplevel window
        self.tw = tk.Toplevel(widget)

        # Leaves only the label and removes the app window
        self.tw.wm_overrideredirect(True)

        win = tk.Frame(self.tw, background=bg, borderwidth=0)
        label = ttk.Label(
            win,
            text=self.text,
            justify=tk.LEFT,
            background=bg,
            relief=tk.SOLID,
            borderwidth=0,
            wraplength=self.wraplength,
        )

        label.grid(padx=(pad[0], pad[2]), pady=(pad[1], pad[3]), sticky=tk.NSEW)
        win.grid()

        x, y = tip_pos_calculator(widget, label)

        self.tw.wm_geometry("+%d+%d" % (x, y))

    def hide(self):
        tw = self.tw
        if tw:
            tw.destroy()
        self.tw = None

Answer 4

from tkinter import *
from tkinter.tix import *
root = Tk()
btn1 = Button(root, text="hello")
btn1.grid(row=0, column=0)
balloon = Balloon(root, bg="white", title="Help")
balloon.bind_widget(btn1, balloonmsg="Click to Exit")
root.mainloop()

Answer 5

A simple solution in Python 3.7+

import tkinter as tk
from idlelib.tooltip import Hovertip
    
app = tk.Tk()
myBtn = tk.Button(app,text='?')
myBtn.pack(pady=30)
myTip = Hovertip(myBtn,'This is \na multiline tooltip.')
app.mainloop()

Answer 6

Though there are multiple answers, I'll add my 2 cents.

class ToolTip:
    def __init__(self,widget,text=None):

        def on_enter(event):
            self.tooltip=tk.Toplevel()
            self.tooltip.overrideredirect(True)
            self.tooltip.geometry(f'+{event.x_root+15}+{event.y_root+10}')

            self.label=tk.Label(self.tooltip,text=self.text)
            self.label.pack()

        def on_leave(event):
            self.tooltip.destroy()

        self.widget=widget
        self.text=text

        self.widget.bind('<Enter>',on_enter)
        self.widget.bind('<Leave>',on_leave)

This is a basic tooltip that will be displayed relative to the position of the cursor.

Answer 7

I tried the code in the blog post mentioned by ars, and also tried the code from the IDLE lib.

While both worked, I didn't like how the tooltip from IDLE was limited in size (had to manually enter new lines as separate lists) , and how the tips appeared immediately in the code form the blog post.

So I made a hybrid between the two. It lets you specify a wrap length and hover time, with no restriction on each:

""" tk_ToolTip_class101.py
gives a Tkinter widget a tooltip as the mouse is above the widget
tested with Python27 and Python34  by  vegaseat  09sep2014
www.daniweb.com/programming/software-development/code/484591/a-tooltip-class-for-tkinter

Modified to include a delay time by Victor Zaccardo, 25mar16
"""

try:
    # for Python2
    import Tkinter as tk
except ImportError:
    # for Python3
    import tkinter as tk

class CreateToolTip(object):
    """
    create a tooltip for a given widget
    """
    def __init__(self, widget, text='widget info'):
        self.waittime = 500     #miliseconds
        self.wraplength = 180   #pixels
        self.widget = widget
        self.text = text
        self.widget.bind("<Enter>", self.enter)
        self.widget.bind("<Leave>", self.leave)
        self.widget.bind("<ButtonPress>", self.leave)
        self.id = None
        self.tw = None

    def enter(self, event=None):
        self.schedule()

    def leave(self, event=None):
        self.unschedule()
        self.hidetip()

    def schedule(self):
        self.unschedule()
        self.id = self.widget.after(self.waittime, self.showtip)

    def unschedule(self):
        id = self.id
        self.id = None
        if id:
            self.widget.after_cancel(id)

    def showtip(self, event=None):
        x = y = 0
        x, y, cx, cy = self.widget.bbox("insert")
        x += self.widget.winfo_rootx() + 25
        y += self.widget.winfo_rooty() + 20
        # creates a toplevel window
        self.tw = tk.Toplevel(self.widget)
        # Leaves only the label and removes the app window
        self.tw.wm_overrideredirect(True)
        self.tw.wm_geometry("+%d+%d" % (x, y))
        label = tk.Label(self.tw, text=self.text, justify='left',
                       background="#ffffff", relief='solid', borderwidth=1,
                       wraplength = self.wraplength)
        label.pack(ipadx=1)

    def hidetip(self):
        tw = self.tw
        self.tw= None
        if tw:
            tw.destroy()

# testing ...
if __name__ == '__main__':
    root = tk.Tk()
    btn1 = tk.Button(root, text="button 1")
    btn1.pack(padx=10, pady=5)
    button1_ttp = CreateToolTip(btn1, \
   'Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, '
   'consectetur, adipisci velit. Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum '
   'quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit. Neque porro quisquam '
   'est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit.')

    btn2 = tk.Button(root, text="button 2")
    btn2.pack(padx=10, pady=5)
    button2_ttp = CreateToolTip(btn2, \
    "First thing's first, I'm the realest. Drop this and let the whole world "
    "feel it. And I'm still in the Murda Bizness. I could hold you down, like "
    "I'm givin' lessons in  physics. You should want a bad Vic like this.")
    root.mainloop()

Screenshot:

Answer 8

First of all, I really like Alberto Vassena's tool tip and I tried to comment on his post with this bug correction, but as a new user I do not have enough points to make a comment, so I am making an answer. I hope this is acceptable.

There was a very small bug in Alberto Vassena's excellent answer and improved ToolTip.

Bug: For the actual label his code calls ttk.Label instead of tk.Label This resulted in the tooltip box being rendered but not the actual text until a further UI event such as another mouse move or a keyboard event.

Here is the corrected code for a full copy & paste:

import tkinter as tk
import tkinter.ttk as ttk


class Tooltip:
    '''
    It creates a tooltip for a given widget as the mouse goes on it.

    see:

    http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3221956/
           what-is-the-simplest-way-to-make-tooltips-
           in-tkinter/36221216#36221216

    http://www.daniweb.com/programming/software-development/
           code/484591/a-tooltip-class-for-tkinter

    - Originally written by vegaseat on 2014.09.09.

    - Modified to include a delay time by Victor Zaccardo on 2016.03.25.

    - Modified
        - to correct extreme right and extreme bottom behavior,
        - to stay inside the screen whenever the tooltip might go out on
          the top but still the screen is higher than the tooltip,
        - to use the more flexible mouse positioning,
        - to add customizable background color, padding, waittime and
          wraplength on creation
      by Alberto Vassena on 2016.11.05.

      Tested on Ubuntu 16.04/16.10, running Python 3.5.2

    TODO: themes styles support
    '''

    def __init__(self, widget,
                 *,
                 bg='#FFFFEA',
                 pad=(5, 3, 5, 3),
                 text='widget info',
                 waittime=400,
                 wraplength=250):

        self.waittime = waittime  # in miliseconds, originally 500
        self.wraplength = wraplength  # in pixels, originally 180
        self.widget = widget
        self.text = text
        self.widget.bind("<Enter>", self.onEnter)
        self.widget.bind("<Leave>", self.onLeave)
        self.widget.bind("<ButtonPress>", self.onLeave)
        self.bg = bg
        self.pad = pad
        self.id = None
        self.tw = None

    def onEnter(self, event=None):
        self.schedule()

    def onLeave(self, event=None):
        self.unschedule()
        self.hide()

    def schedule(self):
        self.unschedule()
        self.id = self.widget.after(self.waittime, self.show)

    def unschedule(self):
        id_ = self.id
        self.id = None
        if id_:
            self.widget.after_cancel(id_)

    def show(self):
        def tip_pos_calculator(widget, label,
                               *,
                               tip_delta=(10, 5), pad=(5, 3, 5, 3)):

            w = widget

            s_width, s_height = w.winfo_screenwidth(), w.winfo_screenheight()

            width, height = (pad[0] + label.winfo_reqwidth() + pad[2],
                             pad[1] + label.winfo_reqheight() + pad[3])

            mouse_x, mouse_y = w.winfo_pointerxy()

            x1, y1 = mouse_x + tip_delta[0], mouse_y + tip_delta[1]
            x2, y2 = x1 + width, y1 + height

            x_delta = x2 - s_width
            if x_delta < 0:
                x_delta = 0
            y_delta = y2 - s_height
            if y_delta < 0:
                y_delta = 0

            offscreen = (x_delta, y_delta) != (0, 0)

            if offscreen:

                if x_delta:
                    x1 = mouse_x - tip_delta[0] - width

                if y_delta:
                    y1 = mouse_y - tip_delta[1] - height

            offscreen_again = y1 < 0  # out on the top

            if offscreen_again:
                # No further checks will be done.

                # TIP:
                # A further mod might automagically augment the
                # wraplength when the tooltip is too high to be
                # kept inside the screen.
                y1 = 0

            return x1, y1

        bg = self.bg
        pad = self.pad
        widget = self.widget

        # creates a toplevel window
        self.tw = tk.Toplevel(widget)

        # Leaves only the label and removes the app window
        self.tw.wm_overrideredirect(True)

        win = tk.Frame(self.tw,
                       background=bg,
                       borderwidth=0)
        label = tk.Label(win,
                          text=self.text,
                          justify=tk.LEFT,
                          background=bg,
                          relief=tk.SOLID,
                          borderwidth=0,
                          wraplength=self.wraplength)

        label.grid(padx=(pad[0], pad[2]),
                   pady=(pad[1], pad[3]),
                   sticky=tk.NSEW)
        win.grid()

        x, y = tip_pos_calculator(widget, label)

        self.tw.wm_geometry("+%d+%d" % (x, y))

    def hide(self):
        tw = self.tw
        if tw:
            tw.destroy()
        self.tw = None


if __name__ == '__main__':

    import random

    def further_text():
        # texts generated at http://lorem-ipsum.perbang.dk/
        short_text = ('Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, mauris tellus, '
                     'porttitor torquent eu. Magna aliquet lorem, '
                     'cursus sit ac, in in. Dolor aliquet, cum integer. '
                     'Proin aliquet, porttitor pulvinar mauris. Tellus '
                     'lectus, amet cras, neque lacus quis. Malesuada '
                     'nibh. Eleifend nam, in eget a. Nec turpis, erat '
                     'wisi semper')
        medium_text = ('Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, suspendisse aenean '
                       'ipsum sollicitudin, pellentesque nunc ultrices ac '
                       'ut, arcu elit turpis senectus convallis. Ac orci '
                       'pretium sed gravida, tortor nulla felis '
                       'consectetuer, mauris egestas est erat. Ut enim '
                       'tellus at diam, ac sagittis vel proin. Massa '
                       'eleifend orci tortor sociis, scelerisque in pede '
                       'metus phasellus, est tempor gravida nam, ante '
                       'fusce sem tempor. Mi diam auctor vel pede, mus '
                       'non mi luctus luctus, lectus sit varius repellat '
                       'eu')
        long_text = ('Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, velit eu nam cursus '
                     'quisque gravida sollicitudin, felis arcu interdum '
                     'error quam quis massa, et velit libero ligula est '
                     'donec. Suspendisse fringilla urna ridiculus dui '
                     'volutpat justo, quisque nisl eget sed blandit '
                     'egestas, libero nullam magna sem dui nam, auctor '
                     'vehicula nunc arcu vel sed dictum, tincidunt vitae '
                     'id tristique aptent platea. Lacus eros nec proin '
                     'morbi sollicitudin integer, montes suspendisse '
                     'augue lorem iaculis sed, viverra sed interdum eget '
                     'ut at pulvinar, turpis vivamus ac pharetra nulla '
                     'maecenas ut. Consequat dui condimentum lectus nulla '
                     'vitae, nam consequat fusce ac facilisis eget orci, '
                     'cras enim donec aenean sed dolor aliquam, elit '
                     'lorem in a nec fringilla, malesuada curabitur diam '
                     'nonummy nisl nibh ipsum. In odio nunc nec porttitor '
                     'ipsum, nunc ridiculus platea wisi turpis praesent '
                     'vestibulum, suspendisse hendrerit amet quis vivamus '
                     'adipiscing elit, ut dolor nec nonummy mauris nec '
                     'libero, ad rutrum id tristique facilisis sed '
                     'ultrices. Convallis velit posuere mauris lectus sit '
                     'turpis, lobortis volutpat et placerat leo '
                     'malesuada, vulputate id maecenas at a volutpat '
                     'vulputate, est augue nec proin ipsum pellentesque '
                     'fringilla. Mattis feugiat metus ultricies repellat '
                     'dictum, suspendisse erat rhoncus ultricies in ipsum, '
                     'nulla ante pellentesque blandit ligula sagittis '
                     'ultricies, sed tortor sodales pede et duis platea')

        text = random.choice([short_text, medium_text, long_text, long_text])

        return '\nFurther info: ' + text

    def main_01(wraplength=200):

        # alias
        stuff = further_text

        root = tk.Tk()
        frame = ttk.Frame(root)

        btn_ne = ttk.Button(frame, text='North East')
        btn_se = ttk.Button(frame, text='South East')
        btn_sw = ttk.Button(frame, text='South West')
        btn_nw = ttk.Button(frame, text='North West')
        btn_center = ttk.Button(frame, text='Center')
        btn_n = ttk.Button(frame, text='North')
        btn_e = ttk.Button(frame, text='East')
        btn_s = ttk.Button(frame, text='South')
        btn_w = ttk.Button(frame, text='West')

        Tooltip(btn_nw, text='North West' + stuff(), wraplength=wraplength)
        Tooltip(btn_ne, text='North East' + stuff(), wraplength=wraplength)
        Tooltip(btn_se, text='South East' + stuff(), wraplength=wraplength)
        Tooltip(btn_sw, text='South West' + stuff(), wraplength=wraplength)
        Tooltip(btn_center, text='Center' + stuff(), wraplength=wraplength)
        Tooltip(btn_n, text='North' + stuff(), wraplength=wraplength)
        Tooltip(btn_e, text='East' + stuff(), wraplength=wraplength)
        Tooltip(btn_s, text='South' + stuff(), wraplength=wraplength)
        Tooltip(btn_w, text='West' + stuff(), wraplength=wraplength)

        r = 0
        c = 0
        pad = 10
        btn_nw.grid(row=r, column=c, padx=pad, pady=pad, sticky=tk.NW)
        btn_n.grid(row=r, column=c + 1, padx=pad, pady=pad, sticky=tk.N)
        btn_ne.grid(row=r, column=c + 2, padx=pad, pady=pad, sticky=tk.NE)

        r += 1
        btn_w.grid(row=r, column=c + 0, padx=pad, pady=pad, sticky=tk.W)
        btn_center.grid(row=r, column=c + 1, padx=pad, pady=pad,
                    sticky=tk.NSEW)
        btn_e.grid(row=r, column=c + 2, padx=pad, pady=pad, sticky=tk.E)

        r += 1
        btn_sw.grid(row=r, column=c, padx=pad, pady=pad, sticky=tk.SW)
        btn_s.grid(row=r, column=c + 1, padx=pad, pady=pad, sticky=tk.S)
        btn_se.grid(row=r, column=c + 2, padx=pad, pady=pad, sticky=tk.SE)

        frame.grid(sticky=tk.NSEW)
        for i in (0, 2):
            frame.rowconfigure(i, weight=1)
            frame.columnconfigure(i, weight=1)

        root.rowconfigure(0, weight=1)
        root.columnconfigure(0, weight=1)

        root.title('Tooltip wraplength = {}'.format(wraplength))
        root.mainloop()

    def main():
        print('Trying out three different wraplengths:')
        for i, wl in enumerate((200, 250, 400), 1):
            print(' ', i)
            main_01(wl)
        print('Done.')

    main()

Answer 9

I have modified the Tooltip class crxguy52 has suggested. The class that follows should now work in almost any case, wherever you need to instantiate it: NW, N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W.

The only case my class does not currently manage is the one in which the tooltip is simply taller than the entire screen (probably very rare, but by simply widening it by manually passing a larger wraplength can immediately solve that case as well).

import tkinter as tk
import tkinter.ttk as ttk


class Tooltip:
    '''
    It creates a tooltip for a given widget as the mouse goes on it.

    see:

    https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3221956/
           what-is-the-simplest-way-to-make-tooltips-
           in-tkinter/36221216#36221216

    http://www.daniweb.com/programming/software-development/
           code/484591/a-tooltip-class-for-tkinter

    - Originally written by vegaseat on 2014.09.09.

    - Modified to include a delay time by Victor Zaccardo on 2016.03.25.

    - Modified
        - to correct extreme right and extreme bottom behavior,
        - to stay inside the screen whenever the tooltip might go out on 
          the top but still the screen is higher than the tooltip,
        - to use the more flexible mouse positioning,
        - to add customizable background color, padding, waittime and
          wraplength on creation
      by Alberto Vassena on 2016.11.05.

      Tested on Ubuntu 16.04/16.10, running Python 3.5.2

    TODO: themes styles support
    '''

    def __init__(self, widget,
                 *,
                 bg='#FFFFEA',
                 pad=(5, 3, 5, 3),
                 text='widget info',
                 waittime=400,
                 wraplength=250):

        self.waittime = waittime  # in miliseconds, originally 500
        self.wraplength = wraplength  # in pixels, originally 180
        self.widget = widget
        self.text = text
        self.widget.bind("<Enter>", self.onEnter)
        self.widget.bind("<Leave>", self.onLeave)
        self.widget.bind("<ButtonPress>", self.onLeave)
        self.bg = bg
        self.pad = pad
        self.id = None
        self.tw = None

    def onEnter(self, event=None):
        self.schedule()

    def onLeave(self, event=None):
        self.unschedule()
        self.hide()

    def schedule(self):
        self.unschedule()
        self.id = self.widget.after(self.waittime, self.show)

    def unschedule(self):
        id_ = self.id
        self.id = None
        if id_:
            self.widget.after_cancel(id_)

    def show(self):
        def tip_pos_calculator(widget, label,
                               *,
                               tip_delta=(10, 5), pad=(5, 3, 5, 3)):

            w = widget

            s_width, s_height = w.winfo_screenwidth(), w.winfo_screenheight()

            width, height = (pad[0] + label.winfo_reqwidth() + pad[2],
                             pad[1] + label.winfo_reqheight() + pad[3])

            mouse_x, mouse_y = w.winfo_pointerxy()

            x1, y1 = mouse_x + tip_delta[0], mouse_y + tip_delta[1]
            x2, y2 = x1 + width, y1 + height

            x_delta = x2 - s_width
            if x_delta < 0:
                x_delta = 0
            y_delta = y2 - s_height
            if y_delta < 0:
                y_delta = 0

            offscreen = (x_delta, y_delta) != (0, 0)

            if offscreen:

                if x_delta:
                    x1 = mouse_x - tip_delta[0] - width

                if y_delta:
                    y1 = mouse_y - tip_delta[1] - height

            offscreen_again = y1 < 0  # out on the top

            if offscreen_again:
                # No further checks will be done.

                # TIP:
                # A further mod might automagically augment the
                # wraplength when the tooltip is too high to be
                # kept inside the screen.
                y1 = 0

            return x1, y1

        bg = self.bg
        pad = self.pad
        widget = self.widget

        # creates a toplevel window
        self.tw = tk.Toplevel(widget)

        # Leaves only the label and removes the app window
        self.tw.wm_overrideredirect(True)

        win = tk.Frame(self.tw,
                       background=bg,
                       borderwidth=0)
        label = ttk.Label(win,
                          text=self.text,
                          justify=tk.LEFT,
                          background=bg,
                          relief=tk.SOLID,
                          borderwidth=0,
                          wraplength=self.wraplength)

        label.grid(padx=(pad[0], pad[2]),
                   pady=(pad[1], pad[3]),
                   sticky=tk.NSEW)
        win.grid()

        x, y = tip_pos_calculator(widget, label)

        self.tw.wm_geometry("+%d+%d" % (x, y))

    def hide(self):
        tw = self.tw
        if tw:
            tw.destroy()
        self.tw = None


if __name__ == '__main__':

    import random

    def further_text():
        # texts generated at http://lorem-ipsum.perbang.dk/
        short_text = ('Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, mauris tellus, '
                     'porttitor torquent eu. Magna aliquet lorem, '
                     'cursus sit ac, in in. Dolor aliquet, cum integer. '
                     'Proin aliquet, porttitor pulvinar mauris. Tellus '
                     'lectus, amet cras, neque lacus quis. Malesuada '
                     'nibh. Eleifend nam, in eget a. Nec turpis, erat '
                     'wisi semper')
        medium_text = ('Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, suspendisse aenean '
                       'ipsum sollicitudin, pellentesque nunc ultrices ac '
                       'ut, arcu elit turpis senectus convallis. Ac orci '
                       'pretium sed gravida, tortor nulla felis '
                       'consectetuer, mauris egestas est erat. Ut enim '
                       'tellus at diam, ac sagittis vel proin. Massa '
                       'eleifend orci tortor sociis, scelerisque in pede '
                       'metus phasellus, est tempor gravida nam, ante '
                       'fusce sem tempor. Mi diam auctor vel pede, mus '
                       'non mi luctus luctus, lectus sit varius repellat '
                       'eu')
        long_text = ('Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, velit eu nam cursus '
                     'quisque gravida sollicitudin, felis arcu interdum '
                     'error quam quis massa, et velit libero ligula est '
                     'donec. Suspendisse fringilla urna ridiculus dui '
                     'volutpat justo, quisque nisl eget sed blandit '
                     'egestas, libero nullam magna sem dui nam, auctor '
                     'vehicula nunc arcu vel sed dictum, tincidunt vitae '
                     'id tristique aptent platea. Lacus eros nec proin '
                     'morbi sollicitudin integer, montes suspendisse '
                     'augue lorem iaculis sed, viverra sed interdum eget '
                     'ut at pulvinar, turpis vivamus ac pharetra nulla '
                     'maecenas ut. Consequat dui condimentum lectus nulla '
                     'vitae, nam consequat fusce ac facilisis eget orci, '
                     'cras enim donec aenean sed dolor aliquam, elit '
                     'lorem in a nec fringilla, malesuada curabitur diam '
                     'nonummy nisl nibh ipsum. In odio nunc nec porttitor '
                     'ipsum, nunc ridiculus platea wisi turpis praesent '
                     'vestibulum, suspendisse hendrerit amet quis vivamus '
                     'adipiscing elit, ut dolor nec nonummy mauris nec '
                     'libero, ad rutrum id tristique facilisis sed '
                     'ultrices. Convallis velit posuere mauris lectus sit '
                     'turpis, lobortis volutpat et placerat leo '
                     'malesuada, vulputate id maecenas at a volutpat '
                     'vulputate, est augue nec proin ipsum pellentesque '
                     'fringilla. Mattis feugiat metus ultricies repellat '
                     'dictum, suspendisse erat rhoncus ultricies in ipsum, '
                     'nulla ante pellentesque blandit ligula sagittis '
                     'ultricies, sed tortor sodales pede et duis platea')

        text = random.choice([short_text, medium_text, long_text, long_text])

        return '\nFurther info: ' + text

    def main_01(wraplength=200):

        # alias
        stuff = further_text

        root = tk.Tk()
        frame = ttk.Frame(root)

        btn_ne = ttk.Button(frame, text='North East')
        btn_se = ttk.Button(frame, text='South East')
        btn_sw = ttk.Button(frame, text='South West')
        btn_nw = ttk.Button(frame, text='North West')
        btn_center = ttk.Button(frame, text='Center')
        btn_n = ttk.Button(frame, text='North')
        btn_e = ttk.Button(frame, text='East')
        btn_s = ttk.Button(frame, text='South')
        btn_w = ttk.Button(frame, text='West')

        Tooltip(btn_nw, text='North West' + stuff(), wraplength=wraplength)
        Tooltip(btn_ne, text='North East' + stuff(), wraplength=wraplength)
        Tooltip(btn_se, text='South East' + stuff(), wraplength=wraplength)
        Tooltip(btn_sw, text='South West' + stuff(), wraplength=wraplength)
        Tooltip(btn_center, text='Center' + stuff(), wraplength=wraplength)
        Tooltip(btn_n, text='North' + stuff(), wraplength=wraplength)
        Tooltip(btn_e, text='East' + stuff(), wraplength=wraplength)
        Tooltip(btn_s, text='South' + stuff(), wraplength=wraplength)
        Tooltip(btn_w, text='West' + stuff(), wraplength=wraplength)

        r = 0
        c = 0
        pad = 10
        btn_nw.grid(row=r, column=c, padx=pad, pady=pad, sticky=tk.NW)
        btn_n.grid(row=r, column=c + 1, padx=pad, pady=pad, sticky=tk.N)
        btn_ne.grid(row=r, column=c + 2, padx=pad, pady=pad, sticky=tk.NE)

        r += 1
        btn_w.grid(row=r, column=c + 0, padx=pad, pady=pad, sticky=tk.W)
        btn_center.grid(row=r, column=c + 1, padx=pad, pady=pad,
                    sticky=tk.NSEW)
        btn_e.grid(row=r, column=c + 2, padx=pad, pady=pad, sticky=tk.E)

        r += 1
        btn_sw.grid(row=r, column=c, padx=pad, pady=pad, sticky=tk.SW)
        btn_s.grid(row=r, column=c + 1, padx=pad, pady=pad, sticky=tk.S)
        btn_se.grid(row=r, column=c + 2, padx=pad, pady=pad, sticky=tk.SE)

        frame.grid(sticky=tk.NSEW)
        for i in (0, 2):
            frame.rowconfigure(i, weight=1)
            frame.columnconfigure(i, weight=1)

        root.rowconfigure(0, weight=1)
        root.columnconfigure(0, weight=1)

        root.title('Tooltip wraplength = {}'.format(wraplength))
        root.mainloop()

    def main():
        print('Trying out three different wraplengths:')
        for i, wl in enumerate((200, 250, 400), 1):
            print(' ', i)
            main_01(wl)
        print('Done.')

    main()

HTH. I posted here a CanvasTooltip class that allows to bind tooltips to items created inside a tkinter Canvas.

Answer 10

Since you're using Windows 7, your Python installation most probably already includes Tix. Use the Tix.Balloon widget. Sample code exists in the Python source tree.

Basically, you create a Tix.Balloon widget, you bind it to other widgets through its .bind_widget method and provide the balloon message using its balloonmsg argument.

Answer 11

The Pmw.Balloon class from the Pmw toolkit for Tkinter will draw tool tips.

Also take a look at this blog post, which adapts some code from IDLE used for displaying tool tips with Tkinter.