bootstack.Toolbar#

class bootstack.Toolbar(*, button_variant='ghost', density='default', surface=None, padding=None, show_border=False, show_window_controls=False, draggable=False, parent=None, _toolbar=None, _host=None, **kwargs)#

Bases: PublicWidgetBase

A horizontal strip of buttons, labels, and other widgets.

The toolbar holds an app’s commands — buttons, a search box, a theme toggle. Items are added left-to-right via add_button(), add_label(), add_divider(), add_spacer(), and add_widget(). Call add_spacer() to push subsequent items to the right side.

Use this widget directly to build a standalone toolbar or a custom titlebar.

Parameters:

  • button_variant (ButtonVariant) – Default variant applied to every button added via add_button(). Default 'ghost'.

  • density (WidgetDensity) – Size of toolbar items. Default 'default'.

  • surface (SurfaceToken | str | None) – Background surface token. Defaults to None — the toolbar inherits the base content surface (it blends into its parent). Pass 'chrome' (or another token) to tint the bar explicitly.

  • padding (int | tuple[int, int] | None) – Inner padding in pixels — an int (all sides) or a (horizontal, vertical) tuple. Defaults to 3 for default density and (3, 1) for compact.

  • show_border (bool) – If True, draws a border around the toolbar frame. Default False.

  • show_window_controls (bool) – If True, adds minimize, maximize, and close buttons to the right side. Default False.

  • draggable (bool) – If True, clicking and dragging the toolbar repositions the window. Automatically enabled when show_window_controls=True. Default False.

  • parent (Any) – Override the context-stack parent.

  • **kwargs (Any) – Layout placement options applied by the parent container — fill, expand, anchor, margin, row, column, sticky. See Arranging Widgets.

property button_variant: str#

Default variant applied to buttons added via add_button().

property content: Any#

The bar’s content frame — parent custom widgets here.

property density: WidgetDensity#

Current density setting for toolbar items.

property is_attached: bool#

Whether the widget is currently placed in its layout.

True while the widget occupies space in its parent; False after detach (or before it has ever been placed). A detached widget keeps its state and can be returned to the layout with attach.

property schedule: Schedule#

Scheduler tied to this widget’s lifetime.

All jobs are automatically cancelled when the widget is destroyed. First access creates the Schedule instance; subsequent accesses return the same instance.

Usage:

self.schedule.delay(500, callback)
self.schedule.every(1000, tick)
job = self.schedule.idle(refresh)
job.cancel()
add_button(label=None, *, icon=None, on_click=None, accent=None, variant=None, **kwargs)#

Add a button to the toolbar and return it for later control.

When both label and icon are given, the button shows text and icon side by side. When only icon is given, the button is icon-only.

Parameters:

  • label (str | None) – Button label text.

  • icon (str | None) – Icon name. When provided without label, renders icon-only.

  • on_click (Callable[[], Any] | None) – Callback fired when the button is clicked.

  • accent (AccentToken | str | None) – Color intent override.

  • variant (ButtonVariant | None) – Variant override. When omitted, falls back to the toolbar’s button_variant (default 'ghost').

Returns:

The Button — use its live properties to control it later, e.g. btn.disabled = True or btn.text = 'Saving…'.

Return type:

Button

add_divider(length=16)#

Add a vertical divider.

Parameters:

length (int) – Divider height in pixels. Defaults to 16.

add_label(text=None, *, icon=None, font=None, **kwargs)#

Add a non-interactive label to the toolbar and return it.

Parameters:

  • text (str | None) – Label text.

  • icon (str | None) – Icon name displayed alongside the text.

  • font (str | None) – Font token, e.g. 'heading-md' or 'caption'.

Returns:

The Label — use its live properties to update it later, e.g. lbl.text = 'Updated'.

Return type:

Label

add_menu(text, *, key=None)#

Add a dropdown menu (File / Edit / …) as a toolbar item.

A menu is just another toolbar item. The returned builder is a context manager, so the natural form reads:

with toolbar.add_menu("File") as file:
    file.add_action("Open", shortcut="Mod+O", on_click=open_file)
    file.add_divider()
    file.add_action("Quit", shortcut="Mod+Q", on_click=app.close)

On Windows/Linux the menu renders as an in-window dropdown; on macOS it is bridged to the native global menu bar (when the toolbar is part of a window’s chrome).

Parameters:

  • text (str) – The menu’s label (e.g. 'File').

  • key (str | None) – Optional stable identifier; defaults to text.

Returns:

The menu’s MenuGroup builder (add_action / add_check / add_radio / add_divider; usable as a context manager).

Return type:

MenuGroup

add_sidebar_toggle(**kwargs)#

Add a hamburger button that collapses/expands the AppShell sidebar.

Only meaningful on a toolbar built into an AppShell (via shell.add_toolbar()); raises on an App/Window toolbar, which has no sidebar. Place it wherever you like in the bar.

Parameters:

**kwargs (Any) – Forwarded to the toggle button — e.g. collapse ('hidden'/'compact'), icon, expand_icon, collapse_icon, variant, density, accent.

Returns:

The created sidebar-toggle button.

Return type:

Any

add_spacer()#

Add a flexible spacer that pushes subsequent items to the right.

add_theme_toggle(**kwargs)#

Add a ThemeToggle — a sun/moon button that flips the theme.

Parameters:

**kwargs (Any) – Forwarded to ThemeToggle — e.g. variant, density, accent, light_icon, dark_icon.

Returns:

The created ThemeToggle.

Return type:

Any

add_widget(widget_cls, **kwargs)#

Build a widget on the toolbar from its class.

Pass a widget class — the bar builds it, applying its own density and surface (for any the class accepts) so the widget matches the rest of the bar, and forwarding kwargs to the constructor (overriding those defaults):

bar.add_widget(bs.ThemeToggle) bar.add_widget(bs.TextField, placeholder=”Search”, width=24)

To add a widget you have already built yourself, parent it onto the bar directly — it attaches automatically and keeps whatever you configured:

bs.MyCustomWidget(parent=bar)

Parameters:

  • widget_cls (Any) – The widget class to build on the bar.

  • **kwargs (Any) – Constructor arguments for the widget.

Returns:

The new widget instance.

Return type:

Any

attach(**kwargs)#

Return a detached widget to its layout, optionally moving it.

With no arguments, restores the widget to exactly where detach took it from. Any layout kwargs accepted by the original placement (e.g. fill, expand, anchor, sticky, margin) override the stored options. For stacked widgets, index= sets the position among the currently attached siblings (or pass an explicit before=/after= sibling); without one, the snapshotted position is used.

Calling attach on a widget that is already attached moves it (the kwargs are re-applied). Fires on_attach.

Parameters:

**kwargs (Any) – Layout placement options to override for this placement.

Raises:

ParentResolutionError – If the widget was never placed in a layout.

capture(path, *, inset=0, settle=0.1)#

Save a picture of this widget to an image file.

Captures the area this widget occupies on screen — one widget, a whole window, or the entire application, depending on what you call it on. The file extension selects the format, so .png, .jpg, and .pdf all work.

The widget has to be visible. A capture reads pixels from the display, so the window is brought to the front first and a hidden or detached widget cannot be captured at all. Any always-on-top setting the window already had is left as it was found.

Pair it with a save dialog to let the user choose where it goes:

import bootstack as bs

def on_export():
    chosen = bs.ask_save_file(initial_file="dashboard.png")
    if chosen:
        app.capture(chosen)
Parameters:

  • path (str | Path) – Where to write the image. Missing parent folders are created, and the extension chooses the format.

  • inset (int) – Pixels to trim from every edge, zero or more. Use 2 on a whole window to drop the native border artifact.

  • settle (float) – Seconds to let the desktop finish repainting before the pixels are read. The default covers the common case of a dialog closing just beforehand. The interface pauses for this long, so a second click on the control that started the capture waits its turn rather than starting an overlapping one.

Returns:

The path that was written.

Raises:

BootstackError – If the widget is not visible on screen or has been scrolled out of view, if inset is negative, if no capture backend is available, or if the file cannot be written.

Return type:

Path

Added in version 0.3.0.

destroy()#

Destroy the widget and release the resources it holds.

Removes the widget from its parent, destroys its children, and cancels any pending or repeating jobs on its schedule. After this the widget must not be used again. Destroying a container destroys everything inside it.

detach()#

Remove the widget from its layout without destroying it.

The widget stops occupying space but keeps its state, children, and event bindings, ready to be returned with attach. The current position is snapshotted so a plain attach() restores it exactly — for stacked siblings this is the index among the currently attached siblings, so detaching other siblings first shifts that index.

Calling detach on a widget that is already detached, or one that was never placed in a layout, does nothing. Fires on_detach.

emit(event, *, data=None)#

Fire a named event on this widget, as if it produced the event itself.

This is how a composite widget surfaces high-level activity to its listeners, and the generic counterpart to the on_*() shorthands for firing events that have no dedicated method.

It is meant for the framework’s own events — 'change', 'select', 'input' and the rest of the data-carrying names. A handler registered through on() or an on_<event>() shorthand receives what is emitted.

Names that map onto a native event instead ('click', 'focus', 'blur', 'submit', …) are a different matter: emitting one asks the toolkit to deliver a real input event, which carries no payload and can reach handlers the widget installed for its own use. Emitting those is not a way to notify listeners, and a listener bound through on() may not see it. Drive the widget through its properties and methods instead.

Parameters:

  • event (str) – The event name, unprefixed — the same name you pass to on() or an on_<event>() shorthand (e.g. 'change', 'select').

  • data (Any) – The payload delivered to handlers. Pass the matching payload dataclass from bootstack.events — the same object an on_<event>() handler receives.

Example

from bootstack.events import ChangeEvent

field.emit("change", data=ChangeEvent(value=new_value))
guide_layout(child, **layout_kw)#
on(event, handler=None)#

Bind handler to event, or return a composable Stream.

With a handler — binds immediately and returns a Subscription:

sub = widget.on("change", handler)
sub.cancel()

Without a handler — returns a Stream for operator chaining. The Tk binding is created lazily when .listen() is called:

sub = widget.on("change").debounce(300).listen(handler)
sub.cancel()
Parameters:

  • event (str) – Event name (e.g. "change", "click").

  • handler (Callable[[Any], Any] | None) – Optional callback. If omitted, a Stream is returned.

Returns:

Subscription when a handler is provided; Stream otherwise.

Return type:

Stream | Subscription

on_attach(handler=None)#

Register a callback fired when the widget enters the layout.

Fires each time the widget becomes visible in its parent — on initial placement and on every attach. Pair it with on_detach to keep per-visibility resources (timers, observers) tied to the widget’s presence on screen. The handler receives a curated Event.

Parameters:

handler (Callable[[Event], Any] | None) – Called when the widget is attached. Omit to get a composable Stream.

Returns:

A cancellable Subscription when a handler is given, otherwise a Stream.

Return type:

Stream | Subscription

on_destroy(handler=None)#

Register a callback fired when the widget is destroyed.

Fires once, as the widget is torn down — the place to release resources the widget owns that aren’t cleaned up automatically (file handles, observers, external subscriptions). The handler receives a curated Event.

Parameters:

handler (Callable[[Event], Any] | None) – Called as the widget is destroyed. Omit to get a composable Stream.

Returns:

A cancellable Subscription when a handler is given, otherwise a Stream.

Return type:

Stream | Subscription

on_detach(handler=None)#

Register a callback fired when the widget leaves the layout.

Fires each time the widget stops occupying space in its parent — on detach and when an ancestor hides it. Pair it with on_attach to release per-visibility resources. The handler receives a curated Event.

Parameters:

handler (Callable[[Event], Any] | None) – Called when the widget is detached. Omit to get a composable Stream.

Returns:

A cancellable Subscription when a handler is given, otherwise a Stream.

Return type:

Stream | Subscription