Winfo

This capability documents one focused aspect of the widget interface (Tk/Tcl-style behavior + bootstack extensions).

Note: You typically won’t use bootstack.core.capabilities.winfo directly. This page describes the behavior that widgets expose.

Widget information (winfo) helpers.

Tk uses the term window to mean any widget with a Tk window handle (not just a Toplevel). In bootstack documentation we use the word widget unless we specifically mean a top-level window.

Tk's winfo command family exposes runtime information about a widget/window: geometry, hierarchy, mapping/visibility, pointer location, screen metrics, and more.

This mixin provides thin pass-through methods with modern Google-style docstrings for commonly used winfo_* APIs in Tkinter.

Intended usage

class Widget(WinfoMixin, ttk.Widget): ... class App(WinfoMixin, tkinter.Tk): ... class Window(WinfoMixin, tkinter.Toplevel): ...

Notes

All methods delegate to the underlying Tkinter implementation.
Many winfo_* values are only meaningful after the widget has been realized and geometry has been computed. If you need up-to-date sizes, call update_idletasks() first.

winfo_exists

winfo_exists() -> int

Return whether this widget exists.

Returns:

Type	Description
`int`	1 if the widget exists, 0 otherwise.

winfo_ismapped

winfo_ismapped() -> int

Return whether this widget is currently mapped (shown) on screen.

A widget may exist but not be mapped (e.g., never packed/gridded/placed, or explicitly unmapped).

Returns:

Type	Description
`int`	1 if mapped, 0 otherwise.

winfo_viewable

winfo_viewable() -> int

Return whether this widget and all its ancestors are mapped.

A widget can be mapped but not viewable if an ancestor is not mapped.

Returns:

Type	Description
`int`	1 if viewable, 0 otherwise.

winfo_id

winfo_id() -> int

Return a platform-specific identifier for the underlying window.

Returns:

Type	Description
`int`	An integer window identifier. Meaning varies by platform.

winfo_name

winfo_name() -> str

Return the widget's Tk name (path component, not full path).

Returns:

Type	Description
`str`	The widget's name (e.g. "button", "frame", etc.).

winfo_pathname

winfo_pathname(
    id: int, displayof: int | None = None
) -> str

Return the Tk pathname for a window id.

This is an advanced helper; most apps won't need it.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
`id`	`int`	A platform-specific window id (often from `winfo_id()`).	required
`displayof`	`int \| None`	Optional display selector (Tk-specific). Rarely needed.	`None`

Returns:

Type	Description
`str`	The Tk pathname corresponding to `id`.

winfo_parent

winfo_parent() -> str

Return the Tk pathname of this widget's parent.

Returns:

Type	Description
`str`	The parent's Tk pathname.

winfo_toplevel

winfo_toplevel() -> Any

Return the toplevel window that contains this widget.

Returns:

Type	Description
`Any`	The toplevel widget instance.

winfo_children

winfo_children() -> list[Any]

Return this widget's direct children.

Returns:

Type	Description
`list[Any]`	A list of child widget instances.

winfo_class

winfo_class() -> str

Return the Tk class name for this widget (e.g. 'TButton').

Returns:

Type	Description
`str`	The Tk class name string.

winfo_manager

winfo_manager() -> str

Return the geometry manager controlling this widget.

Typical values are: "pack", "grid", "place", or "" if unmanaged.

Returns:

Type	Description
`str`	The name of the geometry manager or an empty string.

winfo_x

winfo_x() -> int

Return the x-coordinate of this widget relative to its parent.

Returns:

Type	Description
`int`	The x position in pixels.

winfo_y

winfo_y() -> int

Return the y-coordinate of this widget relative to its parent.

Returns:

Type	Description
`int`	The y position in pixels.

winfo_width

winfo_width() -> int

Return the current width of this widget in pixels.

Note

Geometry may be stale until Tk processes idle tasks. Use update_idletasks() if you need a fresh value.

Returns:

Type	Description
`int`	The width in pixels.

winfo_height

winfo_height() -> int

Return the current height of this widget in pixels.

Note

Geometry may be stale until Tk processes idle tasks. Use update_idletasks() if you need a fresh value.

Returns:

Type	Description
`int`	The height in pixels.

winfo_reqwidth

winfo_reqwidth() -> int

Return the requested width (geometry request) in pixels.

This is the size the widget asks for before geometry management.

Returns:

Type	Description
`int`	The requested width in pixels.

winfo_reqheight

winfo_reqheight() -> int

Return the requested height (geometry request) in pixels.

This is the size the widget asks for before geometry management.

Returns:

Type	Description
`int`	The requested height in pixels.

winfo_rootx

winfo_rootx() -> int

Return the absolute x-coordinate of this widget on the screen.

Returns:

Type	Description
`int`	The screen x position in pixels.

winfo_rooty

winfo_rooty() -> int

Return the absolute y-coordinate of this widget on the screen.

Returns:

Type	Description
`int`	The screen y position in pixels.

winfo_pointerx

winfo_pointerx() -> int

Return the pointer x-coordinate on the screen.

This returns the mouse pointer position in screen (root) coordinates.

Returns:

Type	Description
`int`	The screen x position of the pointer in pixels.

winfo_pointery

winfo_pointery() -> int

Return the pointer y-coordinate on the screen.

This returns the mouse pointer position in screen (root) coordinates.

Returns:

Type	Description
`int`	The screen y position of the pointer in pixels.

winfo_pointerxy

winfo_pointerxy() -> tuple[int, int]

Return the pointer (x, y) coordinates on the screen.

Returns:

Type	Description
`tuple[int, int]`	A tuple (x, y) in screen (root) coordinates.

winfo_containing

winfo_containing(rootx: int, rooty: int) -> Any

Return the widget that contains the given screen coordinate.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
`rootx`	`int`	Screen x coordinate in pixels.	required
`rooty`	`int`	Screen y coordinate in pixels.	required

Returns:

Type	Description
`Any`	The widget instance at that screen coordinate, or None if no widget
`Any`	is present at that location.

winfo_screenwidth

winfo_screenwidth() -> int

Return the width of the screen in pixels.

Returns:

Type	Description
`int`	Screen width in pixels.

winfo_screenheight

winfo_screenheight() -> int

Return the height of the screen in pixels.

Returns:

Type	Description
`int`	Screen height in pixels.

winfo_fpixels

winfo_fpixels(number: str) -> float

Convert a distance string to pixels (floating point).

Tk distance strings can include units like

"c" (centimeters)
"i" (inches)
"m" (millimeters)
"p" (points)

Plain numbers are pixels.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
`number`	`str`	A Tk distance string (e.g. "2c", "0.5i", "10").	required

Returns:

Type	Description
`float`	The distance in pixels as a float.

winfo_pixels

winfo_pixels(number: str) -> int

Convert a distance string to pixels (integer).

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description	Default
`number`	`str`	A Tk distance string (e.g. "2c", "0.5i", "10").	required

Returns:

Type	Description
`int`	The distance in pixels as an int (rounded by Tk).