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Frame

Frame is a basic layout container for grouping widgets and creating structure.

It's a themed wrapper around bs.Frame, so it participates in bootstack styling while behaving like a standard ttk container. Use Frame when you need a simple container without automatic layout management.

Prefer PackFrame or GridFrame for most layouts

For building layouts with automatic child management, use PackFrame (vertical/horizontal stacks with gap spacing) or GridFrame (CSS Grid-like 2D layouts). These provide a more declarative, less error-prone layout experience.

Quick start

import bootstack as bs

app = bs.App()

section = bs.Frame(app, padding=20)
section.pack(fill="both", expand=True)

bs.Label(section, text="Account").pack(anchor="w")
bs.Entry(section).pack(fill="x", pady=(8, 0))

app.mainloop()

When to use

Use Frame when:

  • you need a basic container without automatic layout management
  • you want padding around a cluster of widgets
  • you want to apply a shared background/surface to a region
  • you're manually managing child widgets with pack() or grid()

Consider a different control when:

  • you want automatic vertical/horizontal stacking with gaps -> use PackFrame
  • you need a 2D grid layout with auto-placement -> use GridFrame
  • the group needs a visible label (a titled section) -> use LabelFrame

Appearance

Styling

Frame is commonly used to create "surface" regions:

  • card-like blocks

  • sidebar backgrounds

  • header/footer regions

If your theme supports bordered/card styles, prefer named styles like Card.TFrame for consistency.

Design System

For theming details and color tokens, see Design System.

accent / style

Use accent for semantic tokens, or style= for a concrete ttk style name.

bs.Frame(app, accent="secondary")
bs.Frame(app, style="Card.TFrame")

Examples & patterns

padding

Apply inner spacing to the container.

bs.Frame(app, padding=20)
bs.Frame(app, padding=(16, 12))

width / height

Useful for fixed regions (tool palettes, sidebars). Note: geometry managers may still size the frame based on content unless propagation is disabled.

pane = bs.Frame(app, width=240, height=400)
pane.pack_propagate(False)

Behavior

  • Frames are containers only (no click/selection behavior).

  • Use the frame as the parent for widgets you want visually/structurally grouped.

  • With Frame, you manually call pack() or grid() on each child widget.

  • For automatic layout management, use PackFrame or GridFrame instead.

  • A Frame is not interactive; it exists to:

    • group related widgets
    • apply padding/margins around a region
    • host manual pack/grid layouts for a subsection of the UI
    • apply a shared visual surface (when styled)

Additional resources

  • PackFrame -- frame with automatic pack-based layout (vertical/horizontal stacks)
  • GridFrame -- frame with automatic grid-based layout (2D grids with auto-placement)
  • LabelFrame -- a framed container with a label
  • Separator -- a visual divider between regions
  • PanedWindow -- resizable split regions

Framework concepts

API reference