[Tkinter-discuss] tkFileDialog.askopenfile() mac

[Cameron Laird]

On Tue, Aug 12, 2014 at 07:23:11AM -0700, JBB wrote:
> On 8/12/14, 1:20 AM, Michael Lange wrote:
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> Thank you.  You are right, askopenfilename is what I want.  I wasn't 
> aware that this method existed.
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> After some more digging, I find that Python uses the macosx backend on 
> initialization.  If I change this to tk before beginning work, the 
> problem goes away.  My Linux Python uses tk by default.
> 
> As a newcomer to Python, I had read that Tkinter was "the" Python GUI 
> tool and started copying code from examples and discussion threads. 
> But, it is clear that there are other tools for GUI programming and that 
> backend selection may have to be matched depending on the package.
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Good follow-up, JBB; it helps the rest of us to learn
your findings as you describe them here.

Tkinter is indeed the official Python GUI toolkit.  At
the same time, as you have also discovered, there is a
wealth of more-or-less well-supported alternatives (I
once argued in a published article that Python boasted
or suffered from a wider range of useful GUI toolkits
than *any* language, including even C and Java). 
Extension of Python is so easy that even intermediate-
level Pythoneers with a good idea or two can quickly
create an interesting extension; Web frameworks and 
ssh libraries are a couple of other domains which, at
different level, have witnessed these remarkable
radiations.

We're all fans of Tkinter here.  At the same time, if 
you describe more of your own situation, we might be
able to help you evaluate how its competitors are
likely to serve you.