python - Resizing Tkinter Frames with fixed aspect-ratio

Question

I'm looking for a way to make Tkinter Frames behave somewhat like this while resizing:

from Tkinter import *
w = Tk()
w.aspect(1,1,1,1)
w.mainloop()

So I'd like this code here:

import Tkinter as tk
from Tkconstants import *
r=tk.Tk()
content_frame=tk.Frame(r,borderwidth=5,relief=GROOVE)
content_frame.grid(row=0,column=0,sticky=(N,S,E,W))
tk.Label(content_frame,text='content').pack()
pad_frame=tk.Frame(r,borderwidth=5,relief=GROOVE)
pad_frame.grid(row=1,column=0,sticky=(N,S,E,W))
tk.Label(pad_frame,text='-pad-').pack()
r.rowconfigure(0, weight=1)
r.rowconfigure(1, weight=1)
r.columnconfigure(0, weight=1)
r.mainloop()

which basically creates 2 frames, one that's supposed to hold some content (in my application this frame holds a mathplotlib graph that can be resized) and one simply for padding.

To behave on resizing following these rules:

• the content frame resizes with a fixed aspect ration (let's say it always needs to be square)
• the pad frame takes up the remaining (vertical) space

Any ideas? I've been reading manuals for a while now and can't seem to find something fitting.

-Daniel

Answer 1

There are at least a couple ways to solve this. The simplest, IMO, is to have your padding widget be a container for your content widget, and then you explicitly set the width and height of the content widget using place. This is one of the edge cases where place is preferred over grid or pack.

In the following example I've created a function which lets you pass in a content frame, a padding frame, and an aspect ratio. It then constrains the size of the content frame by the aspect ratio and the size of the container. It will make the content window fill the container in the X dimension and then set the height appropriately. If the resulting window is too tall to be visible, it sets the max height to the height of the container and adjusts the width instead.

I've tried to keep most of the code from the question intact, even though this isn't exactly how I would normally choose to code it. I've given the widgets distinct colors so it's easier to see what is happening.

import Tkinter as tk
from Tkconstants import *
r=tk.Tk()

def set_aspect(content_frame, pad_frame, aspect_ratio):
    # a function which places a frame within a containing frame, and
    # then forces the inner frame to keep a specific aspect ratio

    def enforce_aspect_ratio(event):
        # when the pad window resizes, fit the content into it,
        # either by fixing the width or the height and then
        # adjusting the height or width based on the aspect ratio.

        # start by using the width as the controlling dimension
        desired_width = event.width
        desired_height = int(event.width / aspect_ratio)

        # if the window is too tall to fit, use the height as
        # the controlling dimension
        if desired_height > event.height:
            desired_height = event.height
            desired_width = int(event.height * aspect_ratio)

        # place the window, giving it an explicit size
        content_frame.place(in_=pad_frame, x=0, y=0, 
            width=desired_width, height=desired_height)

    pad_frame.bind("<Configure>", enforce_aspect_ratio)

pad_frame = tk.Frame(borderwidth=0, background="bisque", width=200, height=200)
pad_frame.grid(row=0, column=0, sticky="nsew", padx=10, pady=20)
content_frame=tk.Frame(r,borderwidth=5,relief=GROOVE, background="blue")
tk.Label(content_frame,text='content').pack()
set_aspect(content_frame, pad_frame, aspect_ratio=2.0/1.0) 
r.rowconfigure(0, weight=1)
r.columnconfigure(0, weight=1)

r.mainloop()

This will work best if the containing widget has contents that easily adjust to the size of the container. If there is a complex layout of widgets within, some widgets could get chopped off if they don't fit when the window is shrunk below its natural size.