This is an unofficial mirror of Tkinter reference documentation (based on Python 2.7 and Tk 8.5) created by the late John Shipman.
It was last updated in 2013 and is unmaintained. [More info]
An index is a general method of specifying a position in the content of a text widget. An index is a string with one of these forms:
'line
.column
'
The position just before the given
(counting from zero) on the given column
(counting
from one). Examples: line
'1.0'
is the
position of the beginning of the text; '2.3'
is the position before the fourth
character of the second line.
'line
.end'
The position just before the newline at the end of
the given line (counting from one). So, for
example, index '10.end'
is the
position at the end of the tenth line.
tk.INSERT
The position of the insertion cursor in the text
widget. This constant is equal to the string 'insert'
.
tk.CURRENT
The position of the character closest to the mouse
pointer. This constant is equal to the string 'current'
.
tk.END
The position after the last character of the text.
This constant is equal to the string 'end'
.
tk.SEL_FIRST
If some of the text in the widget is currently selection
(as by dragging the mouse over it), this is the position
before the start of the selection. If you try to use
this index and nothing is selected, a tk.TclError
exception will be raised.
This constant is equal to the string 'sel.first'
.
tk.SEL_LAST
The position after the end of the selection, if any. As
with SEL_FIRST
, you'll get a tk.TclError
exception if you use such an index
and there is no selection.
This constant is equal to the string 'sel.last'
.
'markname
'
You can use a mark as an index; just pass its name
where an index is expected. See Section 24.2, “Text
widget marks”.
'tag
.first'
The position before the first character of the
region tagged with name
; see Section 24.5, “tag
Text
widget tags”.
'tag
.last'
The position after the last character of a tagged region.
'@x
,y
'
The position before the character closest to the
coordinate (
, x
).
y
embedded-object
If you have an image or window embedded in the text
widget, you can use the PhotoImage
,
BitmapImage
, or embedded widget as
an index. See Section 24.3, “Text
widget images” and
Section 24.4, “Text
widget windows”.
In addition to the basic index options above, you can build arbitrary complex expressions by adding any of these suffixes to a basic index or index expression:
+ n
chars
From the given index, move forward
characters.
This operation will cross line boundaries.
n
For example, suppose the first line looks like this:
abcdef
The index expression “1.0 + 5
chars
” refers to the position
between e
and f
. You
can omit blanks and abbreviate keywords in these
expressions if the result is unambiguous. This
example could be abbreviated “1.0+5c
”.
- n
chars
Similar to the previous form, but the position moves
backwards
characters.
n
+ n
lines
Moves
lines past the given index. Tkinter tries to leave
the new position in the same column as it was on the
line it left, but if the line at the new position is
shorter, the new position will be at the end of the
line.
n
- n
lines
Moves
lines before the given index.
n
linestart
Moves to the position before the first character of
the given index. For example, position
“current linestart
”
refers to the beginning of the line closest to the
mouse pointer.
lineend
Moves to the position after the last character of
the given index. For example, position
“sel.last lineend
”
refers to the end of the line containing the end
of the current selection.
wordstart
The position before the beginning of the word
containing the given index. For example, index
“11.44 wordstart
”
refers to the position before the word containing
position 44 on line 11.
For the purposes of this operation, a word is
either a string of consecutive letter, digit, or
underbar (_
) characters, or a single
character that is none of these types.