Basic Usage Examples

This page shows the most basic ways to use ThreePaneWindows.

Simple Three-Pane Layout

The simplest way to create a three-pane layout:

import tkinter as tk
from threepanewindows import FixedThreePaneLayout

# Create main window
root = tk.Tk()
root.title("Basic Three-Pane Example")
root.geometry("800x600")

# Create the layout
layout = FixedThreePaneLayout(root, side_width=200)
layout.pack(fill=tk.BOTH, expand=True)

# Add content to left pane
tk.Label(layout.frame_left, text="Left Panel",
         font=("Arial", 12, "bold")).pack(pady=10)

for i in range(5):
    tk.Button(layout.frame_left, text=f"Button {i+1}").pack(
        fill=tk.X, padx=5, pady=2)

# Add content to center pane
tk.Label(layout.frame_center, text="Main Content",
         font=("Arial", 14, "bold")).pack(pady=10)

text_area = tk.Text(layout.frame_center, wrap=tk.WORD)
text_area.pack(fill=tk.BOTH, expand=True, padx=10, pady=10)
text_area.insert("1.0", "This is the main content area.")

# Add content to right pane
tk.Label(layout.frame_right, text="Properties",
         font=("Arial", 12, "bold")).pack(pady=10)

tk.Label(layout.frame_right, text="Setting 1:").pack(anchor="w", padx=5)
tk.Entry(layout.frame_right).pack(fill=tk.X, padx=5, pady=2)

tk.Label(layout.frame_right, text="Setting 2:").pack(anchor="w", padx=5)
tk.Entry(layout.frame_right).pack(fill=tk.X, padx=5, pady=2)

root.mainloop()

Custom Labels

You can customize the pane labels:

import tkinter as tk
from threepanewindows import FixedThreePaneLayout

root = tk.Tk()
root.title("Custom Labels Example")
root.geometry("900x650")

layout = FixedThreePaneLayout(root, side_width=180)
layout.pack(fill=tk.BOTH, expand=True)

# Set custom labels with icons
layout.set_label_texts(
    left="🗂️ File Explorer",
    center="📝 Document Editor",
    right="🔧 Tool Panel"
)

# Add file explorer content
files = ["document.txt", "image.png", "script.py", "data.csv"]
for file in files:
    file_frame = tk.Frame(layout.frame_left)
    file_frame.pack(fill=tk.X, padx=5, pady=1)

    icon = "📄" if file.endswith(('.txt', '.py')) else "🖼️" if file.endswith('.png') else "📊"
    tk.Label(file_frame, text=f"{icon} {file}").pack(side=tk.LEFT)

# Add editor content
editor = tk.Text(layout.frame_center, wrap=tk.WORD, font=("Consolas", 11))
editor.pack(fill=tk.BOTH, expand=True, padx=10, pady=10)

sample_text = '''# Sample Document

This is a sample document in the editor.

You can add any content here: - Lists - Code snippets - Regular text

The layout automatically handles resizing!’’’

editor.insert(“1.0”, sample_text)

# Add tool panel content tools = [”🔍 Search”, “📋 Copy”, “✂️ Cut”, “📌 Pin”, “🔄 Refresh”] for tool in tools:

tk.Button(layout.frame_right, text=tool, width=15).pack(
pady=3, padx=5, fill=tk.X)

root.mainloop()

Simple File Manager

A basic file manager-style interface:

import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import ttk
from threepanewindows import FixedThreePaneLayout

def create_file_manager():
    root = tk.Tk()
    root.title("Simple File Manager")
    root.geometry("1000x700")

    layout = FixedThreePaneLayout(root, side_width=220)
    layout.pack(fill=tk.BOTH, expand=True)

    layout.set_label_texts(
        left="📁 Folders",
        center="📄 Files",
        right="ℹ️ Details"
    )

    # Folder tree (left pane)
    folder_tree = ttk.Treeview(layout.frame_left)
    folder_tree.pack(fill=tk.BOTH, expand=True, padx=5, pady=5)

    # Add sample folders
    documents = folder_tree.insert("", "end", text="📁 Documents", open=True)
    folder_tree.insert(documents, "end", text="📁 Projects")
    folder_tree.insert(documents, "end", text="📁 Reports")

    pictures = folder_tree.insert("", "end", text="📁 Pictures")
    folder_tree.insert(pictures, "end", text="📁 Vacation")
    folder_tree.insert(pictures, "end", text="📁 Screenshots")

    # File list (center pane)
    file_frame = tk.Frame(layout.frame_center)
    file_frame.pack(fill=tk.BOTH, expand=True, padx=5, pady=5)

    file_listbox = tk.Listbox(file_frame, font=("Arial", 10))
    file_listbox.pack(fill=tk.BOTH, expand=True)

    # Sample files
    files = [
        "📄 report.docx",
        "📊 data.xlsx",
        "🖼️ photo.jpg",
        "📝 notes.txt",
        "🐍 script.py"
    ]

    for file in files:
        file_listbox.insert(tk.END, file)

    # Details panel (right pane)
    details_frame = tk.Frame(layout.frame_right)
    details_frame.pack(fill=tk.BOTH, expand=True, padx=5, pady=5)

    tk.Label(details_frame, text="File Details",
            font=("Arial", 11, "bold")).pack(pady=(0, 10))

    details = [
        ("Name:", "report.docx"),
        ("Size:", "2.4 MB"),
        ("Type:", "Word Document"),
        ("Modified:", "Today, 2:30 PM"),
        ("Created:", "Yesterday")
    ]

    for label, value in details:
        detail_frame = tk.Frame(details_frame)
        detail_frame.pack(fill=tk.X, pady=2)

        tk.Label(detail_frame, text=label, font=("Arial", 9, "bold")).pack(side=tk.LEFT)
        tk.Label(detail_frame, text=value, font=("Arial", 9)).pack(side=tk.RIGHT)

    return root

if __name__ == "__main__":
    app = create_file_manager()
    app.mainloop()

Key Features Demonstrated

These basic examples show:

Simple Setup: How to create a three-pane layout with minimal code
Content Addition: Adding widgets to each pane
Custom Labels: Setting meaningful labels for each pane
Real-world Layout: Creating a practical file manager interface
Responsive Design: How the layout adapts to window resizing

Next Steps

Once you’re comfortable with these basics, try:

Dockable Layout Examples - For draggable and detachable panes
Enhanced Professional Examples - For advanced theming and features
Fixed Width Panes Examples - For precise control over pane sizing