Variables

Variables

Shared values widgets can bind to. Change one variable, every bound widget updates live. Two scopes: global (project-wide) and local (per form).

Open the Data window

F11 or View → Data.

The window has three tabs — variables share the surface with Object References since v1.10.8:

Tab	Scope	Visible to
Global	Whole project	Every widget in every form
Local: <form-name>	The active form only	Widgets inside that form
Object References	Widget pointers	See Object References

The Local tab follows the active document — switch forms and the tab relabels.

Types

Type	Tk runtime	Use for
str	tk.StringVar	text labels, entries, dropdown values
int	tk.IntVar	counts, indices
float	tk.DoubleVar	sliders, progress
bool	tk.BooleanVar	switches, checkboxes
color	tk.StringVar (hex)	shared accent / theme colors across widgets

Add / Rename / Delete

Toolbar buttons in the Variables window. Renaming is safe — bindings reference the variable's UUID, not its name.

Bind a widget property

In the Properties panel, click the ◇ in a row's left gutter to bind that property to a variable. Bound rows show ◆ + an orange tint; the ✕ on the right unbinds.

The diamond's color tells you the scope:

• 🔵 Blue ◆ — bound to a global variable
• 🟠 Orange ◆ — bound to a local variable

Double-click a bound row to jump straight to that variable in the Data window.

Updates propagate live in two directions:

• Tk-wired bindings (e.g. textvariable / variable) — typing into one Entry mirrors instantly into every Label / Switch / Slider sharing the variable.
• Cosmetic bindings (e.g. fg_color, where Tk has no *Var hook) — editing the variable's default value re-applies through widget.configure(...) on every bound widget without rebuilding the canvas.

Cross-form moves

Dragging or pasting a widget from one form to another can break local-variable bindings (the target form doesn't own those vars). When that happens, a Reparent Variables dialog opens with two choices:

Source	Target
Keep the originals	Duplicate them in the target form (or reuse a same-name match)
Delete the originals	Unbind the moved widgets

Cancel aborts the whole move.

Export

Globals declare on the main window class as self.var_X; Toplevels read them as self.master.var_X. Locals declare on their owning class. Either way, every bound property becomes a shared tk.Variable — no extra wiring.

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See also — Properties Panel · Object References · Exporting Code · Keyboard Shortcuts