Listbox itemconfigure leaks memory

[abonet]

BPO	781883
Nosy	@rhettinger
Files	itemcfg.py: Demonstration script

^{Note: these values reflect the state of the issue at the time it was migrated and might not reflect the current state.}

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GitHub fields:

assignee = None
closed_at = <Date 2004-06-16.03:10:16.000>
created_at = <Date 2003-08-02.08:01:30.000>
labels = ['expert-tkinter']
title = 'Listbox itemconfigure leaks memory'
updated_at = <Date 2004-06-16.03:10:16.000>
user = 'https://bugs.python.org/abonet'

bugs.python.org fields:

activity = <Date 2004-06-16.03:10:16.000>
actor = 'nnorwitz'
assignee = 'nnorwitz'
closed = True
closed_date = None
closer = None
components = ['Tkinter']
creation = <Date 2003-08-02.08:01:30.000>
creator = 'abonet'
dependencies = []
files = ['992']
hgrepos = []
issue_num = 781883
keywords = []
message_count = 6.0
messages = ['17575', '17576', '17577', '17578', '17579', '17580']
nosy_count = 4.0
nosy_names = ['nnorwitz', 'jepler', 'rhettinger', 'abonet']
pr_nums = []
priority = 'normal'
resolution = 'rejected'
stage = None
status = 'closed'
superseder = None
type = None
url = 'https://bugs.python.org/issue781883'
versions = []

[abonet]

Calling itemconfigure on Tkinter.Listbox to change item
colors seems to leak memory without bounds. I've seen
this in Python 2.2 and 2.3 on SunOS, Tru64, and Linux.

Here's a small script that demostrates it:

import Tkinter as Tk
Lb = None

def update_lb ():
    global Lb    
    Lb.delete(0, Tk.END)

    for ii in range(100):
        Lb.insert(Tk.END, 'Item %d' % ii)
        Lb.itemconfigure(ii, bg='red')

    Lb.after(10, update_lb)


root = Tk.Tk()
Lb = Tk.Listbox(root)
Lb.pack()
Lb.after(1000, update_lb)
root.mainloop()

[abonet]

Logged In: YES
user_id=716439

Sorry, but indentation got lost on script sample. Look at
attached file instead.

[rhettinger]

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Try a gc.collect() to see if the problem persists.

[abonet]

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Calling gc.collect() seems to reduce the rate at which
memory is leaking, but it does not eliminate the leak.

[jepler]

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user_id=2772

The problem can be seen in an equivalent tcl script. This may indicate that the problem is not in Python itself, but in the third-party Tcl/Tk library.

The script follows. I hope indentation isn't lost, but at least Tk has curly braces for just such an emergency.

proc update_lb {} {
.lb delete 0 end
for {set i 0} {$i < 100} {incr i} {
.lb insert end "Item $i"
.lb itemco $i -bg red
}
after 10 update_lb
}

listbox .lb
pack .lb
after 10 update_lb

[nnorwitz]

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user_id=33168

Closing this since it seems to be related to Tcl/Tk, not Python.