How can I create a Drag and Drop interface?

Question

Currently, I am working with Python 3.5 GUI development using tkinter module. I want to be able to drag an image from one place to another within the application. Does tkinter support drag and drop within an application, and if so, how do you do it?

from tkinter import *

root = Tk()
root.geometry("640x480")

canvas = Canvas(root, height=480, width=640, bg="white")

frame = Frame(root, height=480, width=640, bg="white")
frame.propagate(0)

image = PhotoImage(file="C:/Users/Shivam/Pictures/Paint/Body.png")

label = Label(canvas, image=image)
label.pack()

label_2 = Label(frame, text="Drop Here !")
label_2.pack()
label_2.place(x=200, y=225, anchor=CENTER)

canvas.pack(side=LEFT)
frame.pack()

root.mainloop()

Answer 1

Tkinter doesn't have any direct support for drag and drop within an application beyond what's supplied in the tkinter.dnd module linked below. However, drag and drop requires not much more than making suitable bindings for a button click (<ButtonPress-1>), the mouse moving while the button is clicked (<B1-Motion>), and when the button is released (<ButtonRelease-1>).

Here is a very simplistic example which is designed to work with your code.

First, we'll create a class that can manage the dragging and dropping. It's easier to do this as a class rather than a collection of global functions.

class DragManager():
    def add_draggable(self, widget):
        widget.bind("<ButtonPress-1>", self.on_start)
        widget.bind("<B1-Motion>", self.on_drag)
        widget.bind("<ButtonRelease-1>", self.on_drop)
        widget.configure(cursor="hand1")
        
    def on_start(self, event):
        # you could use this method to create a floating window
        # that represents what is being dragged.
        pass

    def on_drag(self, event):
        # you could use this method to move a floating window that
        # represents what you're dragging
        pass
    
    def on_drop(self, event):
        # find the widget under the cursor
        x,y = event.widget.winfo_pointerxy()
        target = event.widget.winfo_containing(x,y)
        try:
            target.configure(image=event.widget.cget("image"))
        except:
            pass

To use it, all you need to do is call the add_draggable method, giving it the widget(s) you wish to drag.

For example:

label = Label(canvas, image=image)
...
dnd = DragManager()
dnd.add_draggable(label)
...
root.mainloop()

That's all it takes for the basic framework. It's up to you to create a floating draggable window, and to perhaps highlight the item(s) that can be dropped on.

Other implementations

For another implementation of the same concept, see https://github.com/python/cpython/blob/master/Lib/tkinter/dnd.py