Create resizable/multiline Tkinter/ttk Labels with word wrap

Question

Is it possible to create a multi-line label with word wrap that resizes in sync with the width of its parent? In other words the wordwrap behavior of Notepad as you change the width of the NotePad window.

The use case is a dialog that needs to present a block of multi-line text (instructions) in its entirety without having the text clipped or resorting to scrollbars. The parent container will have enough vertical space to accomodate narrow widths.

I've been experimenting with Tkinter Label and Message widgets and the ttk Label widget without success. It seems that I need to hard code a pixel wraplength value vs. have these controls auto wordwrap when their text reaches the right edge of their containers. Certainly Tkinters geometry managers can help me auto-resize my labels and update their wraplength values accordingly?

Should I be looking at the Text widget instead? If so, is it possible to hide the border of a Text widget so I can use it as a multi-line label with wordwrap?

Here's a prototype of how one might do what I described above. It was inspired by Bryan Oakley's tip to use the Text widget and the following post on Stackoverflow: In python's tkinter, how can I make a Label such that you can select the text with the mouse?

from Tkinter import *
master = Tk()

text = """
If tkinter is 8.5 or above you'll want the selection background to appear like it does when the widget is activated. Comment this out for older versions of Tkinter.

This is even more text.

The final line of our auto-wrapping label that supports clipboard copy.
""".strip()

frameLabel = Frame( master, padx=20, pady=20 )
frameLabel.pack()
w = Text( frameLabel, wrap='word', font='Arial 12 italic' )
w.insert( 1.0, text )
w.pack()

# - have selection background appear like it does when the widget is activated (Tkinter 8.5+)
# - have label background color match its parent background color via .cget('bg')
# - set relief='flat' to hide Text control borders
# - set state='disabled' to block changes to text (while still allowing selection/clipboard copy)
w.configure( bg=master.cget('bg'), relief='flat', state='disabled' )

mainloop()

Answer 1

No, there is no feature built-in to Tk to auto-word-wrap labels. However, it's doable by binding to the <Configure> event of the label and adjusting the wrap length then. This binding will fire every time the label widget is resized.

The other option, as you suggest, is to use a text widget. It is possible to entirely turn off the border if you so desire. This has always been my choice when I want word-wrapped instructional text.

Answer 2

Use Message widget:

The Message widget is a variant of the Label, designed to display multiline messages. The message widget can wrap text, and adjust its width to maintain a given aspect ratio.

Answer 3

Here is the code:

entry = Label(self, text=text,
    anchor=NW, justify=LEFT,
    relief=RIDGE, bd=2)
def y(event, entry=entry):
  # FIXME: make this a global method, to prevent function object creation
  # for every label.
  pad = 0
  pad += int(str(entry['bd']))
  pad += int(str(entry['padx']))
  pad *= 2
  entry.configure(wraplength = event.width - pad)
entry.bind("<Configure>", y )