Tkinter apps don't work properly when graphics backend is set to Tkinter

Problem Description

There are some problems when running tkinter scripts with graphics backend set to Tkinter.

• Application won’t close properly (after closing window something is still running in the background, so the console is busy). Somehow this is the solution:

        self.master.quit() # stops the mainloop?
        self.master.destroy()

• Widgets won’t change state properly
• I can’t start application without passing root object to main class (descendant of the Frame class):

    root = tk.Tk()
    app = SomeClass(master=root)
    app.master.title('PyExplore - Python Data Exploration Tool - version 0.1')
    app.mainloop()

What steps will reproduce the problem?

1. Set graphics backend to Tkinter
2. Run some tkinter script like the one below:

import tkinter as tk
import tkinter.ttk as ttk
 
def check_test():
    print("state: {}".format(chk_state.get()))

window = tk.Tk()
window.geometry('350x200+1000+400')
chk_state = tk.IntVar(value=-1)
#chk_state.set(True) #set check state
chk = ttk.Checkbutton(window, text='Choose', var=chk_state, command=check_test)
chk.grid(column=0, row=0)
window.mainloop()

1. Try to change checkbox state
2. Try to close application

What is the expected output? What do you see instead?

I would expect something like this:

• widgets change state properly
• after closing window console is released

What I got looks like this:

Paste Traceback/Error Below (if applicable)

PASTE TRACEBACK HERE

Package Versions

• Spyder: 3.2.8
• Python: 3.6.5
• Qt: 5.9.4
• PyQt: 5.9.1
• Operating System: Windows 10

Dependencies

IPython >=4.0    :  6.3.1 (OK)
cython >=0.21    :  0.28.2 (OK)
jedi >=0.9.0     :  0.12.0 (OK)
nbconvert >=4.0  :  5.3.1 (OK)
numpy >=1.7      :  1.14.2 (OK)
pandas >=0.13.1  :  0.22.0 (OK)
pycodestyle >=2.3:  2.4.0 (OK)
pyflakes >=0.6.0 :  1.6.0 (OK)
pygments >=2.0   :  2.2.0 (OK)
pylint >=0.25    :  1.8.4 (OK)
qtconsole >=4.2.0:  4.3.1 (OK)
rope >=0.9.4     :  0.10.7 (OK)
sphinx >=0.6.6   :  1.7.4 (OK)
sympy >=0.7.3    :  1.1.1 (OK)

[ccordoba12]

@czatom, Tk under Windows doesn’t work well if you’re using Anaconda, and I think that’s the fault of Anaconda. Is this the case for you?

[CAM-Gerlach]

Here’s a link to the Roadmap; Beta 3 will be the one with the key changes I mentioned. The final release should follow in perhaps early March.