How to open External Programs using Tkinter?

Last Updated : 23 Jan, 2023

Prerequisite: Tkinter, os

Python offers multiple options for developing a GUI (Graphical User Interface). Out of all the GUI methods, Tkinter is the most commonly used method. It is a standard Python interface to the Tk GUI toolkit shipped with Python. Python with Tkinter is the fastest and easiest way to create GUI applications. In this article, we will learn how to open an external program using Tkinter. Here we will use the system() method in the os module.

Approach:

First, we will import the required library
Then we create an object, which will ask for a file that you want to open
To open that file we will use the system() method from the os Module.

Syntax:

os.system('"%s"' % File Path)

Below is the Implementation:

Python3

# Import Library
from tkinter import *
import os
from tkinter.filedialog import askopenfilename 

# Create Object 
root = Tk() 

# Set geometry
root.geometry('200x200') 

def open_file(): 
    file = askopenfilename()
    os.system('"%s"' % file)

Button(root, text ='Open', 
       command = open_file).pack(side = TOP, 
                                 pady = 10) 

# Execute Tkinter
root.mainloop()

Output:

Opening application with their name

Prerequisite: Tkinter, AppOpener

The AppOpener is the python library that helps in opening any application without knowing it's an absolute path. The library works by making use of App name and App Id.

Approach:

First, we will import the required library.
Then we create a text area, which takes the input of the application name that we have to open.
To open that specific application we will use open() function of AppOpener module.

Syntax:

AppOpener.open(app_name)

Below is the Implementation:

Python3

import tkinter as tk
# Library used to open applications
import AppOpener 

# Create Object
root = tk.Tk()

# Set geometry
root.geometry("500x500")

# Create the text area
text_area = tk.Text(root, height=10, width=30, font=("",20))
text_area.pack()
# Autofocus cursor in text area
text_area.focus()
# Create the button
button = tk.Button(root, text="Open App", font=("", 20))
button.pack()

# Create the label
label = tk.Label(root, text="", font=("", 15))
label.pack()
label.config(text="JUST ENTER NAME OF APPLICATION TO OPEN")

def open_app(event):
  # Get application name
  app_name = text_area.get("1.0", "end")
  # Open application
  AppOpener.open(app_name)
  # Change the label accordingly
  label.config(text=str("Looking for "+app_name))
  text_area.delete("1.0", "end")
  
# Bind the button to the function
button.bind("<Button-1>", open_app)
root.mainloop()