tkinter.simpledialog: KeyError when a dialog is opened while a window not created by tkinter holds the grab
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- Python
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Description
Bug report
simpledialog.SimpleDialog.go() and Dialog use _temp_grab_focus(), which calls grab_current() and focus_get() to restore the previous grab and focus afterwards. Both convert the Tcl window name with _nametowidget(), which raises KeyError for windows which were not created by tkinter, such as the native message box (.__tk__messagebox) or Tk's file dialogs on X11.
import tkinter
from tkinter import messagebox, simpledialog
root = tkinter.Tk()
root.after(300, lambda: simpledialog.SimpleDialog(root, text='hi', buttons=['OK']).go())
messagebox.showinfo('t', 'm', parent=root)
KeyError: '__tk__messagebox'
This happens in IDLE when a dialog is opened from an event delivered while a message box is shown (#153481). Regression from #151848 (3.16).
Linked PRs
- gh-157677
Contributor guide
First steps
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Research direction
Start by reading tkinter.simpledialog.SimpleDialog.go(), Dialog, and _temp_grab_focus(), then run the supplied messagebox and simpledialog reproduction. The fix is complete when opening a dialog while a non-tk window holds the grab no longer raises KeyError and the previous grab and focus are restored.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- python
- Domain
- desktop
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 3/5
- Estimated time
- 1-2 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Clearly specified
- Newbie friendliness
- 25/100