TreeView with TreeStore (Python)

Code used to generate this example

from gi.repository import Gtk
from gi.repository import Pango
import sys

books = [["Tolstoy, Leo", "War and Peace", "Anna Karenina"],
         ["Shakespeare, William", "Hamlet", "Macbeth", "Othello"],
         ["Tolkien, J.R.R.", "The Lord of the Rings"]]


class MyWindow(Gtk.ApplicationWindow):

    def __init__(self, app):
        Gtk.Window.__init__(self, title="Library", application=app)
        self.set_default_size(250, 100)
        self.set_border_width(10)

        # the data are stored in the model
        # create a treestore with one column
        store = Gtk.TreeStore(str)
        for i in range(len(books)):
            # the iter piter is returned when appending the author
            piter = store.append(None, [books[i][0]])
            # append the books as children of the author
            j = 1
            while j < len(books[i]):
                store.append(piter, [books[i][j]])
                j += 1

        # the treeview shows the model
        # create a treeview on the model store
        view = Gtk.TreeView()
        view.set_model(store)

        # the cellrenderer for the column - text
        renderer_books = Gtk.CellRendererText()
        # the column is created
        column_books = Gtk.TreeViewColumn(
            "Books by Author", renderer_books, text=0)
        # and it is appended to the treeview
        view.append_column(column_books)

        # the books are sortable by author
        column_books.set_sort_column_id(0)

        # add the treeview to the window
        self.add(view)


class MyApplication(Gtk.Application):

    def __init__(self):
        Gtk.Application.__init__(self)

    def do_activate(self):
        win = MyWindow(self)
        win.show_all()

    def do_startup(self):
        Gtk.Application.do_startup(self)

app = MyApplication()
exit_status = app.run(sys.argv)
sys.exit(exit_status)

Useful methods for a TreeView widget

The TreeView widget is designed around a Model/View/Controller design: the Model stores the data; the View gets change notifications and displays the content of the model; the Controller, finally, changes the state of the model and notifies the view of these changes. For more information and for a list of useful methods for TreeModel see .

API References

In this sample we used the following:

GtkTreeView

GtkTreeModel

GtkTreeStore

GtkCellRendererText

GtkTreeViewColumn