kivy Getting started with kivy Different ways to run a simple app and to interact with widgets

Example

Most kivy apps start with this structure:

from kivy.app import App

class TutorialApp(App):
    def build(self):
        return 
TutorialApp().run()

There is several way to go from here :

All the codes below (except example 1 and 3) have the same widget and similar features, but show different way to build the app.

Example 1: returning a single widget (simple Hello World App)

from kivy.app import App
from kivy.uix.button import Button
class TutorialApp(App):
    def build(self):
        return Button(text="Hello World!")
TutorialApp().run()

Example 2: returning several widgets + the button prints the label's text

from kivy.app import App
from kivy.uix.boxlayout import BoxLayout
from kivy.uix.label import Label
from kivy.uix.button import Button

class TutorialApp(App):
    def build(self):
        mylayout = BoxLayout(orientation="vertical")
        mylabel = Label(text= "My App")
        mybutton =Button(text="Click me!")  
        mylayout.add_widget(mylabel)
        mybutton.bind(on_press= lambda a:print(mylabel.text))
        mylayout.add_widget(mybutton)
        return mylayout
TutorialApp().run()

Example 3: using a class (single widget) + the button prints "My Button"

from kivy.app import App
from kivy.uix.button import Button

class Mybutton(Button):
    text="Click me!"
    on_press =lambda a : print("My Button")    
    
class TutorialApp(App):
    def build(self):
        return Mybutton()
TutorialApp().run()

Example 4: it's the same as ex. 2 but it shows how to use a class

from kivy.app import App
from kivy.uix.boxlayout import BoxLayout
from kivy.uix.label import Label
from kivy.uix.button import Button

class MyLayout(BoxLayout):
    #You don't need to understand these 2 lines to make it work!
    def __init__(self, **kwargs):
        super(MyLayout, self).__init__(**kwargs)
        
        self.orientation="vertical"
        mylabel = Label(text= "My App")
        self.add_widget(mylabel)
        mybutton =Button(text="Click me!")
        mybutton.bind(on_press= lambda a:print(mylabel.text))
        self.add_widget(mybutton)
        
class TutorialApp(App):
    def build(self):
        return MyLayout()
TutorialApp().run()

With .kv language

Example 5: the same but showing how to use kv language within python

from kivy.app import App
from kivy.uix.boxlayout import BoxLayout 
# BoxLayout: it's in the python part, so you need to import it

from kivy.lang import Builder
Builder.load_string("""
<MyLayout>
    orientation:"vertical"
    Label: # it's in the kv part, so no need to import it
        id:mylabel
        text:"My App"
    Button:
        text: "Click me!"
        on_press: print(mylabel.text)
""")
class MyLayout(BoxLayout):
    pass
class TutorialApp(App):
    def build(self):
        return MyLayout()
TutorialApp().run()

**Example 6: the same with the kv part in a Tutorial.kv file **

In .py:

from kivy.app import App
from kivy.uix.boxlayout import BoxLayout

class MyLayout(BoxLayout):
    pass
class TutorialApp(App):  
#the kv file name will be Tutorial (name is before the "App")
    def build(self):
        return MyLayout()
TutorialApp().run()

In Tutorial.kv:

<MyLayout> # no need to import stuff in kv!
    orientation:"vertical"
    Label:
        id:mylabel
        text:"My App"
    Button:
        text: "Click me!"
        on_press: print(mylabel.text)

**Example 7: link to specific kv file + a def in python receiving the label.text **

In .py:

from kivy.app import App
from kivy.uix.boxlayout import BoxLayout

class MyLayout(BoxLayout):
    def printMe(self_xx, yy):
        print(yy)
class TutorialApp(App): 
    def build(self):
        self.load_kv('myapp.kv')
        return MyLayout()
TutorialApp().run()

In myapp.kv: orientation:"vertical" Label: id:mylabel text:"My App" Button: text: "Click me!" on_press: root.printMe(mylabel.text)

Example 8: the button prints the label's text (with a def in python using ids(the "IDs") )

Notice that:

• self_xx from example 7 is replaced by self

In .py:

from kivy.app import App
from kivy.uix.boxlayout import BoxLayout

class MyLayout(BoxLayout):
    def printMe(self):
        print(self.ids.mylabel.text)
class TutorialApp(App):
    def build(self):
        self.load_kv('myapp.kv')
        return MyLayout()
TutorialApp().run()

In myapp.kv:

<MyLayout>
    orientation:"vertical"
    Label:
        id:mylabel
        text:"My App"
    Button:
        text: "Click me!"
        on_press: root.printMe()

Example 9: the button prints the label's text (with a def in python using StringProperty)

In .py:

from kivy.app import App
from kivy.uix.boxlayout import BoxLayout
from kivy.properties import StringProperty
class MyLayout(BoxLayout):
    stringProperty_mylabel= StringProperty("My App")
    def printMe(self):
        print(self.stringProperty_mylabel)

class TutorialApp(App):
    def build(self):
        return MyLayout()
TutorialApp().run()

In Tutorial.kv:

<MyLayout>
    orientation:"vertical"
    Label:
        id:mylabel
        text:root.stringProperty_mylabel
    Button:
        text: "Click me!"
        on_press: root.printMe()

Example 10: the button prints the label's text (with a def in python using ObjectProperty)

In .py:

from kivy.app import App
from kivy.uix.boxlayout import BoxLayout
from kivy.properties import ObjectProperty
class MyLayout(BoxLayout):
    objectProperty_mylabel= ObjectProperty(None)
    def printMe(self):
        print(self.objectProperty_mylabel.text)

class TutorialApp(App):
    def build(self):
        return MyLayout()
TutorialApp().run()

In Tutorial.kv:

<MyLayout>
    orientation:"vertical"
    objectProperty_mylabel:mylabel
    Label:
        id:mylabel
        text:"My App"
    Button:
        text: "Click me!"
        on_press: root.printMe()