Creating Application Pins/Adding Folders: A Step-by-Step Guide for Python
In this guide, we will walk you through the process of creating an application pin that allows you to quickly access frequently used folders. Our example will be written in Python and will demonstrate how to add folder shortcuts using the os, tkinter, and subprocess modules.
1. Import Required Modules
Before you start writing the code, you will need to import the required modules. In this example, we'll use os, tkinter, and subprocess modules to interact with the file system, build the user interface, and perform tasks, respectively.
import os
import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import filedialog, font, messagebox, Text
import subprocess
2. Define Path File
To save and retrieve the path of the pinned folder, create a text file named Path.txt.
path_file = "Path.txt"
This file will store the path of the pinned folder. This way, between runs, you will always have access to the pinned folder.
3. Create the PinFolderApp Class
Create a class called PinFolderApp that will include functions for interacting with the file system and the user interface.
class PinFolderApp:
4. Define the main Function
Inside the class, define a main function, invoking the tkinter library to create a window, declaring its title, geometry, and specifying that it cannot be resized.
def main(self):
window = tk.Tk()
window.title("Pin Folder")
window.geometry("400x200")
window.resizable(False, False)
5. Create the Browse Button
Create a function browse_folders, that will instruct the computer to show a browse window to let the user select the folder, retrieve the folder path, and display it on the window.
def browse_folders(self):
folder = filedialog.askdirectory(title="Select Folder")
folder_path = folder + "/"
folder_label = tk.Label(window, text="Selected folder:", font=font.Font(size=12))
folder_label.place(x=50, y=50)
folder_path_entry = tk.Entry(window, width=40, textvariable=tk.StringVar(window, folder_path), font=font.Font(size=12))
folder_path_entry.place(x=150, y=50)
6. Create the Pin Button
Create a function pin_folder, that opens the Path.txt file, replaces its content with the current folder path, closes the file, and displays a confirmation message using the messagebox module.
def pin_folder(self):
with open(path_file, "w") as p_file:
p_file.write(folder_path)
messagebox.showinfo("Pin Folder", "Folder pinned successfully!")
7. Create the Open Button
Create a function open_folder, that reads the content of Path.txt and passes its value to the subprocess module's Popen function, so that the pinned folder ...