Python tkinter textvariable in label widget

Question

I have made a variable called 'localtime2' within my def in the code and then have a label which says 'textvariable=localtime2.' the problem is that it does not display the information about the variable.

localtime2 = time.asctime(time.localtime(time.time()))
tk.Label(roots, font=('arial', 16, 'bold'), textvariable=localtime2, bd=16, anchor="w").grid(row=2, column=0)

This is all I have in the code about this variable and it is not coming up with any error in the terminal. It just doesnt show at all.

Answer 1

Edit: The solution to the original post was using text=localtime2.get() instead of textvariable=localtime2 in the label widget ( for some strange reason ). However, my original answer is still correct as tkinter variables should be used and so I will keep it up.

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You must use tkinter variables in tkinter widgets and not normal python variables. Tkinter variables are slightly different to normal variables and must first be defined as a specific data type. For example, a variable which contains a string must be first created like so:

string_variable = tk.StringVar()

likewise a boolean would be created like so:

boolean_variable = tk.BooleanVar()

Read here for more information on tkinter variables.

These variables are in fact classes so in order to set them use must call the .set() method. Therefore to set a tkinter String variable to "a string" you would use the following code:

string_variable = tk.StringVar() # Create the variable 
string_variable.set("a string") # Set the value of the variable

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Thus to fix your code you need to make localtime2 a tkinter variable and set it to the time using the .set() method.

Example:

localtime2 = tk.StringVar() # Create the localtime2 string variable
localtime2.set(time.asctime(time.localtime(time.time()))) # Set the variable
tk.Label(roots, font=('arial', 16, 'bold'), textvariable=localtime2, bd=16, anchor="w").grid(row=2, column=0)

Answer 2

Whenever there is a change in a tkinter variable , the update is automatically reflected everywhere. Because of this property you cannot use a normal python variable here.
Try using StringVar() and then setting the variable content using set()