Tk Source Code

The indicators of the ttk::checkbutton and ttk::radiobutton widgets of the themes "default" and "classic" are implemented in the file generic/ttk/ttkElements.c.  The implementation contains the following comment, written 20 years ago by Joe English:

"This is actually a regression from Tk 8.5 back to the ugly old Motif style; use "altTheme" for the newer, nicer version."

Since "default" is the default theme on X11, it is really a shame that its ttk::checkbutton and ttk::radiobutton widgets look so old-fashioned and even ugly, unlike their equivalents for the "vista" and "aqua" themes.

Proposed fix for this bug:

1. Keep the current implementation for the (Motif-style) "classic" theme only by moving it into the file generic/ttk/ttkClassicTheme.c.

2. Replace the relevant code in generic/ttk/ttkElements.c with a new one using fully scaling-aware SVG images that look and behave like their equivalents in the "vista" and "aqua" themes.

3. Make the necessary changes in the file library/ttk/defaults.tcl.

See the branch "new-default-indicators" for the implementation of the above steps.

@Harald: Many thanks again for your nice comments!  Now I am closing the ticket.

Hi Csaba, thank you for the merge with commit [82b9f82c]. Great work ! Harald

I think, this may be directly merged. Tk 8.7. will happily have all styles updated for new look and scalability.

Thank you, great! Harald

Added a 4th screenshot showing the old Motif-style ttk::checkbutton and ttk::radiobutton widgets for comparison.

Attached three screenshots demonstrating the modern look of the new indicators.