IDLE uses incorrect screen dimension units

[serhiy-storchaka]

In two places IDLE uses incorrect unit for screen dimension:

cpython/Lib/idlelib/configdialog.py

Line 114 in 983efcf

self.frame = frame = Frame(self, padding="5px")

cpython/Lib/idlelib/searchbase.py

Line 89 in 983efcf

self.frame = Frame(top, padding="5px")

It uses "5px", but the only documented valid suffixes are "c", "i", "m" and "p". Tk ignores the rest in versions < 8.7, but in 8.7 and 9.0 this is an error. And this is for good, because "px" did not mean pixels, as was expected, but printer's points (1/72 inch).

If we want to keep the same look, we should change "px" to "p". But if it originally should be in pixels, we should remove the suffix. In all other places padding is specified in pixels, and this makes sense, so I believe the latter option is better.

Linked PRs

• gh-120104: IDLE: Fix padding in config and search dialogs #120107
• [3.13] gh-120104: IDLE: Fix padding in config and search dialogs (GH-120107) #122740
• [3.12] gh-120104: IDLE: Fix padding in config and search dialogs (GH-120107) #122741

[terryjreedy]

Both of those are ttk Frames PRs originally authored by Mark Roseman in 2020 for issue #78168. I would prefer consistently using pixels. I will check later to see the effect of just removing 'p' and if I prefer (as I suspect) increasing the number.

[terryjreedy]

Since pixels are smaller than points, the result is slightly smaller padding in various places, but it looks fine to me. So I will leave the patch as is.