Updated 2018-02-21 09:20:38 by MG

MG 19 Feb 2018 - This code impliments simple drag-and-drop reordering for the Listbox widget. It works with listboxes with -selectmode set to either single or multiple (not browse or extending, which already have 'dragging' behaviour for altering selection).

MG 21/2/18 Added -command to ListboxDnD::enable

To use, create a listbox, then do
    package require ListboxDnD
    ListboxDnD::enable $listbox ?-command $command?

If a -command is specified, the command is run when the list order is successfully changed via dragging. May contain %W which is replaced with the widget path prior to execution.

The code:
namespace eval ::ListboxDnD {
        variable data;
        variable state;
}

bind ListboxDnD <1> [list ::ListboxDnD::start %W %x %y]
bind ListboxDnD <Escape> "[list ::ListboxDnD::cancel %W %x %y];break"
bind ListboxDnD <B1-Motion> [list ::ListboxDnD::drag %W %x %y]
bind ListboxDnD <ButtonRelease-1> [list ::ListboxDnD::stop %W %x %y]

# Enable listbox $lb to be re-ordered with drag and drop
# Possible args:
#        -command $cmd   -   run $cmd after the list has been rearranged, replacing %W with the window path
proc ::ListboxDnD::enable {lb {args}} {
        variable data;
        if { ![winfo exists $lb] || [winfo class $lb] ne "Listbox" } {
                return 0;
        }
        set bt [bindtags $lb]
        if { [set bti [lsearch -exact $bt "Listbox"]] < 0 } {
                return 0;
        }
        foreach {x y} $args {
                if { $x eq "-command" } {
                        if { $y eq "" } {
                                unset -nocomplain data($lb,-command)
                        } else {
                                set data($lb,-command) $y
                        }
                } else {
                        error "Invalid option $x: Must be -command"
                }
        }
        if { "ListboxDnD" in $bt } {
                return 1;# already done
        }
        bindtags $lb [linsert $bt $bti+1 "ListboxDnD"]
        return 1;
};#enable

# Called on B1 press to set up for a drag
proc ::ListboxDnD::start {lb x y} {
        variable state;
        if { [$lb cget -state] ne "normal" || [$lb cget -selectmode] ni [list "single" "multiple"] } {
                return;
        }
        
        set _listvar [$lb cget -listvariable]
        if { $_listvar eq "" } {
                return;
        }
        upvar #0 $_listvar listvar
        if { ![info exists listvar] || [llength $listvar] < 2 } {
                return;
        }
        
        set state($lb,list) $listvar
        set state($lb,startindex) [$lb index @$x,$y]
        set state($lb,currindex) $state($lb,startindex)
        set state($lb,startsel) [$lb curselection]
        
        return;
};# start

# Called on B1 motion, as an item is being dragged
proc ::ListboxDnD::drag {lb x y} {
        variable state;
        
        set _listvar [$lb cget -listvariable]
        if { $_listvar eq "" || ![info exists state($lb,list)] } {
                return;
        }
        upvar #0 $_listvar listvar
        
        set newpos [$lb nearest $y]
        set oldpos $state($lb,currindex)
        if { $newpos == $oldpos } {
                return;
        }
        set sel [$lb curselection]
        if { $oldpos in $sel && $newpos ni $sel } {
                $lb selection clear $oldpos
                $lb selection set $newpos
        } elseif { $oldpos ni $sel && $newpos in $sel } {
                $lb selection clear $newpos
                $lb selection set $oldpos
        }
        set newlist $listvar
        set oldval [lindex $newlist $oldpos]
        set newval [lindex $newlist $newpos]
        set newlist [lreplace $newlist $oldpos $oldpos $newval]
        set newlist [lreplace $newlist $newpos $newpos $oldval]
        set listvar $newlist
        set state($lb,currindex) $newpos

        return;
};# drag

# Called when Escape is pressed; cancel a drag
proc ::ListboxDnD::cancel {lb x y} {
        variable state;
        
        if { ![info exists state($lb,list)] } {
                return;
        }
        
        set _listvar [$lb cget -listvariable]
        if { $_listvar eq "" } {
                return;
        }
        upvar #0 $_listvar listvar
        set listvar $state($lb,list)
        $lb selection clear 0 end
        foreach x $state($lb,startsel) {
                $lb selection set $x
        }
        
        array unset state $lb,*
        
        return;
};# cancel

# Called on B1 release; finalise a drag
proc ::ListboxDnD::stop {lb x y} {
        variable state;
        variable data;
        
        if { ![info exists state($lb,startindex)] } {
                return; # drag was cancelled
        }
        
        set start $state($lb,startindex)
        set curr $state($lb,currindex)
        array unset state $lb,*
        if { $start == $curr } {
                return;# Wasn't dragged anyway
        }
                
        if { [info exists data($lb,-command)] } {
                catch {uplevel #0 [string map [list %W $lb] $data($lb,-command)]}
        }
        
        return;
};# stop

package provide ListboxDnD 1.0

Example:
set list [list foo bar baz boing sprocket]
pack [listbox .lb -listvariable list -selectmode single]
ListboxDnD::enable .lb