How to run a function in the background of tkinter

Question

I am new to GUI programming and I want to write a Python program with tkinter. All I want it to do is run a simple function in the background that can be influenced through

Answer 1

Try to understand this example : clock updating in backgroud, and updating GUI ( no need for 2 threads ).

# use Tkinter to show a digital clock
# tested with Python24    vegaseat    10sep2006
from Tkinter import *
import time
root = Tk()
time1 = ''
clock = Label(root, font=('times', 20, 'bold'), bg='green')
clock.pack(fill=BOTH, expand=1)
def tick():
    global time1
    # get the current local time from the PC
    time2 = time.strftime('%H:%M:%S')
    # if time string has changed, update it
    if time2 != time1:
        time1 = time2
        clock.config(text=time2)
    # calls itself every 200 milliseconds
    # to update the time display as needed
    # could use >200 ms, but display gets jerky
    clock.after(200, tick)
tick()
root.mainloop(  )

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