using the turtle module without opening the canvas (to obtain coordinates)

Question

Is it possible to use the turtle module to obtain coordinates (turtle.pos() once at the desired locations) without it opening a canvas?

I know this probably seems silly and defeats the point of the turtle module, but it's actually a very useful way of getting the coordinates of some points I need.

Many thanks

I think `turtle` is too intimately connected with `tkinter` to be capable of running without `tkinter` being initialized - which necessarily creates a window. You can hide that window by calling `.withdraw()` on it, or you can use `t = turtle.RawTurtle(tkinter.Canvas())` to create a turtle that is not connected with the window at all. — jasonharper, Aug 17 '22 at 13:55
Might be an [xy problem](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/66377/what-is-the-xy-problem/233676#233676). Can you provide more context of your original problem X? There might be a better solution than turtle. — ggorlen, Aug 17 '22 at 14:55
I'm obtaining coordinates by: moving along circle segments (using the turtle circle method) then moving to an offset perpendicular to the turtle (turning the turtle 90 degrees). I have a series of circle segments for which the chord length and versine is known, and I am converting these to a radius and degree to use with the turtle circle method. I'm sure there is a better way! However, the turtle module works fine, I just don't need to see it. — tomp, Aug 17 '22 at 15:34

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 22 '22 at 04:18

Instead of running turtle standalone, you could run it embedded and withdraw the root window on startup:

import tkinter as tk
from turtle import RawTurtle

root = tk.Tk()

root.withdraw()

canvas = tk.Canvas(width=500, height=500)

turtle = RawTurtle(canvas)

turtle.sety(-1)

turtle.circle(1, extent=45)

print(turtle.position())

using the turtle module without opening the canvas (to obtain coordinates)

1 Answers1