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I was playing around with tkinter in python 2x and whenever I use filename = tkFileDialog.askopenfilename() I can easily open a file for use and the dialog window closes automatically after.

Somehow this doesn't work in python 3x. An example code:

import tkinter
from tkinter import filedialog
    def character_mentions():
        filename = filedialog.askopenfilename()
        with open(filename, 'r') as infile:
            reader = csv.reader(infile)
            dict_of_mentions = {rows[1]:rows[2] for rows in reader}
        print(dict_of_mentions)
This gives me the output I'm seeking, but the the empty root window stays open, blank. When I press the X button, it freezes and forces me to shut it down with the task manager. 
Any ideas on what to do here? Thanks in advance!
                Is it actually the file dialog that's remaining, or the empty root window that Tkinter gives you whether you want one or not?  If your only intended use of Tkinter is a file or other dialog, it would be best to explicitly create and hide that root window: tkinter.Tk().withdraw() perhaps.
– jasonharper
                Jul 30, 2018 at 14:54
                @jasonharper ah, yes - that's the window I meant, thanks. I edited my question. I added that line but it didn't work, sadly.
– Waldkamel
                Jul 30, 2018 at 15:05
                Your code is incomplete. You are missing a tkinter instance, a mainloop, and a call to the function. Please provide Minimal, Complete, and Verifiable example.
– Mike - SMT
                Jul 30, 2018 at 15:43
You need to create a tkinter instance and then hide the main window.
In the function you can simply destroy() the tkinter instance once your function is complete.
import tkinter
from tkinter import filedialog
root = tkinter.Tk()
root.wm_withdraw() # this completely hides the root window
# root.iconify() # this will move the root window to a minimized icon.
def character_mentions():
    filename = filedialog.askopenfilename()
    with open(filename, 'r') as infile:
        reader = csv.reader(infile)
        dict_of_mentions = {rows[1]:rows[2] for rows in reader}
    print(dict_of_mentions)
    root.destroy()
character_mentions()
root.mainloop()
if you want a drop-in replacement for filedialog that implements the described solution you can use the following class (myfile.py):
import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import filedialog as fd
# noinspection PyPep8Naming
class filedialog(tk.Tk):
    @classmethod
    def askopenfilename(cls, *args, **kwargs):
        root = cls()
        root.wm_withdraw()
        files = fd.askopenfilename(*args, **kwargs)
        root.destroy()
        return files
This way the usage syntax doesn't need to change e.g. instead of
from tkinter import filedialog you can use from myfile import filedialog and just use filedialog.askopenfilename()
        
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