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GTK+ GUI Programming: Ori Idan Helicon Technologies

GTK+ is a GUI library written in C that can be used from other languages via bindings. It is part of the GNU project and was initially developed for the GIMP image editor. GTK+ uses object-oriented programming principles and contains libraries for core functions, text layout, and accessibility. Programmers connect callback functions to signals to handle user interface events. Widgets are packed into boxes and tables for layout. The Glade tool can be used to visually design user interfaces, and Anjuta is an IDE for developing GTK+ applications. Localization is supported via GNU gettext.

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Sanjib Mishra Mishra
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427 views

GTK+ GUI Programming: Ori Idan Helicon Technologies

GTK+ is a GUI library written in C that can be used from other languages via bindings. It is part of the GNU project and was initially developed for the GIMP image editor. GTK+ uses object-oriented programming principles and contains libraries for core functions, text layout, and accessibility. Programmers connect callback functions to signals to handle user interface events. Widgets are packed into boxes and tables for layout. The Glade tool can be used to visually design user interfaces, and Anjuta is an IDE for developing GTK+ applications. Localization is supported via GNU gettext.

Uploaded by

Sanjib Mishra Mishra
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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GTK+ GUI programming

Ori Idan

Helicon technologies
What is it?
● GUI library written in C with bindings for many 
other languages
● LGPL License
● Part of the GNU project
● Initially developed for and used by the GIMP
● Used today as the basis of GNOME
● Portings to other operating systems including MS­
Windows
Language bindings
● Language bindings enable you to write GTK+ 
programs using languages other then C.
● GTK+ was written with language bindings in 
mind from the very beginning
● Officialy supported languages: C++, Java, Perl
● Other languages supported: PHP, Python, Ruby, 
TCL, Eifel, C#, ADA, Lisp and many others.
Architecture and components
● Fully object oriented although written in C.
● Uses classes and callback functions implemented 
as structures and pointers to functions
● Contains the following libraries:
– Glib – low level core library functions providing event 
loop, threads, dynamic loading, object system, string and 
list manipulation etc.
– Pango – Layout and rendering of text with emphasis on 
I18N
– ATK – Accessibility toolkit supporting screen readers and 
alternative input devices.
Show me the code...
int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
GtkWidget *window, *button;
/* initialize library and parse command line arguments */
gtk_init(&argc, &argv);
window = gtk_window_new(GTK_WINDOW_TOPLEVEL);
g_signal_connect(G_OBJECT(window),"delete_event",
G_CALLBACK(delete_event), NULL);
g_signal_connect(G_OBJECT(window), "destroy",
G_CALLBACK(destroy), NULL);
gtk_container_set_border_width(GTK_CONTAINER(window), 10);
button = gtk_button_new_with_label("Hello world");
gtk_container_add (GTK_CONTAINER (window), button);
gtk_widget_show(button);
gtk_widget_show(window);
gtk_main();
return 0;
}
Show me the code...
gboolean delete_event(GtkWidget *widget, GdkEvent *event,
gpointer data) {
printf("delete event occured\n");
return FALSE;
}
void destroy(GtkWidget *widget, GdkEvent *event,
gpointer data) {
gtk_main_quit();
}
How to compile
Use the pkg­config utility 
gcc ­o hello hello.c `pkg­config ­­cflags ­­libs gtk+2.0`
pkg­config will give all the flags needed to compile 
using this library.
Signals
● Signals are used to relate actions to mouse clicks, 
mouse moves, keyboard, timer etc.
● Each widget can have several signal handlers for 
different signals or for same signal
● The g_signal_connect() function connects a signal 
to a callback function to handle the signal.
● Type of callback function depends on the signal.
More code...
First we create a callback function to be called when 
clicking the button:
void ButtonCallback(GtkWidget *button, gpointer
*data) {
printf("Button pressed\n");
gtk_main_quit();
}

Then we connect the function to the signal:
g_signal_connect(G_OBJECT(button), "clicked",
G_CALLBACK(ButtonCallback), NULL);

Now when we run the program, pressing the button will 
print a message and quit.
Packing widgets
● Widgets are packed in boxes and tables.
● There are two types of boxes VBOX and HBOX

● Table can be regarded as combination of HBOX and 

VBOX
● Each cell may contain either a box or one widget

● Create a box using gtk_vbox_new or gtk_hbox_new

● Add the box using gtk_container_add

● Create a table using gtk_table_new
Packing widgets example
 Add two buttons in a window:
●

box1 = gtk_hbox_new (FALSE, 0);


gtk_container_add (GTK_CONTAINER (window), box1);

/* create a button and add it to box */


button = gtk_button_new_with_label ("Button 1");
gtk_box_pack_start (GTK_BOX(box1), button, TRUE,
TRUE, 0);

/* create another button and add it to box */


button = gtk_button_new_with_label ("Button 2");
gtk_box_pack_start(GTK_BOX (box1), button, TRUE,
TRUE, 0);
Trees and lists
● Use the GtkTreeView
● There is also the GtkList widget but it is 
deprecated and should not be used
● Tree view can be used for both trees and lists
● The idea is a seperation between a view and a 
model
● There are two built in models, list and tree
● List have columns and rows
GtkTreeView list model
● Each column in the list model should be mapped 
to a column on the GtkTreeView widget
● Unmaped columns are not shown and use to store 
information that is not to be seen by the user such 
as record number etc.
● Mapping column is done by the create column 
function
List example
list = gtk_list_store_new(2, G_TYPE_STRING, G_TYPE_STRING);
gtk_tree_view_set_model(GTK_TREE_VIEW(TreeView),
GTK_TREE_MODEL(list));
/* Now add the columns to the list */
renderer = gtk_cell_renderer_text_new();
g_object_set(G_OBJECT(renderer), "foreground", "black",
NULL);
 
column = gtk_tree_view_column_new_with_attributes("‫מספר‬
‫ "ישן‬,renderer, "text", 0, NULL);
gtk_tree_view_append_column(GTK_TREE_VIEW(TreeView), column);
 
column = gtk_tree_view_column_new_with_attributes("‫מספר‬
‫ "חדש‬, renderer, "text", 1, NULL);
gtk_tree_view_append_column(GTK_TREE_VIEW(TreeView), column);
Building user interfaces
The GLADE utility is a GUI for user interfaces.
What about IDE?
● Anjuta is a great IDE for GTK+
● It can create GTK+ and GNOME projects
● It can be used with both C and C++ or other 
languages
● Integrates with GLADE
● Uses gcc and gdb for compiling and debugging
What about localization
● GTK+ supports localization
● Works with GNU gettext
● Supports hebrew and RTL from version 2.
● Hebrew support includes menus from right to left 
and packing HBOX and tables from right to left
How to learn
● Start with the GTK+ Tutorial at:
http://www.gtk.org
● Use the online reference manual
● Look at other software packages such as gedit 
etc.

After all this is what open source is about... 
Thank you...

Questions ???

Ori Idan: [email protected]
http://www.helicontech.co.il

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