source: trunk/third/rep-gtk/README @ 18404

-*- text -*-

This is rep-gtk 0.0, a binding of GTK+/GNOME/libglade for the rep Lisp
system. It is based on Marius Vollmer's guile-gtk binding (initially
version 0.15, updated to 0.17), with a new glue-code generator.

For more details see:

        http://rep-gtk.sourceforge.net/

Browse the CVS history at:

        http://tizer.dcs.warwick.ac.uk:8080/cgi-bin/cvsweb/rep-gtk


Installation
============

Basically, `./configure ; make ; make install'. If you're building from
the CVS repository, execute `aclocal ; autoconf' first.

It requires Gtk+ version 2.

WARNING: The libglade and GNOME bindings are currently untested and
probably broken since the port to Gtk2, use at your own risk.


Usage
=====

Import the module gui.gtk-2.gtk to load the library, then call
functions as in guile-gtk. The only difference is that Lisp conventions
are used for booleans, i.e. nil for #f, and non-nil for #t.

See the included *.defs files for the details of how the library maps
to lisp functions.


libglade
========

From the libglade README file:

    This library allows you to load glade interface files in a program
    at runtime. It doesn't require GLADE to be used, but GLADE is by
    far the easiest way to create the interface files.

So you can now use GLADE with rep! Here's an example from the
examples/test-libglade script:

    (require 'gui.gtk-2.libglade)

    (let ((xml (or (glade-xml-new (car command-line-args))
                   (error "something bad happened"))))
      (glade-xml-signal-autoconnect xml)
      (gtk-main))

The glade-xml-new function takes a filename, and creates a widget
hierarchy. glade-xml-signal-autoconnect connects all signal handlers to
the lisp functions named in the GLADE file. You can also use the
glade-xml-signal-connect function to connect individually named
handlers. (see libglade.defs for the complete function list)


GNOME
=====

There's also now reasonably complete bindings of gnome and gnomeui.
These extra modules will get built and installed:

        gui.gtk-2.gnome-lib     Non-UI GNOME functions, doesn't require GTK
        gui.gtk-2.gnome-ui      GNOME UI widgets and utilities
        gui.gtk-2.gnome-canvas  GNOME Canvas widgets and utilities

see the .defs files for the gruesome details about what goes in what.
The dependence tree is something like:

        types -+- gtk -+- libglade
                     \  \
                      \   gnome-ui -+- gnome-canvas
                       \
                         gnome-lib

gui.gtk-2.types provides conversions for the basic C types (and GLIB's
GList and GSList types).

When `gui.gtk-2.gnome-ui' is loaded the gnome-init function is called
automatically. If the special variables `*gnome-app-id*' and
`*gnome-app-version*' are bound to strings, then these values will be
used, otherwise something will be fabricated.

However, if using `gui.gtk-2.gnome-lib' without `gui.gtk-2.gnome-ui',
you should call `gnomelib-init' manually.


Caveats
=======

It's still too easy to crash the Lisp interpreter through invalid use
of GTK..