Gtk-- (gtkmm) Frequently Asked Questions

Robert Gasch

This document aims to answer any questions you might have about gtkmm, the C++ wrapper for the GTK+ C library. This FAQ is available from http://212.187.12.197/Gtk--FAQ/ .

The FAQ maintainer is currently off working. The gtkmm maintainer accepts patchs to maintain this document in his absence. The author appreciates your comments and suggestions concerning this document, except on the question Why use C++ (try former maintainer glaurent@worldnet.fr for this one). The author can be reached at r.gasch@chello.nl . Robert's site is currently offline so this may not be the latest version.

Last modified: August 2000

Version History:

  • 0.01 15OCT1999 - first proper SGML version

  • 0.02 12DEC1999 - consistency changes, added VariousProblems section

  • 0.03 20AUG2000 - Updated in Robert's absence.


Table of Contents
1. General Information about gtkmm
What is GTK+?
What is Gtk-- (gtkmm)?
Why use C++ ? It's too complicated, slow and bloated ...
What systems does it run under?
How is it distributed?
How complete is it?
Does gtkmm support all the C++ goodies like inheritance, polymorphism, etc?
What applications have been written in gtkmm?
Is there a gtkmm mailing list?
Where can I get help with gtkmm problems?
What documentation is there for gtkmm?
How can I make sense of GTK+ documentation if I'm using gtkmm?
2. Getting, configuring and running gtkmm
What do I need to run gtkmm?
Where can I get gtkmm?
Where can I get current CVS snapshots of gtkmm?
How do I configure/compile gtkmm?
Something breaks duing 'make'. Where should I look first?
My application complains that it can't find libgtkmm.so.
How fat or skinny of wrapper is gtkmm?
How can I build a static executable (libgtkmm.a seems to be missing)?
3. Building gtkmm from CVS
About CVS in general
Getting it from CVS
Problems building from CVS
More problems building from CVS
4. Various gtkmm problems, oddities and hints
Why doesn't my drawing area accept keypresses?
How can I access the Gtk+ data from a gtkmm object?
Can I use C++ exceptions with gtkmm?