In GTK3, how can I use gtk_*_new_*() constructors?
For instance, consider:
GtkWidget * gtk_recent_chooser_menu_new_for_manager () How can I use it?
I am trying to port a PyGTK2 program, and I can workaround things like gtk_text_view_new_with_buffer() by instead doing:
view = Gtk.TextView() view.set_buffer(buffer) Is it possible to use such functions directly?
tl;dr: Use the Python constructor normal form to set construction properties instead of the convenience C API.
The various _new constructors in the C API, including the basic _new() one, are just wrappers around g_object_new(). Constructors like type_new_with_foo() are just convenience functions for C developers to give some type safety around a call to g_object_new() and property setting; so, for instance, gtk_recent_chooser_menu_new() is just:
return g_object_new (GTK_TYPE_RECENT_CHOOSER_MENU, NULL); and gtk_recent_chooser_menu_new_for_manager() is:
return g_object_new (GTK_TYPE_RECENT_CHOOSER_MENU, "recent-manager", manager, NULL); i.e. a way to set the (constructor-only) "recent-manager" property.
The Python bindings do not call the C API for constructing objects; the Python constructor normal form, e.g.:
button = Gtk.Button() is the equivalent of calling g_object_new(GTK_TYPE_BUTTON, NULL). The constructor normal form accepts arguments, in the form of a dictionary of property names and values:
button = Gtk.Button(label='Hello, world') This is the equivalent of calling gtk_button_new_with_label() in C. The Python bindings layer will provide all the necessary type safety at run time.
It's usually recommended to use this approach, and not calling the C API because:
I figure it out.
Apparently you can just use things like:
view = Gtk.TextView.new_with_buffer(buffer) Interestingly, Gtk.TextView.new() == Gtk.TextView()
*new()) should be doing extra work but perhaps the binding handles that anyway. C, C++, etc. however require these functions, because you create a GtkWidget and then instantiate it with the constructor. On the other hand, you have typeless languages like Perl, where you use the functions to differentiate between different types of widgets.Gtk.Button() is the same as Gtk.Button.new(). If you want to use a custom new_*() you should reference it directly. [reference needed -- but I don't remember where I found this hehe]