gtkmm

Gtkmm

Written in	C++
Platform	GTK+
Type	Language binding
License	GNU Lesser General Public License
Website	www.gtkmm.org

Main article: List of language bindings for GTK+

gtkmm (formerly known as gtk-- or gtk minus minus) is the official C++ interface for the popular GUI library GTK+. gtkmm is free software distributed under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL).

gtkmm allows the creation of user interfaces either in code or with the Glade Interface Designer, using the Gtk::Builder class. Other features include typesafe callbacks, a comprehensive set of graphical control elements, and the extensibility of widgets via inheritance.

Features

Because gtkmm is the official C++ interface of the GUI library GTK+, C++ programmers can use the common OOP techniques such as inheritance, and C++-specific facilities such as STL (In fact, many of the gtkmm interfaces, especially those for widget containers, are designed to be similar to the Standard Template Library (STL)).

Main features of gtkmm are listed as follows:

• Use inheritance to derive custom widgets.
• Type-safe signal handlers, in standard C++.
• Polymorphism.
• Use of Standard C++ Library, including strings, containers, and iterators.
• Full internationalisation with UTF-8.
• Complete C++ memory management.
  • Object composition.
  • Automatic deallocation of dynamically allocated widgets.
• Full use of C++ namespaces.
• No macros.
• Cross-platform: Linux (gcc, LLVM), FreeBSD (gcc, LLVM), NetBSD (gcc), Solaris (gcc, Forte), Win32 (gcc, MSVC++), Mac OS X (gcc), others.

Hello World in Gtkmm

//HelloWorldWindow.h
#ifndef HELLOWORLDWINDOW_H
#define HELLOWORLDWINDOW_H

#include <gtkmm/window.h>
#include <gtkmm/button.h>

// Derive a new window widget from an existing one.
// This window will only contain a button labelled "Hello World"
class HelloWorldWindow : public Gtk::Window
{
  public:
    HelloWorldWindow();

  protected:
    Gtk::Button hello_world;
};

#endif

//HelloWorldWindow.cc
#include <iostream>
#include "HelloWorldWindow.h"

HelloWorldWindow::HelloWorldWindow()
 : hello_world("Hello World")
{
    // Set the title of the window.
    set_title("Hello World");

    // Add the member button to the window,
    add(hello_world);

    // Handle the 'click' event.
    hello_world.signal_clicked().connect([] () {
          std::cout << "Hello world" << std::endl;
    });
    // Display all the child widgets of the window.
    show_all_children();
}

//main.cc

#include <gtkmm/main.h>
#include "HelloWorldWindow.h"

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) 
{
    // Initialization
    Gtk::Main kit(argc, argv);

    // Create a hello world window object
    HelloWorldWindow example;

    // gtkmm main loop
    Gtk::Main::run(example);
    return 0;
}

The above program will create a window with a button labeled "Hello World". The button sends "Hello world" to standard output when clicked.

To run this program, the following command should be run:

$ g++ *.cc -o example `pkg-config gtkmm-2.4 --cflags --libs`
$ ./example

This is usually done using a simple makefile.

Applications

Some notable applications that use Gtkmm include:

• Inkscape Vector graphics drawing.
• K-3D, for 3D modeling and animation.
• Workrave Assists in recovery and prevention of RSI.
• GParted disk partitioning tool.
• Gobby Collaborative text editor.
• Nemiver GUI for the GNU debugger gdb.
• Referencer document organiser and bibliography manager
• MySQL Administrator Database GUI.
• Ardour Open Source digital audio workstation (DAW) for Linux and MacOS.
• Gnote desktop notetaking application.
• VMware Workstation and VMware Player both use Gtkmm for their Linux ports.

See also

• GTK+
• Widget toolkit
• Qt
• wxWidgets
• FLTK
• FOX toolkit
• VCF

External links

• Official website
• gtkmm binaries for Windows on SourceForge.net