gtk2/docs/reference/gtk/question_index.sgml

<refentry id="gtk-question-index" revision="1 Jan 2002">
<refmeta>
<refentrytitle>Common Questions</refentrytitle>
<manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
<refmiscinfo>Common Questions</refmiscinfo>
</refmeta>

<refnamediv>
<refname>Common Questions</refname>
<refpurpose>
Find answers to common questions in the GTK+ manual
</refpurpose>
</refnamediv>

<refsect1>
<title>Questions and Answers</title>

<para>
This is an "index" of the reference manual organized by common "How do
I..." questions. If you aren't sure which documentation to read for
the question you have, this list is a good place to start.
</para>

<qandaset>

<qandadiv><title>General</title>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
Where can I get help with GTK+, submit a bug report, or make a feature 
request?
</para></question>

<answer>

<para>
See the <link linkend="gtk-resources">documentation on this topic</link>.
</para>

</answer>

</qandaentry>


<qandaentry>
<question><para>How do I port from one GTK+
version to another?</para></question>

<answer>

<para>
See the <link linkend="gtk-changes-2-0">list of incompatible changes
from 1.2 to 2.0</link>. Also, the <ulink
url="http://developer.gnome.org/dotplan/porting/">GNOME 2.0 porting
guide</ulink> on <ulink
url="http://developer.gnome.org">http://developer.gnome.org</ulink>
has some more detailed discussion of porting from 1.2 to 2.0.
You may also find useful information in the documentation for 
specific widgets and functions.
</para>

<para>
If you have a question not covered in the manual, feel free to
ask on the mailing lists and please <ulink
url="http://bugzilla.gnome.org">file a bug report</ulink> against the
documentation.
</para>

</answer>

</qandaentry>


<qandaentry>
<question><para>
How does memory management work in GTK+? Should I free data returned
from functions?
</para></question>

<answer>

<para>
See the documentation for <link linkend="GObject">GObject</link> and
<link linkend="GtkObject">GtkObject</link>. For <link
linkend="GObject">GObject</link> note specifically <link
linkend="g-object-ref">g_object_ref()</link> and <link
linkend="g-object-unref">g_object_unref()</link>. <link
linkend="GtkObject">GtkObject</link> is a subclass of <link
linkend="GObject">GObject</link> so the same points apply, except that
it has a "floating" state (explained in its documentation).
</para>

<para>
For strings returned from functions, they will be declared "const"
(using <link linkend="G-CONST-RETURN-CAPS">G_CONST_RETURN</link>) if they
should not be freed. Non-const strings should be freed with <link
linkend="g-free">g_free()</link>. Arrays follow the same rule.  (If
you find an exception to the rules, please report a bug to <ulink
url="http://bugzilla.gnome.org">http://bugzilla.gnome.org</ulink>.)
</para>

</answer>

</qandaentry>


<qandaentry>
<question><para>
How do I use GTK+ with threads?
</para></question>

<answer>

<para>
This is covered in the 
<link linkend="gdk-Threads">GDK threads documentation</link>. 
See also the <link linkend="glib-Threads">GThread</link> documentation for portable
threading primitives.
</para>

</answer>

</qandaentry>

</qandadiv>


<qandadiv><title><link linkend="GtkWidget">GtkWidget</link></title>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
How do I change the color of a widget?
</para></question>

<answer><para>
See <link linkend="gtk-widget-modify-fg">gtk_widget_modify_fg()</link>,
<link linkend="gtk-widget-modify-bg">gtk_widget_modify_bg()</link>,
<link linkend="gtk-widget-modify-base">gtk_widget_modify_base()</link>,
and <link
linkend="gtk-widget-modify-text">gtk_widget_modify_text()</link>.  See
<link linkend="gtk-Resource-Files">GTK+ resource files</link> for more
discussion. You can also change widget color by installing a resource
file and parsing it with <link
linkend="gtk-rc-add-default-file">gtk_rc_add_default_file()</link>.
The advantage of a resource file is that users can then override the
color you've chosen.
</para>

<para>To change the background color for widgets such as <link
linkend="GtkLabel">GtkLabel</link> that have no background, place them
in a <link linkend="GtkEventBox">GtkEventBox</link> and set the
background of the event box.  
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

</qandadiv>


<qandadiv><title><link linkend="GtkTextView">GtkTextView</link></title>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>
How do I get the contents of the entire text widget as a string?
</para></question>

<answer><para>

See <link
          linkend="gtk-text-buffer-get-bounds">gtk_text_buffer_get_bounds()</link>
          and <link
          linkend="gtk-text-buffer-get-text">gtk_text_buffer_get_text()</link>
or <link
          linkend="gtk-text-iter-get-text">gtk_text_iter_get_text()</link>.
</para>
<para>
<programlisting>
  GtkTextIter start, end;
  GtkTextBuffer *buffer;
  char *text;

  buffer = gtk_text_view_get_buffer (GTK_TEXT_VIEW (text_view));
  gtk_text_buffer_get_bounds (buffer, &amp;start, &amp;end);
  text = gtk_text_iter_get_text (&amp;start, &amp;end);
  /* use text */
  g_free (text);
</programlisting>
</para></answer>
</qandaentry>

</qandadiv>


</qandaset>

</refsect1>

</refentry>