[racket] Extending the Racket GUI with native widgets

2011/1/5 Matthew Flatt <mflatt at cs.utah.edu>:
> The `window<%>' method `get-handle' returns the native widget for a
> window. The docs for `get-handle' are out of date, and I pull push a
> correction later today: the result for `get-handle' is now an FFI
> pointer instead of an integer, and it represents GtkWidget under X.
> [...]

Hello Matthew,

yes, I figured out that much, but it doesn't help a lot ...

> So, you could create a `panel%' to hold the native Gtk widget. Then,
> use `get-handle' on the `panel%' instance to get the parent widget for
> the new native widget.
> [...]

... because this simple approach doesn't work: If I use
gtk_container_add to attach a child to the GtkContainer backing a
panel% or frame%, that child widget stays invisible. One reason
certainly is that its size is set to 1x1 pixels. So apparently some
integration with the layout management system is necessary.

However, even if I override all size related methods of the
subwindow<%> interface on a panel% and forward them to GTK+
equivalents on the native widget, the native child widget is still not
resized to useful dimensions by the Racket GUI system.

And even if I manually resize, show and redraw the widget using calls
of wrapped GTK+ functions at the REPL, it still doesn't show up in the
GUI.

Another related strange observation in contradiction to the
documentation is that the method add-child of area-container<%> does
not work if passed an implementation of the subwindow<%> interface
that just extends object%, but insists on getting an instance of some
internal mred% class.

I'm getting more puzzled the more I look under the hood of the Racket
GUI library :-/

Ciao,
Thomas


-- 
When C++ is your hammer, every problem looks like your thumb.