Re: Theming API Hackfest

["Robert Staudinger" <robert staudinger gmail com>]

Hello,

while this email is probably not primarily about technical issues, here goes ...

On Thu, Aug 28, 2008 at 3:38 PM, Alberto Ruiz <aruiz gnome org> wrote:
> Hello board!
>
> during last GUADEC we had a theming API hackfest and we came up to the
> conclusion that there's need for some serious work regarding how Gtk+
> handles themes to make the theming code more flexible and maintenable.
> However, any changes would require a breakage in the current ABI/API
> and consequently most engines would need some rework so we want to
> come up with something before Gtk+ 2.90/3.0 that can be discussed for
> inclusion.

While working on the gtk-css-engine for the last couple of weeks I've
had some discussions with Benjamin Berg regarding the theming issues.
Here's what I learned so far:
- The biggest issue is the impedance mismatch between configuring
widget style properties in gtkrc while engines are built around
drawing primitives.
- Being able to match against widgets (and their hierarchy) is
immensely powerful, possibly essential, for the CSS engine.
- Detail strings are not the problem they're sometimes made to be.

Frankly, and this is also heavily influenced by the recent
gtk-css-engine work, I think nobody ever tried to push an engine to
the edge of what's actually possible. It would be less than optimal if
things were changed and we'd end up with a less powerful API than we
have now. The current gtk/engine interface is amazingly versatile.
I'll hopefully be able to provide more detail within a few weeks, when
back from holiday.

Best,
Rob