Can gtkmm be used in a plugin of a normal plain gtk application, i.e. with an existing separate gtk main loop?

[Christian Stimming <christian cstimming de>]

Dear list,

I've browsed through the docs and mailing list archive a bit but  
didn't find the answer to this question, so I'm asking here directly:

I have a (large) gtk application written in plain C. The application  
allows plugins to be loaded a run-time and offers the usual hooks so  
that the plugin can insert menu items and display gtk widgets  
somewhere in the application.

I'm unhappy with the C language for GUI programming and I'd like to  
evaluate alternatives. One idea is to check out gtkmm, but to restrict  
its usage into one specific plugin for the start. Technically, this  
means the event loop (and the command line options) will be processed  
the normal gtk way, i.e. after loading all plugins, the application  
will go into
  gtk_main();
My question is whether gtkmm can be used in this context. Can the  
Gtk::Main initialization done in a way that "hooks" gtkmm's expected  
main loop to a pre-existing other conventional-gtk main loop? The API  
of Gtk::Main obviously doesn't offer this possibility, but maybe you  
can tell me whether some tricks might enable this nevertheless.

Best Regards,

Christian Stimming