Gtkmm: object creation delays

["Andre Street" <rcrowther totalise co uk>]

I've just finished my first Gtkmm front panel. I managed to solve most problems, except this one....

I have a loop which is supposed to 
1. perform an action, 
2. .set a Pixmap 
3. repeat above a number of times.

Problem is, when the loop is performed, the pixmaps only appear as a group, apparently written all at once 
when the entire function ends (I've not proved exactly which point). I'd like them to appear as and when each 
loop iteration is performed - the (1. Action)step can take several seconds to perform, and the user is kept 
updated this way.

I have by no means exhausted all the possibilites as to why this is happening. I know that the commands work 
fine, and that the result is as I want it - except the display is updated all at once. I have tried (in order 
of crazyness) using 'show()', removing commands to a seperate function, triggering the pixmaps remotely using 
a custom slot, using 'manage' and deleting the entire pixmap...

Enough!

If anyone has a snap answer, it would be warmly welcomed.

If anyone would like to help, I'll post code
 
Thanks in advance...