Suggestions for a new GtkStyle-API

["Clemens Eisserer" <linuxhippy gmail com>]

Hello,

I email you [except Kirill and the list of course] because Robert
O'Callahan recommended asking you about advices to enhance GTK's
theming API.

I am currently cairoifying GTK's default theme and have almost
finished that process, the final goal would be to fix some
restrictions of GTK's theming API (GtkStyle). I am not really
experienced using this API so I don't know its pain-points, I am doing
this as a process to make Java's GtkLookAndFeel implementation more
efficient - it needs the image-data on the x-client-side and gets a
bad performance hit from the readbacks.
However if a new API is introduced it would also be great to have some
other problems resolved, instead of duplicating the problems again.

The new API would allow to paint to client-side-image-surfaces, apply
advanced effects like transformations, alpha-belding, ...

There are some problems/unanswered questions I face:
* Are there additional pain-points, except that the current API
expects X11-drawables?
* Are there some restrictions which would make theming for non-GTK
apps easier (like "method xyz should not clean its background")?
* Not enough interest. Answers/Interest from GTK people is sporadic,
some people are very friendly and help but I still don't have a single
advice what they would expect or someone how is responsible for
advising/reviewing/checking in changes.
I hope that if Mozilla and Sun would show some interest that the whole
topic would gain track. It will take long enough till themes will be
compatible.

I opened the following RFE with some further details, I would be
really happy if you could help and write your
thoughts/suggestions/ideas/critique down there:
http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=515600

Thank you in advance, Clemens Eisserer