packing, spacing question

[Paul Barton-Davis <pbd op net>]

OK, I've been using GTK for a couple of years or so. I *still* don't
understand how to do this basic operation:

	   pack a box with N elements, with X pixels of padding on
	      the outer edge and Y pixels of spacing between them

You can't use just spacing, because that doesn't add space to the
outer edges of the box, and you can't just use padding, because that's
additive between children, and you end up with the wrong spacing
unless there is an odd number of children.

The best I can see is to use an inner and outer box, and put the
padding around the inner box whose spacing is set correctly. I
know that boxes are not expensive data structures, but even so, this
strikes me as a little silly. Is there a better way ?

--p