From: joaopedrosa@... (Joao Pedrosa)
Date: 2004-05-21T00:48:49+09:00
Subject: Re: Need Help Selecting a GUI

Hi,

(Somehow my messages don't reach the newsgroups. As this is an
important and informative message, I am posting it using the google
interface as well)

--- Vincenzo Piombo <vincenzo.piombo@fastwebnet.it>
wrote:
> 
> >GTK is working OK under win32 nowadays, the
> installation is easy (and many 
> >geeks already have gimp under win32 anyway ;O) ).
> Some things don't work 
> >as well as under linux, but you *really* have to
> look for them nowadays 
> >(at least from my experience). For instance, I have
> problems with 
> >drag&drop: only drag&drop of files or folders seem
> to work when talking to 
> >other applications (which is of course what you
> want 90% of the time) [1]. 
> >That's the only win32 specific problem I had with
> GTK so far.
> 
> 
> I'm currently rewriting with Fox an application I
> started with Gtk, because 
> I've stumpled in a blocking problem with a TreeView
> (it just crashes ruby 
> with a segmentation fault when adding items to the
> tree). The app is quite 
> complex and so it could probably be a bug in my code
> messing with Gtk .. 
> but since it crashes that way it is very difficult
> to debug.
> Never had such kind of problems with Fox, and I used
> it quite a lot on both 
> Windows and Linux.

I seem to have tracked down the problem to "something"
(that I don't really know yet) within the pragprog
installation.
I am running a fresh built version of Ruby compiled
with MinGW:
C:\msys\1.0\home\ruby-gnome2\gtk\sample\gtk-demo>ruby
-v
ruby 1.8.2 (2004-05-19) [i386-mingw32]
And a fresh built version of the latest Ruby-GNOME2
CVS version, and the stability problems that I was
having simply disappeared.

You would do me a great favor if you tested it to see
if at least part of the stability problems that you
have been having are solved as well. And I extend this
invitation to anyone that has been having some
Ruby-GNOME2 stability problems on Windows.

Follows the installation instructions:
1) Download and install the latest GTK libs provided
by dropline at 
http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/gtk-win/GTK-Runtime-Environment-2.2.4-3.exe?download
2) Make sure the gtk/lib and gtk/bin are in the PATH
environment variable. More explanations at
http://ruby-gnome2.sourceforge.jp/hiki.cgi?Install+Guide+for+Windows
3) Download and unzip this package that includes Ruby
and Ruby-GNOME2:
(Warning: it has just a few libraries. If you need
anything else you will need to copy from the pragprog
installation)
http://www.geocities.com/joaopedrosa/ruby_182_mingw.zip (copy and
paste the link on the browser location entry)
Mirrors:
http://200.216.155.90:8888/ruby_182_mingw.zip
http://www.geocities.com/canalruby/ruby_182_mingw.zip (copy and paste
the link on the browser location entry)
4) Make sure the new Ruby is in the PATH, instead of
the "old".
4.1) You could do it by renaming the "old" to
something creative as "ruby_old", and renaming the new
as "ruby"; or
4.2) A bit more difficult to get right. But substitute
in the PATH Env. Var. the Ruby path, so it points to
the "new ruby".
5) Open the "Prompt for DOS" by running cmd.exe or
command.com or whatever, and try this: 
C:\>ruby -v
ruby 1.8.2 (2004-05-19) [i386-mingw32]
C:\>ruby -e "require 'gtk2'"
C:\>

That's it. I hope your further tests will be as good
as mine have been.

Cheers,
Joao