RGtk                  package:RGtk2                  R Documentation

_T_h_e _R_G_t_k_2 _p_a_c_k_a_g_e

_D_e_s_c_r_i_p_t_i_o_n:

     RGtk2 provides a set of bindings between R and the GTK+ library
     and  several of its dependent libraries. It allows the user to
     construct full-featured GUI's completely from within R.

_D_e_t_a_i_l_s:

     RGtk2 binds to the following libraries:

     _A_T_K ATK is the Accessibility Toolkit. It provides a set of generic
          interfaces  allowing accessibility technologies to interact
          with a graphical user interface.  For example, a screen
          reader uses ATK to discover the text in an interface and 
          read it to blind users. GTK+ widgets have built-in support
          for accessibility  using the ATK framework.

     _P_a_n_g_o Pango is a library for internationalized text handling.  It
          centers around the 'PangoLayout' object, representing a 
          paragraph of text. Pango provides the engine for
          'GtkTextView',  'GtkLabel', 'GtkEntry', and other widgets
          that display text.

     _G_D_K GDK is the abstraction layer that allows GTK+ to support
          multiple  windowing systems. GDK provides drawing and window
          system facilities on X11,  Windows, and the Linux framebuffer
          device.

     _G_T_K The GTK+ library itself contains widgets, that is, GUI
          components  such as 'GtkButton' or 'GtkTextView'.

     _G_D_K-_P_i_x_b_u_f This is a small library which allows you to create
          GdkPixbuf  ('pixel buffer') objects from image data or image
          files. Use a  'GdkPixbuf' in combination with 'GtkImage' to
          display images.

     _C_a_i_r_o Cairo is a 2D graphics library with support for multiple
          output  devices. Currently supported output targets include
          the X Window System, win32,  and image buffers.

     _L_i_b_g_l_a_d_e Libglade loads and parses XML descriptions of user
          interfaces  at runtime. It also provides functions that can
          be used to connect signal handlers  to parts of the
          interface.

     RGtk2 also partially binds some lower-level libraries in order to
     support the bindings  to the others. These include GObject and
     GMainLoop.

     R objects passed between the user and RGtk2 are either primitive
     types  ('character', 'logical', etc) or external objects
     ('externalptr'). All  R objects wrapping external objects extend
     the 'RGtkObject' class.

_N_o_t_e:

     As described above, RGtk2 binds many libraries beyond GTK+ itself.
     Thus, it can  serve many purposes besides GUI construction. For
     example, GDKPixbuf  and Cairo allow the R user to produce arbitary
     high-quality graphics.

_A_u_t_h_o_r(_s):

     Michael Lawrence, with excerpts from library documentation

