PHP-GTK 2

PHP-GTK is an extension for the PHP programming language that implements language bindings for GTK+. It provides an object-oriented interface to GTK+ classes and functions and greatly simplifies writing client-side cross-platform GUI applications.

PHP-GTK 2 is the second major release of PHP-GTK. PHP-GTK 2 combines the power of PHP 5 with the flexibility of Gtk+ 2 to allow developers to create extremely rich desktop applications with relative ease. PHP-GTK 2 not only simplifies the process of building applications with PHP, but also provides greater flexibility and more features than its predecessor.

Features

• Powerful Object Oriented Programming
  Because PHP-GTK 2 is built ontop of PHP 5, it makes heavy use of the improved object model. PHP-GTK 2 applications can implement Object Oriented practices such as inheritance, interfaces, overloading and exceptions.
• Improved Garbage Collection
  PHP-GTK 1 suffered from memory allocation issue because it was built ontop of PHP 4, which was not designed with long running applications in mind. Improvements in PHP 5 have minimized memory leaks allowing for long running applications without the fear of excessive memory consumption.
• Unicode Support
  Text in PHP-GTK 2 is always UTF-8 encoded making for applications which can easily be internationalized. PHP-GTK 2 will seamlessly handle conversion of input and output strings based on a global code-page setting freeing the developer from worrying about most encoding problems.
• Model-View Architecture
  Gtk+ 2 implements a Model-View architecture to separate data from the display. This allows for multiple representations of the same data in different ways and greater control over the data itself. The separation of data from display makes working with complex data like trees and multi-line text much easier than before.
• Improved Graphics Support
  Improvements in image support in Gtk+ 2 make displaying and manipulating images and animations much easier with PHP-GTK 2. Aside from an extensive collection of stock images, loading and manipulating custom images is relatively simple when compared to working with images in PHP-GTK 1.

Changes

While every attempt has been made to preserve backward compatibility whereever possible, some backward compatibility breaks were necessary.

• Exceptions
  PHP-GTK 2 takes advantage of PHP 5's support for exceptions. Several widgets may throw exceptions, normally during construction or when trying to convert text to UTF-8.
• No More Global Constants
  In PHP-GTK 1, all constants were declared in the global namespace. In PHP-GTK 2, constants are declared in the top-level classes: Gtk, Gdk, Atk, and Pango. This means the PHP-GTK 1 constant

  GTK_WIN_POS_CENTER

  is accessed as

  Gtk::WIN_POS_CENTER

  in PHP-GTK 2.
• Creating Signal Handlers
  The

  connect_object()

  and

  connect_object_after()

  methods have been deprecated in favor of

  connect_simple()

  and

  connect_simple_after()

  .
• Deprecated Widgets
  Many widgets have been deprecated in Gtk+ 2, and therefore are also deprecated in PHP-GTK 2. Most deprecated widgets have been replaced with more powerful widgets that are easier to use. While most deprecated widgets will still function as they did with PHP-GTK 1, developers are strongly encouraged to update their applications to use the new and improved versions.

More

These changes and more are covered in greater detail in the Changes since PHP-GTK 1 tutorial. Users looking for help with the new release are encouraged to read the PHP-GTK 2 manual or contact the PHP-GTK General mailing list.