gtk.DrawingArea
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## gtk.DrawingArea

gtk.DrawingArea — a widget for custom user interface elements.

## Synopsis

    class gtk.DrawingArea(gtk.Widget):
        gtk.DrawingArea()

## Ancestry

    +-- gobject.GObject
      +-- gtk.Object
        +-- gtk.Widget
          +-- gtk.DrawingArea

## gtk.DrawingArea Properties

gtk.Object Properties

gtk.Widget Properties

## gtk.DrawingArea Style Properties

gtk.Widget Style Properties

## gtk.DrawingArea Signal Prototypes

gobject.GObject Signal Prototypes

gtk.Object Signal Prototypes

gtk.Widget Signal Prototypes

## Description

The `gtk.DrawingArea` widget is used for creating custom user interface elements. It's essentially a blank widget containing a `gtk.gdk.Window` that you can draw on. The contained `gtk.gdk.Window` is accessed using the `gtk.Widget` "window" attribute as:

      gdkwindow = drawingarea.window

Since a `gtk.gdk.Window` is a subclass of `gtk.gdk.Drawable`, all of the `gtk.gdk.Drawable` methods are available for drawing on the `gtk.DrawingArea`'s gdkwindow.

After creating a drawing area, the application may want to connect to:

- Mouse and button press signals to respond to input from the user. Use the `gtk.Widget.add_events`() method to enable events you wish to receive. To receive keyboard events, you will need to set the `gtk.CAN_FOCUS` flag on the drawing area

- The "realize" signal to take any necessary actions when the widget is instantiated on a particular display.

- The "configure_event" signal to take any necessary actions when the widget changes size.

- The "expose_event" signal to handle redrawing the contents of the widget when a drawing area first comes on screen, or when it's covered by another window and then uncovered (exposed). You can also force an expose event by adding to the "damage region" of the drawing area's window using the `gtk.Widget.queue_draw_area`() method.

See the Drawing Area chapter in the tutorial for more information on using a `gtk.DrawingArea`.

Sometimes a `gtk.Image` is a useful alternative to a drawing area. You can put a `gtk.gdk.Pixmap` in the `gtk.Image` and draw to the `gtk.gdk.Pixmap`, calling the `gtk.Widget.queue_draw`() method on the `gtk.Image` when you want to refresh to the screen.

## Constructor

        gtk.DrawingArea()

Returns : | a new drawingarea widget

Creates a new `gtk.DrawingArea` widget.

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