dradtke/gtk-webby

An experiment in running GTK applications with a web deployment model

GTK Webby

Webby is a proof-of-concept application that behaves like a browser, but one that renders native GTK applications rather than websites.

For additional information, check out the blog post: https://damienradtke.com/post/building-gtk-applications-like-websites/

Running

To run, first make sure you have the following installed:

1. Rust + Cargo
2. GTK4 development libraries
3. Lua 5.4 development libraries

An easy way to do this is to use nix-shell, or you can use your package manager.

Once these are installed, running is simply

$ cargo run

Examples

Running Webby will launch a window that can be used to load GTK "web" applications. A number of examples are included with Webby that only require Rust:

$ cd examples/hello
$ cargo run

Once the example is running, you can load it in Webby by using the URL http://localhost:8000.

Tips

When running the app, use Ctrl-Shift-D to open up the GTK inspector.

Lua Scripting Reference

Webby supports Lua scripting by embedding code within a <web:script type="lua"> tag.

Global Functions

Name	Description
find_widget(id: String) -> Widget	Find a widget by its Builder ID and return a reference to it
fetch(url: String, response: function(err, response))	Fetch a URL asynchronously. The provided callback will be invoked with either err or response populated.
alert(message: String)	Open an alert dialog with a message
submit_form(method: String, action: String, values: Table)	Submit a form

Widget Methods

Name	Description
connect(signal: String, after: Boolean, callback: function())	Connect a signal handler. Before invoking the callback, the global value this will be set to the widget
get_property(property_name: String)	Get a property value; only works for primitive return types (like strings or booleans)
set_property(property_name: String, property_value: Any)	Set a property value; only works for primitive types (like strings or booleans)
get_text()	Get the text from an Entry's buffer
add_css_class(class: String)	Add a CSS class
remove_css_class(class: String)	Remove a CSS class
set_css_classes(classes: Array<String>)	Set a list of CSS classes