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Adam
Asked: 2015-03-16 15:25:28 +0800 CST

How do I open GTK Inspector?

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I am using GTK.3.15. When attempting to open GTK Inspector using the Ctrl+Shift+I or Ctrl+Shift+D, nothing happens. Does not matter what application or widget I am using. Nothing happens

and my understanding is that this option comes standard on GTK 3.15. Does anyone know how

to use this tool in GTK 3.15?

gtk3

3 Answers

  1. I got this from https://wiki.gnome.org/Projects/GTK%2B/Inspector:

    GtkInspector is the built-in interactive debugging support in GTK+. It was added in GTK+ 3.14, based on a copy of the well-estabished gtkparasite.

    The debugger is disabled by default. To enable it run in a terminal: 

    gsettings set org.gtk.Settings.Debug enable-inspector-keybinding true

    And launch it pressing on the keyboard Control-Shift-I or Control-Shift-D.

    If you don't want to use the shortcuts, you can also run it temporarily directly when running your app with: 

    GTK_DEBUG=interactive your-app

    Looking further, I found Bug #1523929 which indicates that users can install libgtk-3-dev which then provides the schema. Note that installing libgtk-3-dev may bring in a lot of dependencies.

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  2. Method 1:

    Enable the shortcut:

    1. Install dconf-editor with sudo apt-get install dconf-editor
    2. Navigate to org > gtk > settings > debug
    3. Set enable-inspector-keybinding to true
    4. Try the shortcut.

    Method 2:

    Run the program to debug with the GTK_DEBUG variable:

    Instead of running the program to debug as usual (myprogram --argument) you only need to run it of this way (GTK_DEBUG=interactive myprogram --argument)

    Also you can export that variable with export GTK_DEBUG=interactive and then run the program.

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  3. The wiki page for the Inspector seems to be out of date, because it's clearly steered a lot of people in a lot of wrong directions.

    If you don't want to use the shortcuts, you can also open the Inspector directly when running your app with:

    This is nonsense. You always have to use the shortcut, no matter what.

    To launch the GTK Inspector, focus your GTK application and press Control-Shift-D. Alternatively, move your mouse cursor to your desired widget and press Control-Shift-I to specifically inspect the widget under the mouse cursor.

    Again, nonsense. Ctrl+Shift+D does nothing. The only keybinding I've ever seen work is Ctrl+Shift+I, which is not an interactive picker, it just opens the Inspector. I suspect the "pick a widget"-style functionality is a relic from the pre-Wayland days.

    To get to the inspector, you have to do all of these things:

    1. Install the gtk3-devel / libgtk-3-dev package

    2. Enable the dconf key /org/gtk/settings/debug/enable-inspector-keybinding / GSettings key org.gtk.Settings.Debug enable-inspector-keybinding (same thing) and optionally disable org.gtk.Settings.Debug inspector-warning.

      (Note that "keybinding" is singular, not plural. AFAICT that's accurate, there's only the one.)

    3. Run a program with GTK_DEBUG=1 in the environment.

      (The value "interactive" is not special, AFAICT, any value will work except perhaps 0.)

    4. When the application is open and focused, type Ctrl+Shift+I

    The inspector window should open. Tested on both Wayland and X11. If any of the steps are missing, no dice. The inspector cannot be used without GTK_DEBUG, and even with GTK_DEBUG it will not open if the keybinding is not enabled.

    Note also that org.gtk.gtk4.Settings.Debug has its own enable-inspector-keybinding key. But that one defaults to true, so this should work for GTK4 apps as well.

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