# Fastest way to draw on Gtk.jl 'canvas' with plots produced from Plots.jl?
**URL:** https://discourse.julialang.org/t/fastest-way-to-draw-on-gtk-jl-canvas-with-plots-produced-from-plots-jl/29420
**Category:** General Usage
**Tags:** question
**Created:** [October 2, 2019, 5:57pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/fastest-way-to-draw-on-gtk-jl-canvas-with-plots-produced-from-plots-jl/29420 "2019-10-02T17:57:37Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@mantzaris](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mantzaris)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2019, 5:57pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/fastest-way-to-draw-on-gtk-jl-canvas-with-plots-produced-from-plots-jl/29420/1 "2019-10-02T17:57:37Z")
I am using Gtk to display on a canvas images which are plots/figures produced in `Plots` via `GR`. The workflow I use is to save the figure to a png, and then load it in the draw function for Gtk where the `canvas` surface is then updated. This incurs a large delay and the png filesize is not large.
How can I channel the figure production in plots directly to Gtk’s canvas t reduce the latency? (part of cairo.jl I assume)
```julia
using Gtk
function drawSys(widget)
ctx = Gtk.getgc(widget)
c = CairoRGBSurface(400,20);
cr = CairoContext(c);
set_source_rgb(cr,0.8,0.8,0.8); # light gray
rectangle(cr,0.0,0.0,800.0,650.0); # background
fill(cr);
image = read_from_png("dog.png")
set_source_surface(ctx, image, 0, 0)
paint(ctx)
end
```
---
### Author:  [@jheinen](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/jheinen)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2019, 6:27pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/fastest-way-to-draw-on-gtk-jl-canvas-with-plots-produced-from-plots-jl/29420/2 "2019-10-02T18:27:15Z")
There is a Gtk example (`gtk_ex.jl`) in the [example](https://github.com/jheinen/GR.jl/tree/master/examples) section of GR.jl, which does exactly what you want.
---
### Author:  [@tobias.knopp](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/tobias.knopp)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2019, 6:52pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/fastest-way-to-draw-on-gtk-jl-canvas-with-plots-produced-from-plots-jl/29420/3 "2019-10-02T18:52:49Z")
Winston.jl is an alternative that works well
---
### Author:  [@mantzaris](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mantzaris)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2019, 6:54pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/fastest-way-to-draw-on-gtk-jl-canvas-with-plots-produced-from-plots-jl/29420/4 "2019-10-02T18:54:33Z")
Does winston integrate with Gtk any differently? is there a good MWE for it? is winston still being actively maintained?
---
### Author:  [@jonathanBieler](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/jonathanBieler)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2019, 7:24pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/fastest-way-to-draw-on-gtk-jl-canvas-with-plots-produced-from-plots-jl/29420/5 "2019-10-02T19:24:16Z")
Gadfly has also an nice integration with Gtk (with interactive figures and figure manager). It’s relatively easy to include in another widget.
[https://github.com/JuliaGraphics/Immerse.jl](https://github.com/JuliaGraphics/Immerse.jl)
---
### Author:  [@tobias.knopp](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/tobias.knopp)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2019, 7:32pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/fastest-way-to-draw-on-gtk-jl-canvas-with-plots-produced-from-plots-jl/29420/6 "2019-10-02T19:32:22Z")
> [@mantzaris](#):
>
> Does winston integrate with Gtk any differently? is there a good MWE for it? is winston still being actively maintained?
```julia
c = Canvas()
p = Winston.plot(ones(50), "b-", linewidth=7)
display(c, p)
```
Thats it. The canvas needs be pushed into a layout (Grid) or directly to a window.
---
### Author:  [@tobias.knopp](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/tobias.knopp)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2019, 7:36pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/fastest-way-to-draw-on-gtk-jl-canvas-with-plots-produced-from-plots-jl/29420/7 "2019-10-02T19:36:24Z")
Regarding maintenance: I am using Winston in a Gtk /Winston System in production and was the one that brought Winston from 0.5 to 1.0. That does not mean that I develop features but its likely that this package will work as is, for the next Julia versions.
Winston is somewhat lightweight, although it has some inference issues, which make the time to first plot a little bit slow. I usually wait 3-5 seconds. Still my impression is that Gadfly is more heavy but has more functionality.
---
### Author:  [@KajWiik](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/KajWiik)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2019, 7:37pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/fastest-way-to-draw-on-gtk-jl-canvas-with-plots-produced-from-plots-jl/29420/8 "2019-10-02T19:37:30Z")
`gtk_ex.jl` produces a zero-size window…?
```julia
(v1.1) pkg> status Gtk GR
Status `~/.julia/environments/v1.1/Project.toml`
[9e28174c] BinDeps v0.8.10
[159f3aea] Cairo v0.5.6
[34da2185] Compat v2.1.0
[28b8d3ca] GR v0.41.0
[a2bd30eb] Graphics v0.4.0
[4c0ca9eb] Gtk v0.16.5
[d9be37ee] Homebrew v0.7.1
[189a3867] Reexport v0.2.0
[c17dfb99] WinRPM v0.4.2
julia> versioninfo()
Julia Version 1.1.0
Commit 80516ca202 (2019-01-21 21:24 UTC)
Platform Info:
OS: Linux (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2860QM CPU @ 2.50GHz
WORD_SIZE: 64
LIBM: libopenlibm
LLVM: libLLVM-6.0.1 (ORCJIT, sandybridge)
```
---
### Author:  [@tobias.knopp](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/tobias.knopp)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2019, 7:47pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/fastest-way-to-draw-on-gtk-jl-canvas-with-plots-produced-from-plots-jl/29420/9 "2019-10-02T19:47:26Z")
Here is a full example:
```julia
using Gtk.ShortNames
using Random
using Winston
c = Canvas()
w = Window(c, "Test Winston")
Gtk.showall(w)
p = Winston.plot(randn(50), "b-", linewidth=7);
display(c, p)
```
---
### Author:  [@jheinen](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/jheinen)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2019, 7:59pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/fastest-way-to-draw-on-gtk-jl-canvas-with-plots-produced-from-plots-jl/29420/10 "2019-10-02T19:59:19Z")
I successfully tested it using Julia 1.2, Gtk 0.6.
```julia
(v1.2) pkg> st Gtk GR
Status `~/.julia/environments/v1.2/Project.toml`
[159f3aea] Cairo v0.6.0
[28b8d3ca] GR v0.41.3 #master (https://github.com/jheinen/GR.jl.git)
[4c0ca9eb] Gtk v0.17.0
julia> versioninfo()
Julia Version 1.2.0
Commit c6da87ff4b (2019-08-20 00:03 UTC)
Platform Info:
OS: Linux (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8569U CPU @ 2.80GHz
WORD_SIZE: 64
LIBM: libopenlibm
LLVM: libLLVM-6.0.1 (ORCJIT, skylake)
```
---
### Author:  [@KajWiik](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/KajWiik)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2019, 8:50pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/fastest-way-to-draw-on-gtk-jl-canvas-with-plots-produced-from-plots-jl/29420/11 "2019-10-02T20:50:46Z")
```julia
(v1.2) pkg> st Gtk GR
Status `~/.julia/environments/v1.2/Project.toml`
[159f3aea] Cairo v0.6.0
[28b8d3ca] GR v0.41.3 #master (https://github.com/jheinen/GR.jl.git)
[4c0ca9eb] Gtk v0.17.0
julia> versioninfo()
Julia Version 1.2.0
Commit c6da87ff4b (2019-08-20 00:03 UTC)
Platform Info:
OS: Linux (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2860QM CPU @ 2.50GHz
WORD_SIZE: 64
LIBM: libopenlibm
LLVM: libLLVM-6.0.1 (ORCJIT, sandybridge)
julia> include("/tmp/gtk_ex.jl")
```
Still I get only this icon in the Ubuntu taskbar:
I tested examples from Gtk docs and they work fine.
---
### Author:  [@jheinen](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/jheinen)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2019, 10:03pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/fastest-way-to-draw-on-gtk-jl-canvas-with-plots-produced-from-plots-jl/29420/12 "2019-10-02T22:03:08Z")
What’s the reason why you are using Homebrew on a Linux box?
---
### Author:  [@KajWiik](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/KajWiik)
#### Post date: [October 2, 2019, 10:11pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/fastest-way-to-draw-on-gtk-jl-canvas-with-plots-produced-from-plots-jl/29420/13 "2019-10-02T22:11:13Z")
Who, me? 🙂
I am not using Homebrew. Maybe you are referring to my typo taskbar → dash?
Edit: good catch, it is installed automatically as a dependency, strange…
> [@Pkg installs Homebrew to a Linux box as a dependency](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/pkg-installs-homebrew-to-a-linux-box-as-a-dependency/29438):
>
> @jheinen noticed in [Fastest way to draw on Gtk.jl 'canvas' with plots produced from Plots.jl? - #12 by jheinen](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/fastest-way-to-draw-on-gtk-jl-canvas-with-plots-produced-from-plots-jl/29420/12) that Homebrew is installed automatically as a dependency even if running in Linux OS. I tested this with a fresh installation (removed .julia): julia\> versioninfo() Julia Version 1.2.0 Commit c6da87ff4b (2019-08-20 00:03 UTC) Platform Info: OS: Linux (x86\_64-pc-linux-gnu) CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2860QM CPU @ 2.50GHz WORD\_SIZE: 64 LIBM: libopenlibm LLVM: libLLVM-6.0.1 (ORCJ…
---
### Author:  [@KajWiik](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/KajWiik)
#### Post date: [October 3, 2019, 2:11pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/fastest-way-to-draw-on-gtk-jl-canvas-with-plots-produced-from-plots-jl/29420/14 "2019-10-03T14:11:39Z")
As I mentioned in the other thread I removed .julia and reinstalled the relevant packages, still I get an empty window…
But in another almost identical box it works perfectly…strange. Anyway, it seems to be a local problem here.
Nice and fast demo!
---
### Author:  [@mantzaris](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mantzaris)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2019, 4:27pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/fastest-way-to-draw-on-gtk-jl-canvas-with-plots-produced-from-plots-jl/29420/15 "2019-10-10T16:27:35Z")
I have been trying to adapt your example provided in `https://github.com/jheinen/GR.jl/blob/master/examples/gtk_ex.jl`, but encounter errors frequently when trying to modify the code. Eg. Trying to use the `plot` function within the example:
```julia
function plot(ctx, w, h)
global sl
ENV["GKS_WSTYPE"] = "142"
ENV["GKSconid"] = @sprintf("%lu", UInt64(ctx.ptr))
plt = gcf()
plt[:size] = (w, h)
nbins = Int64(Gtk.GAccessor.value(sl))
plot(1:10,rand(10))#hexbin(x, y, nbins=nbins)
end
```
errors:
```julia
julia> FATAL ERROR: Gtk state corrupted by error thrown in a callback:
ERROR: MethodError: no method matching plot(::UnitRange{Int64}, ::Array{Float64,1})
Closest candidates are:
plot(::Any, ::Any, !Matched::Any) at /home/xel/tmp/try.jl:10
Stacktrace:
[1] plot(::Cairo.CairoContext, ::Int32, ::Int32) at /home/xel/tmp/try.jl:19
[2] draw(::Gtk.GtkCanvas) at /home/xel/tmp/try.jl:31
[3] draw(::Gtk.GtkCanvas, ::Bool) at /home/xel/.julia/packages/Gtk/aP55V/src/cairo.jl:90
[4] notify_resize(::Ptr{GObject}, ::Ptr{Gtk.GdkRectangle}, ::Gtk.GtkCanvas) at /home/xel/.julia/packages/Gtk/aP55V/src/cairo.jl:67
[5] (::getfield(Gtk, Symbol("##237#238")))() at /home/xel/.julia/packages/Gtk/aP55V/src/events.jl:2
[6] g_sigatom(::Any) at /home/xel/.julia/packages/Gtk/aP55V/src/GLib/signals.jl:167
[7] gtk_main() at /home/xel/.julia/packages/Gtk/aP55V/src/events.jl:1
Killed
```
this works with GR at the REPL where a GR window open up and shows the plot. Is there a problem with my system set up maybe?
---
### Author:  [@jheinen](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/jheinen)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2019, 4:32pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/fastest-way-to-draw-on-gtk-jl-canvas-with-plots-produced-from-plots-jl/29420/16 "2019-10-10T16:32:30Z")
Does this mean that the unmodified (using `hexbin`) code works?
---
### Author:  [@mantzaris](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mantzaris)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2019, 5:35pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/fastest-way-to-draw-on-gtk-jl-canvas-with-plots-produced-from-plots-jl/29420/17 "2019-10-10T17:35:34Z")
yes, the default example does work
---
### Author:  [@jling](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/jling)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2019, 7:09pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/fastest-way-to-draw-on-gtk-jl-canvas-with-plots-produced-from-plots-jl/29420/18 "2019-10-10T19:09:39Z")
I see the click example, do you know if it’s possible to click on some element in the plot and redraw other parts of the plot? For example, drag a point and re-fit the underlying curve
---
### Author:  [@jonathanBieler](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/jonathanBieler)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2019, 4:00pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/fastest-way-to-draw-on-gtk-jl-canvas-with-plots-produced-from-plots-jl/29420/19 "2019-10-12T16:00:46Z")
With Immerse ? I’m not sure how you would handle partial redraw, it’s probably much easier to redraw the whole thing.
---
### Author:  [@mantzaris](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mantzaris)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2019, 2:29pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/fastest-way-to-draw-on-gtk-jl-canvas-with-plots-produced-from-plots-jl/29420/20 "2019-10-19T14:29:45Z")
@tobias.knopp and @jheinen, would it be possible to create the image file, but not write it to disk with `save` and then use _pipes_ or _streams_ to directly write it as an already created file on the canvas?
[Next page](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/fastest-way-to-draw-on-gtk-jl-canvas-with-plots-produced-from-plots-jl/29420.md?page=2)