gdk-window-set-debug-updates (setting)

setting -- true to turn on update debugging

With update debugging enabled, calls to the function gdk-window-invalidate-region clear the invalidated region of the screen to a noticeable color, and GDK pauses for a short time before sending exposes to windows during the function gdk-window-process-updates. The net effect is that you can see the invalid region for each window and watch redraws as they occur. This allows you to diagnose inefficiencies in your application.

In essence, because the GDK rendering model prevents all flicker, if you are redrawing the same region 400 times you may never notice, aside from noticing a speed problem. Enabling update debugging causes GTK to flicker slowly and noticeably, so you can see exactly what is being redrawn when, in what order.

The --gtk-debug=updates command line option passed to GTK programs enables this debug option at application startup time. That is usually more useful than calling the function gdk-window-set-debug-updates yourself, though you might want to use this function to enable updates sometime after application startup time. The function gdk-window-set-debug-updates has been deprecated since version 3.22 and should not be used in newly written code.