How to remove the GtkTreeView sorting arrow?

I need to remove the sorting arrow from a column header. This can be done by calling set_sort_indicator(false) on the column.

The arrow isn't displayed, but the space for it seems to still be reserved. If the title of the column is big enough to fill all the header, the last part is clipped (where the arrow should be).

Is there a way to make the title fill the whole header?

Solution

This seems to be a bit weird in GTK+. I downloaded and read through relevant parts of the GtkTreeViewColumn's code, and it seems to use this logic:

  if (tree_column->show_sort_indicator ||
       (GTK_IS_TREE_SORTABLE (model) && tree_column->sort_column_id >= 0))
    gtk_widget_show (arrow);
  else
    gtk_widget_hide (arrow);

Where arrow is the widget holding the arrow. This seems to indicate that the arrow widget is always packed into the horizontal box that makes up the column's header, and then just hidden (not removed) if it's not supposed to be visible. That will mean it's still there in the box, occupying space and causing the label to be clipped.

I'd recommend searching through the GTK+ bugtracker for an issue about this, and if none is found, create one.