Copying
You can copy RefPtrs, just like normal pointers. But unlike normal pointers, you don't need to worry about deleting the underlying instance.
Glib::RefPtr<Gdk::Bitmap> refBitmap = Gdk::Bitmap::create(window, data, width, height); Glib::RefPtr<Gdk::Bitmap> refBitmap2 = refBitmap;
Of course this means that you can store RefPtrs in standard containers, such as std::vector or std::list.
std::list< Glib::RefPtr<Gdk::Pixmap> > listPixmaps; Glib::RefPtr<Gdk::Pixmap> refPixmap = Gdk::Pixmap::create(window, width, height, depth); listPixmaps.push_back(refPixmap);