w.set_style(s)
                # probably redundant, but better safe than sorry:
                w.modify_bg(gtk.STATE_NORMAL, c)
            # return modified or wrapped widget
            return w


        # Create GtkLabel
        @staticmethod
        def label(text):
            label = gtk.Label(text)
            label.set_property("visible", True)
            label.set_line_wrap(True) 
            label.set_size_request(400, -1)
            return label

        # Wrap two widgets in horizontal box
        @staticmethod
        def hbox(w1, w2):
            b = gtk.HBox(homogeneous=False, spacing=10)
            b.set_property("visible", True)
            b.pack_start(w1, expand=False, fill=False)
            b.pack_start(w2, expand=True, fill=True)
            return b


        #
        @staticmethod
        def add_menu(menuwidget, label, action):
            m = gtk.MenuItem(label)
            m.connect("activate", action)
            m.show()
            menuwidget.add(m)
            

    ls = None

    def __init__(self, entries):

        # prepare widget
        gtk.ComboBox.__init__(self)
        self.set_property("visible", True)
        cell = gtk.CellRendererText()
        self.pack_start(cell, True)
        self.add_attribute(cell, "text", 1)

        # collect entries
        self.ls = gtk.ListStore(gobject.TYPE_STRING, gobject.TYPE_STRING)
        self.set_model(self.ls)
        for value in entries:
            self.ls.append([value, value])
        
    # activate dropdown of given value
    def set_default(self, value):
        for index,row in enumerate(self.ls):
            if value in row:
                return self.set_active(index)
        # add as custom entry
        self.ls.append([value, value])
        self.set_active(index + 1)

    # fetch currently selected text entry
    def get_active_text(self):
        index = self.get_active()
        if index >= 0:
            return self.ls[index][0]