while you can use the regular g_object_getv () function to query the value of an object property, GStreamer provides some easy wrappers for this common operation. Instead of writing the following Gtk+ code to query the GTK_STRING value of an object: GtkArg arg; guchar *value; arg.name = argname; g_object_getv (G_OBJECT (object), 1, &arg); value = GTK_VALUE_STRING (arg); You can also use: value = gst_util_get_string_arg (object, argname); These convenience functions exist for the following types: gint: with gst_util_get_int_arg (); gboolean: with gst_util_get_bool_arg (); glong: with gst_util_get_long_arg (); gfloat: with gst_util_get_float_arg (); gdouble: with gst_util_get_double_arg (); guchar*: with gst_util_get_string_arg (); gpointer: with gst_util_get_pointer_arg (); One usually sets object properties using g_object_set (). The problem with this method is that you need to know the type of the property. A convenience function, gst_utils_set_object_arg () is therefore provided so that you can always set the property with a string value. for example: gst_util_set_object_arg (someobject, "int_property", "1000"); Will do The Right Thing(tm), converting the string to the type of the property when needed. There is also another utility function that can be used to dump a block of memory on the console. This function is very usefull for plugin developers. The function will dump size bytes of the memory pointed to by mem. void gst_util_dump_mem (guchar *mem, guint size);