Each GRASS object (eg. raster) or decoration (eg. scalebar) that is drawn is automatically added to the display list. The display list is stored in a GTK+ liststore which is displayed in the left pane of the GTK+ GRASS GUI. 
The left pane is a tabbed window switching between a treeview of the available GRASS files and the display list. Each tabbed map layer (right hand pane) has its own display list.
The file list, displayed as collapsible treeview, provides easy point and click access to all available GRASS files. The user can, for example, select multiple rasters and vectors from different GRASS Mapsets, set the region to the selected files, and finally draw the selected files. This is all done with one mouse click. Other clickable file options include:
- File info (via r.info and v.info)
- File query from single or multiple selections
- File management (rename and delete)
- Display property control (color, transparency, etc)
- Histogram (raster only)
- Interactive cross-section drawing (raster only)
- lots more ...
Items in the display list can be turned on or off, using a checkbutton. The draw order can also be changed by dragging the item to a new location. Double clicking an item brings up the property editor for the selected layer (eg. vector property).
The display list can be saved as an XML file, which can be reloaded at any time.
Each re-draw event (eg. zoom, pan, etc) erases the display and draw all the selected items in the display list.