diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 963bece40..296bfd65e 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,16 @@
+2002-10-04  Vladimir Vukicevic  <vladimir@pobox.com>
+
+	* glib/ObjectManager.cs, glue/type.c: If there isn't
+	an exact match for a C GObject class (i.e. BluecurveStyle),
+	walk up the gobject type hierarchy until we find a type
+	that we do have a wrapper for, and return that.  This means
+	that you'll always, worst-case, end up with a GObject.
+
+	* glib/Value.cs, glue/value.c: Added default constructor
+	to GLib.Value() that creates a new value with a type of
+	INVALID, and changed the glue function to not call
+	gtk_type_init if INVALID is passed.
+
 2002-10-02  Vladimir Vukicevic  <vladimir@pobox.com>
 
 	* gtk/TreeView.custom: added TreeView Handle as argument
diff --git a/glib/ObjectManager.cs b/glib/ObjectManager.cs
index b6238211f..5d874e22c 100644
--- a/glib/ObjectManager.cs
+++ b/glib/ObjectManager.cs
@@ -26,10 +26,20 @@ namespace GtkSharp {
 				mangled = (string)types[typename];
 			else
 				mangled = GetExpected (typename);
-
 			Type t = Type.GetType (mangled);
+
+			// if null, try to get a parent type
 			if (t == null)
+				t = GetValidParentType (raw);
+
+			if (t == null) {
+				// should never get reached since everything should end up at
+				// GObject. Perhaps throw an exception here instead?
+				Console.WriteLine ("*** Warning: No C# equivalent for class '" + typename +
+						   "' found, returning null");
 				return null;
+			}
+
 			return (GLib.Object) Activator.CreateInstance (t, new object[] {raw});
 		}
 
@@ -51,14 +61,54 @@ namespace GtkSharp {
 			for (int i = 0; i < cname.Length; i++)
 			{
 				if (needs_dot && i > 0 && Char.IsUpper (cname[i])) {
-					ns = expected.ToString ().ToLower (); 
-					expected.Append ('.');
+					// check for initial "G" and mangle to "GLib" if so
+					// really only necessary for GObject
+					if (expected.Length == 1 && expected[0] == 'G') {
+						ns = "glib";
+						expected = new StringBuilder ("GLib.");
+					} else {
+						ns = expected.ToString ().ToLower (); 
+						expected.Append ('.');
+					}
 					needs_dot = false;
 				}
 				expected.Append (cname[i]);
 			}
 			expected.AppendFormat (",{0}-sharp", ns);
-			return expected.ToString ();
+
+			string expected_string = expected.ToString ();
+			RegisterType (cname, expected_string);
+			return expected_string;
+		}
+
+		[DllImport("gtksharpglue")]
+		static extern int gtksharp_get_type_id (IntPtr raw);
+
+		[DllImport("gtksharpglue")]
+		static extern int gtksharp_get_parent_type (int typ);
+
+		[DllImport("gtksharpglue")]
+		static extern string gtksharp_get_type_name_for_id (int typ);
+
+		static Type GetValidParentType (IntPtr raw)
+		{
+			int type_id = gtksharp_get_type_id (raw);
+			string typename;
+			string mangled;
+			Type t;
+			// We will always end up at GObject and will break this loop
+			while (true) {
+				type_id = gtksharp_get_parent_type (type_id);
+				typename = gtksharp_get_type_name_for_id (type_id);
+				if (types.ContainsKey (typename))
+					mangled = (string)types[typename];
+				else
+					mangled = GetExpected (typename);
+				t = Type.GetType (mangled);
+				if (t != null) {
+					return t;
+				}
+			}
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/glib/Value.cs b/glib/Value.cs
index c62c8e711..1e3888a67 100755
--- a/glib/Value.cs
+++ b/glib/Value.cs
@@ -51,6 +51,19 @@ namespace GLib {
 			_val = val;
 		}
 
+		/// <summary>
+		///	Value Constructor
+		/// </summary>
+		///
+		/// <remarks>
+		///	Constructs a new empty value that can be used
+		///	to receive "out" GValue parameters.
+		/// </remarks>
+
+		public Value () {
+			_val = gtksharp_value_create (TypeFundamentals.TypeInvalid);
+		}
+
 		/// <summary>
 		///	Value Constructor
 		/// </summary>
diff --git a/glue/type.c b/glue/type.c
index 5d39a2580..ec22e49b6 100644
--- a/glue/type.c
+++ b/glue/type.c
@@ -19,3 +19,20 @@ gtksharp_is_object (gpointer obj)
 	return G_IS_OBJECT (obj);
 }
 
+GType
+gtksharp_get_type_id (GObject *obj)
+{
+	return G_TYPE_FROM_INSTANCE (obj);
+}
+
+GType
+gtksharp_get_parent_type (GType typ)
+{
+	return g_type_parent (typ);
+}
+
+gchar *
+gtksharp_get_type_name_for_id (GType typ)
+{
+	return g_type_name (typ);
+}
diff --git a/glue/value.c b/glue/value.c
index 56dc72b99..af6cfe80e 100644
--- a/glue/value.c
+++ b/glue/value.c
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@ GValue *
 gtksharp_value_create (GType g_type)
 {
 	GValue *val = g_new0 (GValue, 1);
-	val = g_value_init (val, g_type);
+	if (g_type != G_TYPE_INVALID)
+		val = g_value_init (val, g_type);
 	return val;
 }