This chapter is intended to be a reference to the libgnome.
Miguel de Icaza <miguel@nuclecu.unam.mx>
A set of routines for manipulating the database of configuration information.
"config path" - a string that specifies which item to retrieve from the configuration database. For example, a config path of "/myapp/display_toolbox" could be used to retrieve the setting for whether 'myapp' should display its toolbox.
"default" - when retrieving a config item, specifies the value to be used if the item is not found.
"private configuration data" - Normally, config item data is located in files under the ~user/.gnome directory in a .ini-like format. These files are world-readable. Items that have security or privacy implications are stored and retrieved using the "private" versions of the gnome-config routines, and the data for these items is stored in files under the ~user/.gnome_private directory, which is not accessable by anyone except that user and the system administrator.
"translated" strings - GNOME's multilingual support means that multiple languages must be supported for configuration items. The gnome_config_*get_translated_string() and gnome_config_*set_translated_string() routines allow you to specify which language a string item should be accessed for.
"section" - a group of config items and other config sections
type
gnome_config_get_typename
(const char *path);Routine to retrieve a config item. 'typename' would be one of string, translated_string, int, bool, float, or vector. In the case of the gnome_config_get_string(), gnome_config_get_translated_string(), and gnome_config_get_vector(), ownership of the memory used by the returned value is given over to the application. When the application is done with it, it should be freed using g_free() or g_string_array_free() as appropriate.
Combinations of "private" and "with_default" versions of these routines exist. For example, there are gnome_config_get_string(), gnome_config_get_string_with_default() gnome_config_private_get_string(), and gnome_config_private_get_string_with_default() routines.
char *myitem; gboolean is_default; myitem = gnome_config_get_string_with_default("/foo/blah=DefaultValue", &is_default); |
const char *path
The config path to the config item being accessed.
gboolean *def (gnome_config_get_*_with_default() routines only)
Address of a gboolean variable. Used to return an indication to the caller as to whether the return value is a default value or was retrieved from the config database for the specified 'path'.
void
gnome_config_set_typename
(const char *path, type value);Stores the specified value into the configuration database at the specified config path.
Note that there are "private" variations on all the regular routines, e.g. gnome_config_set_string() and gnome_config_private_set_string().
char *values[] = {"A one", "a two", "a three"}; gnome_config_set_vector("/foo/bar/baz", 3, values); |
gboolean
gnome_config_has_section
(const char *path);This routine returns TRUE if the specified section/item exists, xor FALSE if it does not.
A parallel gnome_config_private_has_section() routine also is available.
if(gnome_config_has_section("/foo/bar/baz")) { g_print("You have saved preferences.\n"); } else { g_print("You haven't saved preferences yet.\n"); } |
const char *path
Config path of the item/section of interest
void
*gnome_config_init_iterator
(const char *path);This routine is used to begin a loop over all the items in a config section. gnome_config_iterator_next() is used to advance to the next item.
Note that a gnome_config_private_init_iterator() variant exists.
See the gnome_config_iterator_next() usage example
const char *path
Config section to list the items in.
void
*gnome_config_init_iterator_sections
(const char *path);This routine is used to begin a loop over all the items in a config section. gnome_config_iterator_next() is used to advance to the next item.
Note that a gnome_config_private_init_iterator_sections() variant exists.
See the gnome_config_iterator_next() usage example
const char *path
Config section to list the sub-sections of.
void
*gnome_config_iterator_next
(void *s, char **key, char **value);This function normally serves as the loop update for a config item or section iterator. The return value is an opaque pointer needed by gnome_config_iterator_next, or NULL if there are no more available data in the iterator.
char *section_name, *key, *value; void *section_iter, *item_iter; GString *tmpstr; tmpstr = g_string_new(NULL); for(section_iter = gnome_config_init_iterator_sections("/foo"); section_iter != NULL; section_iter = gnome_config_iterator_next(section_iter, NULL, §ion_name)) { g_string_sprintf(tmpstr, "/foo/%s", section_name); for(item_iter = gnome_config_init_iterator(tmpstr->str); item_iter; item_iter = gnome_config_iterator_next(item_iter, &key, &value)) { g_print("Got key %s -> value %s in section %s of /foo\n", key, value, section_name); g_free(key); g_free(value); } g_free(section_name); } g_string_free(tmpstr); |
void *s
A value returned by either gnome_config_*_init_iterator_*() or gnome_config_iterator_next().
char **key
The address of a char * variable. Used to return a pointer to the key for item iterators. For section iterators, this should be NULL.
char **value
The address of a char * variable. Used to return a pointer to the value for item iterators, or to the section name for section iterators.
void gnome_config_drop_all
(void);The gnome_config routines cache the configuration entries in memory to increase speed. Calling gnome_config_drop_all() causes the cache to be cleared.
void gnome_config_sync
(void);As previously stated, the gnome_config routines cache configuration entries in memory to increase speed. This routine flushes the cache to disk - you would ordinarily use it after a number of gnome_config_set_* operations.
void gnome_config_clean_file
(const char *path);void gnome_config_private_clean_file
(const char *path);void gnome_config_clean_section
(const char *path);void gnome_config_private_clean_section
(const char *path);void gnome_config_clean_key
(const char *path);void gnome_config_private_clean_key
(const char *path);These routines delete all the configuration entries associated with the specified entity (either a file, section, or key).
char *val1, *val2; gnome_config_set_string("/foo/bar", "baz"); val1 = gnome_config_get_string("/foo/bar"); gnome_config_clean_section("/foo"); val2 = gnome_config_get_string("/foo/bar"); if(val1 && val2 && !strcmp(val1, val2)) { g_error("The values match! gnome_config_clean_section is broken!"); } else { g_message("gnome_config_clean_section worked."); } |
const char *path
The config path to the config item which is to be removed.
char *gnome_config_get_real_path
(const char *path);char *gnome_config_private_get_real_path
(const char *path);Occasionally an application writer may want to get the local filename where a config item is stored. When passed a config path, these routines (currently implemented as macros) return that filename.
char *filename = gnome_config_get_real_path("/foo/bar"); FILE *filehandle = fopen(filename, "w"); /* do devious things with the file */ |
const char *path
The config path to the config item being accessed.