This chapter tries to answer the real-life questions of users and presents the most common scenario use cases I could come up with. The use cases are presented from most likely to less likely. Clearly, this is one of the most common questions people ask: they just want to crank code and implement a subclass of a GObject. Sometimes because they want to create their own class hierarchy, sometimes because they want to subclass one of GTK+'s widget. This chapter will focus on the implementation of a subtype of GObject. The first step before writing the code for your GObject is to write the type's header which contains the needed type, function and macro definitions. Each of these elements is nothing but a convention which is followed not only by GTK+'s code but also by most users of GObject. If you feel the need not to obey the rules stated below, think about it twice: If your users are a bit accustomed to GTK+ code or any GLib code, they will be a bit surprised and getting used to the conventions you decided upon will take time (money) and will make them grumpy (not a good thing) You must assess the fact that these conventions might have been designed by both smart and experienced people: maybe they were at least partly right. Try to put your ego aside. Pick a name convention for your headers and source code and stick to it: use a dash to separate the prefix from the typename: maman-bar.h and maman-bar.c (this is the convention used by Nautilus and most GNOME libraries). use an underscore to separate the prefix from the typename: maman_bar.h and maman_bar.c. Do not separate the prefix from the typename: mamanbar.h and mamanbar.c. (this is the convention used by GTK+) Some people like the first two solutions better: it makes reading file names easier for those with poor eyesight. When you need some private (internal) declarations in several (sub)classes, you can define them in a private header file which is often named by appending the private keyword to the public header name. For example, one could use maman-bar-private.h, maman_bar_private.h or mamanbarprivate.h. Typically, such private header files are not installed. The basic conventions for any header which exposes a GType are described in . Most GObject-based code also obeys one of of the following conventions: pick one and stick to it. If you want to declare a type named bar with prefix maman, name the type instance MamanBar and its class MamanBarClass (name is case-sensitive). It is customary to declare them with code similar to the following: /* * Copyright/Licensing information. */ /* inclusion guard */ #ifndef __MAMAN_BAR_H__ #define __MAMAN_BAR_H__ #include <glib-object.h> /* * Potentially, include other headers on which this header depends. */ /* * Type macros. */ #define MAMAN_TYPE_BAR (maman_bar_get_type ()) #define MAMAN_BAR(obj) (G_TYPE_CHECK_INSTANCE_CAST ((obj), MAMAN_TYPE_BAR, MamanBar)) #define MAMAN_IS_BAR(obj) (G_TYPE_CHECK_INSTANCE_TYPE ((obj), MAMAN_TYPE_BAR)) #define MAMAN_BAR_CLASS(klass) (G_TYPE_CHECK_CLASS_CAST ((klass), MAMAN_TYPE_BAR, MamanBarClass)) #define MAMAN_IS_BAR_CLASS(klass) (G_TYPE_CHECK_CLASS_TYPE ((klass), MAMAN_TYPE_BAR)) #define MAMAN_BAR_GET_CLASS(obj) (G_TYPE_INSTANCE_GET_CLASS ((obj), MAMAN_TYPE_BAR, MamanBarClass)) typedef struct _MamanBar MamanBar; typedef struct _MamanBarClass MamanBarClass; struct _MamanBar { GObject parent_instance; /* instance members */ }; struct _MamanBarClass { GObjectClass parent_class; /* class members */ }; /* used by MAMAN_TYPE_BAR */ GType maman_bar_get_type (void); /* * Method definitions. */ #endif /* __MAMAN_BAR_H__ */ Most GTK+ types declare their private fields in the public header with a /* private */ comment, relying on their user's intelligence not to try to play with these fields. Fields not marked private are considered public by default. The /* protected */ comment (same semantics as those of C++) is also used, mainly in the GType library, in code written by Tim Janik. struct _MamanBar { GObject parent_instance; /*< private >*/ int hsize; }; All of Nautilus code and a lot of GNOME libraries use private indirection members, as described by Herb Sutter in his Pimpl articles(see Compilation Firewalls and The Fast Pimpl Idiom: he summarizes the different issues better than I will). typedef struct _MamanBarPrivate MamanBarPrivate; struct _MamanBar { GObject parent_instance; /*< private >*/ MamanBarPrivate *priv; }; Do not call this private, as that is a registered c++ keyword. The private structure is then defined in the .c file, using the g_type_class_add_private() function to notify the presence of a private memory area for each instance and it can either be retrieved using G_TYPE_INSTANCE_GET_PRIVATE() each time is needed, or assigned to the priv member of the instance structure inside the object's init function. #define MAMAN_BAR_GET_PRIVATE(obj) (G_TYPE_INSTANCE_GET_PRIVATE ((obj), MAMAN_TYPE_BAR, MamanBarPrivate)) struct _MamanBarPrivate { int hsize; }; static void maman_bar_class_init (MamanBarClass *klass) { g_type_class_add_private (klass, sizeof (MamanBarPrivate)); } static void maman_bar_init (MamanBar *self) { MamanBarPrivate *priv; self->priv = priv = MAMAN_BAR_GET_PRIVATE (self); priv->hsize = 42; } You don't need to free or allocate the private structure, only the objects or pointers that it may contain. Another advantage of this to the previous version is that is lessens memory fragmentation, as the public and private parts of the instance memory are allocated at once. Finally, there are different header include conventions. Again, pick one and stick to it. I personally use indifferently any of the two, depending on the codebase I work on: the rule, as always, is consistency. Some people add at the top of their headers a number of #include directives to pull in all the headers needed to compile client code. This allows client code to simply #include "maman-bar.h". Other do not #include anything and expect the client to #include themselves the headers they need before including your header. This speeds up compilation because it minimizes the amount of pre-processor work. This can be used in conjunction with the re-declaration of certain unused types in the client code to minimize compile-time dependencies and thus speed up compilation. In your code, the first step is to #include the needed headers: depending on your header include strategy, this can be as simple as #include "maman-bar.h" or as complicated as tens of #include lines ending with #include "maman-bar.h": /* * Copyright information */ #include "maman-bar.h" /* If you use Pimpls, include the private structure * definition here. Some people create a maman-bar-private.h header * which is included by the maman-bar.c file and which contains the * definition for this private structure. */ struct _MamanBarPrivate { int member_1; /* stuff */ }; /* * forward definitions */ Call the G_DEFINE_TYPE macro using the name of the type, the prefix of the functions and the parent GType to reduce the amount of boilerplate needed. This macro will: implement the maman_bar_get_type function define a parent class pointer accessible from the whole .c file G_DEFINE_TYPE (MamanBar, maman_bar, G_TYPE_OBJECT); It is also possible to use the G_DEFINE_TYPE_WITH_CODE macro to control the get_type function implementation - for instance, to add a call to G_IMPLEMENT_INTERFACE macro which will call the g_type_implement_interface function. People often get confused when trying to construct their GObjects because of the sheer number of different ways to hook into the objects's construction process: it is difficult to figure which is the correct, recommended way. shows what user-provided functions are invoked during object instantiation and in which order they are invoked. A user looking for the equivalent of the simple C++ constructor function should use the instance_init method. It will be invoked after all the parent's instance_init functions have been invoked. It cannot take arbitrary construction parameters (as in C++) but if your object needs arbitrary parameters to complete initialization, you can use construction properties. Construction properties will be set only after all instance_init functions have run. No object reference will be returned to the client of g_object_new until all the construction properties have been set. As such, I would recommend writing the following code first: static void maman_bar_init (MamanBar *self) { self->priv = MAMAN_BAR_GET_PRIVATE (self); /* initialize all public and private members to reasonable default values. */ /* If you need specific construction properties to complete initialization, * delay initialization completion until the property is set. */ } Now, if you need special construction properties, install the properties in the class_init function, override the set and get methods and implement the get and set methods as described in . Make sure that these properties use a construct only GParamSpec by setting the param spec's flag field to G_PARAM_CONSTRUCT_ONLY: this helps GType ensure that these properties are not set again later by malicious user code. static void bar_class_init (MamanBarClass *klass) { GObjectClass *gobject_class = G_OBJECT_CLASS (klass); GParamSpec *pspec; gobject_class->set_property = bar_set_property; gobject_class->get_property = bar_get_property; pspec = g_param_spec_string ("maman", "Maman construct prop", "Set maman's name", "no-name-set" /* default value */, G_PARAM_CONSTRUCT_ONLY | G_PARAM_READWRITE); g_object_class_install_property (gobject_class, PROP_MAMAN, pspec); } If you need this, make sure you can build and run code similar to the code shown above. Make sure your construct properties can set correctly during construction, make sure you cannot set them afterwards and make sure that if your users do not call g_object_new with the required construction properties, these will be initialized with the default values. I consider good taste to halt program execution if a construction property is set its default value. This allows you to catch client code which does not give a reasonable value to the construction properties. Of course, you are free to disagree but you should have a good reason to do so. Some people sometimes need to construct their object but only after the construction properties have been set. This is possible through the use of the constructor class method as described in or, more simply, using the constructed class method available since GLib 2.12. Again, it is often difficult to figure out which mechanism to use to hook into the object's destruction process: when the last g_object_unref function call is made, a lot of things happen as described in . The destruction process of your object might be split in two different phases: dispose and the finalize. #define MAMAN_BAR_GET_PRIVATE(obj) (G_TYPE_INSTANCE_GET_PRIVATE ((obj), MAMAN_TYPE_BAR, MamanBarPrivate)) struct _MamanBarPrivate { GObject *an_object; gchar *a_string; }; G_DEFINE_TYPE (MamanBar, maman_bar, G_TYPE_OBJECT); static void maman_bar_dispose (GObject *gobject) { MamanBar *self = MAMAN_BAR (gobject); /* * In dispose, you are supposed to free all types referenced from this * object which might themselves hold a reference to self. Generally, * the most simple solution is to unref all members on which you own a * reference. */ /* dispose might be called multiple times, so we must guard against * calling g_object_unref() on an invalid GObject. */ if (self->priv->an_object) { g_object_unref (self->priv->an_object); self->priv->an_object = NULL; } /* Chain up to the parent class */ G_OBJECT_CLASS (maman_bar_parent_class)->dispose (gobject); } static void maman_bar_finalize (GObject *gobject) { MamanBar *self = MAMAN_BAR (gobject); g_free (self->priv->a_string); /* Chain up to the parent class */ G_OBJECT_CLASS (maman_bar_parent_class)->finalize (gobject); } static void maman_bar_class_init (MamanBarClass *klass) { GObjectClass *gobject_class = G_OBJECT_CLASS (klass); gobject_class->dispose = maman_bar_dispose; gobject_class->finalize = maman_bar_finalize; g_type_class_add_private (klass, sizeof (MamanBarPrivate)); } static void maman_bar_init (MamanBar *self); { self->priv = MAMAN_BAR_GET_PRIVATE (self); self->priv->an_object = g_object_new (MAMAN_TYPE_BAZ, NULL); self->priv->a_string = g_strdup ("Maman"); } Add similar code to your GObject, make sure the code still builds and runs: dispose and finalize must be called during the last unref. It is possible that object methods might be invoked after dispose is run and before finalize runs. GObject does not consider this to be a program error: you must gracefully detect this and neither crash nor warn the user. Just as with C++, there are many different ways to define object methods and extend them: the following list and sections draw on C++ vocabulary. (Readers are expected to know basic C++ buzzwords. Those who have not had to write C++ code recently can refer to e.g. to refresh their memories.) non-virtual public methods, virtual public methods and virtual private methods These are the simplest: you want to provide a simple method which can act on your object. All you need to do is to provide a function prototype in the header and an implementation of that prototype in the source file. /* declaration in the header. */ void maman_bar_do_action (MamanBar *self, /* parameters */); /* implementation in the source file */ void maman_bar_do_action (MamanBar *self, /* parameters */) { g_return_if_fail (MAMAN_IS_BAR (self)); /* do stuff here. */ } There is really nothing scary about this. This is the preferred way to create polymorphic GObjects. All you need to do is to define the common method and its class function in the public header, implement the common method in the source file and re-implement the class function in each object which inherits from you. /* declaration in maman-bar.h. */ struct _MamanBarClass { GObjectClass parent_class; /* stuff */ void (*do_action) (MamanBar *self, /* parameters */); }; void maman_bar_do_action (MamanBar *self, /* parameters */); /* implementation in maman-bar.c */ void maman_bar_do_action (MamanBar *self, /* parameters */) { g_return_if_fail (MAMAN_IS_BAR (self)); MAMAN_BAR_GET_CLASS (self)->do_action (self, /* parameters */); } The code above simply redirects the do_action call to the relevant class function. Some users, concerned about performance, do not provide the maman_bar_do_action wrapper function and require users to dereference the class pointer themselves. This is not such a great idea in terms of encapsulation and makes it difficult to change the object's implementation afterwards, should this be needed. Other users, also concerned by performance issues, declare the maman_bar_do_action function inline in the header file. This, however, makes it difficult to change the object's implementation later (although easier than requiring users to directly dereference the class function) and is often difficult to write in a portable way (the inline keyword is part of the C99 standard but not every compiler supports it). In doubt, unless a user shows you hard numbers about the performance cost of the function call, just implement maman_bar_do_action in the source file. Please, note that it is possible for you to provide a default implementation for this class method in the object's class_init function: initialize the klass->do_action field to a pointer to the actual implementation. You can also make this class method pure virtual by initializing the klass->do_action field to NULL: static void maman_bar_real_do_action_two (MamanBar *self, /* parameters */) { /* Default implementation for the virtual method. */ } static void maman_bar_class_init (BarClass *klass) { /* pure virtual method: mandates implementation in children. */ klass->do_action_one = NULL; /* merely virtual method. */ klass->do_action_two = maman_bar_real_do_action_two; } void maman_bar_do_action_one (MamanBar *self, /* parameters */) { g_return_if_fail (MAMAN_IS_BAR (self)); MAMAN_BAR_GET_CLASS (self)->do_action_one (self, /* parameters */); } void maman_bar_do_action_two (MamanBar *self, /* parameters */) { g_return_if_fail (MAMAN_IS_BAR (self)); MAMAN_BAR_GET_CLASS (self)->do_action_two (self, /* parameters */); } These are very similar to Virtual Public methods. They just don't have a public function to call the function directly. The header file contains only a declaration of the class function: /* declaration in maman-bar.h. */ struct _MamanBarClass { GObjectClass parent; /* stuff */ void (* helper_do_specific_action) (MamanBar *self, /* parameters */); }; void maman_bar_do_any_action (MamanBar *self, /* parameters */); These class functions are often used to delegate part of the job to child classes: /* this accessor function is static: it is not exported outside of this file. */ static void maman_bar_do_specific_action (MamanBar *self, /* parameters */) { MAMAN_BAR_GET_CLASS (self)->do_specific_action (self, /* parameters */); } void maman_bar_do_any_action (MamanBar *self, /* parameters */) { /* random code here */ /* * Try to execute the requested action. Maybe the requested action * cannot be implemented here. So, we delegate its implementation * to the child class: */ maman_bar_do_specific_action (self, /* parameters */); /* other random code here */ } Again, it is possible to provide a default implementation for this private virtual class function: static void maman_bar_class_init (MamanBarClass *klass) { /* pure virtual method: mandates implementation in children. */ klass->do_specific_action_one = NULL; /* merely virtual method. */ klass->do_specific_action_two = maman_bar_real_do_specific_action_two; } Children can then implement the subclass with code such as: static void maman_bar_subtype_class_init (MamanBarSubTypeClass *klass) { MamanBarClass *bar_class = MAMAN_BAR_CLASS (klass); /* implement pure virtual class function. */ bar_class->do_specific_action_one = maman_bar_subtype_do_specific_action_one; } Chaining up is often loosely defined by the following set of conditions: Parent class A defines a public virtual method named foo and provides a default implementation. Child class B re-implements method foo. In the method B::foo, the child class B calls its parent class method A::foo. There are many uses to this idiom: You need to change the behaviour of a class without modifying its code. You create a subclass to inherit its implementation, re-implement a public virtual method to modify the behaviour slightly and chain up to ensure that the previous behaviour is not really modified, just extended. You are lazy, you have access to the source code of the parent class but you don't want to modify it to add method calls to new specialized method calls: it is faster to hack the child class to chain up than to modify the parent to call down. You need to implement the Chain Of Responsibility pattern: each object of the inheritance tree chains up to its parent (typically, at the beginning or the end of the method) to ensure that they each handler is run in turn. I am personally not really convinced any of the last two uses are really a good idea but since this programming idiom is often used, this section attempts to explain how to implement it. To explicitly chain up to the implementation of the virtual method in the parent class, you first need a handle to the original parent class structure. This pointer can then be used to access the original class function pointer and invoke it directly. The original adjective used in this sentence is not innocuous. To fully understand its meaning, you need to recall how class structures are initialized: for each object type, the class structure associated to this object is created by first copying the class structure of its parent type (a simple memcpy) and then by invoking the class_init callback on the resulting class structure. Since the class_init callback is responsible for overwriting the class structure with the user re-implementations of the class methods, we cannot merely use the modified copy of the parent class structure stored in our derived instance. We want to get a copy of the class structure of an instance of the parent class. The function g_type_class_peek_parent is used to access the original parent class structure. Its input is a pointer to the class of the derived object and it returns a pointer to the original parent class structure. The code below shows how you could use it: static void b_method_to_call (B *obj, int a) { BClass *klass; AClass *parent_class; klass = B_GET_CLASS (obj); parent_class = g_type_class_peek_parent (klass); /* do stuff before chain up */ parent_class->method_to_call (obj, a); /* do stuff after chain up */ } The bulk of interface definition has already been shown in but I feel it is needed to show exactly how to create an interface. As above, the first step is to get the header right: #ifndef __MAMAN_IBAZ_H__ #define __MAMAN_IBAZ_H__ #include <glib-object.h> #define MAMAN_TYPE_IBAZ (maman_ibaz_get_type ()) #define MAMAN_IBAZ(obj) (G_TYPE_CHECK_INSTANCE_CAST ((obj), MAMAN_TYPE_IBAZ, MamanIbaz)) #define MAMAN_IS_IBAZ(obj) (G_TYPE_CHECK_INSTANCE_TYPE ((obj), MAMAN_TYPE_IBAZ)) #define MAMAN_IBAZ_GET_INTERFACE(inst) (G_TYPE_INSTANCE_GET_INTERFACE ((inst), MAMAN_TYPE_IBAZ, MamanIbazInterface)) typedef struct _MamanIbaz MamanIbaz; /* dummy object */ typedef struct _MamanIbazInterface MamanIbazInterface; struct _MamanIbazInterface { GTypeInterface parent_iface; void (*do_action) (MamanIbaz *self); }; GType maman_ibaz_get_type (void); void maman_ibaz_do_action (MamanIbaz *self); #endif /* __MAMAN_IBAZ_H__ */ This code is the same as the code for a normal GType which derives from a GObject except for a few details: The _GET_CLASS macro is called _GET_INTERFACE and not implemented with G_TYPE_INSTANCE_GET_CLASS but with G_TYPE_INSTANCE_GET_INTERFACE. The instance type, MamanIbaz is not fully defined: it is used merely as an abstract type which represents an instance of whatever object which implements the interface. The parent of the MamanIbazInterface is not GObjectClass but GTypeInterface. The implementation of the MamanIbaz type itself is trivial: maman_ibaz_get_type registers the type in the type system. maman_ibaz_base_init is expected to register the interface's signals if there are any (we will see a bit (later how to use them). Make sure to use a static local boolean variable to make sure not to run the initialization code twice (as described in , base_init is run once for each interface implementation instantiation) maman_ibaz_do_action dereferences the class structure to access its associated class function and calls it. static void maman_ibaz_base_init (gpointer g_class) { static gboolean is_initialized = FALSE; if (!is_initialized) { /* add properties and signals to the interface here */ is_initialized = TRUE; } } GType maman_ibaz_get_type (void) { static GType iface_type = 0; if (iface_type == 0) { static const GTypeInfo info = { sizeof (MamanIbazInterface), maman_ibaz_base_init, /* base_init */ NULL, /* base_finalize */ }; iface_type = g_type_register_static (G_TYPE_INTERFACE, "MamanIbaz", &info, 0); } return iface_type; } void maman_ibaz_do_action (MamanIbaz *self) { g_return_if_fail (MAMAN_IS_IBAZ (self)); MAMAN_IBAZ_GET_INTERFACE (self)->do_action (self); } Once the interface is defined, implementing it is rather trivial. The first step is to define a normal GObject class, like: #ifndef __MAMAN_BAZ_H__ #define __MAMAN_BAZ_H__ #include <glib-object.h> #define MAMAN_TYPE_BAZ (maman_baz_get_type ()) #define MAMAN_BAZ(obj) (G_TYPE_CHECK_INSTANCE_CAST ((obj), MAMAN_TYPE_BAZ, Mamanbaz)) #define MAMAN_IS_BAZ(obj) (G_TYPE_CHECK_INSTANCE_TYPE ((obj), MAMAN_TYPE_BAZ)) #define MAMAN_BAZ_CLASS(klass) (G_TYPE_CHECK_CLASS_CAST ((klass), MAMAN_TYPE_BAZ, MamanbazClass)) #define MAMAN_IS_BAZ_CLASS(klass) (G_TYPE_CHECK_CLASS_TYPE ((klass), MAMAN_TYPE_BAZ)) #define MAMAN_BAZ_GET_CLASS(obj) (G_TYPE_INSTANCE_GET_CLASS ((obj), MAMAN_TYPE_BAZ, MamanbazClass)) typedef struct _MamanBaz MamanBaz; typedef struct _MamanBazClass MamanBazClass; struct _MamanBaz { GObject parent_instance; int instance_member; }; struct _MamanBazClass { GObjectClass parent_class; }; GType maman_baz_get_type (void); #endif /* __MAMAN_BAZ_H__ */ There is clearly nothing specifically weird or scary about this header: it does not define any weird API or derives from a weird type. The second step is to implement MamanBaz by defining its GType. Instead of using G_DEFINE_TYPE we use G_DEFINE_TYPE_WITH_CODE and the G_IMPLEMENT_INTERFACE macros. static void maman_ibaz_interface_init (MamanIbazInterface *iface); G_DEFINE_TYPE_WITH_CODE (MamanBar, maman_bar, G_TYPE_OBJECT, G_IMPLEMENT_INTERFACE (MAMAN_TYPE_IBAZ, maman_ibaz_interface_init)); This definition is very much like all the similar functions we looked at previously. The only interface-specific code present here is the call to G_IMPLEMENT_INTERFACE. Classes can implement multiple interfaces by using multiple calls to G_IMPLEMENT_INTERFACE inside the call to G_DEFINE_TYPE_WITH_CODE. maman_baz_interface_init, the interface initialization function: inside it every virtual method of the interface must be assigned to its implementation: static void maman_baz_do_action (MamanBaz *self) { g_print ("Baz implementation of IBaz interface Action: 0x%x.\n", self->instance_member); } static void maman_ibaz_interface_init (MamanIbazInterface *iface) { iface->do_action = baz_do_action; } static void maman_baz_init (MamanBaz *self) { MamanBaz *self = MAMAN_BAZ (instance); self->instance_member = 0xdeadbeaf; } To specify that an interface requires the presence of other interfaces when implemented, GObject introduces the concept of prerequisites: it is possible to associate a list of prerequisite interfaces to an interface. For example, if object A wishes to implement interface I1, and if interface I1 has a prerequisite on interface I2, A has to implement both I1 and I2. The mechanism described above is, in practice, very similar to Java's interface I1 extends interface I2. The example below shows the GObject equivalent: /* inside the GType function of the MamanIbar interface */ type = g_type_register_static (G_TYPE_INTERFACE, "MamanIbar", &info, 0); /* Make the MamanIbar interface require MamanIbaz interface. */ g_type_interface_add_prerequisite (type, MAMAN_TYPE_IBAZ); The code shown above adds the MamanIbaz interface to the list of prerequisites of MamanIbar while the code below shows how an implementation can implement both interfaces and register their implementations: static void maman_ibar_do_another_action (MamanIbar *ibar) { MamanBar *self = MAMAN_BAR (ibar); g_print ("Bar implementation of IBar interface Another Action: 0x%x.\n", self->instance_member); } static void maman_ibar_interface_init (MamanIbarInterface *iface) { iface->do_another_action = maman_ibar_do_another_action; } static void maman_ibaz_do_action (MamanIbaz *ibaz) { MamanBar *self = MAMAN_BAR (ibaz); g_print ("Bar implementation of IBaz interface Action: 0x%x.\n", self->instance_member); } static void maman_ibaz_interface_init (MamanIbazInterface *iface) { iface->do_action = maman_ibaz_do_action; } static void maman_bar_class_init (MamanBarClass *klass) { } static void maman_bar_init (MamanBar *self) { self->instance_member = 0x666; } G_DEFINE_TYPE_WITH_CODE (MamanBar, maman_bar, G_TYPE_OBJECT, G_IMPLEMENT_INTERFACE (MAMAN_TYPE_IBAZ, maman_ibaz_interface_init) G_IMPLEMENT_INTERFACE (MAMAN_TYPE_IBAR, maman_ibar_interface_init)); It is very important to notice that the order in which interface implementations are added to the main object is not random: g_type_add_interface_static, which is called by G_IMPLEMENT_INTERFACE, must be invoked first on the interfaces which have no prerequisites and then on the others. Starting from version 2.4 of GLib, GObject interfaces can also have properties. Declaration of the interface properties is similar to declaring the properties of ordinary GObject types as explained in , except that g_object_interface_install_property is used to declare the properties instead of g_object_class_install_property. To include a property named 'name' of type string in the maman_ibaz interface example code above, we only need to add one That really is one line extended to six for the sake of clarity line in the maman_ibaz_base_init The g_object_interface_install_property can also be called from class_init but it must not be called after that point. as shown below: static void maman_ibaz_base_init (gpointer g_iface) { static gboolean is_initialized = FALSE; if (!is_initialized) { g_object_interface_install_property (g_iface, g_param_spec_string ("name", "Name", "Name of the MamanIbaz", "maman", G_PARAM_READWRITE)); is_initialized = TRUE; } } One point worth noting is that the declared property wasn't assigned an integer ID. The reason being that integer IDs of properties are used only inside the get and set methods and since interfaces do not implement properties, there is no need to assign integer IDs to interface properties. An implementation shall declare and define it's properties in the usual way as explained in , except for one small change: it must declare the properties of the interface it implements using g_object_class_override_property instead of g_object_class_install_property. The following code snippet shows the modifications needed in the MamanBaz declaration and implementation above: struct _MamanBaz { GObject parent_instance; gint instance_member; gchar *name; }; enum { PROP_0, PROP_NAME }; static void maman_baz_set_property (GObject *object, guint property_id, const GValue *value, GParamSpec *pspec) { MamanBaz *baz = MAMAN_BAZ (object); GObject *obj; switch (prop_id) { case ARG_NAME: g_free (baz->name); baz->name = g_value_dup_string (value); break; default: G_OBJECT_WARN_INVALID_PROPERTY_ID (object, prop_id, pspec); break; } } static void maman_baz_get_property (GObject *object, guint prop_id, GValue *value, GParamSpec *pspec) { MamanBaz *baz = MAMAN_BAZ (object); switch (prop_id) { case ARG_NAME: g_value_set_string (value, baz->name); break; default: G_OBJECT_WARN_INVALID_PROPERTY_ID (object, prop_id, pspec); break; } } static void maman_baz_class_init (MamanBazClass *klass) { GObjectClass *gobject_class = G_OBJECT_CLASS (klass); gobject_class->set_property = maman_baz_set_property; gobject_class->get_property = maman_baz_get_property; g_object_class_override_property (gobject_class, PROP_NAME, "name"); } The signal system which was built in GType is pretty complex and flexible: it is possible for its users to connect at runtime any number of callbacks (implemented in any language for which a binding exists) A Python callback can be connected to any signal on any C-based GObject. to any signal and to stop the emission of any signal at any state of the signal emission process. This flexibility makes it possible to use GSignal for much more than just emit signals which can be received by numerous clients. The most basic use of signals is to implement simple event notification: for example, if we have a MamanFile object, and if this object has a write method, we might wish to be notified whenever someone has changed something via our MamanFile instance. The code below shows how the user can connect a callback to the "changed" signal. file = g_object_new (MAMAN_FILE_TYPE, NULL); g_signal_connect (file, "changed", G_CALLBACK (changed_event), NULL); maman_file_write (file, buffer, strlen (buffer)); The MamanFile signal is registered in the class_init function: file_signals[CHANGED] = g_signal_newv ("changed", G_TYPE_FROM_CLASS (gobject_class), G_SIGNAL_RUN_LAST | G_SIGNAL_NO_RECURSE | G_SIGNAL_NO_HOOKS, NULL /* closure */, NULL /* accumulator */, NULL /* accumulator data */, g_cclosure_marshal_VOID__VOID, G_TYPE_NONE /* return_type */, 0 /* n_params */, NULL /* param_types */); and the signal is emitted in maman_file_write: void maman_file_write (MamanFile *self, const guchar *buffer, gssize size) { /* First write data. */ /* Then, notify user of data written. */ g_signal_emit (self, file_signals[CHANGED], 0 /* details */); } As shown above, you can safely set the details parameter to zero if you do not know what it can be used for. For a discussion of what you could used it for, see The signature of the signal handler in the above example is defined as g_cclosure_marshal_VOID__VOID. Its name follows a simple convention which encodes the function parameter and return value types in the function name. Specifically, the value in front of the double underscore is the type of the return value, while the value(s) after the double underscore denote the parameter types. The header gobject/gmarshal.h defines a set of commonly needed closures that one can use. If you want to have complex marshallers for your signals you should probably use glib-genmarshal to autogenerate them from a file containing their return and parameter types.