glib/docs/reference/gio/gdbus-codegen.xml
David Zeuthen 0b9229beca Add gdbus-codegen(1) command
It doesn't work yet without the user manually adding ffi bits. That's
the topic of the next commit.

Signed-off-by: David Zeuthen <davidz@redhat.com>
2011-04-08 17:11:38 -04:00

675 lines
25 KiB
XML

<refentry id="gdbus-codegen" lang="en">
<refmeta>
<refentrytitle>gdbus-codegen</refentrytitle>
<manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
<refmiscinfo class="manual">User Commands</refmiscinfo>
</refmeta>
<refnamediv>
<refname>gdbus-codegen</refname>
<refpurpose>D-Bus Code Generator</refpurpose>
</refnamediv>
<refsynopsisdiv>
<cmdsynopsis>
<command>gdbus-codegen</command>
<arg><option>--interface-prefix</option> <replaceable>org.project.Prefix</replaceable></arg>
<arg><option>--c-namespace</option> <replaceable>YourProject</replaceable></arg>
<arg><option>--generate-c-code</option> <replaceable>OUTFILES</replaceable></arg>
<arg><option>--generate-docbook</option> <replaceable>OUTFILES</replaceable></arg>
<group choice="plain" rep="repeat">
<arg>
<option>--annotate</option>
<replaceable>element</replaceable>
<option>--key</option>
<replaceable>key</replaceable>
<option>--value</option>
<replaceable>key</replaceable>
</arg>
</group>
<arg choice="plain">FILE</arg>
<arg>
<arg choice="plain" rep="repeat">FILE</arg>
</arg>
</cmdsynopsis>
</refsynopsisdiv>
<refsect1>
<title>Description</title>
<para>
<command>gdbus-codegen</command> is used to generate code and/or
documentation for one or more D-Bus interfaces. The tool reads
D-Bus Introspection XML files and generates output files. The tool
currently supports generating C code (via
<option>--generate-c-code</option>) and Docbook XML (via
<option>--generate-docbook</option>).
</para>
<para>
When generating C code, an abstract
<type>GInterface</type>-derived type is generated for each D-Bus
interface. Additionally, for every generated type,
<type>FooBar</type>, two concrete instantiable types,
<type>FooBarProxy</type> and <type>FooBarStub</type>, implementing
said interface are also generated. The former is derived from
<type>GDBusProxy</type> and intended for use on the client side
while the latter is derived from the
<type>GDBusInterfaceStub</type> type making it easy to export on a
<type>GDBusConnection</type> either directly or via a
<type>GDBusObjectManagerServer</type>.
</para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>Options</title>
<para>
The following options are supported:
</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>--interface-prefix</option> <replaceable>org.project.Prefix.</replaceable></term>
<listitem>
<para>
A prefix to strip from all D-Bus interface names when
calculating the typename for the C binding and the Docbook
<ulink
url="http://www.docbook.org/tdg/en/html/primary.html">sortas
attribute</ulink>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>--generate-docbook</option> <replaceable>OUTFILES</replaceable></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Generate Docbook Documentation for each D-Bus interface and
put it in
<filename>OUTFILES-org.Project.IfaceName.xml</filename> (where
<literal>org.Project.IfaceName</literal> is a place-holder for
the interface name).
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>--generate-c-code</option> <replaceable>OUTFILES</replaceable></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Generate C code for all D-Bus interfaces and put it in
<filename>OUTFILES.c</filename> and
<filename>OUTFILES.h</filename>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>--c-namespace</option> <replaceable>YourProject</replaceable></term>
<listitem>
<para>
The namespace to use for generated C code. This must be
provided in CamelCase format.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>--annotate</option></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Used together with <option>--key</option> and
<option>--value</option> to annotate the given XML files. It
can be used with interfaces, methods, signals, properties
and arguments in the following way:
</para>
<informalexample><programlisting><![CDATA[
gdbus-codegen --c-namespace MyApp \
--generate-c-code myapp-generated \
--annotate "org.project.InterfaceName" \
--key org.gtk.GDBus.Name --value MyFrobnicator \
--annotate "org.project.InterfaceName:Property" \
--key bar --value bat \
--annotate "org.project.InterfaceName.Method()" \
--key org.freedesktop.DBus.Deprecated --value true \
--annotate "org.project.InterfaceName.Method()[arg_name]" \
--key snake --value hiss \
--annotate "org.project.InterfaceName::Signal" \
--key cat --value meow \
--annotate "org.project.InterfaceName::Signal[arg_name]" \
--key dog --value wuff \
myapp-dbus-interfaces.xml
]]></programlisting></informalexample>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>Supported D-Bus Annotations</title>
<para>
The following D-Bus annotations are supported by
<command>gdbus-codegen</command>:
</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>org.gtk.GDBus.Name</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Can be used on any <literal>&lt;interface&gt;</literal>,
<literal>&lt;method&gt;</literal>,
<literal>&lt;signal&gt;</literal> and
<literal>&lt;property&gt;</literal> element to specify the
name to use.
</para>
<para>
For interfaces where this annotation is not specified, the
name used is the D-Bus interface name stripped with the
prefix given with <option>--interface-prefix</option> and with
the dots removed and initial characters capitalized. For
example the D-Bus interface
<literal>com.acme.Coyote</literal> the name used is
<type>ComAcmeCoyote</type>. For the D-Bus interface
<literal>org.project.Bar.Frobnicator</literal> with
<option>--interface-prefix</option>
<literal>org.project.</literal>, the name used is
<type>BarFrobnicator</type>.
</para>
<para>
For methods, signals and properties the name used is
calculated by transforming
<literal>NameGivenThisWay</literal> into
<literal>name_given_this_way</literal>, e.g. roughly
converting from camel-case to lower-case with underscores
using certain heuristics.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>org.gtk.GDBus.C.ForceGVariant</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
If set to a non-empty string, a <type>GVariant</type> will
be used instead of the natural C type. This annotation can
be used on any <literal>&lt;arg&gt;</literal> and
<literal>&lt;property&gt;</literal> element.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>org.gtk.GDBus.DocString</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
A string with Docbook content for documentation. This annotation can
be used on <literal>&lt;interface&gt;</literal>,
<literal>&lt;method&gt;</literal>,
<literal>&lt;signal&gt;</literal>,
<literal>&lt;property&gt;</literal> and
<literal>&lt;arg&gt;</literal> elements.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><literal>org.gtk.GDBus.DocString.Short</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
A string with Docbook content for short/brief
documentation. This annotation can only be used on
<literal>&lt;interface&gt;</literal> elements.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
<para>
As an easier alternative to using the
<literal>org.gtk.GDBus.DocString</literal> annotation, note that
XML parser used by <command>gdbus-codegen</command> parses XML
comments in a way similar to <ulink
url="http://www.gtk.org/gtk-doc/">gtk-doc</ulink>:
<informalexample><programlisting><![CDATA[
<!--
net.Corp.Bar:
@short_description: A short description
A <emphasis>longer</emphasis> description.
This is a new paragraph.
-->
<interface name="net.corp.Bar">
<!--
FooMethod:
@greeting: The docs for greeting parameter.
@response: The docs for response parameter.
The docs for the actual method.
-->
<method name="FooMethod">
<arg name="greeting" direction="in" type="s"/>
<arg name="response" direction="out" type="s"/>
</method>
<!--
BarSignal:
@blah: The docs for blah parameter.
@boo: The docs for boo parameter.
The docs for the actual signal.
-->
<signal name="BarSignal">
<arg name="blah" type="s"/>
<arg name="boo" type="s"/>
</signal>
<!-- BazProperty: The docs for the property. -->
<property name="BazProperty" type="s" access="read"/>
</interface>
]]></programlisting></informalexample>
</para>
<para>
For the <literal>org.gtk.GDBus.DocString</literal> annotation (and
inline comments), note that substrings of the form
<literal>#net.Corp.Bar</literal>,
<literal>net.Corp.Bar.FooMethod()</literal>,
<literal>#net.Corp.Bar::BarSignal</literal> and
<literal>#net.Corp.InlineDocs:BazProperty</literal> are all expanded
to links to the respective interface, method, signal and property.
</para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>Example</title>
<para>
Consider the following D-Bus Introspection XML.
</para>
<informalexample><programlisting><![CDATA[
<interface name="net.Corp.MyApp.Frobber">
<method name="HelloWorld">
<arg name="greeting" direction="in" type="s"/>
<arg name="response" direction="out" type="s"/>
</method>
<signal name="Notification">
<arg name="icon_blob" type="ay"/>
<arg name="height" type="i"/>
<arg name="messages" type="as"/>
</signal>
<property name="Verbose" type="b" access="readwrite"/>
</interface>
]]></programlisting>
</informalexample>
<para>
If <command>gdbus-codegen</command> is used on this file like this:
</para>
<informalexample><programlisting><![CDATA[
gdbus-codegen --generate-c-code myapp-generated \
--c-namespace MyApp \
--interface-prefix net.corp.MyApp. \
net.Corp.MyApp.Frobber.xml
]]></programlisting></informalexample>
<para>
two files called
<filename>myapp-generated.[ch]</filename> are
generated. The files provide an abstract
<type>GInterface</type>-derived type called
<type>MyAppFrobber</type> as well as two instantiable types with
the same name but suffixed with <type>Proxy</type> and
<type>Stub</type>. The generated file, roughly, contains the
following facilities:
</para>
<informalexample><programlisting><![CDATA[
/* GType macros for the three generated types */
#define MY_APP_TYPE_FROBBER (my_app_frobber_get_type ())
#define MY_APP_TYPE_FROBBER_STUB (my_app_frobber_stub_get_type ())
#define MY_APP_TYPE_FROBBER_PROXY (my_app_frobber_proxy_get_type ())
typedef struct _MyAppFrobber MyAppFrobber; /* Dummy typedef */
typedef struct
{
GTypeInterface parent_iface;
/* Signal handler for the ::notification signal */
void (*notification) (MyAppFrobber *proxy,
GVariant *icon_blob,
gint height,
const gchar* const *messages);
/* Signal handler for the ::handle-hello-world signal */
gboolean (*handle_hello_world) (MyAppFrobber *proxy,
GDBusMethodInvocation *invocation,
const gchar *greeting);
} MyAppFrobberIface;
/* Asynchronously calls HelloWorld() */
void
my_app_frobber_call_hello_world (MyAppFrobber *proxy,
const gchar *greeting,
GCancellable *cancellable,
GAsyncReadyCallback callback,
gpointer user_data);
gboolean
my_app_frobber_call_hello_world_finish (MyAppFrobber *proxy,
gchar **out_response,
GAsyncResult *res,
GError **error);
/* Synchronously calls HelloWorld(). Blocks calling thread. */
gboolean
my_app_frobber_call_hello_world_sync (MyAppFrobber *proxy,
const gchar *greeting,
gchar **out_response,
GCancellable *cancellable,
GError **error);
/* Completes handling the HelloWorld() method call */
void
my_app_frobber_complete_hello_world (MyAppFrobber *object,
GDBusMethodInvocation *invocation,
const gchar *response);
/* Emits the ::notification signal / Notification() D-Bus signal */
void
my_app_frobber_emit_notification (MyAppFrobber *object,
GVariant *icon_blob,
gint height,
const gchar* const *messages);
/* Gets the :verbose GObject property / Verbose D-Bus property.
* Does no blocking I/O.
*/
gboolean my_app_frobber_get_verbose (MyAppFrobber *object);
/* Sets the :verbose GObject property / Verbose D-Bus property.
* Does no blocking I/O.
*/
void my_app_frobber_set_verbose (MyAppFrobber *object,
gboolean value);
/* Gets the interface info */
GDBusInterfaceInfo *my_app_frobber_interface_info (void);
/* Creates a new stub object, ready to be exported */
MyAppFrobber *my_app_frobber_stub_new (void);
/* Client-side proxy constructors.
*
* Additionally, _new_for_bus(), _new_for_bus_finish() and
* _new_for_bus_sync() proxy constructors are also generated.
*/
void
my_app_frobber_proxy_new (GDBusConnection *connection,
GDBusProxyFlags flags,
const gchar *name,
const gchar *object_path,
GCancellable *cancellable,
GAsyncReadyCallback callback,
gpointer user_data);
MyAppFrobber *
my_app_frobber_proxy_new_finish (GAsyncResult *res,
GError **error);
MyAppFrobber *
my_app_frobber_proxy_new_sync (GDBusConnection *connection,
GDBusProxyFlags flags,
const gchar *name,
const gchar *object_path,
GCancellable *cancellable,
GError **error);
]]></programlisting></informalexample>
<para>
Thus, for every D-Bus method, there will be three C functions for
calling the method, one <type>GObject</type> signal for handling
an incoming call and one C function for completing an incoming
call. For every D-Bus signal, there's one <type>GObject</type>
signal and one C function for emitting it. For every D-Bus
property, two C functions are generated (one setter, one getter)
and one <type>GObject</type> property. The following table
summarizes the generated facilities and where they are applicable:
</para>
<informaltable>
<tgroup cols="3">
<thead>
<row>
<entry></entry>
<entry>Client</entry>
<entry>Server</entry>
</row>
</thead>
<tbody>
<row>
<entry>Types</entry>
<entry>Use <type>MyAppFrobberProxy</type></entry>
<entry>Any type implementing the <type>MyAppFrobber</type> interface</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>Methods</entry>
<entry>Use <function>m_a_f_hello_world()</function> to call.</entry>
<entry>Receive via the <function>handle_hello_world()</function> signal handler. Complete the call with <function>m_a_f_complete_hello_world()</function></entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>Signals</entry>
<entry>Connect to the <function>::notification</function> GObject signal.</entry>
<entry>Use <function>m_a_f_emit_notification()</function> to emit signal.</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>Properties (Reading)</entry>
<entry>Use <function>m_a_f_get_verbose()</function> or <parameter>:verbose</parameter>.</entry>
<entry>Implement <type>GObject</type>'s <function>get_property()</function> vfunc.</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>Properties (writing)</entry>
<entry>Use <function>m_a_f_set_verbose()</function> or <parameter>:verbose</parameter>.</entry>
<entry>Implement <type>GObject</type>'s <function>set_property()</function> vfunc.</entry>
</row>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</informaltable>
<refsect2>
<title>Client-side usage</title>
<para>
You can use the generated proxy type with the generated
constructors:
</para>
<informalexample><programlisting><![CDATA[
MyAppFrobber *proxy;
GError *error;
error = NULL;
proxy = my_app_frobber_proxy_new_for_bus_sync (
G_BUS_TYPE_SESSION,
G_DBUS_PROXY_FLAGS_NONE,
"net.Corp.MyApp", /* bus name */
"/net/Corp/MyApp/SomeFrobber", /* object */
NULL, /* GCancellable* */
&error);
/* do stuff with proxy */
g_object_unref (proxy);
]]></programlisting></informalexample>
<para>
Instead of using the generic <type>GDBusProxy</type> facilities,
one can use the generated methods such as
<function>my_app_frobber_call_hello_world()</function> to invoke
the <function>net.Corp.MyApp.Frobber.HelloWorld()</function>
D-Bus method, connect to the the
<function>::notification</function> GObject signal to receive
the <function>net.Corp.MyApp.Frobber::Notication</function> D-Bus
signal and get/set the
<parameter>net.Corp.MyApp.Frobber:Verbose</parameter> D-Bus
Property using either the GObject property
<parameter>:verbose</parameter> or the
<function>my_app_get_verbose()</function> and
<function>my_app_set_verbose()</function> methods. Use the
standard <function>GObject::notify</function> signal to listen
to property changes.
</para>
<para>
Note that all property access is via <type>GDBusProxy</type>'s
property cache so no IO is ever done when reading properties.
Also note that setting a property will cause
<function>org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties.Set()</function> to be
called on the remote object. This call, however, is asynchronous
so setting a property won't block. Further, the change is
delayed and no error checking is possible.
</para>
</refsect2>
<refsect2>
<title>Server-side usage</title>
<para>
The generated <type>MyAppFrobber</type> interface is designed so
it is easy to implement it in a <type>GObject</type>
subclass. For example, to handle
<function>HelloWorld()</function> method invocations, set the
vfunc for <function>handle_hello_hello_world()</function> in the
<type>MyAppFrobberIface</type> structure. Similary, to handle
the <parameter>net.Corp.MyApp.Frobber:Verbose</parameter>
property override the <parameter>:verbose</parameter> GObject
property from the subclass. To emit a signal, use
e.g. <function>my_app_emit_signal()</function> or
<function>g_signal_emit_by_name()</function>.
</para>
<para>
Instead of subclassing, it is often easier to use the generated
<type>MyAppFrobberStub</type> subclass. To handle incoming
method calls, use <function>g_signal_connect()</function> with
the <function>::handle-*</function> signals and instead of
overriding <type>GObject</type>'s
<function>get_property()</function> and
<function>set_property()</function> vfuncs, use
<function>g_object_get()</function> and
<function>g_object_set()</function> or the generated property
getters and setters (the generated class has an internal
property bag implementation).
</para>
<informalexample><programlisting><![CDATA[
static gboolean
on_handle_hello_world (MyAppFrobber *object,
GDBusMethodInvocation *invocation,
const gchar *greeting,
gpointer user_data)
{
if (g_strcmp0 (greeting, "Boo") != 0)
{
gchar *response;
response = g_strdup_printf ("Word! You said `%s'.", greeting);
my_app_complete_hello_world (object, invocation, response);
g_free (response);
}
else
{
g_dbus_method_invocation_return_error (MY_APP_ERROR,
MY_APP_ERROR_NO_WHINING,
"Hey, %s, there will be no whining!",
g_dbus_method_invocation_get_sender (invocation));
}
return TRUE;
}
[...]
object = my_app_frobber_stub_new ();
my_app_frobber_set_verbose (object, TRUE);
g_signal_connect (object,
"handle-hello-world",
G_CALLBACK (on_handle_hello-world),
some_user_data);
[...]
error = NULL;
id = g_dbus_interface_register_object (G_DBUS_INTERFACE (object),
connection,
"/path/of/object",
&error);
]]></programlisting></informalexample>
<para>
To facility atomic changesets (multiple properties changing at
the same time), <function>GObject::notify</function> signals are
queued up when received. The queue is drained in an idle handler
and will cause emissions of the
<function>org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties::PropertiesChanged</function>
signal with all the properties that has changed. Use
<function>g_dbus_interface_stub_flush()</function> to empty the
queue immediately.
</para>
</refsect2>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>C Type Mapping</title>
<para>
Scalar types, strings (including object paths (type-string
<literal>o</literal>), signatures (type-string
<literal>g</literal>) and bytestrings (type-string
<literal>ay</literal>)) and arrays of string (type-string
<literal>as</literal>) and arrays of bytestrings (type-string
<literal>aay</literal>) are mapped to the natural types,
e.g. <type>gboolean</type>, <type>gdouble</type>,
<type>gint</type>, <type>gchar*</type>, <type>gchar **</type> and
so on. Everything else is mapped to the <type>GVariant</type>
type.
</para>
<para>
This automatic mapping can be turned off by using the annotation
<literal>org.gtk.GDBus.C.ForceGVariant</literal> - if used then a
<type>GVariant</type> is always exchanged instead of the
corresponding native C type. This annotation may be convenient to
use when using the type-string <literal>ay</literal> for data with
embedded NUL bytes.
</para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>Stability Guarantees</title>
<para>
No guarantees about the API and ABI of the code generated by
<command>gdbus-codegen</command> are given. This means that code
generated by future versions of this program may have a different
API or ABI even if the underlying D-Bus interface hasn't
changed. As such, always include the generated code in
distribution tarballs and never expose the code in any stable
interfaces.
</para>
<para>
Future versions of <command>gdbus-codegen</command> will provide
ABI and API guarantees on the generated code.
</para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>Author</title>
<para>
Written by David Zeuthen <email>zeuthen@gmail.com</email> with
a lot of help from many others.
</para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>Bugs</title>
<para>
Please send bug reports to either the distribution bug tracker
or the upstream bug tracker at
<ulink url="https://bugzilla.gnome.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=glib"/>.
</para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>See also</title>
<para>
<citerefentry>
<refentrytitle>gdbus</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
</citerefentry>
</para>
</refsect1>
</refentry>