glib/docs/reference/gobject/gvalue.md
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Title: Generic Value Container
# Generic Value Container
The [`struct@GObject.Value`] structure is basically a variable container
that consists of a type identifier and a specific value of that type. The
type identifier within a `GValue` structure always determines the type of the
associated value.
To create an undefined `GValue` structure, simply create a zero-filled
GValue structure. To initialize the `GValue`, use the
[`method@GObject.Value.init`] function. A `GValue` cannot be used until it
is initialized.
Once you have finished using a `GValue`, you must call
[`method@GObject.Value.unset`] to ensure that all the resources associated
with the `GValue` are freed.
The basic type operations (such as freeing and copying) are determined by
the [`struct@GObject.TypeValueTable`] associated with the type ID stored in
the `GValue`. Other `GValue` operations (such as converting values between
types) are provided by this interface.
The code in the example program below demonstrates `GValue`'s features:
```c
#include <glib-object.h>
static void
int2string (const GValue *src_value,
GValue *dest_value)
{
if (g_value_get_int (src_value) == 42)
g_value_set_static_string (dest_value, "An important number");
else
g_value_set_static_string (dest_value, "What's that?");
}
int
main (int argc,
char *argv[])
{
// GValues must be initialized
GValue a = G_VALUE_INIT;
GValue b = G_VALUE_INIT;
const char *message;
// The GValue starts empty
g_assert (!G_VALUE_HOLDS_STRING (&a));
// Put a string in it
g_value_init (&a, G_TYPE_STRING);
g_assert (G_VALUE_HOLDS_STRING (&a));
g_value_set_static_string (&a, "Hello, world!");
g_printf ("%s\n", g_value_get_string (&a));
// Reset it to its pristine state
g_value_unset (&a);
// It can then be reused for another type
g_value_init (&a, G_TYPE_INT);
g_value_set_int (&a, 42);
// Attempt to transform it into a GValue of type STRING
g_value_init (&b, G_TYPE_STRING);
// An INT is transformable to a STRING
g_assert (g_value_type_transformable (G_TYPE_INT, G_TYPE_STRING));
g_value_transform (&a, &b);
g_printf ("%s\n", g_value_get_string (&b));
// Attempt to transform it again using a custom transform function
g_value_register_transform_func (G_TYPE_INT, G_TYPE_STRING, int2string);
g_value_transform (&a, &b);
g_printf ("%s\n", g_value_get_string (&b));
g_value_unset (&b);
g_value_unset (&a);
return 0;
}
```
For letting a `GValue` own (and memory manage) arbitrary types or pointers,
they need to become a [boxed type](boxed.html). The example below shows how
the pointer `mystruct` of type `MyStruct` is used as a [boxed type](boxed.html).
```c
typedef struct { ... } MyStruct;
G_DEFINE_BOXED_TYPE (MyStruct, my_struct, my_struct_copy, my_struct_free)
// These two lines normally go in a public header. By GObject convention,
// the naming scheme is NAMESPACE_TYPE_NAME:
#define MY_TYPE_STRUCT (my_struct_get_type ())
GType my_struct_get_type (void);
void
foo (void)
{
GValue *value = g_new0 (GValue, 1);
g_value_init (value, MY_TYPE_STRUCT);
g_value_set_boxed (value, mystruct);
// [... your code ....]
g_value_unset (value);
g_free (value);
}
```