## gdbus-codegen

gdbus-codegen — D-Bus code and documentation generator

## Synopsis

`gdbus-codegen` [`--interface-prefix` `org.project.Prefix`] [`--generate-c-code` `OUTFILES`] [`--c-namespace` `YourProject`] [`--c-generate-object-manager`] [`--generate-docbook` `OUTFILES`] [ `--annotate` `element` `--key` `key` `--value` `key` ]... FILE [ FILE... ]

## Description

gdbus-codegen 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 `--generate-c-code`) and Docbook XML (via `--generate-docbook`).

## Generating C code

When generating C code, a GInterface-derived type is generated for each D-Bus interface. Additionally, for every generated type, FooBar, two concrete instantiable types, FooBarProxy and FooBarSkeleton, implementing said interface are also generated. The former is derived from GDBusProxy and intended for use on the client side while the latter is derived from the GDBusInterfaceSkeleton type making it easy to export on a GDBusConnection either directly or via a GDBusObjectManagerServer instance.

## Generating Docbook documentation

Each generated Docbook XML file (see the `--generate-docbook` option for details) is a `RefEntry` article describing the D-Bus interface.

## Options

The following options are supported:

`--interface-prefix` `org.project.Prefix.` | A prefix to strip from all D-Bus interface names when calculating the typename for the C binding and the Docbook sortas attribute.
`--generate-docbook` `OUTFILES` | Generate Docbook Documentation for each D-Bus interface and put it in `OUTFILES-NAME.xml` where `NAME` is a place-holder for the interface name, e.g. `net.Corp.FooBar` and so on.
`--generate-c-code` `OUTFILES` | Generate C code for all D-Bus interfaces and put it in `OUTFILES.c` and `OUTFILES.h`.
`--c-namespace` `YourProject` | The namespace to use for generated C code. This must be provided in CamelCase format.
`--c-generate-object-manager` | If this option is passed, suitable GDBusObject, GDBusObjectProxy, GDBusObjectSkeleton and GDBusObjectManagerClient subclasses are generated.

`--annotate` `--key` `KEY` `--value` `VALUE`

Used together with `--key` and `--value` to annotate the given XML files (for each `--annotate`, there must be exactly one `--key` and `--value`). It can be used with interfaces, methods, signals, properties and arguments in the following way:

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    gdbus-codegen --c-namespace MyApp                           \
      --generate-c-code myapp-generated                         \
      --annotate "org.project.InterfaceName"                    \
        --key org.gtk.GDBus.C.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

Any UTF-8 string can be used for the value of `--key` and `--value`.

## Supported D-Bus Annotations

The following D-Bus annotations are supported by gdbus-codegen:

`org.freedesktop.DBus.Deprecated`

Can be used on any `<interface>`, `<method>`, `<signal>` and `<property>` element to specify that the element is deprecated if its value is `true`. Note that this annotation is defined in the D-Bus specification and can only assume the values `true` and `false`. In particular, you cannot specify the version that the element was deprecated in nor any helpful deprecation message. Such information should be added to the element documentation instead.

When generating C code, this annotation is used to add G_GNUC_DEPRECATED to generated functions for the element.

When generating Docbook XML, a deprecation warning will appear along the documentation for the element.

`org.gtk.GDBus.Since`

Can be used on any `<interface>`, `<method>`, `<signal>` and `<property>` element to specify the version (any free-form string but compared using a version-aware sort function) the element appeared in.

When generating C code, this field is used to ensure function pointer order for preserving ABI/API, see the section called “Stability Guarantees”.

When generating Docbook XML, the value of this tag appears in the documentation.

`org.gtk.GDBus.DocString` | A string with Docbook content for documentation. This annotation can be used on `<interface>`, `<method>`, `<signal>`, `<property>` and `<arg>` elements.
`org.gtk.GDBus.DocString.Short` | A string with Docbook content for short/brief documentation. This annotation can only be used on `<interface>` elements.

`org.gtk.GDBus.C.Name`

Can be used on any `<interface>`, `<method>`, `<signal>` and `<property>` element to specify the name to use when generating C code. The value is always expected to be in CamelCase or Ugly_Case (see below).

For interfaces, if not specified, the name defaults to the D-Bus interface name stripped with the prefix given with `--interface-prefix` and with the dots removed and initial characters capitalized. For example, for the D-Bus interface `com.acme.Coyote` the name used is `ComAcmeCoyote`. For the D-Bus interface `org.project.Bar.Frobnicator` with `--interface-prefix` `org.project.`, the name used is `BarFrobnicator`.

For methods, signals and properties, if not specified, the name defaults to the name of the method, signal or property.

Two forms of the name are used - the CamelCase form and the lower-case form. The CamelCase form is used for the GType and struct name, while lower-case form is used in function names. The lower-case form is calculated by converting from CamelCase to lower-case and inserting underscores at word boundaries (using certain heuristics).

If the value given by the annotation contains an underscore (sometimes called Ugly_Case), then the camel-case name is derived by removing all underscores, and the lower-case name is derived by lower-casing the string. This is useful in some situations where abbreviations are used. For example, if the annotation is used on the interface `net.MyCorp.MyApp.iSCSITarget` with the value `iSCSI_Target` the CamelCase form is `iSCSITarget` while the lower-case form is `iscsi_target`. If the annotation is used on the method `EjectTheiPod` with the value `Eject_The_iPod`, the lower-case form is `eject_the_ipod`.

`org.gtk.GDBus.C.ForceGVariant` | If set to a non-empty string, a GVariant instance will be used instead of the natural C type. This annotation can be used on any `<arg>` and `<property>` element.
`org.gtk.GDBus.C.UnixFD` | If set to a non-empty string, the generated code will include parameters to exchange file descriptors using the GUnixFDList type. This annotation can be used on `<method>` elements.

As an easier alternative to using the `org.gtk.GDBus.DocString` annotation, note that parser used by gdbus-codegen parses XML comments in a way similar to gtk-doc:

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    <!--
      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.
        @since: 2.30

        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>

Note that `@since` can be used in any inline documentation bit (e.g. for interfaces, methods, signals and properties) to set the `org.gtk.GDBus.Since` annotation. For the `org.gtk.GDBus.DocString` annotation (and inline comments), note that substrings of the form `#net.Corp.Bar`, `net.Corp.Bar.FooMethod()`, `#net.Corp.Bar::BarSignal` and `#net.Corp.InlineDocs:BazProperty` are all expanded to links to the respective interface, method, signal and property. Additionally, substrings starting with `@` and `%` characters are rendered as parameter and constant respectively.

If both XML comments and `org.gtk.GDBus.DocString` or `org.gtk.GDBus.DocString.Short` annotations are present, the latter wins.

## Example

Consider the following D-Bus Introspection XML.

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    <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>

If gdbus-codegen is used on this file like this:

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    gdbus-codegen --generate-c-code myapp-generated       \
                  --c-namespace MyApp                     \
                  --interface-prefix net.corp.MyApp.      \
                  net.Corp.MyApp.Frobber.xml

two files called `myapp-generated.[ch]` are generated. The files provide an abstract GTypeInterface-derived type called MyAppFrobber as well as two instantiable types with the same name but suffixed with Proxy and Skeleton. The generated file, roughly, contains the following facilities:

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    /* GType macros for the three generated types */
    #define MY_APP_TYPE_FROBBER (my_app_frobber_get_type ())
    #define MY_APP_TYPE_FROBBER_SKELETON (my_app_frobber_skeleton_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 skeleton object, ready to be exported */
    MyAppFrobber *my_app_frobber_skeleton_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);

Thus, for every D-Bus method, there will be three C functions for calling the method, one GObject signal for handling an incoming call and one C function for completing an incoming call. For every D-Bus signal, there's one GObject signal and one C function for emitting it. For every D-Bus property, two C functions are generated (one setter, one getter) and one GObject property. The following table summarizes the generated facilities and where they are applicable:

| Client | Server
--- | --- | ---
Types | Use MyAppFrobberProxy | Any type implementing the MyAppFrobber interface
Methods | Use ``m_a_f_hello_world()`` to call. | Receive via the ``handle_hello_world()`` signal handler. Complete the call with ``m_a_f_complete_hello_world()``
Signals | Connect to the `::notification` GObject signal. | Use ``m_a_f_emit_notification()`` to emit signal.
Properties (Reading) | Use ``m_a_f_get_verbose()`` or `:verbose`. | Implement GObject's ``get_property()`` vfunc.
Properties (writing) | Use ``m_a_f_set_verbose()`` or `:verbose`. | Implement GObject's ``set_property()`` vfunc.

### Client-side usage

You can use the generated proxy type with the generated constructors:

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    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);

Instead of using the generic GDBusProxy facilities, one can use the generated methods such as ``my_app_frobber_call_hello_world()`` to invoke the `net.Corp.MyApp.Frobber.HelloWorld()` D-Bus method, connect to the the `::notification` GObject signal to receive the `net.Corp.MyApp.Frobber::Notication` D-Bus signal and get/set the `net.Corp.MyApp.Frobber:Verbose` D-Bus Property using either the GObject property `:verbose` or the ``my_app_get_verbose()`` and ``my_app_set_verbose()`` methods. Use the standard "notify" signal to listen to property changes.

Note that all property access is via GDBusProxy's property cache so no I/O is ever done when reading properties. Also note that setting a property will cause the org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties.Set method 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.

### Server-side usage

The generated MyAppFrobber interface is designed so it is easy to implement it in a GObject subclass. For example, to handle ``HelloWorld()`` method invocations, set the vfunc for ``handle_hello_hello_world()`` in the MyAppFrobberIface structure. Similary, to handle the `net.Corp.MyApp.Frobber:Verbose` property override the `:verbose` GObject property from the subclass. To emit a signal, use e.g. ``my_app_emit_signal()`` or `g_signal_emit_by_name()`.

Instead of subclassing, it is often easier to use the generated MyAppFrobberSkeleton subclass. To handle incoming method calls, use ``g_signal_connect()`` with the `::handle-*` signals and instead of overriding GObject's ``get_property()`` and ``set_property()`` vfuncs, use `g_object_get()` and `g_object_set()` or the generated property getters and setters (the generated class has an internal property bag implementation).

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    static gboolean
    on_handle_hello_world (MyAppFrobber           *interface,
                           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 (interface, 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;
    }

      [...]

      interface = my_app_frobber_skeleton_new ();
      my_app_frobber_set_verbose (interface, TRUE);

      g_signal_connect (interface,
                        "handle-hello-world",
                        G_CALLBACK (on_handle_hello_world),
                        some_user_data);

      [...]

      error = NULL;
      if (!g_dbus_interface_skeleton_export (G_DBUS_INTERFACE_SKELETON (interface),
                                             connection,
                                             "/path/of/dbus_object",
                                             &error))
        {
          /* handle error */
        }

To facilitate atomic changesets (multiple properties changing at the same time), "notify" signals are queued up when received. The queue is drained in an idle handler (which is called from the thread-default main loop of the thread where the skeleton object was contructed) and will cause emissions of the org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties::PropertiesChanged signal with all the properties that have changed. Use `g_dbus_interface_skeleton_flush()` or `g_dbus_object_skeleton_flush()` to empty the queue immediately. Use `g_object_freeze_notify()` and `g_object_thaw_notify()` for atomic changesets if on a different thread.

## C Type Mapping

Scalar types (type-strings 'b', 'y', 'n', 'q', 'i', 'u', 'x', 't' and 'd') ), strings (type-strings 's', 'ay', 'o' and 'g') and arrays of string (type-strings 'as', 'ao' and 'aay') are mapped to the natural types, e.g. gboolean, gdouble, gint, gchar*, gchar** and so on. Everything else is mapped to the GVariant type.

This automatic mapping can be turned off by using the annotation `org.gtk.GDBus.C.ForceGVariant` - if used then a GVariant is always exchanged instead of the corresponding native C type. This annotation may be convenient to use when using bytestrings (type-string 'ay') for data that could have embedded NUL bytes.

## Stability Guarantees

The generated C functions are guaranteed to not change their ABI that is, if a method, signal or property does not change its signature in the introspection XML, the generated C functions will not change its C ABI either.

The ABI of the generated GTypes will be preserved only if the `org.gtk.GDBus.Since` annotation is used judiciously — this is because the VTable for the GInterface relies on functions pointers for signal handlers. Specifically, if a D-Bus method, property or signal or is added to a D-Bus interface, then ABI of the generated GInterface type is preserved if, and only if, each added method, property signal is annotated with they `org.gtk.GDBus.Since` annotation using a greater version number than previous versions.

The generated C code currently happens to be annotated with gtk-doc / GObject Introspection comments / annotations. The layout and contents might change in the future so no guarantees about e.g. `SECTION` usage etc. is given.

While the generated Docbook for D-Bus interfaces isn't expected to change, no guarantees are given at this point.

## Author

Written by David Zeuthen `<zeuthen@gmail.com>` with a lot of help from many others.

## Bugs

Please send bug reports to either the distribution bug tracker or the upstream bug tracker at https://bugzilla.gnome.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=glib.

## See also

gdbus(1)