GDBUS-CODEGEN(1)		 User Commands		      GDBUS-CODEGEN(1)

NAME
       gdbus-codegen - D-Bus code and documentation generator

SYNOPSIS
       gdbus-codegen [-h, --help] [--interface-prefix org.project.Prefix]
		     [--generate-c-code OUTFILES] [--c-namespace YourProject]
		     [--c-generate-object-manager]
		     [--generate-docbook OUTFILES] [--xml-files FILE]
		     [--annotate ELEMENT KEY VALUE]...	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[1] 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.

       The name of each generated C type is derived from 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-prefixorg.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 org.gtk.GDBus.C.Name annotation or the
       --c-namespace option 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.

GENERATING DOCBOOK DOCUMENTATION
       Each generated Docbook XML file (see the --generate-docbook option for
       details) is a RefEntry[2] article describing the D-Bus interface.

OPTIONS
       The following options are supported:

       -h, --help
	   Show help and exit.

       --xml-files FILE
	   The D-Bus introspection XML file.

       --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[3].

       --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 is expected to be
	   in CamelCase[4] or Ugly_Case (see above).

       --c-generate-object-manager
	   If this option is passed, suitable #GDBusObject, #GDBusObjectProxy,
	   #GDBusObjectSkeleton and #GDBusObjectManagerClient subclasses are
	   generated.

       --annotate ELEMENT KEY VALUE
	   Used to inject D-Bus annotations into the given XML files. It can
	   be used with interfaces, methods, signals, properties and arguments
	   in the following way:

	       gdbus-codegen --c-namespace MyApp			   \
		 --generate-c-code myapp-generated			   \
		 --annotate "org.project.InterfaceName"			   \
		   org.gtk.GDBus.C.Name MyFrobnicator			   \
		 --annotate "org.project.InterfaceName:Property"	   \
		   bar bat						   \
		 --annotate "org.project.InterfaceName.Method()"	   \
		   org.freedesktop.DBus.Deprecated true			   \
		 --annotate "org.project.InterfaceName.Method()[arg_name]" \
		   snake hiss						   \
		 --annotate "org.project.InterfaceName::Signal"		   \
		   cat meow						   \
		 --annotate "org.project.InterfaceName::Signal[arg_name]"  \
		   dog wuff						   \
		 myapp-dbus-interfaces.xml
	   Any UTF-8 string can be used for 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[1] 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 expected to be in CamelCase[4] or Ugly_Case (see above).

       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[5]:

       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[6] and constant[7] 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.

	   <node>
	     <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>
	   </node>

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

	   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:

	   /* 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		 │ Any type			│
       │	   │ MyAppFrobberProxy	 │ implementing the		│
       │	   │			 │ MyAppFrobber			│
       │	   │			 │ interface			│
       ├───────────┼─────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────┤
       │Methods	   │ Use		 │ Receive via the		│
       │	   │ m_a_f_hello_world() │ handle_hello_world()		│
       │	   │ to call.		 │ signal handler.		│
       │	   │			 │ Complete the call		│
       │	   │			 │ with				│
       │	   │			 │ m_a_f_complete_hello_world() │
       ├───────────┼─────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────┤
       │Signals	   │ Connect to the	 │ Use				│
       │	   │ ::notification	 │ m_a_f_emit_notification() to │
       │	   │ GObject signal.	 │ emit signal.			│
       ├───────────┼─────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────┤
       │Properties │ Use		 │ Implement #GObject's		│
       │(Reading)  │ m_a_f_get_verbose() │ get_property() vfunc.	│
       │	   │ or :verbose.	 │				│
       ├───────────┼─────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────┤
       │Properties │ Use		 │ Implement #GObject's		│
       │(writing)  │ m_a_f_set_verbose() │ set_property() vfunc.	│
       │	   │ or :verbose.	 │				│
       └───────────┴─────────────────────┴──────────────────────────────┘

   Client-side usage
       You can use the generated proxy type with the generated constructors:

	       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 #GObject::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[8] 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).

	   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 (invocation,
			    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), #GObject::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[8] 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 and and and 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

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 instance and class structures will
       be preserved as well.

       The ABI of the generated #GType s 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[5]
       / GObject Introspection[9] 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.

       It is important to note that the generated code should not be checked
       into revision control systems, nor it should be included in distributed
       source archives.

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)

NOTES
	1. D-Bus Introspection XML
	   http://dbus.freedesktop.org/doc/dbus-specification.html#introspection-format

	2. RefEntry
	   http://www.docbook.org/tdg/en/html/refentry.html

	3. sortas attribute
	   http://www.docbook.org/tdg/en/html/primary.html

	4. CamelCase
	   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CamelCase

	5. gtk-doc
	   http://www.gtk.org/gtk-doc/

	6. parameter
	   http://www.docbook.org/tdg/en/html/parameter.html

	7. constant
	   http://www.docbook.org/tdg/en/html/constant.html

	8. org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties.Set
	   http://dbus.freedesktop.org/doc/dbus-specification.html#standard-interfaces-properties

	9. GObject Introspection
	   https://wiki.gnome.org/Projects/GObjectIntrospection

GIO							      GDBUS-CODEGEN(1)

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