Creating new sources types

One of the unusual features of the GTK+ main loop functionality is that new types of event source can be created and used in addition to the builtin type of event source. A new event source type is used for handling GDK events. A new source type is created by deriving from the GSource structure. The derived type of source is represented by a structure that has the GSource structure as a first element, and other elements specific to the new source type. To create an instance of the new source type, call g_source_new() passing in the size of the derived structure and a table of functions. These GSourceFuncs determine the behavior of the new source types.

New source types basically interact with with the main context in two ways. Their prepare function in GSourceFuncs can set a timeout to determine the maximum amount of time that the main loop will sleep before checking the source again. In addition, or as well, the source can add file descriptors to the set that the main context checks using g_source_add_poll().

Customizing the main loop iteration

Single iterations of a GMainContext can be run with g_main_context_iteration(). In some cases, more detailed control of exactly how the details of the main loop work is desired, for instance, when integrating the GMainLoop with an external main loop. In such cases, you can call the component functions of g_main_context_iteration() directly. These functions are g_main_context_prepare(), g_main_context_query(), g_main_context_check() and g_main_context_dispatch().

The operation of these functions can best be seen in terms of a state diagram, as shown in Figure 1, “States of a Main Context”.

Figure 1. States of a Main Context

GMainLoop

typedef struct _GMainLoop GMainLoop;

The GMainLoop struct is an opaque data type representing the main event loop of a GLib or GTK+ application.

g_main_loop_new ()

GMainLoop*          g_main_loop_new                     (GMainContext *context,
                                                         gboolean is_running);

Creates a new GMainLoop structure.

g_main_loop_ref ()

GMainLoop*          g_main_loop_ref                     (GMainLoop *loop);

Increases the reference count on a GMainLoop object by one.

g_main_loop_unref ()

void                g_main_loop_unref                   (GMainLoop *loop);

Decreases the reference count on a GMainLoop object by one. If the result is zero, free the loop and free all associated memory.

g_main_loop_run ()

void                g_main_loop_run                     (GMainLoop *loop);

Runs a main loop until g_main_loop_quit() is called on the loop. If this is called for the thread of the loop's GMainContext, it will process events from the loop, otherwise it will simply wait.

g_main_loop_quit ()

void                g_main_loop_quit                    (GMainLoop *loop);

Stops a GMainLoop from running. Any calls to g_main_loop_run() for the loop will return.

g_main_loop_is_running ()

gboolean            g_main_loop_is_running              (GMainLoop *loop);

Checks to see if the main loop is currently being run via g_main_loop_run().

g_main_loop_get_context ()

GMainContext*       g_main_loop_get_context             (GMainLoop *loop);

Returns the GMainContext of loop.

g_main_new()

#define             g_main_new(is_running)

Creates a new GMainLoop for the default main loop.

g_main_destroy()

#define             g_main_destroy(loop)

Frees the memory allocated for the GMainLoop.

g_main_run()

#define             g_main_run(loop)

Runs a main loop until it stops running.

g_main_quit()

#define             g_main_quit(loop)

Stops the GMainLoop. If g_main_run() was called to run the GMainLoop, it will now return.

g_main_is_running()

#define             g_main_is_running(loop)

Checks if the main loop is running.

G_PRIORITY_HIGH

#define G_PRIORITY_HIGH            -100

Use this for high priority event sources. It is not used within GLib or GTK+.

G_PRIORITY_DEFAULT

#define G_PRIORITY_DEFAULT          0

Use this for default priority event sources. In GLib this priority is used when adding timeout functions with g_timeout_add(). In GDK this priority is used for events from the X server.

G_PRIORITY_HIGH_IDLE

#define G_PRIORITY_HIGH_IDLE        100

Use this for high priority idle functions. GTK+ uses G_PRIORITY_HIGH_IDLE + 10 for resizing operations, and G_PRIORITY_HIGH_IDLE + 20 for redrawing operations. (This is done to ensure that any pending resizes are processed before any pending redraws, so that widgets are not redrawn twice unnecessarily.)

G_PRIORITY_DEFAULT_IDLE

#define G_PRIORITY_DEFAULT_IDLE     200

Use this for default priority idle functions. In GLib this priority is used when adding idle functions with g_idle_add().

G_PRIORITY_LOW

#define G_PRIORITY_LOW	            300

Use this for very low priority background tasks. It is not used within GLib or GTK+.

GMainContext

typedef struct _GMainContext GMainContext;

The GMainContext struct is an opaque data type representing a set of sources to be handled in a main loop.

g_main_context_new ()

GMainContext*       g_main_context_new                  (void);

Creates a new GMainContext strcuture

g_main_context_ref ()

GMainContext*       g_main_context_ref                  (GMainContext *context);

Increases the reference count on a GMainContext object by one.

g_main_context_unref ()

void                g_main_context_unref                (GMainContext *context);

Decreases the reference count on a GMainContext object by one. If the result is zero, free the context and free all associated memory.

g_main_context_default ()

GMainContext*       g_main_context_default              (void);

Returns the default main context. This is the main context used for main loop functions when a main loop is not explicitly specified.

g_main_context_iteration ()

gboolean            g_main_context_iteration            (GMainContext *context,
                                                         gboolean may_block);

Runs a single iteration for the given main loop. This involves checking to see if any event sources are ready to be processed, then if no events sources are ready and may_block is TRUE, waiting for a source to become ready, then dispatching the highest priority events sources that are ready. Note that even when may_block is TRUE, it is still possible for g_main_context_iteration() to return FALSE, since the the wait may be interrupted for other reasons than an event source becoming ready.

g_main_iteration()

#define             g_main_iteration(may_block)

Runs a single iteration for the default GMainContext.

g_main_context_pending ()

gboolean            g_main_context_pending              (GMainContext *context);

Checks if any sources have pending events for the given context.

g_main_pending()

#define             g_main_pending()

Checks if any events are pending for the default GMainContext (i.e. ready to be processed).

g_main_context_find_source_by_id ()

GSource*            g_main_context_find_source_by_id    (GMainContext *context,
                                                         guint source_id);

Finds a GSource given a pair of context and ID.

g_main_context_find_source_by_user_data ()

GSource*            g_main_context_find_source_by_user_data
                                                        (GMainContext *context,
                                                         gpointer user_data);

Finds a source with the given user data for the callback. If multiple sources exist with the same user data, the first one found will be returned.

g_main_context_find_source_by_funcs_user_data ()

GSource*            g_main_context_find_source_by_funcs_user_data
                                                        (GMainContext *context,
                                                         GSourceFuncs *funcs,
                                                         gpointer user_data);

Finds a source with the given source functions and user data. If multiple sources exist with the same source function and user data, the first one found will be returned.

g_main_context_wakeup ()

void                g_main_context_wakeup               (GMainContext *context);

If context is currently waiting in a poll(), interrupt the poll(), and continue the iteration process.

g_main_context_acquire ()

gboolean            g_main_context_acquire              (GMainContext *context);

Tries to become the owner of the specified context. If some other context is the owner of the context, returns FALSE immediately. Ownership is properly recursive: the owner can require ownership again and will release ownership when g_main_context_release() is called as many times as g_main_context_acquire().

You must be the owner of a context before you can call g_main_context_prepare(), g_main_context_query(), g_main_context_check(), g_main_context_dispatch().

g_main_context_release ()

void                g_main_context_release              (GMainContext *context);

Releases ownership of a context previously acquired by this thread with g_main_context_acquire(). If the context was acquired multiple times, the only release ownership when g_main_context_release() is called as many times as it was acquired.

g_main_context_is_owner ()

gboolean            g_main_context_is_owner             (GMainContext *context);

Determines whether this thread holds the (recursive) ownership of this GMaincontext. This is useful to know before waiting on another thread that may be blocking to get ownership of context.

Since 2.10

g_main_context_wait ()

gboolean            g_main_context_wait                 (GMainContext *context,
                                                         GCond *cond,
                                                         GMutex *mutex);

Tries to become the owner of the specified context, as with g_main_context_acquire(). But if another thread is the owner, atomically drop mutex and wait on cond until that owner releases ownership or until cond is signaled, then try again (once) to become the owner.

g_main_context_prepare ()

gboolean            g_main_context_prepare              (GMainContext *context,
                                                         gint *priority);

Prepares to poll sources within a main loop. The resulting information for polling is determined by calling g_main_context_query().

g_main_context_query ()

gint                g_main_context_query                (GMainContext *context,
                                                         gint max_priority,
                                                         gint *timeout_,
                                                         GPollFD *fds,
                                                         gint n_fds);

Determines information necessary to poll this main loop.

g_main_context_check ()

gint                g_main_context_check                (GMainContext *context,
                                                         gint max_priority,
                                                         GPollFD *fds,
                                                         gint n_fds);

Passes the results of polling back to the main loop.

g_main_context_dispatch ()

void                g_main_context_dispatch             (GMainContext *context);

Dispatches all pending sources.

g_main_context_set_poll_func ()

void                g_main_context_set_poll_func        (GMainContext *context,
                                                         GPollFunc func);

Sets the function to use to handle polling of file descriptors. It will be used instead of the poll() system call (or GLib's replacement function, which is used where poll() isn't available).

This function could possibly be used to integrate the GLib event loop with an external event loop.

g_main_context_get_poll_func ()

GPollFunc           g_main_context_get_poll_func        (GMainContext *context);

Gets the poll function set by g_main_context_set_poll_func().

GPollFunc ()

gint                (*GPollFunc)                        (GPollFD *ufds,
                                                         guint nfsd,
                                                         gint timeout_);

Specifies the type of function passed to g_main_context_set_poll_func(). The semantics of the function should match those of the poll() system call.

g_main_context_add_poll ()

void                g_main_context_add_poll             (GMainContext *context,
                                                         GPollFD *fd,
                                                         gint priority);

Adds a file descriptor to the set of file descriptors polled for this context. This will very seldomly be used directly. Instead a typical event source will use g_source_add_poll() instead.

g_main_context_remove_poll ()

void                g_main_context_remove_poll          (GMainContext *context,
                                                         GPollFD *fd);

Removes file descriptor from the set of file descriptors to be polled for a particular context.

g_main_depth ()

gint                g_main_depth                        (void);

Return value: The main loop recursion level in the current thread

g_main_current_source ()

GSource*            g_main_current_source               (void);

Returns the currently firing source for this thread.

Since 2.12

g_main_set_poll_func()

#define             g_main_set_poll_func(func)

Sets the function to use for the handle polling of file descriptors for the default main context.

g_timeout_source_new ()

GSource*            g_timeout_source_new                (guint interval);

Creates a new timeout source.

The source will not initially be associated with any GMainContext and must be added to one with g_source_attach() before it will be executed.

g_timeout_add ()

guint               g_timeout_add                       (guint interval,
                                                         GSourceFunc function,
                                                         gpointer data);

Sets a function to be called at regular intervals, with the default priority, G_PRIORITY_DEFAULT. The function is called repeatedly until it returns FALSE, at which point the timeout is automatically destroyed and the function will not be called again. The first call to the function will be at the end of the first interval.

Note that timeout functions may be delayed, due to the processing of other event sources. Thus they should not be relied on for precise timing. After each call to the timeout function, the time of the next timeout is recalculated based on the current time and the given interval (it does not try to 'catch up' time lost in delays).

g_timeout_add_full ()

guint               g_timeout_add_full                  (gint priority,
                                                         guint interval,
                                                         GSourceFunc function,
                                                         gpointer data,
                                                         GDestroyNotify notify);

Sets a function to be called at regular intervals, with the given priority. The function is called repeatedly until it returns FALSE, at which point the timeout is automatically destroyed and the function will not be called again. The notify function is called when the timeout is destroyed. The first call to the function will be at the end of the first interval.

Note that timeout functions may be delayed, due to the processing of other event sources. Thus they should not be relied on for precise timing. After each call to the timeout function, the time of the next timeout is recalculated based on the current time and the given interval (it does not try to 'catch up' time lost in delays).

g_idle_source_new ()

GSource*            g_idle_source_new                   (void);

Creates a new idle source.

The source will not initially be associated with any GMainContext and must be added to one with g_source_attach() before it will be executed. Note that the default priority for idle sources is G_PRIORITY_DEFAULT_IDLE, as compared to other sources which have a default priority of G_PRIORITY_DEFAULT.

g_idle_add ()

guint               g_idle_add                          (GSourceFunc function,
                                                         gpointer data);

Adds a function to be called whenever there are no higher priority events pending to the default main loop. The function is given the default idle priority, G_PRIORITY_DEFAULT_IDLE. If the function returns FALSE it is automatically removed from the list of event sources and will not be called again.

g_idle_add_full ()

guint               g_idle_add_full                     (gint priority,
                                                         GSourceFunc function,
                                                         gpointer data,
                                                         GDestroyNotify notify);

Adds a function to be called whenever there are no higher priority events pending. If the function returns FALSE it is automatically removed from the list of event sources and will not be called again.

g_idle_remove_by_data ()

gboolean            g_idle_remove_by_data               (gpointer data);

Removes the idle function with the given data.

GPid

typedef int GPid;

A type which is used to hold a process identification. On Unix, processes are identified by a process id (an integer), while Windows uses process handles (which are pointers).

GChildWatchFunc ()

void                (*GChildWatchFunc)                  (GPid pid,
                                                         gint status,
                                                         gpointer data);

The type of functions to be called when a child exists.

g_child_watch_source_new ()

GSource*            g_child_watch_source_new            (GPid pid);

Creates a new child_watch source.

The source will not initially be associated with any GMainContext and must be added to one with g_source_attach() before it will be executed.

Note that child watch sources can only be used in conjunction with g_spawn... when the G_SPAWN_DO_NOT_REAP_CHILD flag is used.

Note that on platforms where GPid must be explicitly closed (see g_spawn_close_pid()) pid must not be closed while the source is still active. Typically, you will want to call g_spawn_close_pid() in the callback function for the source.

Note further that using g_child_watch_source_new() is not compatible with calling waitpid(-1) in the application. Calling waitpid() for individual pids will still work fine.

Since 2.4

g_child_watch_add ()

guint               g_child_watch_add                   (GPid pid,
                                                         GChildWatchFunc function,
                                                         gpointer data);

Sets a function to be called when the child indicated by pid exits, at a default priority, G_PRIORITY_DEFAULT.

Note that on platforms where GPid must be explicitly closed (see g_spawn_close_pid()) pid must not be closed while the source is still active. Typically, you will want to call g_spawn_close_pid() in the callback function for the source.

GLib supports only a single callback per process id.

Since 2.4

g_child_watch_add_full ()

guint               g_child_watch_add_full              (gint priority,
                                                         GPid pid,
                                                         GChildWatchFunc function,
                                                         gpointer data,
                                                         GDestroyNotify notify);

Sets a function to be called when the child indicated by pid exits, at a default priority, G_PRIORITY_DEFAULT.

Note that on platforms where GPid must be explicitly closed (see g_spawn_close_pid()) pid must not be closed while the source is still active. Typically, you will want to call g_spawn_close_pid() in the callback function for the source.

GLib supports only a single callback per process id.

Since 2.4

GPollFD

typedef struct {
  gint		fd;
  gushort 	events;
  gushort 	revents;
} GPollFD;

GSource

typedef struct {
} GSource;

The GSource struct is an opaque data type representing an event source.

GSourceDummyMarshal ()

void                (*GSourceDummyMarshal)              (void);

This is just a placeholder for GClosureMarshal, which cannot be used here for dependency reasons.

GSourceFuncs

typedef struct {
  gboolean (*prepare)  (GSource    *source,
			gint       *timeout_);
  gboolean (*check)    (GSource    *source);
  gboolean (*dispatch) (GSource    *source,
			GSourceFunc callback,
			gpointer    user_data);
  void     (*finalize) (GSource    *source); /* Can be NULL */

  /* For use by g_source_set_closure */
  GSourceFunc     closure_callback;	   
  GSourceDummyMarshal closure_marshal; /* Really is of type GClosureMarshal */
} GSourceFuncs;

The GSourceFuncs struct contains a table of functions used to handle event sources in a generic manner.

For idle sources, the prepare and check functions always return TRUE to indicate that the source is always ready to be processed. The prepare function also returns a timeout value of 0 to ensure that the poll() call doesn't block (since that would be time wasted which could have been spent running the idle function).

For timeout sources, the prepare and check functions both return TRUE if the timeout interval has expired. The prepare function also returns a timeout value to ensure that the poll() call doesn't block too long and miss the next timeout.

For file descriptor sources, the prepare function typically returns FALSE, since it must wait until poll() has been called before it knows whether any events need to be processed. It sets the returned timeout to -1 to indicate that it doesn't mind how long the poll() call blocks. In the check function, it tests the results of the poll() call to see if the required condition has been met, and returns TRUE if so.

GSourceCallbackFuncs

typedef struct {
  void (*ref)   (gpointer     cb_data);
  void (*unref) (gpointer     cb_data);
  void (*get)   (gpointer     cb_data,
		 GSource     *source, 
		 GSourceFunc *func,
		 gpointer    *data);
} GSourceCallbackFuncs;

The GSourceCallbackFuncs struct contains functions for managing callback objects.

g_source_new ()

GSource*            g_source_new                        (GSourceFuncs *source_funcs,
                                                         guint struct_size);

Creates a new GSource structure. The size is specified to allow creating structures derived from GSource that contain additional data. The size passed in must be at least sizeof (GSource).

The source will not initially be associated with any GMainContext and must be added to one with g_source_attach() before it will be executed.

g_source_ref ()

GSource*            g_source_ref                        (GSource *source);

Increases the reference count on a source by one.

g_source_unref ()

void                g_source_unref                      (GSource *source);

Decreases the reference count of a source by one. If the resulting reference count is zero the source and associated memory will be destroyed.

g_source_set_funcs ()

void                g_source_set_funcs                  (GSource *source,
                                                         GSourceFuncs *funcs);

Sets the source functions (can be used to override default implementations) of an unattached source.

Since 2.12

g_source_attach ()

guint               g_source_attach                     (GSource *source,
                                                         GMainContext *context);

Adds a GSource to a context so that it will be executed within that context.

g_source_destroy ()

void                g_source_destroy                    (GSource *source);

Removes a source from its GMainContext, if any, and mark it as destroyed. The source cannot be subsequently added to another context.

g_source_is_destroyed ()

gboolean            g_source_is_destroyed               (GSource *source);

Returns whether source has been destroyed.

This is important when you operate upon your objects from within idle handlers, but may have freed the object before the dispatch of your idle handler.

static gboolean 
idle_callback (gpointer data)
{
  SomeWidget *self = data;
   
  GDK_THREADS_ENTER ();
  /* do stuff with self */
  self->idle_id = 0;
  GDK_THREADS_LEAVE ();
   
  return FALSE;
}
 
static void 
some_widget_do_stuff_later (SomeWidget *self)
{
  self->idle_id = g_idle_add (idle_callback, self);
}
 
static void 
some_widget_finalize (GObject *object)
{
  SomeWidget *self = SOME_WIDGET (object);
   
  if (self->idle_id)
    g_source_remove (self->idle_id);
   
  G_OBJECT_CLASS (parent_class)->finalize (object);
}

This will fail in a multi-threaded application if the widget is destroyed before the idle handler fires due to the use after free in the callback. A solution, to this particular problem, is to check to if the source has already been destroy within the callback.

static gboolean 
idle_callback (gpointer data)
{
  SomeWidget *self = data;
  
  GDK_THREADS_ENTER ();
  if (!g_source_is_destroyed (g_main_current_source ()))
    {
      /* do stuff with self */
    }
  GDK_THREADS_LEAVE ();
  
  return FALSE;
}

Since 2.12

g_source_set_priority ()

void                g_source_set_priority               (GSource *source,
                                                         gint priority);

Sets the priority of a source. While the main loop is being run, a source will be dispatched if it is ready to be dispatched and no sources at a higher (numerically smaller) priority are ready to be dispatched.

g_source_get_priority ()

gint                g_source_get_priority               (GSource *source);

Gets the priority of a source.

g_source_set_can_recurse ()

void                g_source_set_can_recurse            (GSource *source,
                                                         gboolean can_recurse);

Sets whether a source can be called recursively. If can_recurse is TRUE, then while the source is being dispatched then this source will be processed normally. Otherwise, all processing of this source is blocked until the dispatch function returns.

g_source_get_can_recurse ()

gboolean            g_source_get_can_recurse            (GSource *source);

Checks whether a source is allowed to be called recursively. see g_source_set_can_recurse().

g_source_get_id ()

guint               g_source_get_id                     (GSource *source);

Returns the numeric ID for a particular source. The ID of a source is a positive integer which is unique within a particular main loop context. The reverse mapping from ID to source is done by g_main_context_find_source_by_id().

g_source_get_context ()

GMainContext*       g_source_get_context                (GSource *source);

Gets the GMainContext with which the source is associated. Calling this function on a destroyed source is an error.

g_source_set_callback ()

void                g_source_set_callback               (GSource *source,
                                                         GSourceFunc func,
                                                         gpointer data,
                                                         GDestroyNotify notify);

Sets the callback function for a source. The callback for a source is called from the source's dispatch function.

The exact type of func depends on the type of source; ie. you should not count on func being called with data as its first parameter.

Typically, you won't use this function. Instead use functions specific to the type of source you are using.

GSourceFunc ()

gboolean            (*GSourceFunc)                      (gpointer data);

Specifies the type of function passed to g_timeout_add(), g_timeout_add_full(), g_idle_add(), and g_idle_add_full().

g_source_set_callback_indirect ()

void                g_source_set_callback_indirect      (GSource *source,
                                                         gpointer callback_data,
                                                         GSourceCallbackFuncs *callback_funcs);

Sets the callback function storing the data as a refcounted callback "object". This is used internally. Note that calling g_source_set_callback_indirect() assumes an initial reference count on callback_data, and thus callback_funcs->unref will eventually be called once more than callback_funcs->ref.

g_source_add_poll ()

void                g_source_add_poll                   (GSource *source,
                                                         GPollFD *fd);

Adds a file descriptor to the set of file descriptors polled for this source. This is usually combined with g_source_new() to add an event source. The event source's check function will typically test the revents field in the GPollFD struct and return TRUE if events need to be processed.

g_source_remove_poll ()

void                g_source_remove_poll                (GSource *source,
                                                         GPollFD *fd);

Removes a file descriptor from the set of file descriptors polled for this source.

g_source_get_current_time ()

void                g_source_get_current_time           (GSource *source,
                                                         GTimeVal *timeval);

Gets the "current time" to be used when checking this source. The advantage of calling this function over calling g_get_current_time() directly is that when checking multiple sources, GLib can cache a single value instead of having to repeatedly get the system time.

g_source_remove ()

gboolean            g_source_remove                     (guint tag);

Removes the source with the given id from the default main context. The id of a GSource is given by g_source_get_id(), or will be returned by the functions g_source_attach(), g_idle_add(), g_idle_add_full(), g_timeout_add(), g_timeout_add_full(), g_child_watch_add(), g_child_watch_add_full(), g_io_add_watch(), and g_io_add_watch_full().

See also g_source_destroy().

g_source_remove_by_funcs_user_data ()

gboolean            g_source_remove_by_funcs_user_data  (GSourceFuncs *funcs,
                                                         gpointer user_data);

Removes a source from the default main loop context given the source functions and user data. If multiple sources exist with the same source functions and user data, only one will be destroyed.

g_source_remove_by_user_data ()

gboolean            g_source_remove_by_user_data        (gpointer user_data);

Removes a source from the default main loop context given the user data for the callback. If multiple sources exist with the same user data, only one will be destroyed.