Index

Package: Key_File

Description

package Glib.Key_File is

G_Key_File lets you parse, edit or create files containing groups of key-value pairs, which we call key files for lack of a better name. Several freedesktop.org specifications use key files now, e.g the Desktop Entry Specification and the Icon Theme Specification.

The syntax of key files is described in detail in the Desktop Entry Specification, here is a quick summary: Key files consists of groups of key-value pairs, interspersed with comments. # this is just an example # there can be comments before the first group [First Group] Name=Key File Example\tthis value shows\nescaping # localized strings are stored in multiple key-value pairs Welcome=Hello Welcome[de]=Hallo Welcome[fr_FR]=Bonjour Welcome[it]=Ciao Welcome[be@latin]=Hello [Another Group] Numbers=2;20;-200;0 Booleans=true;false;true;true Groups are started by a header line containing the group name enclosed in '[' and ']', and ended implicitly by the start of the next group or the end of the file. Each key-value pair must be contained in a group.

Key-value pairs generally have the form key=value, with the exception of localized strings, which have the form key[locale]=value, with a locale identifier of the form lang_COUNTRYMODIFIER where COUNTRY and MODIFIER are optional. Space before and after the '=' character are ignored. Newline, tab, carriage return and backslash characters in value are escaped as \n, \t, \r, and \\, respectively. To preserve leading spaces in values, these can also be escaped as \s.

Key files can store strings (possibly with localized variants), integers, booleans and lists of these. Lists are separated by a separator character, typically ';' or ','. To use the list separator character in a value in a list, it has to be escaped by prefixing it with a backslash.

This syntax is obviously inspired by the .ini files commonly met on Windows, but there are some important differences: .ini files use the ';' character to begin comments, key files use the '#' character.

Key files do not allow for ungrouped keys meaning only comments can precede the first group.

Key files are always encoded in UTF-8.

Key and Group names are case-sensitive, for example a group called [GROUP] is a different group from [group]. .ini files don't have a strongly typed boolean entry type, they only have GetProfileInt. In G_Key_File only true and false (in lower case) are allowed.

Note that in contrast to the Desktop Entry Specification, groups in key files may contain the same key multiple times; the last entry wins. Key files may also contain multiple groups with the same name; they are merged together. Another difference is that keys and group names in key files are not restricted to ASCII characters.

Binding from C File version 2.16.6

Types

G_Key_File

type G_Key_File is new Glib.C_Proxy;

G_Key_File_Error

type G_Key_File_Error is
     (Error_Unknown_Encoding,
      Error_Parse,
      Error_Not_Found,
      Error_Key_Not_Found,
      Error_Group_Not_Found,
      Error_Invalid_Value);

G_Key_File_Flags

type G_Key_File_Flags is (None, Keep_Comments, Keep_Translations);

Boolean_List

type Boolean_List is array (Integer range <>) of Boolean;

Double_List

type Double_List is array (Integer range <>) of Gdouble;

Integer_List

type Integer_List is array (Integer range <>) of Gint;

Constants & Global variables

Desktop_Group (String)

Desktop_Group                : constant String := "Desktop Entry";
Constants for handling freedesktop.org Desktop files

Desktop_Key_Type (String)

Desktop_Key_Type             : constant String := "Type";

Desktop_Key_Version (String)

Desktop_Key_Version          : constant String := "Version";

Desktop_Key_Name (String)

Desktop_Key_Name             : constant String := "Name";

Desktop_Key_Generic_Name (String)

Desktop_Key_Generic_Name     : constant String := "GenericName";

Desktop_Key_No_Display (String)

Desktop_Key_No_Display       : constant String := "NoDisplay";

Desktop_Key_Comment (String)

Desktop_Key_Comment          : constant String := "Comment";

Desktop_Key_Icon (String)

Desktop_Key_Icon             : constant String := "Icon";

Desktop_Key_Hidden (String)

Desktop_Key_Hidden           : constant String := "Hidden";

Desktop_Key_Only_Show_In (String)

Desktop_Key_Only_Show_In     : constant String := "OnlyShowIn";

Desktop_Key_Not_Show_In (String)

Desktop_Key_Not_Show_In      : constant String := "NotShowIn";

Desktop_Key_Try_Exec (String)

Desktop_Key_Try_Exec         : constant String := "TryExec";

Desktop_Key_Exec (String)

Desktop_Key_Exec             : constant String := "Exec";

Desktop_Key_Path (String)

Desktop_Key_Path             : constant String := "Path";

Desktop_Key_Terminal (String)

Desktop_Key_Terminal         : constant String := "Terminal";

Desktop_Key_Mime_Type (String)

Desktop_Key_Mime_Type        : constant String := "MimeType";

Desktop_Key_Categories (String)

Desktop_Key_Categories       : constant String := "Categories";

Desktop_Key_Startup_Notify (String)

Desktop_Key_Startup_Notify   : constant String := "StartupNotify";

Desktop_Key_Startup_Wm_Class (String)

Desktop_Key_Startup_Wm_Class : constant String := "StartupWMClass";

Desktop_Key_Url (String)

Desktop_Key_Url              : constant String := "URL";

Desktop_Type_Application (String)

Desktop_Type_Application     : constant String := "Application";

Desktop_Type_Link (String)

Desktop_Type_Link            : constant String := "Link";

Desktop_Type_Directory (String)

Desktop_Type_Directory       : constant String := "Directory";

Subprograms & Entries

Error_Quark

function Error_Quark return GQuark;

Gtk_New

procedure Gtk_New 
(Key_File: out G_Key_File);
Creates a new empty G_Key_File object. Use Load_From_File, Load_From_Data, Load_From_Dirs or Load_From_Data_Dirs to read an existing key file.

Free

procedure Free 
(Key_File: in out G_Key_File);
Frees a G_Key_File.

Set_List_Separator

procedure Set_List_Separator 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Separator: Gchar);
Sets the character which is used to separate values in lists. Typically ';' or ',' are used as separators. The default list separator is ';'.

To_Data

function To_Data 
(Key_File: G_Key_File) return String;
Output Key_File as a String.

Get_Start_Group

function Get_Start_Group 
(Key_File: G_Key_File) return String;
Returns the name of the start group of the file.

Get_Groups

function Get_Groups 
(Key_File: G_Key_File) return GNAT.Strings.String_List;
Returns all groups in the key file loaded with Key_File.

Has_Group

function Has_Group 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String) return Boolean;
Looks whether the key file has the group Group_Name.

Remove_Group

function Remove_Group 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String;
Error: Glib.Error.GError := null) return Boolean;
Removes the specified group, Group_Name, from the key file. Returns True if the group was removed, False otherwise.

Get_Keys

function Get_Keys 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String;
Error: Glib.Error.GError := null) return GNAT.Strings.String_List;
Returns all keys for the group name Group_Name. In the event that the Group_Name cannot be found, an empty list is returned and Error is set to Error_Group_Not_Found.

Has_Key

function Has_Key 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String;
Key: String;
Error: Glib.Error.GError := null) return Boolean;
Looks whether the key file has the key Key in the group Group_Name.

Remove_Key

function Remove_Key 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String;
Key: String;
Error: Glib.Error.GError := null) return Boolean;
Removes Key in Group_Name from the key file. Returns True if the key was removed, False otherwise.

Get_Comment

function Get_Comment 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String;
Key: String;
Error: Glib.Error.GError := null) return String;

Set_Comment

function Set_Comment 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String := "";
Key: String := "";
Comment: String;
Error: Glib.Error.GError := null) return Boolean;

Remove_Comment

function Remove_Comment 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String := "";
Key: String := "";
Error: Glib.Error.GError := null) return Boolean;
Places a comment above Key from Group_Name. If Key is null then Comment will be removed/written above Group_Name. If both Key and Group_Name are null, then Comment will be removed/written above the first group in the file. Returns whether the operation was successful.

Get_Boolean

function Get_Boolean 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String;
Key: String;
Error: Glib.Error.GError := null) return Boolean;

Set_Boolean

procedure Set_Boolean 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String := "";
Key: String;
Value: Boolean);
Association of a boolean value with Key under Group_Name. Set_Boolean creates a key if Key cannot be found. Get_Boolean returns the value associated with Key under Group_Name as a boolean. If Key cannot be found then False is returned and error is set to Error_Not_Found. Likewise, if the value associated with Key cannot be interpreted as a boolean then False is returned and error is set to Error_Invalid_Value.

Get_Boolean_List

function Get_Boolean_List 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String;
Key: String;
Error: Glib.Error.GError := null) return Boolean_List;

Set_Boolean_List

procedure Set_Boolean_List 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String := "";
Key: String;
List: Boolean_List);
Associates a list of boolean values with Key under Group_Name. If Key cannot be found then it is created. If Group_Name is "", the start_group is used.

Get_Double

function Get_Double 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String;
Key: String;
Error: Glib.Error.GError := null) return Gdouble;

Set_Double

procedure Set_Double 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String := "";
Key: String;
Value: Gdouble);
Association of a double value with Key under Group_Name. Set_Double creates a key if Key cannot be found. Get_Double returns the value associated with Key under Group_Name as a double. If Group_Name is "", the start_group is used. If Key cannot be found then 0.0 is returned and error is set to Error_Key_Not_Found. Likewise, if the value associated with Key cannot be interpreted as a double then 0.0 is returned and error is set to Error_Invalid_Value.

Get_Double_List

function Get_Double_List 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String;
Key: String;
Error: Glib.Error.GError := null) return Double_List;

Set_Double_List

procedure Set_Double_List 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String := "";
Key: String;
List: Double_List);
Associates a list of double values with Key under Group_Name. If Key cannot be found then it is created.

Get_Integer

function Get_Integer 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String;
Key: String;
Error: Glib.Error.GError := null) return Gint;

Set_Integer

procedure Set_Integer 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String := "";
Key: String;
Value: Gint);
Association of an integer value with Key under Group_Name. Set_Integer creates a key if Key cannot be found. If Get_Integer cannot find Key then 0 is returned and Error is set to Error_Key_Not_Found. Likewise, if the value associated with Key cannot be interpreted as an integer then 0 is returned and error is set to Error_Invalid_Value.

Get_Integer_List

function Get_Integer_List 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String;
Key: String;
Error: Glib.Error.GError := null) return Integer_List;

Set_Integer_List

procedure Set_Integer_List 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String := "";
Key: String;
List: Integer_List);
Associates a list of integer values with Key under Group_Name. If Key cannot be found then it is created.

Get_String

function Get_String 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String;
Key: String;
Error: Glib.Error.GError := null) return String;

Set_String

procedure Set_String 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String := "";
Key: String;
The_String: String);
Associates a new string value with Key under Group_Name. If Key cannot be found then it is created. If Group_Name cannot be found then it is created. Unlike Set_Value, this function handles characters that need escaping, such as newlines.

Get_String_List

function Get_String_List 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String;
Key: String;
Error: Glib.Error.GError := null) return GNAT.Strings.String_List;

Set_String_List

procedure Set_String_List 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String := "";
Key: String;
List: GNAT.Strings.String_List);
Associates a list of string values for Key under Group_Name. If Key cannot be found then it is created. If Group_Name cannot be found then it is created.

Get_Value

function Get_Value 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String;
Key: String;
Error: Glib.Error.GError := null) return String;

Set_Value

procedure Set_Value 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String := "";
Key: String;
Value: String);
Associates a new value with Key under Group_Name. If Key cannot be found then it is created. If Group_Name cannot be found then it is created. To set an UTF-8 string which may contain characters that need escaping (such as newlines or spaces), use Set_String.

Load_From_Data

function Load_From_Data 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Data: String;
Flags: G_Key_File_Flags;
Error: Glib.Error.GError := null) return Boolean;
Loads Data (which holds the contents of a key file) into an empty G_Key_File structure. If the object cannot be created then Error is set to a G_Key_File_Error. Returns True if a key file could be loaded, False otherwise

Load_From_Data_Dirs

function Load_From_Data_Dirs 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
File: String;
Flags: G_Key_File_Flags;
Error: Glib.Error.GError := null) return Boolean;
This function looks for a key file named File in the paths returned from g_get_user_data_dir() and g_get_system_data_dirs() and loads the file into Key_File. If the file could not be loaded then Error is set to either a G_File_Error or G_Key_File_Error. Returns True if a key file could be loaded, False otherwise

Load_From_Dirs

function Load_From_Dirs 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
File: String;
Search_Dirs: GNAT.Strings.String_List;
Flags: G_Key_File_Flags;
Error: Glib.Error.GError := null) return Boolean;
This function looks for a key file named File in the paths specified in Search_Dirs and loads the file into Key_File. If the file could not be loaded then an Error is set to either a G_File_Error or G_Key_File_Error. Returns True if a key file could be loaded, False otherwise

Load_From_File

function Load_From_File 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
File: String;
Flags: G_Key_File_Flags;
Error: Glib.Error.GError := null) return Boolean;
Loads a key file into an empty G_Key_File structure. If the file could not be loaded then Error is set to either a G_File_Error or G_Key_File_Error. Returns True if a key file could be loaded, False otherwise

Get_Locale_String

function Get_Locale_String 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String;
Key: String;
Locale: String) return String;

Set_Locale_String

procedure Set_Locale_String 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String := "";
Key: String;
Locale: String;
The_String: String);
Associates a string value for Key and Locale under Group_Name. If the translation for Key cannot be found then it is created.

Get_Locale_String_List

function Get_Locale_String_List 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String;
Key: String;
Locale: String;
Error: Glib.Error.GError := null) return GNAT.Strings.String_List;

Set_Locale_String_List

procedure Set_Locale_String_List 
(Key_File: G_Key_File;
Group_Name: String := "";
Key: String;
Locale: String;
List: GNAT.Strings.String_List);
Associates a list of string values for Key and Locale under Group_Name. If the translation for Key cannot be found then it is created.