Application

Object Hierarchy:

Description:

[ CCode ( type_id = "gtk_application_get_type ()" ) ]
public class Application : Application, ActionGroup, ActionMap

`GtkApplication` is a high-level API for writing applications.

It supports many aspects of writing a GTK application in a convenient fashion, without enforcing a one-size-fits-all model.

Currently, `GtkApplication` handles GTK initialization, application uniqueness, session management, provides some basic scriptability and desktop shell integration by exporting actions and menus and manages a list of toplevel windows whose life-cycle is automatically tied to the life-cycle of your application.

While `GtkApplication` works fine with plain [class@Gtk.Window]s, it is recommended to use it together with [class@Gtk.ApplicationWindow].

Automatic resources

`GtkApplication` will automatically load menus from the `GtkBuilder` resource located at "gtk/menus.ui", relative to the application's resource base path (see [method@Gio.Application.set_resource_base_path]). The menu with the ID "menubar" is taken as the application's menubar. Additional menus (most interesting submenus) can be named and accessed via [method@Gtk.Application.get_menu_by_id] which allows for dynamic population of a part of the menu structure.

Note that automatic resource loading uses the resource base path that is set at construction time and will not work if the resource base path is changed at a later time.

It is also possible to provide the menubar manually using [method@Gtk.Application.set_menubar].

`GtkApplication` will also automatically setup an icon search path for the default icon theme by appending "icons" to the resource base path. This allows your application to easily store its icons as resources. See [method@Gtk.IconTheme.add_resource_path] for more information.

If there is a resource located at `gtk/help-overlay.ui` which defines a [class@Gtk.ShortcutsWindow] with ID `help_overlay` then `GtkApplication` associates an instance of this shortcuts window with each [class@Gtk.ApplicationWindow] and sets up the keyboard accelerator <kbd>Control</kbd>+<kbd>?</kbd> to open it. To create a menu item that displays the shortcuts window, associate the item with the action `win.show-help-overlay`.

A simple application

A simple example is available in the GTK source code repository

`GtkApplication` optionally registers with a session manager of the users session (if you set the [property@Gtk.Application:register-session] property) and offers various functionality related to the session life-cycle.

An application can block various ways to end the session with the [method@Gtk.Application.inhibit] function. Typical use cases for this kind of inhibiting are long-running, uninterruptible operations, such as burning a CD or performing a disk backup. The session manager may not honor the inhibitor, but it can be expected to inform the user about the negative consequences of ending the session while inhibitors are present.

Content:

Properties:

public Window active_window { get; }
The currently focused window of the application.
public MenuModel menubar { get; set; }
The `GMenuModel` to be used for the application's menu bar.
public bool register_session { get; set; }
Set this property to `TRUE` to register with the session manager.
public bool screensaver_active { get; }
This property is `TRUE` if GTK believes that the screensaver is currently active.

Creation methods:

public Application (string? application_id, ApplicationFlags flags)
Creates a new `GtkApplication` instance.

Methods:

public void add_window (Window window)
Adds a window to `application`.
public string[] get_accels_for_action (string detailed_action_name)
Gets the accelerators that are currently associated with the given action.
public string[] get_actions_for_accel (string accel)
Returns the list of actions (possibly empty) that `accel` maps to.
public unowned Window? get_active_window ()
Gets the “active” window for the application.
public unowned Menu? get_menu_by_id (string id)
Gets a menu from automatically loaded resources.
public unowned MenuModel? get_menubar ()
Returns the menu model that has been set with [method@Gtk.
public unowned Window? get_window_by_id (uint id)
Returns the [class@Gtk.
public unowned List<Window> get_windows ()
Gets a list of the [class@Gtk.
public uint inhibit (Window? window, ApplicationInhibitFlags flags, string? reason)
Inform the session manager that certain types of actions should be inhibited.
public string[] list_action_descriptions ()
Lists the detailed action names which have associated accelerators.
public void remove_window (Window window)
Remove a window from `application`.
public void set_accels_for_action (string detailed_action_name, string[] accels)
Sets zero or more keyboard accelerators that will trigger the given action.
public void set_menubar (MenuModel? menubar)
Sets or unsets the menubar for windows of `application`.
public void uninhibit (uint cookie)
Removes an inhibitor that has been previously established.

Signals:

public signal void query_end ()
Emitted when the session manager is about to end the session.
public virtual signal void window_added (Window window)
Emitted when a [class@Gtk.
public virtual signal void window_removed (Window window)
Emitted when a [class@Gtk.

Inherited Members:

All known members inherited from class GLib.Application

All known members inherited from class GLib.Object

All known members inherited from interface GLib.ActionGroup

All known members inherited from interface GLib.ActionMap

remove_action_entries