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Gio.Action

interface

GAction represents a single named action.

The main interface to an action is that it can be activated with Action.activate. This results in the 'activate' signal being emitted. An activation has a GVariant parameter (which may be NULL). The correct type for the parameter is determined by a static parameter type (which is given at construction time).

An action may optionally have a state, in which case the state may be set with Action.change_state. This call takes a GLib.Variant. The correct type for the state is determined by a static state type (which is given at construction time).

The state may have a hint associated with it, specifying its valid range.

GAction is merely the interface to the concept of an action, as described above. Various implementations of actions exist, including SimpleAction.

In all cases, the implementing class is responsible for storing the name of the action, the parameter type, the enabled state, the optional state type and the state and emitting the appropriate signals when these change. The implementor is responsible for filtering calls to Action.activate and Action.change_state for type safety and for the state being enabled.

Probably the only useful thing to do with a GAction is to put it inside of a SimpleActionGroup.

Methods

activate

def activate(self, parameter: GLib.Variant | None = ...) -> None

Activates the action.

parameter must be the correct type of parameter for the action (ie: the parameter type given at construction time). If the parameter type was NULL then parameter must also be NULL.

If the parameter GLib.Variant is floating, it is consumed.

Parameters:

  • parameter — the parameter to the activation

change_state

def change_state(self, value: GLib.Variant) -> None

Request for the state of action to be changed to value.

The action must be stateful and value must be of the correct type. See Action.get_state_type.

This call merely requests a change. The action may refuse to change its state or may change its state to something other than value. See Action.get_state_hint.

If the value GLib.Variant is floating, it is consumed.

Parameters:

  • value — the new state

get_enabled

def get_enabled(self) -> bool

Checks if action is currently enabled.

An action must be enabled in order to be activated or in order to have its state changed from outside callers.

get_name

def get_name(self) -> str

Queries the name of action.

get_parameter_type

def get_parameter_type(self) -> GLib.VariantType | None

Queries the type of the parameter that must be given when activating action.

When activating the action using Action.activate, the GLib.Variant given to that function must be of the type returned by this function.

In the case that this function returns NULL, you must not give any GLib.Variant, but NULL instead.

get_state

def get_state(self) -> GLib.Variant | None

Queries the current state of action.

If the action is not stateful then NULL will be returned. If the action is stateful then the type of the return value is the type given by Action.get_state_type.

The return value (if non-NULL) should be freed with GLib.Variant.unref when it is no longer required.

get_state_hint

def get_state_hint(self) -> GLib.Variant | None

Requests a hint about the valid range of values for the state of action.

If NULL is returned it either means that the action is not stateful or that there is no hint about the valid range of values for the state of the action.

If a GLib.Variant array is returned then each item in the array is a possible value for the state. If a GLib.Variant pair (ie: two-tuple) is returned then the tuple specifies the inclusive lower and upper bound of valid values for the state.

In any case, the information is merely a hint. It may be possible to have a state value outside of the hinted range and setting a value within the range may fail.

The return value (if non-NULL) should be freed with GLib.Variant.unref when it is no longer required.

get_state_type

def get_state_type(self) -> GLib.VariantType | None

Queries the type of the state of action.

If the action is stateful (e.g. created with SimpleAction.new_stateful) then this function returns the GLib.VariantType of the state. This is the type of the initial value given as the state. All calls to Action.change_state must give a GLib.Variant of this type and Action.get_state will return a GLib.Variant of the same type.

If the action is not stateful (e.g. created with SimpleAction.new) then this function will return NULL. In that case, Action.get_state will return NULL and you must not call Action.change_state.

Static functions

name_is_valid

@staticmethod
def name_is_valid(action_name: str) -> bool

Checks if action_name is valid.

action_name is valid if it consists only of alphanumeric characters, plus - and .. The empty string is not a valid action name.

It is an error to call this function with a non-UTF-8 action_name. action_name must not be NULL.

Parameters:

  • action_name — a potential action name

parse_detailed_name

@staticmethod
def parse_detailed_name(detailed_name: str) -> tuple[bool, str, GLib.Variant]

Parses a detailed action name into its separate name and target components.

Detailed action names can have three formats.

The first format is used to represent an action name with no target value and consists of just an action name containing no whitespace nor the characters :, ( or ). For example: app.action.

The second format is used to represent an action with a target value that is a non-empty string consisting only of alphanumerics, plus - and .. In that case, the action name and target value are separated by a double colon (::). For example: app.action::target.

The third format is used to represent an action with any type of target value, including strings. The target value follows the action name, surrounded in parens. For example: app.action(42). The target value is parsed using GLib.Variant.parse. If a tuple-typed value is desired, it must be specified in the same way, resulting in two sets of parens, for example: app.action((1,2,3)). A string target can be specified this way as well: app.action('target'). For strings, this third format must be used if target value is empty or contains characters other than alphanumerics, - and ..

If this function returns TRUE, a non-NULL value is guaranteed to be returned in action_name (if a pointer is passed in). A NULL value may still be returned in target_value, as the detailed_name may not contain a target.

If returned, the GLib.Variant in target_value is guaranteed to not be floating.

Parameters:

  • detailed_name — a detailed action name

print_detailed_name

@staticmethod
def print_detailed_name(action_name: str, target_value: GLib.Variant | None = ...) -> str

Formats a detailed action name from action_name and target_value.

It is an error to call this function with an invalid action name.

This function is the opposite of Action.parse_detailed_name. It will produce a string that can be parsed back to the action_name and target_value by that function.

See that function for the types of strings that will be printed by this function.

Parameters:

  • action_name — a valid action name
  • target_value — a GLib.Variant target value, or NULL

Virtual methods

do_activate

def do_activate(self, parameter: GLib.Variant | None = ...) -> None

Activates the action.

parameter must be the correct type of parameter for the action (ie: the parameter type given at construction time). If the parameter type was NULL then parameter must also be NULL.

If the parameter GLib.Variant is floating, it is consumed.

Parameters:

  • parameter — the parameter to the activation

do_change_state

def do_change_state(self, value: GLib.Variant) -> None

Request for the state of action to be changed to value.

The action must be stateful and value must be of the correct type. See Action.get_state_type.

This call merely requests a change. The action may refuse to change its state or may change its state to something other than value. See Action.get_state_hint.

If the value GLib.Variant is floating, it is consumed.

Parameters:

  • value — the new state

do_get_enabled

def do_get_enabled(self) -> bool

Checks if action is currently enabled.

An action must be enabled in order to be activated or in order to have its state changed from outside callers.

do_get_name

def do_get_name(self) -> str

Queries the name of action.

do_get_parameter_type

def do_get_parameter_type(self) -> GLib.VariantType | None

Queries the type of the parameter that must be given when activating action.

When activating the action using Action.activate, the GLib.Variant given to that function must be of the type returned by this function.

In the case that this function returns NULL, you must not give any GLib.Variant, but NULL instead.

do_get_state

def do_get_state(self) -> GLib.Variant | None

Queries the current state of action.

If the action is not stateful then NULL will be returned. If the action is stateful then the type of the return value is the type given by Action.get_state_type.

The return value (if non-NULL) should be freed with GLib.Variant.unref when it is no longer required.

do_get_state_hint

def do_get_state_hint(self) -> GLib.Variant | None

Requests a hint about the valid range of values for the state of action.

If NULL is returned it either means that the action is not stateful or that there is no hint about the valid range of values for the state of the action.

If a GLib.Variant array is returned then each item in the array is a possible value for the state. If a GLib.Variant pair (ie: two-tuple) is returned then the tuple specifies the inclusive lower and upper bound of valid values for the state.

In any case, the information is merely a hint. It may be possible to have a state value outside of the hinted range and setting a value within the range may fail.

The return value (if non-NULL) should be freed with GLib.Variant.unref when it is no longer required.

do_get_state_type

def do_get_state_type(self) -> GLib.VariantType | None

Queries the type of the state of action.

If the action is stateful (e.g. created with SimpleAction.new_stateful) then this function returns the GLib.VariantType of the state. This is the type of the initial value given as the state. All calls to Action.change_state must give a GLib.Variant of this type and Action.get_state will return a GLib.Variant of the same type.

If the action is not stateful (e.g. created with SimpleAction.new) then this function will return NULL. In that case, Action.get_state will return NULL and you must not call Action.change_state.

Properties

enabled

enabled: bool  # read-only

If action is currently enabled.

If the action is disabled then calls to Action.activate and Action.change_state have no effect.

name

name: str  # read-only

The name of the action. This is mostly meaningful for identifying the action once it has been added to a ActionGroup. It is immutable.

parameter_type

parameter_type: GLib.VariantType  # read-only

The type of the parameter that must be given when activating the action. This is immutable, and may be NULL if no parameter is needed when activating the action.

state

state: GLib.Variant  # read-only

The state of the action, or NULL if the action is stateless.

state_type

state_type: GLib.VariantType  # read-only

The GLib.VariantType of the state that the action has, or NULL if the action is stateless. This is immutable.