Gtk.FileChooser¶

interface

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

GtkFileChooser is an interface that can be implemented by file selection widgets.

In GTK, the main objects that implement this interface are FileChooserWidget and FileChooserDialog.

You do not need to write an object that implements the GtkFileChooser interface unless you are trying to adapt an existing file selector to expose a standard programming interface.

GtkFileChooser allows for shortcuts to various places in the filesystem. In the default implementation these are displayed in the left pane. It may be a bit confusing at first that these shortcuts come from various sources and in various flavours, so lets explain the terminology here:

Bookmarks: are created by the user, by dragging folders from the right pane to the left pane, or by using the “Add”. Bookmarks can be renamed and deleted by the user.
Shortcuts: can be provided by the application. For example, a Paint program may want to add a shortcut for a Clipart folder. Shortcuts cannot be modified by the user.
Volumes: are provided by the underlying filesystem abstraction. They are the “roots” of the filesystem.

File Names and Encodings¶

When the user is finished selecting files in a GtkFileChooser, your program can get the selected filenames as GFiles.

Adding options¶

You can add extra widgets to a file chooser to provide options that are not present in the default design, by using FileChooser.add_choice. Each choice has an identifier and a user visible label; additionally, each choice can have multiple options. If a choice has no option, it will be rendered as a check button with the given label; if a choice has options, it will be rendered as a combo box.

Methods¶

add_choice¶

def add_choice(self, id: str, label: str, options: list[str] | None = ..., option_labels: list[str] | None = ...) -> None

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

Adds a 'choice' to the file chooser.

This is typically implemented as a combobox or, for boolean choices, as a checkbutton. You can select a value using FileChooser.set_choice before the dialog is shown, and you can obtain the user-selected value in the Dialog.response signal handler using FileChooser.get_choice.

Parameters:

id — id for the added choice
label — user-visible label for the added choice
options — ids for the options of the choice, or None for a boolean choice
option_labels — user-visible labels for the options, must be the same length as options

add_filter¶

def add_filter(self, filter: FileFilter) -> None

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

Adds filter to the list of filters that the user can select between.

When a filter is selected, only files that are passed by that filter are displayed.

Note that the chooser takes ownership of the filter if it is floating, so you have to ref and sink it if you want to keep a reference.

Parameters:

filter — a GtkFileFilter

add_shortcut_folder¶

def add_shortcut_folder(self, folder: Gio.File) -> bool

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

Adds a folder to be displayed with the shortcut folders in a file chooser.

Parameters:

folder — a GFile for the folder to add

get_action¶

def get_action(self) -> FileChooserAction

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

Gets the type of operation that the file chooser is performing.

get_choice¶

def get_choice(self, id: str) -> str | None

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

Gets the currently selected option in the 'choice' with the given ID.

Parameters:

id — the ID of the choice to get

get_create_folders¶

def get_create_folders(self) -> bool

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

Gets whether file chooser will offer to create new folders.

get_current_folder¶

def get_current_folder(self) -> Gio.File | None

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

Gets the current folder of chooser as GFile.

get_current_name¶

def get_current_name(self) -> str | None

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

Gets the current name in the file selector, as entered by the user.

This is meant to be used in save dialogs, to get the currently typed filename when the file itself does not exist yet.

get_file¶

def get_file(self) -> Gio.File | None

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

Gets the GFile for the currently selected file in the file selector.

If multiple files are selected, one of the files will be returned at random.

If the file chooser is in folder mode, this function returns the selected folder.

get_files¶

def get_files(self) -> Gio.ListModel

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

Lists all the selected files and subfolders in the current folder of chooser as GFile.

get_filter¶

def get_filter(self) -> FileFilter | None

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

Gets the current filter.

get_filters¶

def get_filters(self) -> Gio.ListModel

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

Gets the current set of user-selectable filters, as a list model.

See FileChooser.add_filter and FileChooser.remove_filter for changing individual filters.

You should not modify the returned list model. Future changes to chooser may or may not affect the returned model.

get_select_multiple¶

def get_select_multiple(self) -> bool

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

Gets whether multiple files can be selected in the file chooser.

get_shortcut_folders¶

def get_shortcut_folders(self) -> Gio.ListModel

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

Queries the list of shortcut folders in the file chooser.

You should not modify the returned list model. Future changes to chooser may or may not affect the returned model.

remove_choice¶

def remove_choice(self, id: str) -> None

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

Removes a 'choice' that has been added with FileChooser.add_choice.

Parameters:

id — the ID of the choice to remove

remove_filter¶

def remove_filter(self, filter: FileFilter) -> None

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

Removes filter from the list of filters that the user can select between.

Parameters:

filter — a GtkFileFilter

remove_shortcut_folder¶

def remove_shortcut_folder(self, folder: Gio.File) -> bool

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

Removes a folder from the shortcut folders in a file chooser.

Parameters:

folder — a GFile for the folder to remove

set_action¶

def set_action(self, action: FileChooserAction | int) -> None

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

Sets the type of operation that the chooser is performing.

The user interface is adapted to suit the selected action.

For example, an option to create a new folder might be shown if the action is FileChooserAction.SAVE but not if the action is FileChooserAction.OPEN.

Parameters:

action — the action that the file selector is performing

set_choice¶

def set_choice(self, id: str, option: str) -> None

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

Selects an option in a 'choice' that has been added with FileChooser.add_choice.

For a boolean choice, the possible options are "true" and "false".

Parameters:

id — the ID of the choice to set
option — the ID of the option to select

set_create_folders¶

def set_create_folders(self, create_folders: bool) -> None

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

Sets whether file chooser will offer to create new folders.

This is only relevant if the action is not set to be FileChooserAction.OPEN.

Parameters:

create_folders — True if the Create Folder button should be displayed

set_current_folder¶

def set_current_folder(self, file: Gio.File | None = ...) -> bool

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

Sets the current folder for chooser from a GFile.

Parameters:

file — the GFile for the new folder

set_current_name¶

def set_current_name(self, name: str) -> None

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

Sets the current name in the file selector, as if entered by the user.

Note that the name passed in here is a UTF-8 string rather than a filename. This function is meant for such uses as a suggested name in a “Save As...” dialog. You can pass “Untitled.doc” or a similarly suitable suggestion for the name.

If you want to preselect a particular existing file, you should use FileChooser.set_file instead.

Please see the documentation for those functions for an example of using FileChooser.set_current_name as well.

Parameters:

name — the filename to use, as a UTF-8 string

set_file¶

def set_file(self, file: Gio.File) -> bool

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

Sets file as the current filename for the file chooser.

This includes changing to the file’s parent folder and actually selecting the file in list. If the chooser is in FileChooserAction.SAVE mode, the file’s base name will also appear in the dialog’s file name entry.

If the file name isn’t in the current folder of chooser, then the current folder of chooser will be changed to the folder containing file.

Note that the file must exist, or nothing will be done except for the directory change.

If you are implementing a save dialog, you should use this function if you already have a file name to which the user may save; for example, when the user opens an existing file and then does “Save As…”. If you don’t have a file name already — for example, if the user just created a new file and is saving it for the first time, do not call this function.

Instead, use something similar to this:

static void
prepare_file_chooser (GtkFileChooser *chooser,
                      GFile          *existing_file)
{
  gboolean document_is_new = (existing_file == NULL);

  if (document_is_new)
    {
      GFile *default_file_for_saving = g_file_new_for_path ("./out.txt");
      // the user just created a new document
      gtk_file_chooser_set_current_folder (chooser, default_file_for_saving, NULL);
      gtk_file_chooser_set_current_name (chooser, "Untitled document");
      g_object_unref (default_file_for_saving);
    }
  else
    {
      // the user edited an existing document
      gtk_file_chooser_set_file (chooser, existing_file, NULL);
    }
}

Parameters:

file — the GFile to set as current

set_filter¶

def set_filter(self, filter: FileFilter) -> None

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

Sets the current filter.

Only the files that pass the filter will be displayed. If the user-selectable list of filters is non-empty, then the filter should be one of the filters in that list.

Setting the current filter when the list of filters is empty is useful if you want to restrict the displayed set of files without letting the user change it.

Parameters:

filter — a GtkFileFilter

set_select_multiple¶

def set_select_multiple(self, select_multiple: bool) -> None

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

Sets whether multiple files can be selected in the file chooser.

This is only relevant if the action is set to be FileChooserAction.OPEN or FileChooserAction.SELECT_FOLDER.

Parameters:

select_multiple — True if multiple files can be selected.

Properties¶

action¶

action: FileChooserAction | int  # read/write

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

The type of operation that the file chooser is performing.

create_folders¶

create_folders: bool  # read/write

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

Whether a file chooser not in FileChooserAction.OPEN mode will offer the user to create new folders.

filter¶

filter: FileFilter  # read/write

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

The current filter for selecting files that are displayed.

filters¶

filters: Gio.ListModel  # read-only

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

A GListModel containing the filters that have been added with FileChooser.add_filter.

The returned object should not be modified. It may or may not be updated for later changes.

select_multiple¶

select_multiple: bool  # read/write

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

Whether to allow multiple files to be selected.

shortcut_folders¶

shortcut_folders: Gio.ListModel  # read-only

:::warning Deprecated since 4.10 This API is deprecated. :::

A GListModel containing the shortcut folders that have been added with FileChooser.add_shortcut_folder.

The returned object should not be modified. It may or may not be updated for later changes.