Settings#

class Settings(*args, **kwargs)#

Superclasses: Object

Provide dictionary-like access to GLib.Settings.

Constructors#

class Settings

classmethod new(schema_id: str) → Settings#

Creates a new Settings object with the schema specified by schema_id.

It is an error for the schema to not exist: schemas are an essential part of a program, as they provide type information. If schemas need to be dynamically loaded (for example, from an optional runtime dependency), lookup can be used to test for their existence before loading them.

Signals on the newly created Settings object will be dispatched via the thread-default MainContext in effect at the time of the call to new. The new Settings will hold a reference on the context. See push_thread_default.

Added in version 2.26.

Parameters:: schema_id – the ID of the schema

classmethod new_full(schema: SettingsSchema, backend: SettingsBackend | None = None, path: str | None = None) → Settings#

Creates a new Settings object with a given schema, backend and path.

It should be extremely rare that you ever want to use this function. It is made available for advanced use-cases (such as plugin systems that want to provide access to schemas loaded from custom locations, etc).

At the most basic level, a Settings object is a pure composition of four things: a SettingsSchema, a SettingsBackend, a path within that backend, and a MainContext to which signals are dispatched.

This constructor therefore gives you full control over constructing Settings instances. The first 3 parameters are given directly as schema, backend and path, and the main context is taken from the thread-default (as per new).

If backend is NULL then the default backend is used.

If path is NULL then the path from the schema is used. It is an error if path is NULL and the schema has no path of its own or if path is non-NULL and not equal to the path that the schema does have.

Added in version 2.32.

Parameters:

schema – the schema describing the settings
backend – the settings backend to use
path – the path to use

classmethod new_with_backend(schema_id: str, backend: SettingsBackend) → Settings#

Creates a new Settings object with the schema specified by schema_id and a given SettingsBackend.

Creating a Settings object with a different backend allows accessing settings from a database other than the usual one. For example, it may make sense to pass a backend corresponding to the ‘defaults’ settings database on the system to get a settings object that modifies the system default settings instead of the settings for this user.

Added in version 2.26.

Parameters:

schema_id – the ID of the schema
backend – the settings backend to use

classmethod new_with_backend_and_path(schema_id: str, backend: SettingsBackend, path: str) → Settings#

Creates a new Settings object with the schema specified by schema_id and a given SettingsBackend and path.

This is a mix of new_with_backend and new_with_path.

Added in version 2.26.

Parameters:

schema_id – the ID of the schema
backend – the settings backend to use
path – the path to use

classmethod new_with_path(schema_id: str, path: str) → Settings#

Creates a new Settings object with the relocatable schema specified by schema_id and a given path.

You only need to do this if you want to directly create a settings object with a schema that doesn’t have a specified path of its own. That’s quite rare.

It is a programmer error to call this function for a schema that has an explicitly specified path.

It is a programmer error if path is not a valid path. A valid path begins and ends with / and does not contain two consecutive / characters.

Added in version 2.26.

Parameters:

schema_id – the ID of the schema
path – the path to use

Methods#

class Settings

apply() → None#

Applies any changes that have been made to the settings.

This function does nothing unless settings is in ‘delay-apply’ mode. In the normal case settings are always applied immediately.

bind(key: str, object: Object, property: str, flags: SettingsBindFlags) → None#

Create a binding between the key in the settings object and the property property of object.

The binding uses the default GIO mapping functions to map between the settings and property values. These functions handle booleans, numeric types and string types in a straightforward way. Use bind_with_mapping if you need a custom mapping, or map between types that are not supported by the default mapping functions.

Unless the flags include NO_SENSITIVITY, this function also establishes a binding between the writability of key and the sensitive property of object (if object has a boolean property by that name). See bind_writable for more details about writable bindings.

Note that the lifecycle of the binding is tied to object, and that you can have only one binding per object property. If you bind the same property twice on the same object, the second binding overrides the first one.

Added in version 2.26.

Parameters:

key – the key to bind
object – the object with property to bind
property – the name of the property to bind
flags – flags for the binding

bind_with_mapping(key: str, object: Object, property: str, flags: SettingsBindFlags, get_mapping: Closure | None = None, set_mapping: Closure | None = None) → None#

Create a binding between the key in the settings object and the property property of object.

The binding uses the provided mapping functions to map between settings and property values.

Added in version 2.26.

Parameters:

key – the key to bind
object – the object with property to bind
property – the name of the property to bind
flags – flags for the binding
get_mapping – a function that gets called to convert values from settings to object, or NULL to use the default GIO mapping
set_mapping – a function that gets called to convert values from object to settings, or NULL to use the default GIO mapping

bind_writable(key: str, object: Object, property: str, inverted: bool) → None#

Create a binding between the writability of key in the settings object and the property property of object.

The property must be boolean; sensitive or visible properties of widgets are the most likely candidates.

Writable bindings are always uni-directional; changes of the writability of the setting will be propagated to the object property, not the other way.

When the inverted argument is true, the binding inverts the value as it passes from the setting to the object, i.e. property will be set to true if the key is not writable.

Added in version 2.26.

Parameters:

key – the key to bind
object – the object with property to bind
property – the name of a boolean property to bind
inverted – whether to ‘invert’ the value

create_action(key: str) → Action#

Creates a Action corresponding to a given Settings key.

The action has the same name as the key.

The value of the key becomes the state of the action and the action is enabled when the key is writable. Changing the state of the action results in the key being written to. Changes to the value or writability of the key cause appropriate change notifications to be emitted for the action.

For boolean-valued keys, action activations take no parameter and result in the toggling of the value. For all other types, activations take the new value for the key (which must have the correct type).

Added in version 2.32.

Parameters:: key – the name of a key in settings

delay() → None#

Changes the Settings object into ‘delay-apply’ mode.

In this mode, changes to settings are not immediately propagated to the backend, but kept locally until apply is called.

Added in version 2.26.

do_change_event(self, keys: int, n_keys: int) → bool#

Parameters:

keys
n_keys

do_changed(self, key: str) → None#

Parameters:: key

do_writable_change_event(self, key: int) → bool#

Parameters:: key

do_writable_changed(self, key: str) → None#

Parameters:: key

get_boolean(key: str) → bool#

Gets the value that is stored at key in settings.

A convenience variant of get for booleans.

It is a programmer error to give a key that isn’t specified as having a b type in the schema for settings (see VariantType).

Added in version 2.26.

Parameters:: key – the key to get the value for

get_child(name: str) → Settings#

Creates a child settings object which has a base path of base-path/name, where base-path is the base path of settings and name is as specified by the caller.

The schema for the child settings object must have been declared in the schema of settings using a <child> element.

The created child settings object will inherit the delay_apply mode from settings.

Added in version 2.26.

Parameters:: name – the name of the child schema

get_default_value(key: str) → Variant | None#

Gets the ‘default value’ of a key.

This is the value that would be read if reset were to be called on the key.

Note that this may be a different value than returned by get_default_value if the system administrator has provided a default value.

Comparing the return values of get_default_value and get_value is not sufficient for determining if a value has been set because the user may have explicitly set the value to something that happens to be equal to the default. The difference here is that if the default changes in the future, the user’s key will still be set.

This function may be useful for adding an indication to a UI of what the default value was before the user set it.

It is a programmer error to give a key that isn’t contained in the schema for settings.

Added in version 2.40.

Parameters:: key – the key to get the default value for

get_double(key: str) → float#

Gets the value that is stored at key in settings.

A convenience variant of get for doubles.

It is a programmer error to give a key that isn’t specified as having a d type in the schema for settings (see VariantType).

Added in version 2.26.

Parameters:: key – the key to get the value for

get_enum(key: str) → int#

Gets the value that is stored in settings for key and converts it to the enum value that it represents.

In order to use this function the type of the value must be a string and it must be marked in the schema file as an enumerated type.

It is a programmer error to give a key that isn’t contained in the schema for settings or is not marked as an enumerated type.

If the value stored in the configuration database is not a valid value for the enumerated type then this function will return the default value.

Added in version 2.26.

Parameters:: key – the key to get the value for

get_flags(key: str) → int#

Gets the value that is stored in settings for key and converts it to the flags value that it represents.

In order to use this function the type of the value must be an array of strings and it must be marked in the schema file as a flags type.

It is a programmer error to give a key that isn’t contained in the schema for settings or is not marked as a flags type.

If the value stored in the configuration database is not a valid value for the flags type then this function will return the default value.

Added in version 2.26.

Parameters:: key – the key to get the value for

get_has_unapplied() → bool#

Returns whether the Settings object has any unapplied changes.

This can only be the case if it is in ‘delay-apply’ mode.

Added in version 2.26.

get_int(key: str) → int#

Gets the value that is stored at key in settings.

A convenience variant of get for 32-bit integers.

It is a programmer error to give a key that isn’t specified as having an i type in the schema for settings (see VariantType).

Added in version 2.26.

Parameters:: key – the key to get the value for

get_int64(key: str) → int#

Gets the value that is stored at key in settings.

A convenience variant of get for 64-bit integers.

It is a programmer error to give a key that isn’t specified as having an x type in the schema for settings (see VariantType).

Added in version 2.50.

Parameters:: key – the key to get the value for

get_mapped(key: str, mapping: Callable[[Variant | None, Any], tuple[bool, Any | None]], user_data: Any = None) → Any | None#

Gets the value that is stored at key in settings, subject to application-level validation/mapping.

You should use this function when the application needs to perform some processing on the value of the key (for example, parsing). The mapping function performs that processing. If the function indicates that the processing was unsuccessful (due to a parse error, for example) then the mapping is tried again with another value.

This allows a robust ‘fall back to defaults’ behaviour to be implemented somewhat automatically.

The first value that is tried is the user’s setting for the key. If the mapping function fails to map this value, other values may be tried in an unspecified order (system or site defaults, translated schema default values, untranslated schema default values, etc).

If the mapping function fails for all possible values, one additional attempt is made: the mapping function is called with a NULL value. If the mapping function still indicates failure at this point then the application will be aborted.

The result parameter for the mapping function is pointed to a gpointer which is initially set to NULL. The same pointer is given to each invocation of mapping. The final value of that gpointer is what is returned by this function. NULL is valid; it is returned just as any other value would be.

Parameters:

key – the key to get the value for
mapping – the function to map the value in the settings database to the value used by the application
user_data – user data for mapping

get_range(key: str) → Variant#

Queries the range of a key.

Added in version 2.28.

Deprecated since version 2.40: Use get_range instead.

Parameters:: key – the key to query the range of

get_string(key: str) → str#

Gets the value that is stored at key in settings.

A convenience variant of get for strings.

It is a programmer error to give a key that isn’t specified as having an s type in the schema for settings (see VariantType).

Added in version 2.26.

Parameters:: key – the key to get the value for

get_strv(key: str) → list[str]#

A convenience variant of get for string arrays.

It is a programmer error to give a key that isn’t specified as having an as type in the schema for settings (see VariantType).

Added in version 2.26.

Parameters:: key – the key to get the value for

get_uint(key: str) → int#

Gets the value that is stored at key in settings.

A convenience variant of get for 32-bit unsigned integers.

It is a programmer error to give a key that isn’t specified as having a u type in the schema for settings (see VariantType).

Added in version 2.30.

Parameters:: key – the key to get the value for

get_uint64(key: str) → int#

Gets the value that is stored at key in settings.

A convenience variant of get for 64-bit unsigned integers.

It is a programmer error to give a key that isn’t specified as having a t type in the schema for settings (see VariantType).

Added in version 2.50.

Parameters:: key – the key to get the value for

get_user_value(key: str) → Variant | None#

Checks the ‘user value’ of a key, if there is one.

The user value of a key is the last value that was set by the user.

After calling reset this function should always return NULL (assuming something is not wrong with the system configuration).

It is possible that get_value will return a different value than this function. This can happen in the case that the user set a value for a key that was subsequently locked down by the system administrator — this function will return the user’s old value.

This function may be useful for adding a ‘reset’ option to a UI or for providing indication that a particular value has been changed.

It is a programmer error to give a key that isn’t contained in the schema for settings.

Added in version 2.40.

Parameters:: key – the key to get the user value for

get_value(key: str) → Variant#

Gets the value that is stored in settings for key.

It is a programmer error to give a key that isn’t contained in the schema for settings.

Added in version 2.26.

Parameters:: key – the key to get the value for

is_writable(name: str) → bool#

Finds out if a key can be written.

Added in version 2.26.

Parameters:: name – the name of a key

keys()#

list_children() → list[str]#

Gets the list of children on settings.

The list is exactly the list of strings for which it is not an error to call get_child.

There is little reason to call this function from ‘normal’ code, since you should already know what children are in your schema. This function may still be useful there for introspection reasons, however.

You should free the return value with strfreev when you are done with it.

list_keys() → list[str]#

Introspects the list of keys on settings.

You should probably not be calling this function from ‘normal’ code (since you should already know what keys are in your schema). This function is intended for introspection reasons.

You should free the return value with strfreev when you are done with it.

Deprecated since version 2.46: Use list_keys instead.

classmethod list_relocatable_schemas() → list[str]#: Deprecated.

Added in version 2.28.

Deprecated since version 2.40: Use list_schemas() instead

classmethod list_schemas() → list[str]#: Deprecated.

Added in version 2.26.

Deprecated since version 2.40: Use list_schemas() instead. If you used list_schemas() to check for the presence of a particular schema, use lookup() instead of your whole loop.

range_check(key: str, value: Variant) → bool#

Checks if the given value is of the correct type and within the permitted range for key.

Added in version 2.28.

Deprecated since version 2.40: Use range_check instead.

Parameters:

key – the key to check
value – the value to check

reset(key: str) → None#

Resets key to its default value.

This call resets the key, as much as possible, to its default value. That might be the value specified in the schema or the one set by the administrator.

Parameters:: key – the name of a key

revert() → None#

Reverts all unapplied changes to the settings.

This function does nothing unless settings is in ‘delay-apply’ mode. In the normal case settings are always applied immediately.

Change notifications will be emitted for affected keys.

set_boolean(key: str, value: bool) → bool#

Sets key in settings to value.

A convenience variant of set for booleans.

It is a programmer error to give a key that isn’t specified as having a b type in the schema for settings (see VariantType).

Added in version 2.26.

Parameters:

key – the key to set the value for
value – the value to set it to

set_double(key: str, value: float) → bool#

Sets key in settings to value.

A convenience variant of set for doubles.

It is a programmer error to give a key that isn’t specified as having a d type in the schema for settings (see VariantType).

Added in version 2.26.

Parameters:

key – the key to set the value for
value – the value to set it to

set_enum(key: str, value: int) → bool#

Looks up the enumerated type nick for value and writes it to key, within settings.

It is a programmer error to give a key that isn’t contained in the schema for settings or is not marked as an enumerated type, or for value not to be a valid value for the named type.

After performing the write, accessing key directly with get_string will return the ‘nick’ associated with value.

Parameters:

key – the key to set the value for
value – an enumerated value

set_flags(key: str, value: int) → bool#

Looks up the flags type nicks for the bits specified by value, puts them in an array of strings and writes the array to key, within settings.

It is a programmer error to give a key that isn’t contained in the schema for settings or is not marked as a flags type, or for value to contain any bits that are not value for the named type.

After performing the write, accessing key directly with get_strv will return an array of ‘nicks’; one for each bit in value.

Parameters:

key – the key to set the value for
value – a flags value

set_int(key: str, value: int) → bool#

Sets key in settings to value.

A convenience variant of set for 32-bit integers.

It is a programmer error to give a key that isn’t specified as having an i type in the schema for settings (see VariantType).

Added in version 2.26.

Parameters:

key – the key to set the value for
value – the value to set it to

set_int64(key: str, value: int) → bool#

Sets key in settings to value.

A convenience variant of set for 64-bit integers.

It is a programmer error to give a key that isn’t specified as having an x type in the schema for settings (see VariantType).

Added in version 2.50.

Parameters:

key – the key to set the value for
value – the value to set it to

set_string(key: str, value: str) → bool#

Sets key in settings to value.

A convenience variant of set for strings.

It is a programmer error to give a key that isn’t specified as having an s type in the schema for settings (see VariantType).

Added in version 2.26.

Parameters:

key – the key to set the value for
value – the value to set it to

set_strv(key: str, value: list[str] | None = None) → bool#

Sets key in settings to value.

A convenience variant of set for string arrays. If value is NULL, then key is set to be the empty array.

It is a programmer error to give a key that isn’t specified as having an as type in the schema for settings (see VariantType).

Added in version 2.26.

Parameters:

key – the key to set the value for
value – the value to set it to

set_uint(key: str, value: int) → bool#

Sets key in settings to value.

A convenience variant of set for 32-bit unsigned integers.

It is a programmer error to give a key that isn’t specified as having a u type in the schema for settings (see VariantType).

Added in version 2.30.

Parameters:

key – the key to set the value for
value – the value to set it to

set_uint64(key: str, value: int) → bool#

Sets key in settings to value.

A convenience variant of set for 64-bit unsigned integers.

It is a programmer error to give a key that isn’t specified as having a t type in the schema for settings (see VariantType).

Added in version 2.50.

Parameters:

key – the key to set the value for
value – the value to set it to

set_value(key: str, value: Variant) → bool#

Sets key in settings to value.

It is a programmer error to give a key that isn’t contained in the schema for settings or for value to have the incorrect type, per the schema.

If value is floating then this function consumes the reference.

Added in version 2.26.

Parameters:

key – the key to set the value for
value – a Variant of the correct type

classmethod sync() → None#

Ensures that all pending operations are complete for the default backend.

Writes made to a Settings are handled asynchronously. For this reason, it is very unlikely that the changes have it to disk by the time set returns.

This call will block until all of the writes have made it to the backend. Since the main loop is not running, no change notifications will be dispatched during this call (but some may be queued by the time the call is done).

classmethod unbind(object: Object, property: str) → None#

Removes an existing binding for property on object.

Note that bindings are automatically removed when the object is finalized, so it is rarely necessary to call this function.

Added in version 2.26.

Parameters:

object – the object with property to unbind
property – the property whose binding is removed

Properties#

class Settings

props.backend: SettingsBackend#: The name of the context that the settings are stored in.

props.delay_apply: bool#: Whether the Settings object is in ‘delay-apply’ mode.

Added in version 2.28.

props.has_unapplied: bool#

Whether the Settings object has outstanding changes.

These changes will be applied when apply is called.

props.path: str#: The path within the backend where the settings are stored.

props.schema: str#

The name of the schema that describes the types of keys for this Settings object.

The type of this property is not SettingsSchema. SettingsSchema has only existed since version 2.32 and unfortunately this name was used in previous versions to refer to the schema ID rather than the schema itself. Take care to use the settings_schema property if you wish to pass in a SettingsSchema.

Deprecated since version 2.32: Use the schema_id property instead. In a future version, this property may instead refer to a SettingsSchema.

props.schema_id: str#: The name of the schema that describes the types of keys for this Settings object.

props.settings_schema: SettingsSchema#

The SettingsSchema describing the types of keys for this Settings object.

Ideally, this property would be called schema. SettingsSchema has only existed since version 2.32, however, and before then the schema property was used to refer to the ID of the schema rather than the schema itself. Take care.

Signals#

class Settings.signals

change_event(keys: list[int] | None = None) → bool#

Emitted once per change event that affects this settings object.

You should connect to this signal only if you are interested in viewing groups of changes before they are split out into multiple emissions of the changed signal. For most use cases it is more appropriate to use the changed signal.

In the event that the change event applies to one or more specified keys, keys will be an array of [alias``GLib``.Quark]s of length n_keys. In the event that the change event applies to the Settings object as a whole (ie: potentially every key has been changed) then keys will be NULL and n_keys will be 0.

The default handler for this signal invokes the changed signal for each affected key. If any other connected handler returns true then this default functionality will be suppressed.

Parameters:: keys – array of the keys which have changed

changed(key: str) → None#

Emitted when a key has potentially changed.

You should call one of the get calls to check the new value.

This signal supports detailed connections. You can connect to the detailed signal changed::x in order to only receive callbacks when key x changes.

Note that settings only emits this signal if you have read key at least once while a signal handler was already connected for key.

Parameters:: key – the name of the key that changed

writable_change_event(key: int) → bool#

Emitted once per writability change event that affects this settings object.

You should connect to this signal if you are interested in viewing groups of changes before they are split out into multiple emissions of the writable_changed signal. For most use cases it is more appropriate to use the writable_changed signal.

In the event that the writability change applies only to a single key, key will be set to the [alias``GLib``.Quark] for that key. In the event that the writability change affects the entire settings object, key will be 0.

The default handler for this signal invokes the writable_changed and changed signals for each affected key. This is done because changes in writability might also imply changes in value (if for example, a new mandatory setting is introduced). If any other connected handler returns true then this default functionality will be suppressed.

Parameters:: key – the quark of the key, or 0

writable_changed(key: str) → None#

Emitted when the writability of a key has potentially changed.

You should call is_writable in order to determine the new status.

This signal supports detailed connections. You can connect to the detailed signal writable-changed::x in order to only receive callbacks when the writability of x changes.

Parameters:: key – the key

Virtual Methods#

class Settings

do_change_event(keys: int, n_keys: int) → bool#

Parameters:

keys
n_keys

do_changed(key: str) → None#

Parameters:: key

do_writable_change_event(key: int) → bool#

Parameters:: key

do_writable_changed(key: str) → None#

Parameters:: key

Fields#

class Settings

parent_instance#

priv#