Description

Gnome::Gio::ApplicationCommandLine represents a command-line invocation of an application.

It is created by Gnome::Gio::ApplicationCommandLine and emitted in the [signal $Gio.Application::command-line] signal and virtual function.

The class contains the list of arguments that the program was invoked with. It is also possible to query if the commandline invocation was local (ie: the current process is running in direct response to the invocation) or remote (ie: some other process forwarded the commandline to this process).

The Gnome::Gio::ApplicationCommandLine object can provide the $argc and $argv parameters for use with the OptionContext command-line parsing API, with the .get-arguments() function. See gapplication-example-cmdline3.c for an example.

The exit status of the originally-invoked process may be set and messages can be printed to stdout or stderr of that process.

For remote invocation, the originally-invoked process exits when .done() method is called. This method is also automatically called when the object is disposed.

The main use for Gnome::Gio::ApplicationCommandLine (and the [signal $Gio.Application::command-line] signal) is 'Emacs server' like use cases: You can set the EDITOR environment variable to have e.g. git use your favourite editor to edit commit messages, and if you already have an instance of the editor running, the editing will happen in the running instance, instead of opening a new one. An important aspect of this use case is that the process that gets started by git does not return until the editing is done.

Normally, the commandline is completely handled in the [signal $Gio.Application::command-line] handler. The launching instance exits once the signal handler in the primary instance has returned, and the return value of the signal handler becomes the exit status of the launching instance.

The complete example can be found here: [gapplication-example-cmdline.c](https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/glib/-/blob/HEAD/gio/tests/gapplication-example-cmdline.c)

In more complicated cases, the handling of the commandline can be split between the launcher and the primary instance.

In this example of split commandline handling, options that start with `--local-` are handled locally, all other options are passed to the [signal $Gio.Application::command-line] handler which runs in the primary instance.

The complete example can be found here: [gapplication-example-cmdline2.c](https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/glib/-/blob/HEAD/gio/tests/gapplication-example-cmdline2.c)

If handling the commandline requires a lot of work, it may be better to defer it.

In this example the commandline is not completely handled before the [signal $Gio.Application::command-line] handler returns. Instead, we keep a reference to the Gnome::Gio::ApplicationCommandLine object and handle it later (in this example, in an idle). Note that it is necessary to hold the application until you are done with the commandline.

The complete example can be found here: [gapplication-example-cmdline3.c](https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/glib/-/blob/HEAD/gio/tests/gapplication-example-cmdline3.c)

Uml Diagram

Class initialization

new

:native-object

Create an object using a native object from an object of the same type found elsewhere. See also Gnome::N::TopLevelSupportClass.

multi method new ( N-Object() :$native-object! )

Methods

create-file-for-arg

Creates a Gnome::Gio::R-File corresponding to a filename that was given as part of the invocation of $cmdline.

This differs from g_file_new_for_commandline_arg() in that it resolves relative pathnames using the current working directory of the invoking process rather than the local process.

method create-file-for-arg ( Str $arg --> N-Object )

• $arg; an argument from $cmdline.

Return value; a new Gnome::Gio::R-File.

done

Signals that command line processing is completed.

For remote invocation, it causes the invoking process to terminate.

For local invocation, it does nothing.

This method should be called in the [signal $Gio.Application::command-line] handler, after the exit status is set and all messages are printed.

After this call, .set-exit-status() has no effect. Subsequent calls to this method are no-ops.

This method is automatically called when the Gnome::Gio::ApplicationCommandLine object is disposed — so you can omit the call in non-garbage collected languages.

method done ( )

get-arguments

Gets the list of arguments that was passed on the command line.

The strings in the array may contain non-UTF-8 data on UNIX (such as filenames or arguments given in the system locale) but are always in UTF-8 on Windows.

If you wish to use the return value with GOptionContext, you must use g_option_context_parse_strv().

The return value is undefined-terminated and should be freed using g_strfreev().

method get-arguments ( Array[Int] $argc --> Array[Str] )

• $argc; (transfer ownership: full) the length of the arguments array, or undefined.

Return value; the string array containing the arguments (the argv).

get-cwd

Gets the working directory of the command line invocation. The string may contain non-utf8 data.

It is possible that the remote application did not send a working directory, so this may be undefined.

The return value should not be modified or freed and is valid for as long as $cmdline exists.

method get-cwd (--> Str )

Return value; the current directory, or undefined.

get-environ

Gets the contents of the 'environ' variable of the command line invocation, as would be returned by g_get_environ(), ie as a undefined-terminated list of strings in the form 'NAME=VALUE'. The strings may contain non-utf8 data.

The remote application usually does not send an environment. Use G_APPLICATION_SEND_ENVIRONMENT to affect that. Even with this flag set it is possible that the environment is still not available (due to invocation messages from other applications).

The return value should not be modified or freed and is valid for as long as $cmdline exists.

See .getenv() if you are only interested in the value of a single environment variable.

method get-environ (--> Array[Str] )

Return value; the environment strings, or undefined if they were not sent.

get-exit-status

Gets the exit status of $cmdline. See .set-exit-status() for more information.

method get-exit-status (--> Int )

Return value; the exit status.

get-is-remote

Determines if $cmdline represents a remote invocation.

method get-is-remote (--> Bool )

Return value; True if the invocation was remote.

get-options-dict

Gets the options that were passed to g_application_command_line().

If you did not override local_command_line() then these are the same options that were parsed according to the GOptionEntrys added to the application with g_application_add_main_option_entries() and possibly modified from your GApplication::handle-local-options handler.

If no options were sent then an empty dictionary is returned so that you don't need to check for undefined.

The data has been passed via an untrusted external process, so the types of all values must be checked before being used.

method get-options-dict (--> N-Object )

Return value; a Gnome::Glib::N-VariantDict with the options.

get-platform-data

Gets the platform data associated with the invocation of $cmdline.

This is a Gnome::Glib::N-Variant dictionary containing information about the context in which the invocation occurred. It typically contains information like the current working directory and the startup notification ID.

It comes from an untrusted external process and hence the types of all values must be validated before being used.

For local invocation, it will be undefined.

method get-platform-data (--> N-Object )

Return value; the platform data, or undefined.

get-stdin

Gets the stdin of the invoking process.

The Gnome::Gio::InputStream can be used to read data passed to the standard input of the invoking process. This doesn't work on all platforms. Presently, it is only available on UNIX when using a D-Bus daemon capable of passing file descriptors. If stdin is not available then undefined will be returned. In the future, support may be expanded to other platforms.

You must only call this function once per commandline invocation.

method get-stdin (--> N-Object )

Return value; a Gnome::Gio::InputStream for stdin.

getenv

Gets the value of a particular environment variable of the command line invocation, as would be returned by g_getenv(). The strings may contain non-utf8 data.

The remote application usually does not send an environment. Use G_APPLICATION_SEND_ENVIRONMENT to affect that. Even with this flag set it is possible that the environment is still not available (due to invocation messages from other applications).

The return value should not be modified or freed and is valid for as long as $cmdline exists.

method getenv ( Str $name --> Str )

• $name; the environment variable to get.

Return value; the value of the variable, or undefined if unset or unsent.

print This function is not yet available

Formats a message and prints it using the stdout print handler in the invoking process.

If $cmdline is a local invocation then this is exactly equivalent to g_print(). If $cmdline is remote then this is equivalent to calling g_print() in the invoking process.

method print ( Str $format, … )

• $format; a printf-style format string.

• …; …. Note that each argument must be specified as a type followed by its value!

print-literal

Prints a message using the stdout print handler in the invoking process.

Unlike .print(), $message is not a printf()`-style format string. Use this function if $message contains text you don't have control over, that could include printf()` escape sequences.

method print-literal ( Str $message )

• $message; the message.

printerr This function is not yet available

Formats a message and prints it using the stderr print handler in the invoking process.

If $cmdline is a local invocation then this is exactly equivalent to g_printerr(). If $cmdline is remote then this is equivalent to calling g_printerr() in the invoking process.

method printerr ( Str $format, … )

• $format; a printf-style format string.

• …; …. Note that each argument must be specified as a type followed by its value!

printerr-literal

Prints a message using the stderr print handler in the invoking process.

Unlike .printerr(), $message is not a printf()`-style format string. Use this function if $message contains text you don't have control over, that could include printf()` escape sequences.

method printerr-literal ( Str $message )

• $message; the message.

set-exit-status

Sets the exit status that will be used when the invoking process exits.

The return value of the command-line defined in Gnome::Gio::ApplicationCommandLine signal is passed to this function when the handler returns. This is the usual way of setting the exit status.

In the event that you want the remote invocation to continue running and want to decide on the exit status in the future, you can use this call. For the case of a remote invocation, the remote process will typically exit when the last reference is dropped on $cmdline. The exit status of the remote process will be equal to the last value that was set with this function.

In the case that the commandline invocation is local, the situation is slightly more complicated. If the commandline invocation results in the mainloop running (ie: because the use-count of the application increased to a non-zero value) then the application is considered to have been 'successful' in a certain sense, and the exit status is always zero. If the application use count is zero, though, the exit status of the local Gnome::Gio::ApplicationCommandLine is used.

This method is a no-op if .done() has been called.

method set-exit-status ( Int() $exit-status )

• $exit-status; the exit status.