Entity Tags

One notable feature of GFiles are entity tags, or "etags" for short. Entity tags are somewhat like a more abstract version of the traditional mtime, and can be used to quickly determine if the file has been modified from the version on the file system. See the HTTP 1.1 specification for HTTP Etag headers, which are a very similar concept.

GFileProgressCallback ()

void
(*GFileProgressCallback) (goffset current_num_bytes,
                          goffset total_num_bytes,
                          gpointer user_data);

When doing file operations that may take a while, such as moving a file or copying a file, a progress callback is used to pass how far along that operation is to the application.

GFileReadMoreCallback ()

gboolean
(*GFileReadMoreCallback) (const char *file_contents,
                          goffset file_size,
                          gpointer callback_data);

When loading the partial contents of a file with g_file_load_partial_contents_async(), it may become necessary to determine if any more data from the file should be loaded. A GFileReadMoreCallback function facilitates this by returning TRUE if more data should be read, or FALSE otherwise.

GFileMeasureProgressCallback ()

void
(*GFileMeasureProgressCallback) (gboolean reporting,
                                 guint64 current_size,
                                 guint64 num_dirs,
                                 guint64 num_files,
                                 gpointer user_data);

This callback type is used by g_file_measure_disk_usage() to make periodic progress reports when measuring the amount of disk spaced used by a directory.

These calls are made on a best-effort basis and not all types of GFile will support them. At the minimum, however, one call will always be made immediately.

In the case that there is no support, reporting will be set to FALSE (and the other values undefined) and no further calls will be made. Otherwise, the reporting will be TRUE and the other values all-zeros during the first (immediate) call. In this way, you can know which type of progress UI to show without a delay.

For g_file_measure_disk_usage() the callback is made directly. For g_file_measure_disk_usage_async() the callback is made via the default main context of the calling thread (ie: the same way that the final async result would be reported).

current_size is in the same units as requested by the operation (see G_FILE_MEASURE_APPARENT_SIZE).

The frequency of the updates is implementation defined, but is ideally about once every 200ms.

The last progress callback may or may not be equal to the final result. Always check the async result to get the final value.

Since: 2.38

g_file_new_for_path ()

GFile *
g_file_new_for_path (const char *path);

Constructs a GFile for a given path. This operation never fails, but the returned object might not support any I/O operation if path is malformed.

g_file_new_for_uri ()

GFile *
g_file_new_for_uri (const char *uri);

Constructs a GFile for a given URI. This operation never fails, but the returned object might not support any I/O operation if uri is malformed or if the uri type is not supported.

g_file_new_for_commandline_arg ()

GFile *
g_file_new_for_commandline_arg (const char *arg);

Creates a GFile with the given argument from the command line. The value of arg can be either a URI, an absolute path or a relative path resolved relative to the current working directory. This operation never fails, but the returned object might not support any I/O operation if arg points to a malformed path.

Note that on Windows, this function expects its argument to be in UTF-8 -- not the system code page. This means that you should not use this function with string from argv as it is passed to main(). g_win32_get_command_line() will return a UTF-8 version of the commandline. GApplication also uses UTF-8 but g_application_command_line_create_file_for_arg() may be more useful for you there. It is also always possible to use this function with GOptionContext arguments of type G_OPTION_ARG_FILENAME.

g_file_new_for_commandline_arg_and_cwd ()

GFile *
g_file_new_for_commandline_arg_and_cwd
                               (const gchar *arg,
                                const gchar *cwd);

Creates a GFile with the given argument from the command line.

This function is similar to g_file_new_for_commandline_arg() except that it allows for passing the current working directory as an argument instead of using the current working directory of the process.

This is useful if the commandline argument was given in a context other than the invocation of the current process.

See also g_application_command_line_create_file_for_arg().

Since: 2.36

g_file_new_tmp ()

GFile *
g_file_new_tmp (const char *tmpl,
                GFileIOStream **iostream,
                GError **error);

Opens a file in the preferred directory for temporary files (as returned by g_get_tmp_dir()) and returns a GFile and GFileIOStream pointing to it.

tmpl should be a string in the GLib file name encoding containing a sequence of six 'X' characters, and containing no directory components. If it is NULL, a default template is used.

Unlike the other GFile constructors, this will return NULL if a temporary file could not be created.

Since: 2.32

g_file_parse_name ()

GFile *
g_file_parse_name (const char *parse_name);

Constructs a GFile with the given parse_name (i.e. something given by g_file_get_parse_name()). This operation never fails, but the returned object might not support any I/O operation if the parse_name cannot be parsed.

g_file_new_build_filename ()

GFile *
g_file_new_build_filename (const gchar *first_element,
                           ...);

Constructs a GFile from a series of elements using the correct separator for filenames.

Using this function is equivalent to calling g_build_filename(), followed by g_file_new_for_path() on the result.

Since: 2.56

g_file_dup ()

GFile *
g_file_dup (GFile *file);

Duplicates a GFile handle. This operation does not duplicate the actual file or directory represented by the GFile; see g_file_copy() if attempting to copy a file.

g_file_dup() is useful when a second handle is needed to the same underlying file, for use in a separate thread (GFile is not thread-safe). For use within the same thread, use g_object_ref() to increment the existing object’s reference count.

This call does no blocking I/O.

g_file_hash ()

guint
g_file_hash (gconstpointer file);

Creates a hash value for a GFile.

This call does no blocking I/O.

Virtual: hash

g_file_equal ()

gboolean
g_file_equal (GFile *file1,
              GFile *file2);

Checks if the two given GFiles refer to the same file.

Note that two GFiles that differ can still refer to the same file on the filesystem due to various forms of filename aliasing.

This call does no blocking I/O.

g_file_get_basename ()

char *
g_file_get_basename (GFile *file);

Gets the base name (the last component of the path) for a given GFile.

If called for the top level of a system (such as the filesystem root or a uri like sftp://host/) it will return a single directory separator (and on Windows, possibly a drive letter).

The base name is a byte string (not UTF-8). It has no defined encoding or rules other than it may not contain zero bytes. If you want to use filenames in a user interface you should use the display name that you can get by requesting the G_FILE_ATTRIBUTE_STANDARD_DISPLAY_NAME attribute with g_file_query_info().

This call does no blocking I/O.

g_file_get_path ()

char *
g_file_get_path (GFile *file);

Gets the local pathname for GFile, if one exists. If non-NULL, this is guaranteed to be an absolute, canonical path. It might contain symlinks.

This call does no blocking I/O.

g_file_peek_path ()

const char *
g_file_peek_path (GFile *file);

Exactly like g_file_get_path(), but caches the result via g_object_set_qdata_full(). This is useful for example in C applications which mix g_file_* APIs with native ones. It also avoids an extra duplicated string when possible, so will be generally more efficient.

This call does no blocking I/O.

Since: 2.56

g_file_get_uri ()

char *
g_file_get_uri (GFile *file);

Gets the URI for the file .

This call does no blocking I/O.

g_file_get_parse_name ()

char *
g_file_get_parse_name (GFile *file);

Gets the parse name of the file . A parse name is a UTF-8 string that describes the file such that one can get the GFile back using g_file_parse_name().

This is generally used to show the GFile as a nice full-pathname kind of string in a user interface, like in a location entry.

For local files with names that can safely be converted to UTF-8 the pathname is used, otherwise the IRI is used (a form of URI that allows UTF-8 characters unescaped).

This call does no blocking I/O.

g_file_get_parent ()

GFile *
g_file_get_parent (GFile *file);

Gets the parent directory for the file . If the file represents the root directory of the file system, then NULL will be returned.

This call does no blocking I/O.

g_file_has_parent ()

gboolean
g_file_has_parent (GFile *file,
                   GFile *parent);

Checks if file has a parent, and optionally, if it is parent .

If parent is NULL then this function returns TRUE if file has any parent at all. If parent is non-NULL then TRUE is only returned if file is an immediate child of parent .

Since: 2.24

g_file_get_child ()

GFile *
g_file_get_child (GFile *file,
                  const char *name);

Gets a child of file with basename equal to name .

Note that the file with that specific name might not exist, but you can still have a GFile that points to it. You can use this for instance to create that file.

This call does no blocking I/O.

g_file_get_child_for_display_name ()

GFile *
g_file_get_child_for_display_name (GFile *file,
                                   const char *display_name,
                                   GError **error);

Gets the child of file for a given display_name (i.e. a UTF-8 version of the name). If this function fails, it returns NULL and error will be set. This is very useful when constructing a GFile for a new file and the user entered the filename in the user interface, for instance when you select a directory and type a filename in the file selector.

This call does no blocking I/O.

g_file_has_prefix ()

gboolean
g_file_has_prefix (GFile *file,
                   GFile *prefix);

Checks whether file has the prefix specified by prefix .

In other words, if the names of initial elements of file 's pathname match prefix . Only full pathname elements are matched, so a path like /foo is not considered a prefix of /foobar, only of /foo/bar.

A GFile is not a prefix of itself. If you want to check for equality, use g_file_equal().

This call does no I/O, as it works purely on names. As such it can sometimes return FALSE even if file is inside a prefix (from a filesystem point of view), because the prefix of file is an alias of prefix .

Virtual: prefix_matches

g_file_get_relative_path ()

char *
g_file_get_relative_path (GFile *parent,
                          GFile *descendant);

Gets the path for descendant relative to parent .

This call does no blocking I/O.

g_file_resolve_relative_path ()

GFile *
g_file_resolve_relative_path (GFile *file,
                              const char *relative_path);

Resolves a relative path for file to an absolute path.

This call does no blocking I/O.

g_file_is_native ()

gboolean
g_file_is_native (GFile *file);

Checks to see if a file is native to the platform.

A native file is one expressed in the platform-native filename format, e.g. "C:\Windows" or "/usr/bin/". This does not mean the file is local, as it might be on a locally mounted remote filesystem.

On some systems non-native files may be available using the native filesystem via a userspace filesystem (FUSE), in these cases this call will return FALSE, but g_file_get_path() will still return a native path.

This call does no blocking I/O.

g_file_has_uri_scheme ()

gboolean
g_file_has_uri_scheme (GFile *file,
                       const char *uri_scheme);

Checks to see if a GFile has a given URI scheme.

This call does no blocking I/O.

g_file_get_uri_scheme ()

char *
g_file_get_uri_scheme (GFile *file);

Gets the URI scheme for a GFile. RFC 3986 decodes the scheme as:

1

URI = scheme ":" hier-part [ "?" query ] [ "#" fragment ]

Common schemes include "file", "http", "ftp", etc.

This call does no blocking I/O.

g_file_read ()

GFileInputStream *
g_file_read (GFile *file,
             GCancellable *cancellable,
             GError **error);

Opens a file for reading. The result is a GFileInputStream that can be used to read the contents of the file.

If cancellable is not NULL, then the operation can be cancelled by triggering the cancellable object from another thread. If the operation was cancelled, the error G_IO_ERROR_CANCELLED will be returned.

If the file does not exist, the G_IO_ERROR_NOT_FOUND error will be returned. If the file is a directory, the G_IO_ERROR_IS_DIRECTORY error will be returned. Other errors are possible too, and depend on what kind of filesystem the file is on.

Virtual: read_fn

g_file_read_async ()

void
g_file_read_async (GFile *file,
                   int io_priority,
                   GCancellable *cancellable,
                   GAsyncReadyCallback callback,
                   gpointer user_data);

Asynchronously opens file for reading.

For more details, see g_file_read() which is the synchronous version of this call.

When the operation is finished, callback will be called. You can then call g_file_read_finish() to get the result of the operation.

g_file_read_finish ()

GFileInputStream *
g_file_read_finish (GFile *file,
                    GAsyncResult *res,
                    GError **error);

Finishes an asynchronous file read operation started with g_file_read_async().

g_file_append_to ()

GFileOutputStream *
g_file_append_to (GFile *file,
                  GFileCreateFlags flags,
                  GCancellable *cancellable,
                  GError **error);

Gets an output stream for appending data to the file. If the file doesn't already exist it is created.

By default files created are generally readable by everyone, but if you pass G_FILE_CREATE_PRIVATE in flags the file will be made readable only to the current user, to the level that is supported on the target filesystem.

If cancellable is not NULL, then the operation can be cancelled by triggering the cancellable object from another thread. If the operation was cancelled, the error G_IO_ERROR_CANCELLED will be returned.

Some file systems don't allow all file names, and may return an G_IO_ERROR_INVALID_FILENAME error. If the file is a directory the G_IO_ERROR_IS_DIRECTORY error will be returned. Other errors are possible too, and depend on what kind of filesystem the file is on.

g_file_create ()

GFileOutputStream *
g_file_create (GFile *file,
               GFileCreateFlags flags,
               GCancellable *cancellable,
               GError **error);

Creates a new file and returns an output stream for writing to it. The file must not already exist.

By default files created are generally readable by everyone, but if you pass G_FILE_CREATE_PRIVATE in flags the file will be made readable only to the current user, to the level that is supported on the target filesystem.

If cancellable is not NULL, then the operation can be cancelled by triggering the cancellable object from another thread. If the operation was cancelled, the error G_IO_ERROR_CANCELLED will be returned.

If a file or directory with this name already exists the G_IO_ERROR_EXISTS error will be returned. Some file systems don't allow all file names, and may return an G_IO_ERROR_INVALID_FILENAME error, and if the name is to long G_IO_ERROR_FILENAME_TOO_LONG will be returned. Other errors are possible too, and depend on what kind of filesystem the file is on.

g_file_replace ()

GFileOutputStream *
g_file_replace (GFile *file,
                const char *etag,
                gboolean make_backup,
                GFileCreateFlags flags,
                GCancellable *cancellable,
                GError **error);

Returns an output stream for overwriting the file, possibly creating a backup copy of the file first. If the file doesn't exist, it will be created.

This will try to replace the file in the safest way possible so that any errors during the writing will not affect an already existing copy of the file. For instance, for local files it may write to a temporary file and then atomically rename over the destination when the stream is closed.

By default files created are generally readable by everyone, but if you pass G_FILE_CREATE_PRIVATE in flags the file will be made readable only to the current user, to the level that is supported on the target filesystem.

If cancellable is not NULL, then the operation can be cancelled by triggering the cancellable object from another thread. If the operation was cancelled, the error G_IO_ERROR_CANCELLED will be returned.

If you pass in a non-NULL etag value and file already exists, then this value is compared to the current entity tag of the file, and if they differ an G_IO_ERROR_WRONG_ETAG error is returned. This generally means that the file has been changed since you last read it. You can get the new etag from g_file_output_stream_get_etag() after you've finished writing and closed the GFileOutputStream. When you load a new file you can use g_file_input_stream_query_info() to get the etag of the file.

If make_backup is TRUE, this function will attempt to make a backup of the current file before overwriting it. If this fails a G_IO_ERROR_CANT_CREATE_BACKUP error will be returned. If you want to replace anyway, try again with make_backup set to FALSE.

If the file is a directory the G_IO_ERROR_IS_DIRECTORY error will be returned, and if the file is some other form of non-regular file then a G_IO_ERROR_NOT_REGULAR_FILE error will be returned. Some file systems don't allow all file names, and may return an G_IO_ERROR_INVALID_FILENAME error, and if the name is to long G_IO_ERROR_FILENAME_TOO_LONG will be returned. Other errors are possible too, and depend on what kind of filesystem the file is on.

g_file_append_to_async ()

void
g_file_append_to_async (GFile *file,
                        GFileCreateFlags flags,
                        int io_priority,
                        GCancellable *cancellable,
                        GAsyncReadyCallback callback,
                        gpointer user_data);

Asynchronously opens file for appending.

For more details, see g_file_append_to() which is the synchronous version of this call.

When the operation is finished, callback will be called. You can then call g_file_append_to_finish() to get the result of the operation.

g_file_append_to_finish ()

GFileOutputStream *
g_file_append_to_finish (GFile *file,
                         GAsyncResult *res,
                         GError **error);

Finishes an asynchronous file append operation started with g_file_append_to_async().

g_file_create_async ()

void
g_file_create_async (GFile *file,
                     GFileCreateFlags flags,
                     int io_priority,
                     GCancellable *cancellable,
                     GAsyncReadyCallback callback,
                     gpointer user_data);

Asynchronously creates a new file and returns an output stream for writing to it. The file must not already exist.

For more details, see g_file_create() which is the synchronous version of this call.

When the operation is finished, callback will be called. You can then call g_file_create_finish() to get the result of the operation.

g_file_create_finish ()

GFileOutputStream *
g_file_create_finish (GFile *file,
                      GAsyncResult *res,
                      GError **error);

Finishes an asynchronous file create operation started with g_file_create_async().

g_file_replace_async ()

void
g_file_replace_async (GFile *file,
                      const char *etag,
                      gboolean make_backup,
                      GFileCreateFlags flags,
                      int io_priority,
                      GCancellable *cancellable,
                      GAsyncReadyCallback callback,
                      gpointer user_data);

Asynchronously overwrites the file, replacing the contents, possibly creating a backup copy of the file first.

For more details, see g_file_replace() which is the synchronous version of this call.

When the operation is finished, callback will be called. You can then call g_file_replace_finish() to get the result of the operation.

g_file_replace_finish ()

GFileOutputStream *
g_file_replace_finish (GFile *file,
                       GAsyncResult *res,
                       GError **error);

Finishes an asynchronous file replace operation started with g_file_replace_async().

g_file_query_info ()

GFileInfo *
g_file_query_info (GFile *file,
                   const char *attributes,
                   GFileQueryInfoFlags flags,
                   GCancellable *cancellable,
                   GError **error);

Gets the requested information about specified file . The result is a GFileInfo object that contains key-value attributes (such as the type or size of the file).

The attributes value is a string that specifies the file attributes that should be gathered. It is not an error if it's not possible to read a particular requested attribute from a file - it just won't be set. attributes should be a comma-separated list of attributes or attribute wildcards. The wildcard "*" means all attributes, and a wildcard like "standard::*" means all attributes in the standard namespace. An example attribute query be "standard::*,owner::user". The standard attributes are available as defines, like G_FILE_ATTRIBUTE_STANDARD_NAME.

If cancellable is not NULL, then the operation can be cancelled by triggering the cancellable object from another thread. If the operation was cancelled, the error G_IO_ERROR_CANCELLED will be returned.

For symlinks, normally the information about the target of the symlink is returned, rather than information about the symlink itself. However if you pass G_FILE_QUERY_INFO_NOFOLLOW_SYMLINKS in flags the information about the symlink itself will be returned. Also, for symlinks that point to non-existing files the information about the symlink itself will be returned.

If the file does not exist, the G_IO_ERROR_NOT_FOUND error will be returned. Other errors are possible too, and depend on what kind of filesystem the file is on.

g_file_query_info_async ()

void
g_file_query_info_async (GFile *file,
                         const char *attributes,
                         GFileQueryInfoFlags flags,
                         int io_priority,
                         GCancellable *cancellable,
                         GAsyncReadyCallback callback,
                         gpointer user_data);

Asynchronously gets the requested information about specified file . The result is a GFileInfo object that contains key-value attributes (such as type or size for the file).

For more details, see g_file_query_info() which is the synchronous version of this call.

When the operation is finished, callback will be called. You can then call g_file_query_info_finish() to get the result of the operation.

g_file_query_info_finish ()

GFileInfo *
g_file_query_info_finish (GFile *file,
                          GAsyncResult *res,
                          GError **error);

Finishes an asynchronous file info query. See g_file_query_info_async().

g_file_query_exists ()

gboolean
g_file_query_exists (GFile *file,
                     GCancellable *cancellable);

Utility function to check if a particular file exists. This is implemented using g_file_query_info() and as such does blocking I/O.

Note that in many cases it is racy to first check for file existence and then execute something based on the outcome of that, because the file might have been created or removed in between the operations. The general approach to handling that is to not check, but just do the operation and handle the errors as they come.

As an example of race-free checking, take the case of reading a file, and if it doesn't exist, creating it. There are two racy versions: read it, and on error create it; and: check if it exists, if not create it. These can both result in two processes creating the file (with perhaps a partially written file as the result). The correct approach is to always try to create the file with g_file_create() which will either atomically create the file or fail with a G_IO_ERROR_EXISTS error.

However, in many cases an existence check is useful in a user interface, for instance to make a menu item sensitive/insensitive, so that you don't have to fool users that something is possible and then just show an error dialog. If you do this, you should make sure to also handle the errors that can happen due to races when you execute the operation.

g_file_query_file_type ()

GFileType
g_file_query_file_type (GFile *file,
                        GFileQueryInfoFlags flags,
                        GCancellable *cancellable);

Utility function to inspect the GFileType of a file. This is implemented using g_file_query_info() and as such does blocking I/O.

The primary use case of this method is to check if a file is a regular file, directory, or symlink.

Since: 2.18

g_file_query_filesystem_info ()

GFileInfo *
g_file_query_filesystem_info (GFile *file,
                              const char *attributes,
                              GCancellable *cancellable,
                              GError **error);

Similar to g_file_query_info(), but obtains information about the filesystem the file is on, rather than the file itself. For instance the amount of space available and the type of the filesystem.

The attributes value is a string that specifies the attributes that should be gathered. It is not an error if it's not possible to read a particular requested attribute from a file - it just won't be set. attributes should be a comma-separated list of attributes or attribute wildcards. The wildcard "*" means all attributes, and a wildcard like "filesystem::*" means all attributes in the filesystem namespace. The standard namespace for filesystem attributes is "filesystem". Common attributes of interest are G_FILE_ATTRIBUTE_FILESYSTEM_SIZE (the total size of the filesystem in bytes), G_FILE_ATTRIBUTE_FILESYSTEM_FREE (number of bytes available), and G_FILE_ATTRIBUTE_FILESYSTEM_TYPE (type of the filesystem).

If cancellable is not NULL, then the operation can be cancelled by triggering the cancellable object from another thread. If the operation was cancelled, the error G_IO_ERROR_CANCELLED will be returned.

If the file does not exist, the G_IO_ERROR_NOT_FOUND error will be returned. Other errors are possible too, and depend on what kind of filesystem the file is on.

g_file_query_filesystem_info_async ()

void
g_file_query_filesystem_info_async (GFile *file,
                                    const char *attributes,
                                    int io_priority,
                                    GCancellable *cancellable,
                                    GAsyncReadyCallback callback,
                                    gpointer user_data);

Asynchronously gets the requested information about the filesystem that the specified file is on. The result is a GFileInfo object that contains key-value attributes (such as type or size for the file).

For more details, see g_file_query_filesystem_info() which is the synchronous version of this call.

When the operation is finished, callback will be called. You can then call g_file_query_info_finish() to get the result of the operation.

g_file_query_filesystem_info_finish ()

GFileInfo *
g_file_query_filesystem_info_finish (GFile *file,
                                     GAsyncResult *res,
                                     GError **error);

Finishes an asynchronous filesystem info query. See g_file_query_filesystem_info_async().

g_file_query_default_handler ()

GAppInfo *
g_file_query_default_handler (GFile *file,
                              GCancellable *cancellable,
                              GError **error);

Returns the GAppInfo that is registered as the default application to handle the file specified by file .

If cancellable is not NULL, then the operation can be cancelled by triggering the cancellable object from another thread. If the operation was cancelled, the error G_IO_ERROR_CANCELLED will be returned.

g_file_query_default_handler_async ()

void
g_file_query_default_handler_async (GFile *file,
                                    int io_priority,
                                    GCancellable *cancellable,
                                    GAsyncReadyCallback callback,
                                    gpointer user_data);

Async version of g_file_query_default_handler().

Since: 2.60

g_file_query_default_handler_finish ()

GAppInfo *
g_file_query_default_handler_finish (GFile *file,
                                     GAsyncResult *result,
                                     GError **error);

Finishes a g_file_query_default_handler_async() operation.

Since: 2.60

g_file_measure_disk_usage ()

gboolean
g_file_measure_disk_usage (GFile *file,
                           GFileMeasureFlags flags,
                           GCancellable *cancellable,
                           GFileMeasureProgressCallback progress_callback,
                           gpointer progress_data,
                           guint64 *disk_usage,
                           guint64 *num_dirs,
                           guint64 *num_files,
                           GError **error);

Recursively measures the disk usage of file .

This is essentially an analog of the 'du' command, but it also reports the number of directories and non-directory files encountered (including things like symbolic links).

By default, errors are only reported against the toplevel file itself. Errors found while recursing are silently ignored, unless G_FILE_MEASURE_REPORT_ANY_ERROR is given in flags .

The returned size, disk_usage , is in bytes and should be formatted with g_format_size() in order to get something reasonable for showing in a user interface.

progress_callback and progress_data can be given to request periodic progress updates while scanning. See the documentation for GFileMeasureProgressCallback for information about when and how the callback will be invoked.

Since: 2.38

g_file_measure_disk_usage_async ()

void
g_file_measure_disk_usage_async (GFile *file,
                                 GFileMeasureFlags flags,
                                 gint io_priority,
                                 GCancellable *cancellable,
                                 GFileMeasureProgressCallback progress_callback,
                                 gpointer progress_data,
                                 GAsyncReadyCallback callback,
                                 gpointer user_data);

Recursively measures the disk usage of file .

This is the asynchronous version of g_file_measure_disk_usage(). See there for more information.

Since: 2.38

g_file_measure_disk_usage_finish ()

gboolean
g_file_measure_disk_usage_finish (GFile *file,
                                  GAsyncResult *result,
                                  guint64 *disk_usage,
                                  guint64 *num_dirs,
                                  guint64 *num_files,
                                  GError **error);

Collects the results from an earlier call to g_file_measure_disk_usage_async(). See g_file_measure_disk_usage() for more information.

Since: 2.38

g_file_find_enclosing_mount ()

GMount *
g_file_find_enclosing_mount (GFile *file,
                             GCancellable *cancellable,
                             GError **error);

Gets a GMount for the GFile.

GMount is returned only for user interesting locations, see GVolumeMonitor. If the GFileIface for file does not have a mount, error will be set to G_IO_ERROR_NOT_FOUND and NULL will be returned.

If cancellable is not NULL, then the operation can be cancelled by triggering the cancellable object from another thread. If the operation was cancelled, the error G_IO_ERROR_CANCELLED will be returned.

g_file_find_enclosing_mount_async ()

void
g_file_find_enclosing_mount_async (GFile *file,
                                   int io_priority,
                                   GCancellable *cancellable,
                                   GAsyncReadyCallback callback,
                                   gpointer user_data);

Asynchronously gets the mount for the file.

For more details, see g_file_find_enclosing_mount() which is the synchronous version of this call.

When the operation is finished, callback will be called. You can then call g_file_find_enclosing_mount_finish() to get the result of the operation.

g_file_find_enclosing_mount_finish ()

GMount *
g_file_find_enclosing_mount_finish (GFile *file,
                                    GAsyncResult *res,
                                    GError **error);

Finishes an asynchronous find mount request. See g_file_find_enclosing_mount_async().

g_file_enumerate_children ()

GFileEnumerator *
g_file_enumerate_children (GFile *file,
                           const char *attributes,
                           GFileQueryInfoFlags flags,
                           GCancellable *cancellable,
                           GError **error);

Gets the requested information about the files in a directory. The result is a GFileEnumerator object that will give out GFileInfo objects for all the files in the directory.

The attributes value is a string that specifies the file attributes that should be gathered. It is not an error if it's not possible to read a particular requested attribute from a file - it just won't be set. attributes should be a comma-separated list of attributes or attribute wildcards. The wildcard "*" means all attributes, and a wildcard like "standard::*" means all attributes in the standard namespace. An example attribute query be "standard::*,owner::user". The standard attributes are available as defines, like G_FILE_ATTRIBUTE_STANDARD_NAME.

If cancellable is not NULL, then the operation can be cancelled by triggering the cancellable object from another thread. If the operation was cancelled, the error G_IO_ERROR_CANCELLED will be returned.

If the file does not exist, the G_IO_ERROR_NOT_FOUND error will be returned. If the file is not a directory, the G_IO_ERROR_NOT_DIRECTORY error will be returned. Other errors are possible too.

g_file_enumerate_children_async ()

void
g_file_enumerate_children_async (GFile *file,
                                 const char *attributes,
                                 GFileQueryInfoFlags flags,
                                 int io_priority,
                                 GCancellable *cancellable,
                                 GAsyncReadyCallback callback,
                                 gpointer user_data);

Asynchronously gets the requested information about the files in a directory. The result is a GFileEnumerator object that will give out GFileInfo objects for all the files in the directory.

For more details, see g_file_enumerate_children() which is the synchronous version of this call.

When the operation is finished, callback will be called. You can then call g_file_enumerate_children_finish() to get the result of the operation.

g_file_enumerate_children_finish ()

GFileEnumerator *
g_file_enumerate_children_finish (GFile *file,
                                  GAsyncResult *res,
                                  GError **error);

Finishes an async enumerate children operation. See g_file_enumerate_children_async().

g_file_set_display_name ()

GFile *
g_file_set_display_name (GFile *file,
                         const char *display_name,
                         GCancellable *cancellable,
                         GError **error);

Renames file to the specified display name.

The display name is converted from UTF-8 to the correct encoding for the target filesystem if possible and the file is renamed to this.

If you want to implement a rename operation in the user interface the edit name (G_FILE_ATTRIBUTE_STANDARD_EDIT_NAME) should be used as the initial value in the rename widget, and then the result after editing should be passed to g_file_set_display_name().

On success the resulting converted filename is returned.

If cancellable is not NULL, then the operation can be cancelled by triggering the cancellable object from another thread. If the operation was cancelled, the error G_IO_ERROR_CANCELLED will be returned.

g_file_set_display_name_async ()

void
g_file_set_display_name_async (GFile *file,
                               const char *display_name,
                               int io_priority,
                               GCancellable *cancellable,
                               GAsyncReadyCallback callback,
                               gpointer user_data);

Asynchronously sets the display name for a given GFile.

For more details, see g_file_set_display_name() which is the synchronous version of this call.

When the operation is finished, callback will be called. You can then call g_file_set_display_name_finish() to get the result of the operation.

g_file_set_display_name_finish ()

GFile *
g_file_set_display_name_finish (GFile *file,
                                GAsyncResult *res,
                                GError **error);

Finishes setting a display name started with g_file_set_display_name_async().

g_file_delete ()

gboolean
g_file_delete (GFile *file,
               GCancellable *cancellable,
               GError **error);

Deletes a file. If the file is a directory, it will only be deleted if it is empty. This has the same semantics as g_unlink().

If file doesn’t exist, G_IO_ERROR_NOT_FOUND will be returned. This allows for deletion to be implemented avoiding time-of-check to time-of-use races:

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g_autoptr(GError) local_error = NULL;
if (!g_file_delete (my_file, my_cancellable, &local_error) &&
    !g_error_matches (local_error, G_IO_ERROR, G_IO_ERROR_NOT_FOUND))
  {
    // deletion failed for some reason other than the file not existing:
    // so report the error
    g_warning ("Failed to delete %s: %s",
               g_file_peek_path (my_file), local_error->message);
  }

If cancellable is not NULL, then the operation can be cancelled by triggering the cancellable object from another thread. If the operation was cancelled, the error G_IO_ERROR_CANCELLED will be returned.

Virtual: delete_file

g_file_delete_async ()

void
g_file_delete_async (GFile *file,
                     int io_priority,
                     GCancellable *cancellable,
                     GAsyncReadyCallback callback,
                     gpointer user_data);

Asynchronously delete a file. If the file is a directory, it will only be deleted if it is empty. This has the same semantics as g_unlink().

Virtual: delete_file_async

Since: 2.34

g_file_delete_finish ()

gboolean
g_file_delete_finish (GFile *file,
                      GAsyncResult *result,
                      GError **error);

Finishes deleting a file started with g_file_delete_async().

Virtual: delete_file_finish

Since: 2.34

g_file_trash ()

gboolean
g_file_trash (GFile *file,
              GCancellable *cancellable,
              GError **error);

Sends file to the "Trashcan", if possible. This is similar to deleting it, but the user can recover it before emptying the trashcan. Not all file systems support trashing, so this call can return the G_IO_ERROR_NOT_SUPPORTED error. Since GLib 2.66, the x-gvfs-notrash unix mount option can be used to disable g_file_trash() support for certain mounts, the G_IO_ERROR_NOT_SUPPORTED error will be returned in that case.

If cancellable is not NULL, then the operation can be cancelled by triggering the cancellable object from another thread. If the operation was cancelled, the error G_IO_ERROR_CANCELLED will be returned.

Virtual: trash

g_file_trash_async ()

void
g_file_trash_async (GFile *file,
                    int io_priority,
                    GCancellable *cancellable,
                    GAsyncReadyCallback callback,
                    gpointer user_data);

Asynchronously sends file to the Trash location, if possible.

Virtual: trash_async

Since: 2.38

g_file_trash_finish ()

gboolean
g_file_trash_finish (GFile *file,
                     GAsyncResult *result,
                     GError **error);

Finishes an asynchronous file trashing operation, started with g_file_trash_async().

Virtual: trash_finish

Since: 2.38

g_file_copy ()

gboolean
g_file_copy (GFile *source,
             GFile *destination,
             GFileCopyFlags flags,
             GCancellable *cancellable,
             GFileProgressCallback progress_callback,
             gpointer progress_callback_data,
             GError **error);

Copies the file source to the location specified by destination . Can not handle recursive copies of directories.

If the flag G_FILE_COPY_OVERWRITE is specified an already existing destination file is overwritten.

If the flag G_FILE_COPY_NOFOLLOW_SYMLINKS is specified then symlinks will be copied as symlinks, otherwise the target of the source symlink will be copied.

If the flag G_FILE_COPY_ALL_METADATA is specified then all the metadata that is possible to copy is copied, not just the default subset (which, for instance, does not include the owner, see GFileInfo).

If cancellable is not NULL, then the operation can be cancelled by triggering the cancellable object from another thread. If the operation was cancelled, the error G_IO_ERROR_CANCELLED will be returned.

If progress_callback is not NULL, then the operation can be monitored by setting this to a GFileProgressCallback function. progress_callback_data will be passed to this function. It is guaranteed that this callback will be called after all data has been transferred with the total number of bytes copied during the operation.

If the source file does not exist, then the G_IO_ERROR_NOT_FOUND error is returned, independent on the status of the destination .

If G_FILE_COPY_OVERWRITE is not specified and the target exists, then the error G_IO_ERROR_EXISTS is returned.

If trying to overwrite a file over a directory, the G_IO_ERROR_IS_DIRECTORY error is returned. If trying to overwrite a directory with a directory the G_IO_ERROR_WOULD_MERGE error is returned.

If the source is a directory and the target does not exist, or G_FILE_COPY_OVERWRITE is specified and the target is a file, then the G_IO_ERROR_WOULD_RECURSE error is returned.

If you are interested in copying the GFile object itself (not the on-disk file), see g_file_dup().

g_file_copy_async ()

void
g_file_copy_async (GFile *source,
                   GFile *destination,
                   GFileCopyFlags flags,
                   int io_priority,
                   GCancellable *cancellable,
                   GFileProgressCallback progress_callback,
                   gpointer progress_callback_data,
                   GAsyncReadyCallback callback,
                   gpointer user_data);

Copies the file source to the location specified by destination asynchronously. For details of the behaviour, see g_file_copy().

If progress_callback is not NULL, then that function that will be called just like in g_file_copy(). The callback will run in the default main context of the thread calling g_file_copy_async() — the same context as callback is run in.

When the operation is finished, callback will be called. You can then call g_file_copy_finish() to get the result of the operation.

g_file_copy_finish ()

gboolean
g_file_copy_finish (GFile *file,
                    GAsyncResult *res,
                    GError **error);

Finishes copying the file started with g_file_copy_async().

g_file_move ()

gboolean
g_file_move (GFile *source,
             GFile *destination,
             GFileCopyFlags flags,
             GCancellable *cancellable,
             GFileProgressCallback progress_callback,
             gpointer progress_callback_data,
             GError **error);

Tries to move the file or directory source to the location specified by destination . If native move operations are supported then this is used, otherwise a copy + delete fallback is used. The native implementation may support moving directories (for instance on moves inside the same filesystem), but the fallback code does not.

If the flag G_FILE_COPY_OVERWRITE is specified an already existing destination file is overwritten.

If cancellable is not NULL, then the operation can be cancelled by triggering the cancellable object from another thread. If the operation was cancelled, the error G_IO_ERROR_CANCELLED will be returned.

If progress_callback is not NULL, then the operation can be monitored by setting this to a GFileProgressCallback function. progress_callback_data will be passed to this function. It is guaranteed that this callback will be called after all data has been transferred with the total number of bytes copied during the operation.

If the source file does not exist, then the G_IO_ERROR_NOT_FOUND error is returned, independent on the status of the destination .

If G_FILE_COPY_OVERWRITE is not specified and the target exists, then the error G_IO_ERROR_EXISTS is returned.

If trying to overwrite a file over a directory, the G_IO_ERROR_IS_DIRECTORY error is returned. If trying to overwrite a directory with a directory the G_IO_ERROR_WOULD_MERGE error is returned.

If the source is a directory and the target does not exist, or G_FILE_COPY_OVERWRITE is specified and the target is a file, then the G_IO_ERROR_WOULD_RECURSE error may be returned (if the native move operation isn't available).

g_file_make_directory ()

gboolean
g_file_make_directory (GFile *file,
                       GCancellable *cancellable,
                       GError **error);

Creates a directory. Note that this will only create a child directory of the immediate parent directory of the path or URI given by the GFile. To recursively create directories, see g_file_make_directory_with_parents(). This function will fail if the parent directory does not exist, setting error to G_IO_ERROR_NOT_FOUND. If the file system doesn't support creating directories, this function will fail, setting error to G_IO_ERROR_NOT_SUPPORTED.

For a local GFile the newly created directory will have the default (current) ownership and permissions of the current process.

If cancellable is not NULL, then the operation can be cancelled by triggering the cancellable object from another thread. If the operation was cancelled, the error G_IO_ERROR_CANCELLED will be returned.

g_file_make_directory_async ()

void
g_file_make_directory_async (GFile *file,
                             int io_priority,
                             GCancellable *cancellable,
                             GAsyncReadyCallback callback,
                             gpointer user_data);

Asynchronously creates a directory.

Virtual: make_directory_async

Since: 2.38

g_file_make_directory_finish ()

gboolean
g_file_make_directory_finish (GFile *file,
                              GAsyncResult *result,
                              GError **error);

Finishes an asynchronous directory creation, started with g_file_make_directory_async().

Virtual: make_directory_finish

Since: 2.38

g_file_make_directory_with_parents ()

gboolean
g_file_make_directory_with_parents (GFile *file,
                                    GCancellable *cancellable,
                                    GError **error);

Creates a directory and any parent directories that may not exist similar to 'mkdir -p'. If the file system does not support creating directories, this function will fail, setting error to G_IO_ERROR_NOT_SUPPORTED. If the directory itself already exists, this function will fail setting error to G_IO_ERROR_EXISTS, unlike the similar g_mkdir_with_parents().

For a local GFile the newly created directories will have the default (current) ownership and permissions of the current process.

If cancellable is not NULL, then the operation can be cancelled by triggering the cancellable object from another thread. If the operation was cancelled, the error G_IO_ERROR_CANCELLED will be returned.

Since: 2.18

g_file_make_symbolic_link ()

gboolean
g_file_make_symbolic_link (GFile *file,
                           const char *symlink_value,
                           GCancellable *cancellable,
                           GError **error);

Creates a symbolic link named file which contains the string symlink_value .

If cancellable is not NULL, then the operation can be cancelled by triggering the cancellable object from another thread. If the operation was cancelled, the error G_IO_ERROR_CANCELLED will be returned.

g_file_query_settable_attributes ()

GFileAttributeInfoList *
g_file_query_settable_attributes (GFile *file,
                                  GCancellable *cancellable,
                                  GError **error);

Obtain the list of settable attributes for the file.

Returns the type and full attribute name of all the attributes that can be set on this file. This doesn't mean setting it will always succeed though, you might get an access failure, or some specific file may not support a specific attribute.

If cancellable is not NULL, then the operation can be cancelled by triggering the cancellable object from another thread. If the operation was cancelled, the error G_IO_ERROR_CANCELLED will be returned.

g_file_query_writable_namespaces ()

GFileAttributeInfoList *
g_file_query_writable_namespaces (GFile *file,
                                  GCancellable *cancellable,
                                  GError **error);

Obtain the list of attribute namespaces where new attributes can be created by a user. An example of this is extended attributes (in the "xattr" namespace).

If cancellable is not NULL, then the operation can be cancelled by triggering the cancellable object from another thread. If the operation was cancelled, the error G_IO_ERROR_CANCELLED will be returned.

g_file_set_attribute ()

gboolean
g_file_set_attribute (GFile *file,
                      const char *attribute,
                      GFileAttributeType type,
                      gpointer value_p,
                      GFileQueryInfoFlags flags,
                      GCancellable *cancellable,
                      GError **error);

Sets an attribute in the file with attribute name attribute to value_p .

Some attributes can be unset by setting type to G_FILE_ATTRIBUTE_TYPE_INVALID and value_p to NULL.

If cancellable is not NULL, then the operation can be cancelled by triggering the cancellable object from another thread. If the operation was cancelled, the error G_IO_ERROR_CANCELLED will be returned.

g_file_set_attributes_from_info ()

gboolean
g_file_set_attributes_from_info (GFile *file,
                                 GFileInfo *info,
                                 GFileQueryInfoFlags flags,
                                 GCancellable *cancellable,
                                 GError **error);

Tries to set all attributes in the GFileInfo on the target values, not stopping on the first error.

If there is any error during this operation then error will be set to the first error. Error on particular fields are flagged by setting the "status" field in the attribute value to G_FILE_ATTRIBUTE_STATUS_ERROR_SETTING, which means you can also detect further errors.

If cancellable is not NULL, then the operation can be cancelled by triggering the cancellable object from another thread. If the operation was cancelled, the error G_IO_ERROR_CANCELLED will be returned.

g_file_set_attributes_async ()

void
g_file_set_attributes_async (GFile *file,
                             GFileInfo *info,
                             GFileQueryInfoFlags flags,
                             int io_priority,
                             GCancellable *cancellable,
                             GAsyncReadyCallback callback,
                             gpointer user_data);

Asynchronously sets the attributes of file with info .

For more details, see g_file_set_attributes_from_info(), which is the synchronous version of this call.

When the operation is finished, callback will be called. You can then call g_file_set_attributes_finish() to get the result of the operation.

g_file_set_attributes_finish ()

gboolean
g_file_set_attributes_finish (GFile *file,
                              GAsyncResult *result,
                              GFileInfo **info,
                              GError **error);

Finishes setting an attribute started in g_file_set_attributes_async().

g_file_set_attribute_string ()

gboolean
g_file_set_attribute_string (GFile *file,
                             const char *attribute,
                             const char *value,
                             GFileQueryInfoFlags flags,
                             GCancellable *cancellable,
                             GError **error);

Sets attribute of type G_FILE_ATTRIBUTE_TYPE_STRING to value . If attribute is of a different type, this operation will fail.

If cancellable is not NULL, then the operation can be cancelled by triggering the cancellable object from another thread. If the operation was cancelled, the error G_IO_ERROR_CANCELLED will be returned.