GLib.KeyFile

Fields

None

Methods

class

error_quark ()

class

new ()

get_boolean (group_name, key)

get_boolean_list (group_name, key)

get_comment (group_name, key)

get_double (group_name, key)

get_double_list (group_name, key)

get_groups ()

get_int64 (group_name, key)

get_integer (group_name, key)

get_integer_list (group_name, key)

get_keys (group_name)

get_locale_for_key (group_name, key, locale)

get_locale_string (group_name, key, locale)

get_locale_string_list (group_name, key, locale)

get_start_group ()

get_string (group_name, key)

get_string_list (group_name, key)

get_uint64 (group_name, key)

get_value (group_name, key)

has_group (group_name)

load_from_bytes (bytes, flags)

load_from_data (data, length, flags)

load_from_data_dirs (file, flags)

load_from_dirs (file, search_dirs, flags)

load_from_file (file, flags)

remove_comment (group_name, key)

remove_group (group_name)

remove_key (group_name, key)

save_to_file (filename)

set_boolean (group_name, key, value)

set_boolean_list (group_name, key, list)

set_comment (group_name, key, comment)

set_double (group_name, key, value)

set_double_list (group_name, key, list)

set_int64 (group_name, key, value)

set_integer (group_name, key, value)

set_integer_list (group_name, key, list)

set_list_separator (separator)

set_locale_string (group_name, key, locale, string)

set_locale_string_list (group_name, key, locale, list)

set_string (group_name, key, string)

set_string_list (group_name, key, list)

set_uint64 (group_name, key, value)

set_value (group_name, key, value)

to_data ()

unref ()

Details

class GLib.KeyFile

GLib.KeyFile lets you parse, edit or create files containing groups of key-value pairs, which we call “key files” for lack of a better name. Several freedesktop.org specifications use key files now, e.g the Desktop Entry Specification and the Icon Theme Specification.

The syntax of key files is described in detail in the Desktop Entry Specification, here is a quick summary: Key files consists of groups of key-value pairs, interspersed with comments.

# this is just an example
# there can be comments before the first group

[First Group]

Name=Key File Example\tthis value shows\nescaping

# localized strings are stored in multiple key-value pairs
Welcome=Hello
Welcome[de]=Hallo
Welcome[fr_FR]=Bonjour
Welcome[it]=Ciao
Welcome[be@latin]=Hello

[Another Group]

Numbers=2;20;-200;0

Booleans=true;false;true;true

Lines beginning with a ‘#’ and blank lines are considered comments.

Groups are started by a header line containing the group name enclosed in ‘[’ and ‘]’, and ended implicitly by the start of the next group or the end of the file. Each key-value pair must be contained in a group.

Key-value pairs generally have the form key=value, with the exception of localized strings, which have the form key[locale]=value, with a locale identifier of the form lang_COUNTRY@MODIFIER where COUNTRY and MODIFIER are optional. Space before and after the ‘=’ character are ignored. Newline, tab, carriage return and backslash characters in value are escaped as \n, \t, \r, and \\\\, respectively. To preserve leading spaces in values, these can also be escaped as \s.

Key files can store strings (possibly with localized variants), integers, booleans and lists of these. Lists are separated by a separator character, typically ‘;’ or ‘,’. To use the list separator character in a value in a list, it has to be escaped by prefixing it with a backslash.

This syntax is obviously inspired by the .ini files commonly met on Windows, but there are some important differences:

  • .ini files use the ‘;’ character to begin comments, key files use the ‘#’ character.

  • Key files do not allow for ungrouped keys meaning only comments can precede the first group.

  • Key files are always encoded in UTF-8.

  • Key and Group names are case-sensitive. For example, a group called [GROUP] is a different from [group].

  • .ini files don’t have a strongly typed boolean entry type, they only have GetProfileInt(). In key files, only true and false (in lower case) are allowed.

Note that in contrast to the Desktop Entry Specification, groups in key files may contain the same key multiple times; the last entry wins. Key files may also contain multiple groups with the same name; they are merged together. Another difference is that keys and group names in key files are not restricted to ASCII characters.

Here is an example of loading a key file and reading a value:

g_autoptr(GError) error = NULL;
g_autoptr(GKeyFile) key_file = g_key_file_new ();

if (!g_key_file_load_from_file (key_file, "key-file.ini", flags, &error))
  {
    if (!g_error_matches (error, G_FILE_ERROR, G_FILE_ERROR_NOENT))
      g_warning ("Error loading key file: %s", error->message);
    return;
  }

g_autofree gchar *val = g_key_file_get_string (key_file, "Group Name", "SomeKey", &error);
if (val == NULL &&
    !g_error_matches (error, G_KEY_FILE_ERROR, G_KEY_FILE_ERROR_KEY_NOT_FOUND))
  {
    g_warning ("Error finding key in key file: %s", error->message);
    return;
  }
else if (val == NULL)
  {
    // Fall back to a default value.
    val = g_strdup ("default-value");
  }

Here is an example of creating and saving a key file:

g_autoptr(GKeyFile) key_file = g_key_file_new ();
const gchar *val = …;
g_autoptr(GError) error = NULL;

g_key_file_set_string (key_file, "Group Name", "SomeKey", val);

// Save as a file.
if (!g_key_file_save_to_file (key_file, "key-file.ini", &error))
  {
    g_warning ("Error saving key file: %s", error->message);
    return;
  }

// Or store to a GBytes for use elsewhere.
gsize data_len;
g_autofree guint8 *data = (guint8 *) g_key_file_to_data (key_file, &data_len, &error);
if (data == NULL)
  {
    g_warning ("Error saving key file: %s", error->message);
    return;
  }
g_autoptr(GBytes) bytes = g_bytes_new_take (g_steal_pointer (&data), data_len);
classmethod error_quark()[source]
Return type:

int

classmethod new()[source]
Returns:

an empty GLib.KeyFile.

Return type:

GLib.KeyFile

Creates a new empty GLib.KeyFile object. Use GLib.KeyFile.load_from_file(), GLib.KeyFile.load_from_data(), GLib.KeyFile.load_from_dirs() or GLib.KeyFile.load_from_data_dirs() to read an existing key file.

New in version 2.6.

get_boolean(group_name, key)[source]
Parameters:
  • group_name (str) – a group name

  • key (str) – a key

Raises:

GLib.Error

Returns:

the value associated with the key as a boolean, or False if the key was not found or could not be parsed.

Return type:

bool

Returns the value associated with key under group_name as a boolean.

If key cannot be found then False is returned and error is set to GLib.KeyFileError.KEY_NOT_FOUND. Likewise, if the value associated with key cannot be interpreted as a boolean then False is returned and error is set to GLib.KeyFileError.INVALID_VALUE.

New in version 2.6.

get_boolean_list(group_name, key)[source]
Parameters:
  • group_name (str) – a group name

  • key (str) – a key

Raises:

GLib.Error

Returns:

the values associated with the key as a list of booleans, or None if the key was not found or could not be parsed. The returned list of booleans should be freed with GLib.free() when no longer needed.

Return type:

[bool]

Returns the values associated with key under group_name as booleans.

If key cannot be found then None is returned and error is set to GLib.KeyFileError.KEY_NOT_FOUND. Likewise, if the values associated with key cannot be interpreted as booleans then None is returned and error is set to GLib.KeyFileError.INVALID_VALUE.

New in version 2.6.

get_comment(group_name, key)[source]
Parameters:
Raises:

GLib.Error

Returns:

a comment that should be freed with GLib.free()

Return type:

str

Retrieves a comment above key from group_name. If key is None then comment will be read from above group_name. If both key and group_name are None, then comment will be read from above the first group in the file.

Note that the returned string does not include the ‘#’ comment markers, but does include any whitespace after them (on each line). It includes the line breaks between lines, but does not include the final line break.

New in version 2.6.

get_double(group_name, key)[source]
Parameters:
  • group_name (str) – a group name

  • key (str) – a key

Raises:

GLib.Error

Returns:

the value associated with the key as a double, or 0.0 if the key was not found or could not be parsed.

Return type:

float

Returns the value associated with key under group_name as a double. If group_name is None, the start_group is used.

If key cannot be found then 0.0 is returned and error is set to GLib.KeyFileError.KEY_NOT_FOUND. Likewise, if the value associated with key cannot be interpreted as a double then 0.0 is returned and error is set to GLib.KeyFileError.INVALID_VALUE.

New in version 2.12.

get_double_list(group_name, key)[source]
Parameters:
  • group_name (str) – a group name

  • key (str) – a key

Raises:

GLib.Error

Returns:

the values associated with the key as a list of doubles, or None if the key was not found or could not be parsed. The returned list of doubles should be freed with GLib.free() when no longer needed.

Return type:

[float]

Returns the values associated with key under group_name as doubles.

If key cannot be found then None is returned and error is set to GLib.KeyFileError.KEY_NOT_FOUND. Likewise, if the values associated with key cannot be interpreted as doubles then None is returned and error is set to GLib.KeyFileError.INVALID_VALUE.

New in version 2.12.

get_groups()[source]
Returns:

a newly-allocated None-terminated array of strings. Use GLib.strfreev() to free it.

length:

return location for the number of returned groups, or None

Return type:

([str], length: int)

Returns all groups in the key file loaded with self. The array of returned groups will be None-terminated, so length may optionally be None.

New in version 2.6.

get_int64(group_name, key)[source]
Parameters:
  • group_name (str) – a non-None group name

  • key (str) – a non-None key

Raises:

GLib.Error

Returns:

the value associated with the key as a signed 64-bit integer, or 0 if the key was not found or could not be parsed.

Return type:

int

Returns the value associated with key under group_name as a signed 64-bit integer. This is similar to GLib.KeyFile.get_integer() but can return 64-bit results without truncation.

New in version 2.26.

get_integer(group_name, key)[source]
Parameters:
  • group_name (str) – a group name

  • key (str) – a key

Raises:

GLib.Error

Returns:

the value associated with the key as an integer, or 0 if the key was not found or could not be parsed.

Return type:

int

Returns the value associated with key under group_name as an integer.

If key cannot be found then 0 is returned and error is set to GLib.KeyFileError.KEY_NOT_FOUND. Likewise, if the value associated with key cannot be interpreted as an integer, or is out of range for a int, then 0 is returned and error is set to GLib.KeyFileError.INVALID_VALUE.

New in version 2.6.

get_integer_list(group_name, key)[source]
Parameters:
  • group_name (str) – a group name

  • key (str) – a key

Raises:

GLib.Error

Returns:

the values associated with the key as a list of integers, or None if the key was not found or could not be parsed. The returned list of integers should be freed with GLib.free() when no longer needed.

Return type:

[int]

Returns the values associated with key under group_name as integers.

If key cannot be found then None is returned and error is set to GLib.KeyFileError.KEY_NOT_FOUND. Likewise, if the values associated with key cannot be interpreted as integers, or are out of range for int, then None is returned and error is set to GLib.KeyFileError.INVALID_VALUE.

New in version 2.6.

get_keys(group_name)[source]
Parameters:

group_name (str) – a group name

Raises:

GLib.Error

Returns:

a newly-allocated None-terminated array of strings. Use GLib.strfreev() to free it.

length:

return location for the number of keys returned, or None

Return type:

([str], length: int)

Returns all keys for the group name group_name. The array of returned keys will be None-terminated, so length may optionally be None. In the event that the group_name cannot be found, None is returned and error is set to GLib.KeyFileError.GROUP_NOT_FOUND.

New in version 2.6.

get_locale_for_key(group_name, key, locale)[source]
Parameters:
  • group_name (str) – a group name

  • key (str) – a key

  • locale (str or None) – a locale identifier or None

Returns:

the locale from the file, or None if the key was not found or the entry in the file was was untranslated

Return type:

str or None

Returns the actual locale which the result of GLib.KeyFile.get_locale_string() or GLib.KeyFile.get_locale_string_list() came from.

If calling GLib.KeyFile.get_locale_string() or GLib.KeyFile.get_locale_string_list() with exactly the same self, group_name, key and locale, the result of those functions will have originally been tagged with the locale that is the result of this function.

New in version 2.56.

get_locale_string(group_name, key, locale)[source]
Parameters:
  • group_name (str) – a group name

  • key (str) – a key

  • locale (str or None) – a locale identifier or None

Raises:

GLib.Error

Returns:

a newly allocated string or None if the specified key cannot be found.

Return type:

str

Returns the value associated with key under group_name translated in the given locale if available. If locale is None then the current locale is assumed.

If locale is to be non-None, or if the current locale will change over the lifetime of the GLib.KeyFile, it must be loaded with GLib.KeyFileFlags.KEEP_TRANSLATIONS in order to load strings for all locales.

If key cannot be found then None is returned and error is set to GLib.KeyFileError.KEY_NOT_FOUND. If the value associated with key cannot be interpreted or no suitable translation can be found then the untranslated value is returned.

New in version 2.6.

get_locale_string_list(group_name, key, locale)[source]
Parameters:
  • group_name (str) – a group name

  • key (str) – a key

  • locale (str or None) – a locale identifier or None

Raises:

GLib.Error

Returns:

a newly allocated None-terminated string array or None if the key isn’t found. The string array should be freed with GLib.strfreev().

Return type:

[str]

Returns the values associated with key under group_name translated in the given locale if available. If locale is None then the current locale is assumed.

If locale is to be non-None, or if the current locale will change over the lifetime of the GLib.KeyFile, it must be loaded with GLib.KeyFileFlags.KEEP_TRANSLATIONS in order to load strings for all locales.

If key cannot be found then None is returned and error is set to GLib.KeyFileError.KEY_NOT_FOUND. If the values associated with key cannot be interpreted or no suitable translations can be found then the untranslated values are returned. The returned array is None-terminated, so length may optionally be None.

New in version 2.6.

get_start_group()[source]
Returns:

The start group of the key file.

Return type:

str or None

Returns the name of the start group of the file.

New in version 2.6.

get_string(group_name, key)[source]
Parameters:
  • group_name (str) – a group name

  • key (str) – a key

Raises:

GLib.Error

Returns:

a newly allocated string or None if the specified key cannot be found.

Return type:

str

Returns the string value associated with key under group_name. Unlike GLib.KeyFile.get_value(), this function handles escape sequences like \s.

In the event the key cannot be found, None is returned and error is set to GLib.KeyFileError.KEY_NOT_FOUND. In the event that the group_name cannot be found, None is returned and error is set to GLib.KeyFileError.GROUP_NOT_FOUND.

New in version 2.6.

get_string_list(group_name, key)[source]
Parameters:
  • group_name (str) – a group name

  • key (str) – a key

Raises:

GLib.Error

Returns:

a None-terminated string array or None if the specified key cannot be found. The array should be freed with GLib.strfreev().

Return type:

[str]

Returns the values associated with key under group_name.

In the event the key cannot be found, None is returned and error is set to GLib.KeyFileError.KEY_NOT_FOUND. In the event that the group_name cannot be found, None is returned and error is set to GLib.KeyFileError.GROUP_NOT_FOUND.

New in version 2.6.

get_uint64(group_name, key)[source]
Parameters:
  • group_name (str) – a non-None group name

  • key (str) – a non-None key

Raises:

GLib.Error

Returns:

the value associated with the key as an unsigned 64-bit integer, or 0 if the key was not found or could not be parsed.

Return type:

int

Returns the value associated with key under group_name as an unsigned 64-bit integer. This is similar to GLib.KeyFile.get_integer() but can return large positive results without truncation.

New in version 2.26.

get_value(group_name, key)[source]
Parameters:
  • group_name (str) – a group name

  • key (str) – a key

Raises:

GLib.Error

Returns:

a newly allocated string or None if the specified key cannot be found.

Return type:

str

Returns the raw value associated with key under group_name. Use GLib.KeyFile.get_string() to retrieve an unescaped UTF-8 string.

In the event the key cannot be found, None is returned and error is set to GLib.KeyFileError.KEY_NOT_FOUND. In the event that the group_name cannot be found, None is returned and error is set to GLib.KeyFileError.GROUP_NOT_FOUND.

New in version 2.6.

has_group(group_name)[source]
Parameters:

group_name (str) – a group name

Returns:

True if group_name is a part of self, False otherwise.

Return type:

bool

Looks whether the key file has the group group_name.

New in version 2.6.

load_from_bytes(bytes, flags)[source]
Parameters:
Raises:

GLib.Error

Returns:

True if a key file could be loaded, False otherwise

Return type:

bool

Loads a key file from the data in bytes into an empty GLib.KeyFile structure. If the object cannot be created then %error is set to a GLib.KeyFileError.

New in version 2.50.

load_from_data(data, length, flags)[source]
Parameters:
Raises:

GLib.Error

Returns:

True if a key file could be loaded, False otherwise

Return type:

bool

Loads a key file from memory into an empty GLib.KeyFile structure. If the object cannot be created then %error is set to a GLib.KeyFileError.

New in version 2.6.

load_from_data_dirs(file, flags)[source]
Parameters:
Raises:

GLib.Error

Returns:

True if a key file could be loaded, False otherwise

full_path:

return location for a string containing the full path of the file, or None

Return type:

(bool, full_path: str)

This function looks for a key file named file in the paths returned from GLib.get_user_data_dir() and GLib.get_system_data_dirs(), loads the file into self and returns the file’s full path in full_path. If the file could not be loaded then an %error is set to either a GLib.FileError or GLib.KeyFileError.

New in version 2.6.

load_from_dirs(file, search_dirs, flags)[source]
Parameters:
Raises:

GLib.Error

Returns:

True if a key file could be loaded, False otherwise

full_path:

return location for a string containing the full path of the file, or None

Return type:

(bool, full_path: str)

This function looks for a key file named file in the paths specified in search_dirs, loads the file into self and returns the file’s full path in full_path.

If the file could not be found in any of the search_dirs, GLib.KeyFileError.NOT_FOUND is returned. If the file is found but the OS returns an error when opening or reading the file, a %G_FILE_ERROR is returned. If there is a problem parsing the file, a %G_KEY_FILE_ERROR is returned.

New in version 2.14.

load_from_file(file, flags)[source]
Parameters:
Raises:

GLib.Error

Returns:

True if a key file could be loaded, False otherwise

Return type:

bool

Loads a key file into an empty GLib.KeyFile structure.

If the OS returns an error when opening or reading the file, a %G_FILE_ERROR is returned. If there is a problem parsing the file, a %G_KEY_FILE_ERROR is returned.

This function will never return a GLib.KeyFileError.NOT_FOUND error. If the file is not found, GLib.FileError.NOENT is returned.

New in version 2.6.

remove_comment(group_name, key)[source]
Parameters:
Raises:

GLib.Error

Returns:

True if the comment was removed, False otherwise

Return type:

bool

Removes a comment above key from group_name. If key is None then comment will be removed above group_name. If both key and group_name are None, then comment will be removed above the first group in the file.

New in version 2.6.

remove_group(group_name)[source]
Parameters:

group_name (str) – a group name

Raises:

GLib.Error

Returns:

True if the group was removed, False otherwise

Return type:

bool

Removes the specified group, group_name, from the key file.

New in version 2.6.

remove_key(group_name, key)[source]
Parameters:
  • group_name (str) – a group name

  • key (str) – a key name to remove

Raises:

GLib.Error

Returns:

True if the key was removed, False otherwise

Return type:

bool

Removes key in group_name from the key file.

New in version 2.6.

save_to_file(filename)[source]
Parameters:

filename (str) – the name of the file to write to

Raises:

GLib.Error

Returns:

True if successful, else False with error set

Return type:

bool

Writes the contents of self to filename using GLib.file_set_contents(). If you need stricter guarantees about durability of the written file than are provided by GLib.file_set_contents(), use GLib.file_set_contents_full() with the return value of GLib.KeyFile.to_data().

This function can fail for any of the reasons that GLib.file_set_contents() may fail.

New in version 2.40.

set_boolean(group_name, key, value)[source]
Parameters:

Associates a new boolean value with key under group_name. If key cannot be found then it is created.

New in version 2.6.

set_boolean_list(group_name, key, list)[source]
Parameters:
  • group_name (str) – a group name

  • key (str) – a key

  • list ([bool]) – an array of boolean values

Associates a list of boolean values with key under group_name. If key cannot be found then it is created. If group_name is None, the start_group is used.

New in version 2.6.

set_comment(group_name, key, comment)[source]
Parameters:
  • group_name (str or None) – a group name, or None

  • key (str or None) – a key

  • comment (str) – a comment

Raises:

GLib.Error

Returns:

True if the comment was written, False otherwise

Return type:

bool

Places a comment above key from group_name.

If key is None then comment will be written above group_name. If both key and group_name are None, then comment will be written above the first group in the file.

Note that this function prepends a ‘#’ comment marker to each line of comment.

New in version 2.6.

set_double(group_name, key, value)[source]
Parameters:
  • group_name (str) – a group name

  • key (str) – a key

  • value (float) – a double value

Associates a new double value with key under group_name. If key cannot be found then it is created.

New in version 2.12.

set_double_list(group_name, key, list)[source]
Parameters:
  • group_name (str) – a group name

  • key (str) – a key

  • list ([float]) – an array of double values

Associates a list of double values with key under group_name. If key cannot be found then it is created.

New in version 2.12.

set_int64(group_name, key, value)[source]
Parameters:
  • group_name (str) – a group name

  • key (str) – a key

  • value (int) – an integer value

Associates a new integer value with key under group_name. If key cannot be found then it is created.

New in version 2.26.

set_integer(group_name, key, value)[source]
Parameters:
  • group_name (str) – a group name

  • key (str) – a key

  • value (int) – an integer value

Associates a new integer value with key under group_name. If key cannot be found then it is created.

New in version 2.6.

set_integer_list(group_name, key, list)[source]
Parameters:
  • group_name (str) – a group name

  • key (str) – a key

  • list ([int]) – an array of integer values

Associates a list of integer values with key under group_name. If key cannot be found then it is created.

New in version 2.6.

set_list_separator(separator)[source]
Parameters:

separator (int) – the separator

Sets the character which is used to separate values in lists. Typically ‘;’ or ‘,’ are used as separators. The default list separator is ‘;’.

New in version 2.6.

set_locale_string(group_name, key, locale, string)[source]
Parameters:
  • group_name (str) – a group name

  • key (str) – a key

  • locale (str) – a locale identifier

  • string (str) – a string

Associates a string value for key and locale under group_name. If the translation for key cannot be found then it is created.

New in version 2.6.

set_locale_string_list(group_name, key, locale, list)[source]
Parameters:
  • group_name (str) – a group name

  • key (str) – a key

  • locale (str) – a locale identifier

  • list ([str]) – a None-terminated array of locale string values

Associates a list of string values for key and locale under group_name. If the translation for key cannot be found then it is created.

New in version 2.6.

set_string(group_name, key, string)[source]
Parameters:
  • group_name (str) – a group name

  • key (str) – a key

  • string (str) – a string

Associates a new string value with key under group_name. If key cannot be found then it is created. If group_name cannot be found then it is created. Unlike GLib.KeyFile.set_value(), this function handles characters that need escaping, such as newlines.

New in version 2.6.

set_string_list(group_name, key, list)[source]
Parameters:
  • group_name (str) – a group name

  • key (str) – a key

  • list ([str]) – an array of string values

Associates a list of string values for key under group_name. If key cannot be found then it is created. If group_name cannot be found then it is created.

New in version 2.6.

set_uint64(group_name, key, value)[source]
Parameters:
  • group_name (str) – a group name

  • key (str) – a key

  • value (int) – an integer value

Associates a new integer value with key under group_name. If key cannot be found then it is created.

New in version 2.26.

set_value(group_name, key, value)[source]
Parameters:
  • group_name (str) – a group name

  • key (str) – a key

  • value (str) – a string

Associates a new value with key under group_name.

If key cannot be found then it is created. If group_name cannot be found then it is created. To set an UTF-8 string which may contain characters that need escaping (such as newlines or spaces), use GLib.KeyFile.set_string().

New in version 2.6.

to_data()[source]
Raises:

GLib.Error

Returns:

a newly allocated string holding the contents of the GLib.KeyFile

length:

return location for the length of the returned string, or None

Return type:

(str, length: int)

This function outputs self as a string.

Note that this function never reports an error, so it is safe to pass None as error.

New in version 2.6.

unref()[source]

Decreases the reference count of self by 1. If the reference count reaches zero, frees the key file and all its allocated memory.

New in version 2.32.