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Xfc::Gtk::Clipboard Class Reference

A GtkClipboard C++ wrapper class. More...

#include <xfc/gtk/clipboard.hh>

Inheritance diagram for Xfc::Gtk::Clipboard:

Xfc::G::Object Xfc::G::TypeInstance Xfc::Trackable List of all members.

Public Types

Public Member Functions

Constructors
Accessors
Methods

Static Public Member Functions

Accessors

Protected Member Functions

Constructors

Detailed Description

A GtkClipboard C++ wrapper class.

The Clipboard object represents a clipboard of data shared between different processes or between different widgets in the same process. Each clipboard is identified by a name encoded as a Gdk::Atom. (Conversion to and from strings can be done with gdk_atom_intern() and gdk_atom_name().) The default clipboard corresponds to the "CLIPBOARD" atom; another commonly used clipboard is the "PRIMARY" clipboard, which, in X, traditionally contains the currently selected text.

To support having a number of different formats on the clipboard at the same time, the clipboard mechanism allows providing callbacks instead of the actual data. When you set the contents of the clipboard, you can either supply the data directly (via functions like Gtk::Clipboard::set_text()), or you can supply a slot to be called at a later time when the data is needed (via Gtk::Clipboard::set()). Providing a slot also avoids having to make copies of the data when it is not needed. When the clear_slot you provided is called, you simply free any data.

Requesting the data from the clipboard is essentially asynchronous. If the contents of the clipboard are provided within the same process, then a direct function call will be made to retrieve the data, but if they are provided by another process, then the data needs to be retrieved from the other process, which may take some time. To avoid blocking the user interface, the call to request the selection, Gtk::Clipboard::request_contents() takes a slot that will be called when the contents are received (or when the request fails.) If you don't want to deal with providing a separate slot, you can also use Gtk::Clipboard::wait_for_contents(). What this does is run the main loop recursively waiting for the contents. This can simplify the code flow, but you still have to be aware that other slots in your program can be called while this recursive mainloop is running.

Along with the functions to get the clipboard contents as an arbitrary data chunk, there are also methods to retrieve it as text, Gtk::Clipboard::request_text() and Gtk::Clipboard::wait_for_text(). These methods take care of determining which formats are advertised by the clipboard provider, asking for the clipboard in the best available format and converting the results into the UTF-8 encoding. (The standard form for representing strings in GTK+.)

Member Typedef Documentation

typedef sigc::slot<void> Xfc::Gtk::Clipboard::ClearSlot
 

Signature of the callback slot that will be called when the contents of the clipboard are changed or cleared.

Example: Method signature for ClearSlot. 

             void method();

typedef sigc::slot<void, SelectionData&, unsigned int> Xfc::Gtk::Clipboard::GetSlot
 

Signature of the callback slot that will be called to provide the contents of the selection.

If multiple types of data were advertised, the requested type can be determined from the info (unsigned int) parameter or by checking the target field of the SelectionData. If the data could successfully be converted into then it should be stored into the selection_data object by calling Gtk::SelectionData::set() (or related functions such as Gtk::SelectionData::set_text()). If no data is set, the requestor will be informed that the attempt to get the data failed.

Example: Method signature for GetSlot. 

             void method(SelectionData& selection_data, unsigned int info);
             // selection_data: contains the data that was received. If retrieving the data failed,
             //                 then Gtk::SelectionData::is_valid() will be false.
            
             // info:           the info field corresponding to the requested target from the
             //                 TargetEntry vector passed to set().

typedef sigc::slot<void, const Pointer<Gdk::Pixbuf>& > Xfc::Gtk::Clipboard::ImageReceivedSlot
 

Signature of the callback slot to be called when the results of request_image() are received, or when the request fails.

Example: Method signature for ImageReceivedSlot. 

             void method(const Pointer<Gdk::Pixbuf>& pixbuf);
             // pixbuf: the image received, as a Gdk::Pixbuf, or null if retrieving the image failed.

Image retrieval could fail for various reasons, in particular if the clipboard was empty or if the contents of the clipboard could not be converted into an image.

typedef sigc::slot<void, const SelectionData&> Xfc::Gtk::Clipboard::ReceivedSlot
 

Signature of the callback slot to be called when the results of request_contents() are received, or when the request fails.

Example: Method signature for ReceivedSlot. 

             void method(const SelectionData& selection_data);
             // selection_data: contains the data that was received. If retrieving the data failed,
             //                 then Gtk::SelectionData::is_valid() will be false.

typedef sigc::slot<void, const std::vector<Gdk::Atom>&> Xfc::Gtk::Clipboard::TargetsReceivedSlot
 

Signature of the callback slot to be called when the results of request_targets() are received, or when the request fails.

Example: Method signature for TargetsReceivedSlot. 

             void method(const std::vector<Gdk::Atom>& targets);
             // targets: The supported targets, as vector of Gdk::Atom, or an empty vector if retrieving the data failed.

typedef sigc::slot<void, const String&> Xfc::Gtk::Clipboard::TextReceivedSlot
 

Signature of the callback slot to be called when the results of request_text() are received, or when the request fails.

Example: Method signature for TextReceivedSlot. 

             void method(const String& text);
             // text: the text received, as a UTF-8 encoded string, or null if retrieving the data failed.

Constructor & Destructor Documentation

Xfc::Gtk::Clipboard::Clipboard (  GtkClipboard *  clipboard,
bool  owns_reference = false
)  [explicit, protected]
 

Construct a new Clipboard from an existing GtkClipboard.

Parameters:
clipboard A pointer to a GtkClipboard.
owns_reference Set false if the initial reference count is floating, set true if it's not.
The clipboard can be a newly created GtkClipboard or an existing GtkClipboard. (see G::Object::Object).

Member Function Documentation

void Xfc::Gtk::Clipboard::clear (   ) 
 

Clears the contents of the clipboard.

Generally this should only be called between the time you call set(), and when the clear slot you supplied is called. Otherwise, the clipboard may be owned by someone else.

Clipboard* Xfc::Gtk::Clipboard::get (  Gdk::Atom  selection,
const Gdk::Display *  display = 0
)  [static]
 

Returns the clipboard object for the given selection.

Parameters:
selection A Gdk::Atom which identifies the clipboard to use.
display The display for which the clipboard is to be retrieved or created, or null for the default Display.
Returns:
The appropriate clipboard object.
If no clipboard already exists, a new one will be created. Once a clipboard object has been created, it is persistent for all time. GTK+ holds onto a reference to the clipboard and will unreference it when GTK+ is removed from memory.

Cut/copy/paste menu items and keyboard shortcuts should use the default clipboard, returned by passing GDK_SELECTION_CLIPBOARD for selection. (GDK_NONE is supported as a synonym for GDK_SELECTION_CLIPBOARD for backwards compatibility reasons.) The currently-selected object or text should be provided on the clipboard identified by GDK_SELECTION_PRIMARY. Cut/copy/paste menu items conceptually copy the contents of the GDK_SELECTION_PRIMARY clipboard to the default clipboard, i.e. they copy the selection to what the user sees as the clipboard.

Passing GDK_NONE is the same as using gdk_atom_intern("CLIPBOARD", FALSE). See http://www.freedesktop.org/standards/clipboards.txt for a detailed discussion of the "CLIPBOARD" vs. "PRIMARY" selections under the X window system. On Win32 the GDK_SELECTION_PRIMARY clipboard is essentially ignored.

It's possible to have arbitrary named clipboards; if you do invent new clipboards, you should prefix the selection name with an underscore (because the ICCCM requires that nonstandard atoms are underscore-prefixed), and namespace it as well. For example, if your application called "Foo" has a special-purpose clipboard, you might call it "_FOO_SPECIAL_CLIPBOARD".

Note: The default GDK display is the only display in the absence of MultiHead support.

Clipboard* Xfc::Gtk::Clipboard::get_default (  const Gdk::Display *  display = 0  )  [static]
 

Returns the default clipboard object for display (see get() for details).

Parameters:
display The display for which the clipboard is to be retrieved or created, or null for the default Display.
Returns:
The default clipboard object.
The default clipboard is the one identified by the atom GDK_SELECTION_CLIPBOARD. Cut/copy/paste menu items and keyboard shortcuts should use the default clipboard.

If no clipboard already exists, a new one will be created. Once a clipboard object has been created, it is persistent for all time. GTK+ holds onto a reference to the clipboard and will unreference it when GTK+ is removed from memory.

Note: The default GDK display is the only display in the absence of MultiHead support.

Gdk::Display* Xfc::Gtk::Clipboard::get_display (   )  const
 

Gets the Gdk::Display associated with the clipboard.

Returns:
The Gdk::Display associated with clipboard.

Clipboard* Xfc::Gtk::Clipboard::get_primary (  const Gdk::Display *  display = 0  )  [static]
 

Returns the primary clipboard object (see get() for details).

Parameters:
display The display for which the clipboard is to be retrieved or created, or null for the default Display.
Returns:
The primary clipboard object.
The primary clipboard is the one identified by the atom GDK_SELECTION_PRIMARY. The currently-selected object or text should be provided on the primary clipboard.

If no clipboard already exists, a new one will be created. Once a clipboard object has been created, it is persistent for all time. GTK+ holds onto a reference to the clipboard and will unreference it when GTK+ is removed from memory.

Note: The default GDK display is the only display in the absence of MultiHead support.

bool Xfc::Gtk::Clipboard::is_image_available (   )  const
 

Test to see if there is an image available to be pasted.

Returns:
true is there is an image available, false otherwise.
This is done by requesting the TARGETS atom and checking if it contains any of the supported image targets. This method waits for the data to be received using the main loop, so events, timeouts, etc, may be dispatched during the wait.

This method is a little faster than calling wait_for_image() since it doesn't need to retrieve the actual image data.

bool Xfc::Gtk::Clipboard::is_target_available (  Gdk::Atom  target  )  const
 

Checks if a clipboard supports pasting data of a given type.

Parameters:
target A Gdk::Atom indicating which target to look for.
Returns:
true if the target is available, false otherwise.
This method can be used to determine if a "Paste" menu item should be insensitive or not. If you want to see if there's text available on the clipboard, use wait_is_text_available() instead.

void Xfc::Gtk::Clipboard::request_contents (  Gdk::Atom  target,
const ReceivedSlot &  received
)  const
 

Requests the contents of clipboard as the given target.

Parameters:
target Atom representing the form into which to convert the selection.
received The slot to call when the results of request_contents() are received.
If the retrieval fails Gtk::SelectionData::is_valid() will be false. Alternatively, the length field of selection_data will be negative.

void Xfc::Gtk::Clipboard::request_image (  const ImageReceivedSlot &  received  ) 
 

Requests the contents of the clipboard as image.

Parameters:
received A callback slot to call when the image is received, or the retrieval fails.
When the image is later received, it will be converted to a GdkPixbuf, and received will be called. The pixbuf parameter to callback will contain the resulting Gdk::Pixbuf if the request succeeded, or null if it failed. This could happen for various reasons, in particular if the clipboard was empty or if the contents of the clipboard could not be converted into an image. Note, whether the retrieval succeeds or fails the callback slot will always be called, one way or the other.

void Xfc::Gtk::Clipboard::request_targets (  const TargetsReceivedSlot &  received  ) 
 

Requests the contents of the clipboard as list of supported targets.

Parameters:
received A slot to call when the targets are received, or the retrieval fails
When the list is later received, received will be called. The callback slot will contain the resulting targets, as a vector of Gdk::Atom, if the request succeeded, or an empty vector if it failed. This method will always be called one way or the other.

void Xfc::Gtk::Clipboard::request_text (  const TextReceivedSlot &  received  )  const
 

Requests the contents of the clipboard as text.

Parameters:
received The slot to call when the results of request_text() are received.
When the text is later received, it will be converted to UTF-8 if necessary, and received will be called. The text parameter to slot method will contain the resulting text if the request succeeded, or null if it failed. This could happen for various reasons, in particular if the clipboard was empty or if the contents of the clipboard could not be converted into text form.

bool Xfc::Gtk::Clipboard::set (  const std::vector< TargetEntry > &  targets,
const GetSlot &  get,
const ClearSlot &  clear
) 
 

Sets the contents of the specified clipboard.

Parameters:
targets A vector containing information about the available forms for the clipboard data.
get Slot to call to get the actual clipboard data.
clear When the clipboard contents are set again, this slot will be called, and get will not be subsequently called.
Returns:
true if setting the clipboard data succeeded.
Virtually sets the contents of the specified clipboard by providing a list of supported formats for the clipboard data and a slot to call to get the actual data when it is requested. If setting the clipboard data failed the provided slots will be ignored.

void Xfc::Gtk::Clipboard::set_can_store (  const std::vector< TargetEntry > &  targets  ) 
 

Hints that the clipboard data should be stored somewhere when the application exits or when store() is called.

Parameters:
targets A vector of TargetEntry containing information about which forms should be stored or null to indicate that all forms should be stored.
This value is reset when the clipboard owner changes. Where the clipboard data is stored is platform dependent, see Gdk::Display::store_clipboard() for more information.

void Xfc::Gtk::Clipboard::set_image (  Gdk::Pixbuf &  pixbuf  ) 
 

Sets the contents of the clipboard to the given Gdk::Pixbuf.

Parameters:
pixbuf A Gdk::Pixbuf
GTK+ will take responsibility for responding for requests for the image, and for converting the image into the requested format.

void Xfc::Gtk::Clipboard::set_text (  const String &  text  ) 
 

Sets the contents of the clipboard to the given UTF-8 string.

Parameters:
text A UTF-8 string.
GTK+ will make a copy of the text and take responsibility for responding for requests for the text, and for converting the text into the requested format.

Pointer<SelectionData> Xfc::Gtk::Clipboard::wait_for_contents (  Gdk::Atom  target  )  const
 

Requests the contents of the clipboard using the given target.

Parameters:
target Atom representing the form into which to convert the selection.
Returns:
A newly-allocated SelectionData object or null if retrieving the target failed.
This method waits for the data to be received using the main loop, so events, timeouts, etc, may be dispatched during the wait.

Pointer<Gdk::Pixbuf> Xfc::Gtk::Clipboard::wait_for_image (   ) 
 

Requests the contents of the clipboard as image and converts the result to a Gdk::Pixbuf.

Returns:
A smart pointer to a Gdk::Pixbuf object, or null if retrieving the image failed.
This method waits for the data to be received using the main loop, so events, timeouts, etc, may be dispatched during the wait. Image retrieval could fail for various reasons, in particular if the clipboard was empty or if the contents of the clipboard could not be converted into an image.

bool Xfc::Gtk::Clipboard::wait_for_targets (  std::vector< Gdk::Atom > &  targets  )  const
 

Returns a vector of targets that are present on the clipboard, or an empty vector if there aren't any targets available.

Parameters:
targets A reference to a vector Gdk::Atom to hold the list of targets.
Returns:
true if any targets are present on the clipboard, otherwise false.
This method waits for the data to be received using the main loop, so events, timeouts, etc, may be dispatched during the wait.

String Xfc::Gtk::Clipboard::wait_for_text (   )  const
 

Requests the contents of the clipboard as text and converts the result to UTF-8 if necessary.

Returns:
A UTF-8 String, or null if retrieving the selection data failed.
This function waits for the data to be received using the main loop, so events, timeouts, etc, may be dispatched during the wait. It could fail for various reasons, in particular if the clipboard was empty or if the contents of the clipboard could not be converted into text form.

bool Xfc::Gtk::Clipboard::wait_is_text_available (   )  const
 

Test to see if there is text available to be pasted.

Returns:
true is there is text available, false otherwise.
This method requests the TARGETS atom and checks to see if it contains any of the names: STRING, TEXT, COMPOUND_TEXT, UTF8_STRING. It waits for the data to be received using the main loop, so events, timeouts, etc, may be dispatched during the wait. It's a little faster than calling wait_for_text() since it doesn't need to retrieve the actual text.

The documentation for this class was generated from the following file: Xfce Foundation Classes
Copyright © 2004-2005 The XFC Development Team XFC 4.3