dbus-binding-tool(1)

NAME

   dbus-binding-tool - C language GLib bindings generation utility.

SYNOPSIS

   dbus-binding-tool     [--force]     [--help]     [--ignore-unsupported]
   [--mode=pretty|glib-client|glib-server]                 [--output=file]
   [--prefix=symbol-prefix] [--version] [file...]

DESCRIPTION

   dbus-binding-tool  is  used  to  expose a GObject via D-Bus.  As input,
   dbus-binding-tool uses a D-Bus Introspection XML file.  As output,  the
   client-side  or  server-side  bindings  is generated.  This output is a
   header file which eases the use of a remote D-Bus  object.   Output  is
   sent  to  standard  out  or to the filename specified with the --output
   argument.

EXTENDED DESCRIPTION

   The following is a sample D-Bus Introspection XML file which  describes
   an object that exposes one method, named ManyArgs:

   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
   <node name="/com/example/MyObject">
     <interface name="com.example.MyObject">
       <method name="ManyArgs">
         <arg type="u" name="x" direction="in" />
         <arg type="s" name="str" direction="in" />
         <arg type="d" name="trouble" direction="in" />
         <arg type="d" name="d_ret" direction="out" />
         <arg type="s" name="str_ret" direction="out" />
       </method>
     </interface>
   </node>

   dbus-binding-tool  supports  annotations  in  the XML format to further
   control how the bindings are generated.

   client-side bindings
   When building client-side bindings, the --mode=glib-client argument  is
   used.        The       client-side       bindings      support      the
   "org.freedesktop.DBus.Glib.NoReply"  annotation.   This  is   specified
   within  the <method> tag to indicate that the client is not expecting a
   reply to the method call, so a reply should not be sent.  This is often
   used to speed up rapid method calls where there are no "out" arguments,
   and not knowing if the method succeeded is an acceptable compromise  to
   halve the traffic on the bus.  For example:

   <method name "FooMethod">
     [...]
     <annotation name="org.freedesktop.DBus.GLib.NoReply" value="yes"/>
     [...]
   </method>

   server-side bindings
   When  building server-side bindings, the --mode=glib-server argument is
   used.  Also the --prefix argument must be used  when  building  server-
   side  bindings  so  that functions in the generated output are prefexed
   with  the  specified  value.   The  server-side  bindings  support  the
   following annotations:

   "org.freedesktop.DBus.GLib.CSymbol"

   This  annotation  is used to specify the C symbol names for the various
   types (interface, method, etc.), if it  differs  from  the  name  D-Bus
   generates.

   <interface name="com.example.MyObject">
     <annotation name="org.freedesktop.DBus.GLib.CSymbol" value="my_object"/>
     [...]
     <method name "ManyArgs">
       <annotation name="org.freedesktop.DBus.GLib.CSymbol" value="my_object_many_args"/>
       [...]
     </method>
   </interface>

   "org.freedesktop.DBus.GLib.Async"

   This  annotation  marks  the  method  implementation as an asynchronous
   function, which does not return a response straight away but will  send
   the  response at some later point to complete the call. This is used to
   implement non-blocking services where method calls can take time.

   When a method is asynchronous, the function prototype is different.  It
   is required that the function conform to the following rules:

     *  The  function  must  return  a  value  of  type  gboolean; TRUE on
        success, and FALSE otherwise.
     *  The first parameter is a pointer to an instance of the object.
     *  Following the object instance pointer are the method input values.
     *  The final parameter must be a (DBusGMethodInvocation *).  This  is
        used  when  sending  the  response  message back to the client, by
        calling dbus_g_method_return or dbus_g_method_return_error.

   For example:

   <method name "FooMethod">
     [...]
     <annotation name="org.freedesktop.DBus.GLib.Async" value="yes"/>
     [...]
   </method>

   "org.freedesktop.DBus.GLib.Const"

   This attribute can only be applied to "out" <arg> nodes, and  specifies
   that the parameter is not being copied when returned. For example, this
   turns a 's' argument from a (char **) to a (const char **), and results
   in  the  argument  not  being freed by D-Bus after the message is sent.
   For example:

     <arg type="u" name="x" direction="out">
       <annotation name="org.freedesktop.DBus.GLib.Const" value=""/>
     </arg>

   "org.freedesktop.DBus.GLib.ReturnVal"

   This attribute can only be applied to "out" <arg> nodes, and alters the
   expected  function signature. It currently can be set to two values: ""
   or "error". The argument marked with this attribute is not returned via
   a  pointer  argument,  but  by  the  function's  return  value.  If the
   attribute's value is the empty string, the (GError *) argument is  also
   omitted  so  there is no standard way to return an error value. This is
   very useful for interfacing with existing code, as it  is  possible  to
   match  existing  APIs.  If  the  attribute's value is "error", then the
   final argument is a (GError *) as usual.  For example:

     <arg type="u" name="x" direction="out">
       <annotation name="org.freedesktop.DBus.GLib.ReturnVal" value=""/>
     </arg>

OPTIONS

   The following options are supported:

   --force

       Overwrite the output  file  if  it  already  exists  with  a  newer
       timestamp than the source files.

   --help

       Display usage information.

   --ignore-unsupported

       If  set,  then  unsupported  signatures for <method> parameters are
       ignored.

   --mode=pretty|glib-client|glib-server

       If the value is "glib-client", then client bindings are  generated.
       If  the value is "glib-server", then server bindings are generated.
       If the value is "pretty", then  the  output  is  in  a  more  human
       readable format.

   --output=file

       Specify the output file.

   --prefix=symbol-prefix

       Functions  in  the  generated  output are prefixed with the symbol-
       prefix value.

   --version

       Display the version number of the dbus-binding-tool command.

OPERANDS

   The following operands are supported:

   file            A list of one or more  input  D-Bus  Introspection  XML
                   files to include in the generated output.

FILES

   The following files are used by this application:

   /usr/bin/dbus-binding-tool      Executable  for  the D-Bus Binding Tool
                                   application.

ATTRIBUTES

   See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

   
         ATTRIBUTE TYPE               ATTRIBUTE VALUE        
   
   Availability                 SUNWdbus-bindings            
   
   Interface stability          Volatile                     
   

SEE ALSO

   dbus-cleanup-sockets(1), dbus-daemon(1), dbus-monitor(1), dbus-send(1),
   dbus-uuidgen(1), libdbus-glib-1(3), attributes(5)

NOTES

   Written by Brian Cameron, Sun Microsystems Inc., 2009.

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