The Main Event Loop: GLib Reference Manual

## The Main Event Loop The Main Event Loop — manages all available sources of events |

## Functions

GMainLoop * | g_main_loop_new ()
GMainLoop * | g_main_loop_ref ()
void | g_main_loop_unref ()
void | g_main_loop_run ()
void | g_main_loop_quit ()
gboolean | g_main_loop_is_running ()
GMainContext * | g_main_loop_get_context ()
#define | g_main_new()
#define | g_main_destroy()
#define | g_main_run()
#define | g_main_quit()
#define | g_main_is_running()
GMainContext * | g_main_context_new ()
GMainContext * | g_main_context_ref ()
void | g_main_context_unref ()
GMainContext * | g_main_context_default ()
gboolean | g_main_context_iteration ()
#define | g_main_iteration()
gboolean | g_main_context_pending ()
#define | g_main_pending
GSource * | g_main_context_find_source_by_id ()
GSource * | g_main_context_find_source_by_user_data ()
GSource * | g_main_context_find_source_by_funcs_user_data ()
void | g_main_context_wakeup ()
gboolean | g_main_context_acquire ()
void | g_main_context_release ()
gboolean | g_main_context_is_owner ()
gboolean | g_main_context_wait ()
gboolean | g_main_context_prepare ()
gint | g_main_context_query ()
gboolean | g_main_context_check ()
void | g_main_context_dispatch ()
void | g_main_context_set_poll_func ()
GPollFunc | g_main_context_get_poll_func ()
gint | (*GPollFunc) ()
void | g_main_context_add_poll ()
void | g_main_context_remove_poll ()
gint | g_main_depth ()
GSource * | g_main_current_source ()
#define | g_main_set_poll_func()
void | g_main_context_invoke ()
void | g_main_context_invoke_full ()
GMainContext * | g_main_context_get_thread_default ()
GMainContext * | g_main_context_ref_thread_default ()
void | g_main_context_push_thread_default ()
void | g_main_context_pop_thread_default ()
GSource * | g_timeout_source_new ()
GSource * | g_timeout_source_new_seconds ()
guint | g_timeout_add ()
guint | g_timeout_add_full ()
guint | g_timeout_add_seconds ()
guint | g_timeout_add_seconds_full ()
GSource * | g_idle_source_new ()
guint | g_idle_add ()
guint | g_idle_add_full ()
gboolean | g_idle_remove_by_data ()
void | (*GChildWatchFunc) ()
GSource * | g_child_watch_source_new ()
guint | g_child_watch_add ()
guint | g_child_watch_add_full ()
gint | g_poll ()
void | (*GSourceDummyMarshal) ()
GSource * | g_source_new ()
GSource * | g_source_ref ()
void | g_source_unref ()
void | g_source_set_funcs ()
guint | g_source_attach ()
void | g_source_destroy ()
gboolean | g_source_is_destroyed ()
void | g_source_set_priority ()
gint | g_source_get_priority ()
void | g_source_set_can_recurse ()
gboolean | g_source_get_can_recurse ()
guint | g_source_get_id ()
const char * | g_source_get_name ()
void | g_source_set_name ()
void | g_source_set_name_by_id ()
GMainContext * | g_source_get_context ()
void | g_source_set_callback ()
gboolean | (*GSourceFunc) ()
void | g_source_set_callback_indirect ()
void | g_source_set_ready_time ()
gint64 | g_source_get_ready_time ()
gpointer | g_source_add_unix_fd ()
void | g_source_remove_unix_fd ()
void | g_source_modify_unix_fd ()
GIOCondition | g_source_query_unix_fd ()
void | g_source_add_poll ()
void | g_source_remove_poll ()
void | g_source_add_child_source ()
void | g_source_remove_child_source ()
gint64 | g_source_get_time ()
void | g_source_get_current_time ()
gboolean | g_source_remove ()
gboolean | g_source_remove_by_funcs_user_data ()
gboolean | g_source_remove_by_user_data ()

## Types and Values

| GMainLoop
#define | G_PRIORITY_HIGH
#define | G_PRIORITY_DEFAULT
#define | G_PRIORITY_HIGH_IDLE
#define | G_PRIORITY_DEFAULT_IDLE
#define | G_PRIORITY_LOW
#define | G_SOURCE_CONTINUE
#define | G_SOURCE_REMOVE
| GMainContext
typedef | GPid
#define | G_PID_FORMAT
struct | GPollFD
#define | G_POLLFD_FORMAT
struct | GSource
struct | GSourceFuncs
struct | GSourceCallbackFuncs

## Includes

    #include <glib.h>

## Description

The main event loop manages all the available sources of events for GLib and GTK+ applications. These events can come from any number of different types of sources such as file descriptors (plain files, pipes or sockets) and timeouts. New types of event sources can also be added using `g_source_attach()`.

To allow multiple independent sets of sources to be handled in different threads, each source is associated with a GMainContext. A GMainContext can only be running in a single thread, but sources can be added to it and removed from it from other threads.

Each event source is assigned a priority. The default priority, G_PRIORITY_DEFAULT, is 0. Values less than 0 denote higher priorities. Values greater than 0 denote lower priorities. Events from high priority sources are always processed before events from lower priority sources.

Idle functions can also be added, and assigned a priority. These will be run whenever no events with a higher priority are ready to be processed.

The GMainLoop data type represents a main event loop. A GMainLoop is created with `g_main_loop_new()`. After adding the initial event sources, `g_main_loop_run()` is called. This continuously checks for new events from each of the event sources and dispatches them. Finally, the processing of an event from one of the sources leads to a call to `g_main_loop_quit()` to exit the main loop, and `g_main_loop_run()` returns.

It is possible to create new instances of GMainLoop recursively. This is often used in GTK+ applications when showing modal dialog boxes. Note that event sources are associated with a particular GMainContext, and will be checked and dispatched for all main loops associated with that GMainContext.

GTK+ contains wrappers of some of these functions, e.g. `gtk_main()`, `gtk_main_quit()` and `gtk_events_pending()`.

#### Creating new source types

One of the unusual features of the GMainLoop functionality is that new types of event source can be created and used in addition to the builtin type of event source. A new event source type is used for handling GDK events. A new source type is created by "deriving" from the GSource structure. The derived type of source is represented by a structure that has the GSource structure as a first element, and other elements specific to the new source type. To create an instance of the new source type, call `g_source_new()` passing in the size of the derived structure and a table of functions. These GSourceFuncs determine the behavior of the new source type.

New source types basically interact with the main context in two ways. Their prepare function in GSourceFuncs can set a timeout to determine the maximum amount of time that the main loop will sleep before checking the source again. In addition, or as well, the source can add file descriptors to the set that the main context checks using `g_source_add_poll()`.

#### Customizing the main loop iteration

Single iterations of a GMainContext can be run with `g_main_context_iteration()`. In some cases, more detailed control of exactly how the details of the main loop work is desired, for instance, when integrating the GMainLoop with an external main loop. In such cases, you can call the component functions of `g_main_context_iteration()` directly. These functions are `g_main_context_prepare()`, `g_main_context_query()`, `g_main_context_check()` and `g_main_context_dispatch()`.

#### State of a Main Context

The operation of these functions can best be seen in terms of a state diagram, as shown in this image.

On UNIX, the GLib mainloop is incompatible with `fork()`. Any program using the mainloop must either `exec()` or `exit()` from the child without returning to the mainloop.

#### Memory management of sources

There are two options for memory management of the user data passed to a GSource to be passed to its callback on invocation. This data is provided in calls to `g_timeout_add()`, `g_timeout_add_full()`, `g_idle_add()`, etc. and more generally, using `g_source_set_callback()`. This data is typically an object which ‘owns’ the timeout or idle callback, such as a widget or a network protocol implementation. In many cases, it is an error for the callback to be invoked after this owning object has been destroyed, as that results in use of freed memory.

The first, and preferred, option is to store the source ID returned by functions such as `g_timeout_add()` or `g_source_attach()`, and explicitly remove that source from the main context using `g_source_remove()` when the owning object is finalized. This ensures that the callback can only be invoked while the object is still alive.

The second option is to hold a strong reference to the object in the callback, and to release it in the callback’s GDestroyNotify. This ensures that the object is kept alive until after the source is finalized, which is guaranteed to be after it is invoked for the final time. The GDestroyNotify is another callback passed to the ‘full’ variants of GSource functions (for example, `g_timeout_add_full()`). It is called when the source is finalized, and is designed for releasing references like this.

One important caveat of this second approach is that it will keep the object alive indefinitely if the main loop is stopped before the GSource is invoked, which may be undesirable.

## Functions

### g_main_loop_new ()

    GMainLoop *
    g_main_loop_new (GMainContext *context,
                     gboolean is_running);

Creates a new GMainLoop structure.

#### Parameters

context | a GMainContext (if `NULL`, the default context will be used). | [nullable]
is_running | set to `TRUE` to indicate that the loop is running. This is not very important since calling `g_main_loop_run()` will set this to `TRUE` anyway. |

#### Returns

a new GMainLoop.

### g_main_loop_ref ()

    GMainLoop *
    g_main_loop_ref (GMainLoop *loop);

Increases the reference count on a GMainLoop object by one.

#### Parameters

loop | a GMainLoop |

#### Returns

`loop`

### g_main_loop_unref ()

    void
    g_main_loop_unref (GMainLoop *loop);

Decreases the reference count on a GMainLoop object by one. If the result is zero, free the loop and free all associated memory.

#### Parameters

loop | a GMainLoop |

### g_main_loop_run ()

    void
    g_main_loop_run (GMainLoop *loop);

Runs a main loop until `g_main_loop_quit()` is called on the loop. If this is called for the thread of the loop's GMainContext, it will process events from the loop, otherwise it will simply wait.

#### Parameters

loop | a GMainLoop |

### g_main_loop_quit ()

    void
    g_main_loop_quit (GMainLoop *loop);

Stops a GMainLoop from running. Any calls to `g_main_loop_run()` for the loop will return.

Note that sources that have already been dispatched when `g_main_loop_quit()` is called will still be executed.

#### Parameters

loop | a GMainLoop |

### g_main_loop_is_running ()

    gboolean
    g_main_loop_is_running (GMainLoop *loop);

Checks to see if the main loop is currently being run via `g_main_loop_run()`.

#### Parameters

loop | a GMainLoop. |

#### Returns

`TRUE` if the mainloop is currently being run.

### g_main_loop_get_context ()

    GMainContext *
    g_main_loop_get_context (GMainLoop *loop);

Returns the GMainContext of `loop` .

#### Parameters

loop | a GMainLoop. |

#### Returns

the GMainContext of `loop` .

[transfer none]

### g_main_new()

    #define             g_main_new(is_running)

`g_main_new` has been deprecated since version 2.2 and should not be used in newly-written code.

Use `g_main_loop_new()` instead

Creates a new GMainLoop for th default main context.

#### Parameters

is_running | set to `TRUE` to indicate that the loop is running. This is not very important since calling `g_main_run()` will set this to `TRUE` anyway. |

#### Returns

a new GMainLoop

### g_main_destroy()

    #define             g_main_destroy(loop)

`g_main_destroy` has been deprecated since version 2.2 and should not be used in newly-written code.

Use `g_main_loop_unref()` instead

Frees the memory allocated for the GMainLoop.

#### Parameters

loop | a GMainLoop |

### g_main_run()

    #define             g_main_run(loop)

`g_main_run` has been deprecated since version 2.2 and should not be used in newly-written code.

Use `g_main_loop_run()` instead

Runs a main loop until it stops running.

#### Parameters

loop | a GMainLoop |

### g_main_quit()

    #define             g_main_quit(loop)

`g_main_quit` has been deprecated since version 2.2 and should not be used in newly-written code.

Use `g_main_loop_quit()` instead

Stops the GMainLoop. If `g_main_run()` was called to run the GMainLoop, it will now return.

#### Parameters

loop | a GMainLoop |

### g_main_is_running()

    #define             g_main_is_running(loop)

`g_main_is_running` has been deprecated since version 2.2 and should not be used in newly-written code.

Use `g_main_loop_is_running()` instead

Checks if the main loop is running.

#### Parameters

loop | a GMainLoop |

#### Returns

`TRUE` if the main loop is running

### g_main_context_new ()

    GMainContext *
    g_main_context_new (void);

Creates a new GMainContext structure.

#### Returns

the new GMainContext

### g_main_context_ref ()

    GMainContext *
    g_main_context_ref (GMainContext *context);

Increases the reference count on a GMainContext object by one.

#### Parameters

context | a GMainContext |

#### Returns

the `context` that was passed in (since 2.6)

### g_main_context_unref ()

    void
    g_main_context_unref (GMainContext *context);

Decreases the reference count on a GMainContext object by one. If the result is zero, free the context and free all associated memory.

#### Parameters

context | a GMainContext |

### g_main_context_default ()

    GMainContext *
    g_main_context_default (void);

Returns the global default main context. This is the main context used for main loop functions when a main loop is not explicitly specified, and corresponds to the "main" main loop. See also `g_main_context_get_thread_default()`.

#### Returns

the global default main context.

[transfer none]

### g_main_context_iteration ()

    gboolean
    g_main_context_iteration (GMainContext *context,
                              gboolean may_block);

Runs a single iteration for the given main loop. This involves checking to see if any event sources are ready to be processed, then if no events sources are ready and `may_block` is `TRUE`, waiting for a source to become ready, then dispatching the highest priority events sources that are ready. Otherwise, if `may_block` is `FALSE` sources are not waited to become ready, only those highest priority events sources will be dispatched (if any), that are ready at this given moment without further waiting.

Note that even when `may_block` is `TRUE`, it is still possible for `g_main_context_iteration()` to return `FALSE`, since the wait may be interrupted for other reasons than an event source becoming ready.

#### Parameters

context | a GMainContext (if `NULL`, the default context will be used). | [nullable]
may_block | whether the call may block. |

#### Returns

`TRUE` if events were dispatched.

### g_main_iteration()

    #define             g_main_iteration(may_block)

`g_main_iteration` has been deprecated since version 2.2 and should not be used in newly-written code.

Use `g_main_context_iteration()` instead.

Runs a single iteration for the default GMainContext.

#### Parameters

may_block | set to `TRUE` if it should block (i.e. wait) until an event source becomes ready. It will return after an event source has been processed. If set to `FALSE` it will return immediately if no event source is ready to be processed. |

#### Returns

`TRUE` if more events are pending.

### g_main_context_pending ()

    gboolean
    g_main_context_pending (GMainContext *context);

Checks if any sources have pending events for the given context.

#### Parameters

context | a GMainContext (if `NULL`, the default context will be used). | [nullable]

#### Returns

`TRUE` if events are pending.

### g_main_pending

    #define             g_main_pending()

`g_main_pending` is deprecated and should not be used in newly-written code.

Checks if any events are pending for the default GMainContext (i.e. ready to be processed).

#### Returns

`TRUE` if any events are pending.

Deprected: 2.2: Use `g_main_context_pending()` instead.

### g_main_context_find_source_by_id ()

    GSource *
    g_main_context_find_source_by_id (GMainContext *context,
                                      guint source_id);

Finds a GSource given a pair of context and ID.

It is a programmer error to attempt to lookup a non-existent source.

More specifically: source IDs can be reissued after a source has been destroyed and therefore it is never valid to use this function with a source ID which may have already been removed. An example is when scheduling an idle to run in another thread with `g_idle_add()`: the idle may already have run and been removed by the time this function is called on its (now invalid) source ID. This source ID may have been reissued, leading to the operation being performed against the wrong source.

#### Parameters

context | a GMainContext (if `NULL`, the default context will be used). | [nullable]
source_id | the source ID, as returned by `g_source_get_id()`. |

#### Returns

the GSource.

[transfer none]

### g_main_context_find_source_by_user_data ()

    GSource *
    g_main_context_find_source_by_user_data
                                   (GMainContext *context,
                                    gpointer user_data);

Finds a source with the given user data for the callback. If multiple sources exist with the same user data, the first one found will be returned.

#### Parameters

context | a GMainContext |
user_data | the user_data for the callback. |

#### Returns

the source, if one was found, otherwise `NULL`.

[transfer none]

### g_main_context_find_source_by_funcs_user_data ()

    GSource *
    g_main_context_find_source_by_funcs_user_data
                                   (GMainContext *context,
                                    GSourceFuncs *funcs,
                                    gpointer user_data);

Finds a source with the given source functions and user data. If multiple sources exist with the same source function and user data, the first one found will be returned.

#### Parameters

context | a GMainContext (if `NULL`, the default context will be used). | [nullable]
funcs | the `source_funcs` passed to `g_source_new()`. |
user_data | the user data from the callback. |

#### Returns

the source, if one was found, otherwise `NULL`.

[transfer none]

### g_main_context_wakeup ()

    void
    g_main_context_wakeup (GMainContext *context);

If `context` is currently blocking in `g_main_context_iteration()` waiting for a source to become ready, cause it to stop blocking and return. Otherwise, cause the next invocation of `g_main_context_iteration()` to return without blocking.

This API is useful for low-level control over GMainContext; for example, integrating it with main loop implementations such as GMainLoop.

Another related use for this function is when implementing a main loop with a termination condition, computed from multiple threads:

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    #define NUM_TASKS 10
    static volatile gint tasks_remaining = NUM_TASKS;
    ...

    while (g_atomic_int_get (&tasks_remaining) != 0)
      g_main_context_iteration (NULL, TRUE);

Then in a thread:

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    perform_work();

    if (g_atomic_int_dec_and_test (&tasks_remaining))
      g_main_context_wakeup (NULL);

#### Parameters

context | a GMainContext |

### g_main_context_acquire ()

    gboolean
    g_main_context_acquire (GMainContext *context);

Tries to become the owner of the specified context. If some other thread is the owner of the context, returns `FALSE` immediately. Ownership is properly recursive: the owner can require ownership again and will release ownership when `g_main_context_release()` is called as many times as `g_main_context_acquire()`.

You must be the owner of a context before you can call `g_main_context_prepare()`, `g_main_context_query()`, `g_main_context_check()`, `g_main_context_dispatch()`.

#### Parameters

context | a GMainContext |

#### Returns

`TRUE` if the operation succeeded, and this thread is now the owner of `context` .

### g_main_context_release ()

    void
    g_main_context_release (GMainContext *context);

Releases ownership of a context previously acquired by this thread with `g_main_context_acquire()`. If the context was acquired multiple times, the ownership will be released only when `g_main_context_release()` is called as many times as it was acquired.

#### Parameters

context | a GMainContext |

### g_main_context_is_owner ()

    gboolean
    g_main_context_is_owner (GMainContext *context);

Determines whether this thread holds the (recursive) ownership of this GMainContext. This is useful to know before waiting on another thread that may be blocking to get ownership of `context` .

#### Parameters

context | a GMainContext |

#### Returns

`TRUE` if current thread is owner of `context` .

Since: 2.10

### g_main_context_wait ()

    gboolean
    g_main_context_wait (GMainContext *context,
                         GCond *cond,
                         GMutex *mutex);

Tries to become the owner of the specified context, as with `g_main_context_acquire()`. But if another thread is the owner, atomically drop `mutex` and wait on `cond` until that owner releases ownership or until `cond` is signaled, then try again (once) to become the owner.

#### Parameters

context | a GMainContext |
cond | a condition variable |
mutex | a mutex, currently held |

#### Returns

`TRUE` if the operation succeeded, and this thread is now the owner of `context` .

### g_main_context_prepare ()

    gboolean
    g_main_context_prepare (GMainContext *context,
                            gint *priority);

Prepares to poll sources within a main loop. The resulting information for polling is determined by calling `g_main_context_query()`.

You must have successfully acquired the context with `g_main_context_acquire()` before you may call this function.

#### Parameters

context | a GMainContext |
priority | location to store priority of highest priority source already ready. |

#### Returns

`TRUE` if some source is ready to be dispatched prior to polling.

### g_main_context_query ()

    gint
    g_main_context_query (GMainContext *context,
                          gint max_priority,
                          gint *timeout_,
                          GPollFD *fds,
                          gint n_fds);

Determines information necessary to poll this main loop.

You must have successfully acquired the context with `g_main_context_acquire()` before you may call this function.

#### Parameters

context | a GMainContext |
max_priority | maximum priority source to check |
timeout_ | location to store timeout to be used in polling. | [out]
fds | location to store GPollFD records that need to be polled. | [out caller-allocates][array length=n_fds]
n_fds | length of `fds` . | [in]

#### Returns

the number of records actually stored in `fds` , or, if more than `n_fds` records need to be stored, the number of records that need to be stored.

### g_main_context_check ()

    gboolean
    g_main_context_check (GMainContext *context,
                          gint max_priority,
                          GPollFD *fds,
                          gint n_fds);

Passes the results of polling back to the main loop.

You must have successfully acquired the context with `g_main_context_acquire()` before you may call this function.

#### Parameters

context | a GMainContext |
max_priority | the maximum numerical priority of sources to check |
fds | array of GPollFD's that was passed to the last call to `g_main_context_query()`. | [array length=n_fds]
n_fds | return value of `g_main_context_query()` |

#### Returns

`TRUE` if some sources are ready to be dispatched.

### g_main_context_dispatch ()

    void
    g_main_context_dispatch (GMainContext *context);

Dispatches all pending sources.

You must have successfully acquired the context with `g_main_context_acquire()` before you may call this function.

#### Parameters

context | a GMainContext |

### g_main_context_set_poll_func ()

    void
    g_main_context_set_poll_func (GMainContext *context,
                                  GPollFunc func);

Sets the function to use to handle polling of file descriptors. It will be used instead of the `poll()` system call (or GLib's replacement function, which is used where `poll()` isn't available).

This function could possibly be used to integrate the GLib event loop with an external event loop.

#### Parameters

context | a GMainContext |
func | the function to call to poll all file descriptors |

### g_main_context_get_poll_func ()

    GPollFunc
    g_main_context_get_poll_func (GMainContext *context);

Gets the poll function set by `g_main_context_set_poll_func()`.

#### Parameters

context | a GMainContext |

#### Returns

the poll function

### GPollFunc ()

    gint
    (*GPollFunc) (GPollFD *ufds,
                  guint nfsd,
                  gint timeout_);

Specifies the type of function passed to `g_main_context_set_poll_func()`. The semantics of the function should match those of the `poll()` system call.

#### Parameters

ufds | an array of GPollFD elements |
nfsd | the number of elements in `ufds` |
timeout_ | the maximum time to wait for an event of the file descriptors. A negative value indicates an infinite timeout. |

#### Returns

the number of GPollFD elements which have events or errors reported, or -1 if an error occurred.

### g_main_context_add_poll ()

    void
    g_main_context_add_poll (GMainContext *context,
                             GPollFD *fd,
                             gint priority);

Adds a file descriptor to the set of file descriptors polled for this context. This will very seldom be used directly. Instead a typical event source will use `g_source_add_unix_fd()` instead.

#### Parameters

context | a GMainContext (or `NULL` for the default context). | [nullable]
fd | a GPollFD structure holding information about a file descriptor to watch. |
priority | the priority for this file descriptor which should be the same as the priority used for `g_source_attach()` to ensure that the file descriptor is polled whenever the results may be needed. |

### g_main_context_remove_poll ()

    void
    g_main_context_remove_poll (GMainContext *context,
                                GPollFD *fd);

Removes file descriptor from the set of file descriptors to be polled for a particular context.

#### Parameters

context | a GMainContext |
fd | a GPollFD descriptor previously added with `g_main_context_add_poll()` |

### g_main_depth ()

    gint
    g_main_depth (void);

Returns the depth of the stack of calls to `g_main_context_dispatch()` on any GMainContext in the current thread. That is, when called from the toplevel, it gives 0. When called from within a callback from `g_main_context_iteration()` (or `g_main_loop_run()`, etc.) it returns 1. When called from within a callback to a recursive call to `g_main_context_iteration()`, it returns 2. And so forth.

This function is useful in a situation like the following: Imagine an extremely simple "garbage collected" system.

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    static GList *free_list;

    gpointer
    allocate_memory (gsize size)
    {
      gpointer result = g_malloc (size);
      free_list = g_list_prepend (free_list, result);
      return result;
    }

    void
    free_allocated_memory (void)
    {
      GList *l;
      for (l = free_list; l; l = l->next);
        g_free (l->data);
      g_list_free (free_list);
      free_list = NULL;
     }

    [...]

    while (TRUE);
     {
       g_main_context_iteration (NULL, TRUE);
       free_allocated_memory();
      }

This works from an application, however, if you want to do the same thing from a library, it gets more difficult, since you no longer control the main loop. You might think you can simply use an idle function to make the call to `free_allocated_memory()`, but that doesn't work, since the idle function could be called from a recursive callback. This can be fixed by using `g_main_depth()`

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    gpointer
    allocate_memory (gsize size)
    {
      FreeListBlock *block = g_new (FreeListBlock, 1);
      block->mem = g_malloc (size);
      block->depth = g_main_depth ();
      free_list = g_list_prepend (free_list, block);
      return block->mem;
    }

    void
    free_allocated_memory (void)
    {
      GList *l;

      int depth = g_main_depth ();
      for (l = free_list; l; );
        {
          GList *next = l->next;
          FreeListBlock *block = l->data;
          if (block->depth > depth)
            {
              g_free (block->mem);
              g_free (block);
              free_list = g_list_delete_link (free_list, l);
            }

          l = next;
        }
      }

There is a temptation to use `g_main_depth()` to solve problems with reentrancy. For instance, while waiting for data to be received from the network in response to a menu item, the menu item might be selected again. It might seem that one could make the menu item's callback return immediately and do nothing if `g_main_depth()` returns a value greater than 1. However, this should be avoided since the user then sees selecting the menu item do nothing. Furthermore, you'll find yourself adding these checks all over your code, since there are doubtless many, many things that the user could do. Instead, you can use the following techniques:

1. Use `gtk_widget_set_sensitive()` or modal dialogs to prevent the user from interacting with elements while the main loop is recursing.

2. Avoid main loop recursion in situations where you can't handle arbitrary callbacks. Instead, structure your code so that you simply return to the main loop and then get called again when there is more work to do.

#### Returns

The main loop recursion level in the current thread

### g_main_current_source ()

    GSource *
    g_main_current_source (void);

Returns the currently firing source for this thread.

#### Returns

The currently firing source or `NULL`.

[transfer none]

Since: 2.12

### g_main_set_poll_func()

    #define             g_main_set_poll_func(func)

`g_main_set_poll_func` has been deprecated since version 2.2 and should not be used in newly-written code.

Use `g_main_context_set_poll_func()` again

Sets the function to use for the handle polling of file descriptors for the default main context.

#### Parameters

func | the function to call to poll all file descriptors |

### g_main_context_invoke ()

    void
    g_main_context_invoke (GMainContext *context,
                           GSourceFunc function,
                           gpointer data);

Invokes a function in such a way that `context` is owned during the invocation of `function` .

If `context` is `NULL` then the global default main context — as returned by `g_main_context_default()` — is used.

If `context` is owned by the current thread, `function` is called directly. Otherwise, if `context` is the thread-default main context of the current thread and `g_main_context_acquire()` succeeds, then `function` is called and `g_main_context_release()` is called afterwards.

In any other case, an idle source is created to call `function` and that source is attached to `context` (presumably to be run in another thread). The idle source is attached with G_PRIORITY_DEFAULT priority. If you want a different priority, use `g_main_context_invoke_full()`.

Note that, as with normal idle functions, `function` should probably return `FALSE`. If it returns `TRUE`, it will be continuously run in a loop (and may prevent this call from returning).

#### Parameters

context | a GMainContext, or `NULL`. | [nullable]
function | function to call |
data | data to pass to `function` |

Since: 2.28

### g_main_context_invoke_full ()

    void
    g_main_context_invoke_full (GMainContext *context,
                                gint priority,
                                GSourceFunc function,
                                gpointer data,
                                GDestroyNotify notify);

Invokes a function in such a way that `context` is owned during the invocation of `function` .

This function is the same as `g_main_context_invoke()` except that it lets you specify the priority incase `function` ends up being scheduled as an idle and also lets you give a GDestroyNotify for `data` .

`notify` should not assume that it is called from any particular thread or with any particular context acquired.

#### Parameters

context | a GMainContext, or `NULL`. | [nullable]
priority | the priority at which to run `function` |
function | function to call |
data | data to pass to `function` |
notify | a function to call when `data` is no longer in use, or `NULL`. | [nullable]

Since: 2.28

### g_main_context_get_thread_default ()

    GMainContext *
    g_main_context_get_thread_default (void);

Gets the thread-default GMainContext for this thread. Asynchronous operations that want to be able to be run in contexts other than the default one should call this method or `g_main_context_ref_thread_default()` to get a GMainContext to add their GSources to. (Note that even in single-threaded programs applications may sometimes want to temporarily push a non-default context, so it is not safe to assume that this will always return `NULL` if you are running in the default thread.)

If you need to hold a reference on the context, use `g_main_context_ref_thread_default()` instead.

#### Returns

the thread-default GMainContext, or `NULL` if the thread-default context is the global default context.

[transfer none]

Since: 2.22

### g_main_context_ref_thread_default ()

    GMainContext *
    g_main_context_ref_thread_default (void);

Gets the thread-default GMainContext for this thread, as with `g_main_context_get_thread_default()`, but also adds a reference to it with `g_main_context_ref()`. In addition, unlike `g_main_context_get_thread_default()`, if the thread-default context is the global default context, this will return that GMainContext (with a ref added to it) rather than returning `NULL`.

#### Returns

the thread-default GMainContext. Unref with `g_main_context_unref()` when you are done with it.

[transfer full]

Since: 2.32

### g_main_context_push_thread_default ()

    void
    g_main_context_push_thread_default (GMainContext *context);

Acquires `context` and sets it as the thread-default context for the current thread. This will cause certain asynchronous operations (such as most gio-based I/O) which are started in this thread to run under `context` and deliver their results to its main loop, rather than running under the global default context in the main thread. Note that calling this function changes the context returned by `g_main_context_get_thread_default()`, not the one returned by `g_main_context_default()`, so it does not affect the context used by functions like `g_idle_add()`.

Normally you would call this function shortly after creating a new thread, passing it a GMainContext which will be run by a GMainLoop in that thread, to set a new default context for all async operations in that thread. In this case you may not need to ever call `g_main_context_pop_thread_default()`, assuming you want the new GMainContext to be the default for the whole lifecycle of the thread.

If you don't have control over how the new thread was created (e.g. in the new thread isn't newly created, or if the thread life cycle is managed by a GThreadPool), it is always suggested to wrap the logic that needs to use the new GMainContext inside a `g_main_context_push_thread_default()` / `g_main_context_pop_thread_default()` pair, otherwise threads that are re-used will end up never explicitly releasing the GMainContext reference they hold.

In some cases you may want to schedule a single operation in a non-default context, or temporarily use a non-default context in the main thread. In that case, you can wrap the call to the asynchronous operation inside a `g_main_context_push_thread_default()` / `g_main_context_pop_thread_default()` pair, but it is up to you to ensure that no other asynchronous operations accidentally get started while the non-default context is active.

Beware that libraries that predate this function may not correctly handle being used from a thread with a thread-default context. Eg, see `g_file_supports_thread_contexts()`.

#### Parameters

context | a GMainContext, or `NULL` for the global default context. | [nullable]

Since: 2.22

### g_main_context_pop_thread_default ()

    void
    g_main_context_pop_thread_default (GMainContext *context);

Pops `context` off the thread-default context stack (verifying that it was on the top of the stack).

#### Parameters

context | a GMainContext object, or `NULL`. | [nullable]

Since: 2.22

### g_timeout_source_new ()

    GSource *
    g_timeout_source_new (guint interval);

Creates a new timeout source.

The source will not initially be associated with any GMainContext and must be added to one with `g_source_attach()` before it will be executed.

The interval given is in terms of monotonic time, not wall clock time. See `g_get_monotonic_time()`.

#### Parameters

interval | the timeout interval in milliseconds. |

#### Returns

the newly-created timeout source

### g_timeout_source_new_seconds ()

    GSource *
    g_timeout_source_new_seconds (guint interval);

Creates a new timeout source.

The source will not initially be associated with any GMainContext and must be added to one with `g_source_attach()` before it will be executed.

The scheduling granularity/accuracy of this timeout source will be in seconds.

The interval given in terms of monotonic time, not wall clock time. See `g_get_monotonic_time()`.

#### Parameters

interval | the timeout interval in seconds |

#### Returns

the newly-created timeout source

Since: 2.14

### g_timeout_add ()

    guint
    g_timeout_add (guint interval,
                   GSourceFunc function,
                   gpointer data);

Sets a function to be called at regular intervals, with the default priority, G_PRIORITY_DEFAULT. The function is called repeatedly until it returns `FALSE`, at which point the timeout is automatically destroyed and the function will not be called again. The first call to the function will be at the end of the first `interval` .

Note that timeout functions may be delayed, due to the processing of other event sources. Thus they should not be relied on for precise timing. After each call to the timeout function, the time of the next timeout is recalculated based on the current time and the given interval (it does not try to 'catch up' time lost in delays).

See memory management of sources for details on how to handle the return value and memory management of `data` .

If you want to have a timer in the "seconds" range and do not care about the exact time of the first call of the timer, use the `g_timeout_add_seconds()` function; this function allows for more optimizations and more efficient system power usage.

This internally creates a main loop source using `g_timeout_source_new()` and attaches it to the global GMainContext using `g_source_attach()`, so the callback will be invoked in whichever thread is running that main context. You can do these steps manually if you need greater control or to use a custom main context.

The interval given is in terms of monotonic time, not wall clock time. See `g_get_monotonic_time()`.

#### Parameters

interval | the time between calls to the function, in milliseconds (1/1000ths of a second) |
function | function to call |
data | data to pass to `function` |

#### Returns

the ID (greater than 0) of the event source.

### g_timeout_add_full ()

    guint
    g_timeout_add_full (gint priority,
                        guint interval,
                        GSourceFunc function,
                        gpointer data,
                        GDestroyNotify notify);

Sets a function to be called at regular intervals, with the given priority. The function is called repeatedly until it returns `FALSE`, at which point the timeout is automatically destroyed and the function will not be called again. The `notify` function is called when the timeout is destroyed. The first call to the function will be at the end of the first `interval` .

Note that timeout functions may be delayed, due to the processing of other event sources. Thus they should not be relied on for precise timing. After each call to the timeout function, the time of the next timeout is recalculated based on the current time and the given interval (it does not try to 'catch up' time lost in delays).

See memory management of sources for details on how to handle the return value and memory management of `data` .

This internally creates a main loop source using `g_timeout_source_new()` and attaches it to the global GMainContext using `g_source_attach()`, so the callback will be invoked in whichever thread is running that main context. You can do these steps manually if you need greater control or to use a custom main context.

The interval given in terms of monotonic time, not wall clock time. See `g_get_monotonic_time()`.

[rename-to g_timeout_add]

#### Parameters

priority | the priority of the timeout source. Typically this will be in the range between G_PRIORITY_DEFAULT and G_PRIORITY_HIGH. |
interval | the time between calls to the function, in milliseconds (1/1000ths of a second) |
function | function to call |
data | data to pass to `function` |
notify | function to call when the timeout is removed, or `NULL`. | [nullable]

#### Returns

the ID (greater than 0) of the event source.

### g_timeout_add_seconds ()

    guint
    g_timeout_add_seconds (guint interval,
                           GSourceFunc function,
                           gpointer data);

Sets a function to be called at regular intervals with the default priority, G_PRIORITY_DEFAULT. The function is called repeatedly until it returns `FALSE`, at which point the timeout is automatically destroyed and the function will not be called again.

This internally creates a main loop source using `g_timeout_source_new_seconds()` and attaches it to the main loop context using `g_source_attach()`. You can do these steps manually if you need greater control. Also see `g_timeout_add_seconds_full()`.

Note that the first call of the timer may not be precise for timeouts of one second. If you need finer precision and have such a timeout, you may want to use `g_timeout_add()` instead.

See memory management of sources for details on how to handle the return value and memory management of `data` .

The interval given is in terms of monotonic time, not wall clock time. See `g_get_monotonic_time()`.

#### Parameters

interval | the time between calls to the function, in seconds |
function | function to call |
data | data to pass to `function` |

#### Returns

the ID (greater than 0) of the event source.

Since: 2.14

### g_timeout_add_seconds_full ()

    guint
    g_timeout_add_seconds_full (gint priority,
                                guint interval,
                                GSourceFunc function,
                                gpointer data,
                                GDestroyNotify notify);

Sets a function to be called at regular intervals, with `priority` . The function is called repeatedly until it returns `FALSE`, at which point the timeout is automatically destroyed and the function will not be called again.

Unlike `g_timeout_add()`, this function operates at whole second granularity. The initial starting point of the timer is determined by the implementation and the implementation is expected to group multiple timers together so that they fire all at the same time. To allow this grouping, the `interval` to the first timer is rounded and can deviate up to one second from the specified interval. Subsequent timer iterations will generally run at the specified interval.

Note that timeout functions may be delayed, due to the processing of other event sources. Thus they should not be relied on for precise timing. After each call to the timeout function, the time of the next timeout is recalculated based on the current time and the given `interval`

See memory management of sources for details on how to handle the return value and memory management of `data` .

If you want timing more precise than whole seconds, use `g_timeout_add()` instead.

The grouping of timers to fire at the same time results in a more power and CPU efficient behavior so if your timer is in multiples of seconds and you don't require the first timer exactly one second from now, the use of `g_timeout_add_seconds()` is preferred over `g_timeout_add()`.

This internally creates a main loop source using `g_timeout_source_new_seconds()` and attaches it to the main loop context using `g_source_attach()`. You can do these steps manually if you need greater control.

The interval given is in terms of monotonic time, not wall clock time. See `g_get_monotonic_time()`.

[rename-to g_timeout_add_seconds]

#### Parameters

priority | the priority of the timeout source. Typically this will be in the range between G_PRIORITY_DEFAULT and G_PRIORITY_HIGH. |
interval | the time between calls to the function, in seconds |
function | function to call |
data | data to pass to `function` |
notify | function to call when the timeout is removed, or `NULL`. | [nullable]

#### Returns

the ID (greater than 0) of the event source.

Since: 2.14

### g_idle_source_new ()

    GSource *
    g_idle_source_new (void);

Creates a new idle source.

The source will not initially be associated with any GMainContext and must be added to one with `g_source_attach()` before it will be executed. Note that the default priority for idle sources is `G_PRIORITY_DEFAULT_IDLE`, as compared to other sources which have a default priority of `G_PRIORITY_DEFAULT`.

#### Returns

the newly-created idle source

### g_idle_add ()

    guint
    g_idle_add (GSourceFunc function,
                gpointer data);

Adds a function to be called whenever there are no higher priority events pending to the default main loop. The function is given the default idle priority, G_PRIORITY_DEFAULT_IDLE. If the function returns `FALSE` it is automatically removed from the list of event sources and will not be called again.

See memory management of sources for details on how to handle the return value and memory management of `data` .

This internally creates a main loop source using `g_idle_source_new()` and attaches it to the global GMainContext using `g_source_attach()`, so the callback will be invoked in whichever thread is running that main context. You can do these steps manually if you need greater control or to use a custom main context.

#### Parameters

function | function to call |
data | data to pass to `function` . |

#### Returns

the ID (greater than 0) of the event source.

### g_idle_add_full ()

    guint
    g_idle_add_full (gint priority,
                     GSourceFunc function,
                     gpointer data,
                     GDestroyNotify notify);

Adds a function to be called whenever there are no higher priority events pending. If the function returns `FALSE` it is automatically removed from the list of event sources and will not be called again.

See memory management of sources for details on how to handle the return value and memory management of `data` .

This internally creates a main loop source using `g_idle_source_new()` and attaches it to the global GMainContext using `g_source_attach()`, so the callback will be invoked in whichever thread is running that main context. You can do these steps manually if you need greater control or to use a custom main context.

[rename-to g_idle_add]

#### Parameters

priority | the priority of the idle source. Typically this will be in the range between G_PRIORITY_DEFAULT_IDLE and G_PRIORITY_HIGH_IDLE. |
function | function to call |
data | data to pass to `function` |
notify | function to call when the idle is removed, or `NULL`. | [nullable]

#### Returns

the ID (greater than 0) of the event source.

### g_idle_remove_by_data ()

    gboolean
    g_idle_remove_by_data (gpointer data);

Removes the idle function with the given data.

#### Parameters

data | the data for the idle source's callback. |

#### Returns

`TRUE` if an idle source was found and removed.

### GChildWatchFunc ()

    void
    (*GChildWatchFunc) (GPid pid,
                        gint status,
                        gpointer user_data);

Prototype of a GChildWatchSource callback, called when a child process has exited. To interpret `status` , see the documentation for `g_spawn_check_exit_status()`.

#### Parameters

pid | the process id of the child process |
status | Status information about the child process, encoded in a platform-specific manner |
user_data | user data passed to `g_child_watch_add()` |

### g_child_watch_source_new ()

    GSource *
    g_child_watch_source_new (GPid pid);

Creates a new child_watch source.

The source will not initially be associated with any GMainContext and must be added to one with `g_source_attach()` before it will be executed.

Note that child watch sources can only be used in conjunction with `g_spawn...` when the `G_SPAWN_DO_NOT_REAP_CHILD` flag is used.

Note that on platforms where GPid must be explicitly closed (see `g_spawn_close_pid()`) `pid` must not be closed while the source is still active. Typically, you will want to call `g_spawn_close_pid()` in the callback function for the source.

Note further that using `g_child_watch_source_new()` is not compatible with calling `waitpid` with a nonpositive first argument in the application. Calling `waitpid()` for individual pids will still work fine.

Similarly, on POSIX platforms, the `pid` passed to this function must be greater than 0 (i.e. this function must wait for a specific child, and cannot wait for one of many children by using a nonpositive argument).

#### Parameters

pid | process to watch. On POSIX the positive pid of a child process. On Windows a handle for a process (which doesn't have to be a child). |

#### Returns

the newly-created child watch source

Since: 2.4

### g_child_watch_add ()

    guint
    g_child_watch_add (GPid pid,
                       GChildWatchFunc function,
                       gpointer data);

Sets a function to be called when the child indicated by `pid` exits, at a default priority, G_PRIORITY_DEFAULT.

If you obtain `pid` from `g_spawn_async()` or `g_spawn_async_with_pipes()` you will need to pass G_SPAWN_DO_NOT_REAP_CHILD as flag to the spawn function for the child watching to work.

Note that on platforms where GPid must be explicitly closed (see `g_spawn_close_pid()`) `pid` must not be closed while the source is still active. Typically, you will want to call `g_spawn_close_pid()` in the callback function for the source.

GLib supports only a single callback per process id.

This internally creates a main loop source using `g_child_watch_source_new()` and attaches it to the main loop context using `g_source_attach()`. You can do these steps manually if you need greater control.

#### Parameters

pid | process id to watch. On POSIX the positive pid of a child process. On Windows a handle for a process (which doesn't have to be a child). |
function | function to call |
data | data to pass to `function` |

#### Returns

the ID (greater than 0) of the event source.

Since: 2.4

### g_child_watch_add_full ()

    guint
    g_child_watch_add_full (gint priority,
                            GPid pid,
                            GChildWatchFunc function,
                            gpointer data,
                            GDestroyNotify notify);

Sets a function to be called when the child indicated by `pid` exits, at the priority `priority` .

If you obtain `pid` from `g_spawn_async()` or `g_spawn_async_with_pipes()` you will need to pass G_SPAWN_DO_NOT_REAP_CHILD as flag to the spawn function for the child watching to work.

In many programs, you will want to call `g_spawn_check_exit_status()` in the callback to determine whether or not the child exited successfully.

Also, note that on platforms where GPid must be explicitly closed (see `g_spawn_close_pid()`) `pid` must not be closed while the source is still active. Typically, you should invoke `g_spawn_close_pid()` in the callback function for the source.

GLib supports only a single callback per process id.

This internally creates a main loop source using `g_child_watch_source_new()` and attaches it to the main loop context using `g_source_attach()`. You can do these steps manually if you need greater control.

[rename-to g_child_watch_add]

#### Parameters

priority | the priority of the idle source. Typically this will be in the range between G_PRIORITY_DEFAULT_IDLE and G_PRIORITY_HIGH_IDLE. |
pid | process to watch. On POSIX the positive pid of a child process. On Windows a handle for a process (which doesn't have to be a child). |
function | function to call |
data | data to pass to `function` |
notify | function to call when the idle is removed, or `NULL`. | [nullable]

#### Returns

the ID (greater than 0) of the event source.

Since: 2.4

### g_poll ()

    gint
    g_poll (GPollFD *fds,
            guint nfds,
            gint timeout);

Polls `fds` , as with the `poll()` system call, but portably. (On systems that don't have `poll()`, it is emulated using `select()`.) This is used internally by GMainContext, but it can be called directly if you need to block until a file descriptor is ready, but don't want to run the full main loop.

Each element of `fds` is a GPollFD describing a single file descriptor to poll. The `fd` field indicates the file descriptor, and the `events` field indicates the events to poll for. On return, the `revents` fields will be filled with the events that actually occurred.

On POSIX systems, the file descriptors in `fds` can be any sort of file descriptor, but the situation is much more complicated on Windows. If you need to use `g_poll()` in code that has to run on Windows, the easiest solution is to construct all of your GPollFDs with `g_io_channel_win32_make_pollfd()`.

#### Parameters

fds | file descriptors to poll |
nfds | the number of file descriptors in `fds` |
timeout | amount of time to wait, in milliseconds, or -1 to wait forever |

#### Returns

the number of entries in `fds` whose `revents` fields were filled in, or 0 if the operation timed out, or -1 on error or if the call was interrupted.

Since: 2.20

### GSourceDummyMarshal ()

    void
    (*GSourceDummyMarshal) (void);

This is just a placeholder for GClosureMarshal, which cannot be used here for dependency reasons.

### g_source_new ()

    GSource *
    g_source_new (GSourceFuncs *source_funcs,
                  guint struct_size);

Creates a new GSource structure. The size is specified to allow creating structures derived from GSource that contain additional data. The size passed in must be at least `sizeof (GSource)`.

The source will not initially be associated with any GMainContext and must be added to one with `g_source_attach()` before it will be executed.

#### Parameters

source_funcs | structure containing functions that implement the sources behavior. |
struct_size | size of the GSource structure to create. |

#### Returns

the newly-created GSource.

### g_source_ref ()

    GSource *
    g_source_ref (GSource *source);

Increases the reference count on a source by one.

#### Parameters

source | a GSource |

#### Returns

`source`

### g_source_unref ()

    void
    g_source_unref (GSource *source);

Decreases the reference count of a source by one. If the resulting reference count is zero the source and associated memory will be destroyed.

#### Parameters

source | a GSource |

### g_source_set_funcs ()

    void
    g_source_set_funcs (GSource *source,
                        GSourceFuncs *funcs);

Sets the source functions (can be used to override default implementations) of an unattached source.

#### Parameters

source | a GSource |
funcs | the new GSourceFuncs |

Since: 2.12

### g_source_attach ()

    guint
    g_source_attach (GSource *source,
                     GMainContext *context);

Adds a GSource to a `context` so that it will be executed within that context. Remove it by calling `g_source_destroy()`.

#### Parameters

source | a GSource |
context | a GMainContext (if `NULL`, the default context will be used). | [nullable]

#### Returns

the ID (greater than 0) for the source within the GMainContext.

### g_source_destroy ()

    void
    g_source_destroy (GSource *source);

Removes a source from its GMainContext, if any, and mark it as destroyed. The source cannot be subsequently added to another context. It is safe to call this on sources which have already been removed from their context.

#### Parameters

source | a GSource |

### g_source_is_destroyed ()

    gboolean
    g_source_is_destroyed (GSource *source);

Returns whether `source` has been destroyed.

This is important when you operate upon your objects from within idle handlers, but may have freed the object before the dispatch of your idle handler.

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    static gboolean
    idle_callback (gpointer data)
    {
      SomeWidget *self = data;

      GDK_THREADS_ENTER ();
      // do stuff with self
      self->idle_id = 0;
      GDK_THREADS_LEAVE ();

      return G_SOURCE_REMOVE;
    }

    static void
    some_widget_do_stuff_later (SomeWidget *self)
    {
      self->idle_id = g_idle_add (idle_callback, self);
    }

    static void
    some_widget_finalize (GObject *object)
    {
      SomeWidget *self = SOME_WIDGET (object);

      if (self->idle_id)
        g_source_remove (self->idle_id);

      G_OBJECT_CLASS (parent_class)->finalize (object);
    }

This will fail in a multi-threaded application if the widget is destroyed before the idle handler fires due to the use after free in the callback. A solution, to this particular problem, is to check to if the source has already been destroy within the callback.

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    static gboolean
    idle_callback (gpointer data)
    {
      SomeWidget *self = data;

      GDK_THREADS_ENTER ();
      if (!g_source_is_destroyed (g_main_current_source ()))
        {
          // do stuff with self
        }
      GDK_THREADS_LEAVE ();

      return FALSE;
    }

#### Parameters

source | a GSource |

#### Returns

`TRUE` if the source has been destroyed

Since: 2.12

### g_source_set_priority ()

    void
    g_source_set_priority (GSource *source,
                           gint priority);

Sets the priority of a source. While the main loop is being run, a source will be dispatched if it is ready to be dispatched and no sources at a higher (numerically smaller) priority are ready to be dispatched.

A child source always has the same priority as its parent. It is not permitted to change the priority of a source once it has been added as a child of another source.

#### Parameters

source | a GSource |
priority | the new priority. |

### g_source_get_priority ()

    gint
    g_source_get_priority (GSource *source);

Gets the priority of a source.

#### Parameters

source | a GSource |

#### Returns

the priority of the source

### g_source_set_can_recurse ()

    void
    g_source_set_can_recurse (GSource *source,
                              gboolean can_recurse);

Sets whether a source can be called recursively. If `can_recurse` is `TRUE`, then while the source is being dispatched then this source will be processed normally. Otherwise, all processing of this source is blocked until the dispatch function returns.

#### Parameters

source | a GSource |
can_recurse | whether recursion is allowed for this source |

### g_source_get_can_recurse ()

    gboolean
    g_source_get_can_recurse (GSource *source);

Checks whether a source is allowed to be called recursively. see `g_source_set_can_recurse()`.

#### Parameters

source | a GSource |

#### Returns

whether recursion is allowed.

### g_source_get_id ()

    guint
    g_source_get_id (GSource *source);

Returns the numeric ID for a particular source. The ID of a source is a positive integer which is unique within a particular main loop context. The reverse mapping from ID to source is done by `g_main_context_find_source_by_id()`.

#### Parameters

source | a GSource |

#### Returns

the ID (greater than 0) for the source

### g_source_get_name ()

    const char *
    g_source_get_name (GSource *source);

Gets a name for the source, used in debugging and profiling. The name may be NULL if it has never been set with `g_source_set_name()`.

#### Parameters

source | a GSource |

#### Returns

the name of the source

Since: 2.26

### g_source_set_name ()

    void
    g_source_set_name (GSource *source,
                       const char *name);

Sets a name for the source, used in debugging and profiling. The name defaults to NULL.

The source name should describe in a human-readable way what the source does. For example, "X11 event queue" or "GTK+ repaint idle handler" or whatever it is.

It is permitted to call this function multiple times, but is not recommended due to the potential performance impact. For example, one could change the name in the "check" function of a GSourceFuncs to include details like the event type in the source name.

Use caution if changing the name while another thread may be accessing it with `g_source_get_name()`; that function does not copy the value, and changing the value will free it while the other thread may be attempting to use it.

#### Parameters

source | a GSource |
name | debug name for the source |

Since: 2.26

### g_source_set_name_by_id ()

    void
    g_source_set_name_by_id (guint tag,
                             const char *name);

Sets the name of a source using its ID.

This is a convenience utility to set source names from the return value of `g_idle_add()`, `g_timeout_add()`, etc.

It is a programmer error to attempt to set the name of a non-existent source.

More specifically: source IDs can be reissued after a source has been destroyed and therefore it is never valid to use this function with a source ID which may have already been removed. An example is when scheduling an idle to run in another thread with `g_idle_add()`: the idle may already have run and been removed by the time this function is called on its (now invalid) source ID. This source ID may have been reissued, leading to the operation being performed against the wrong source.

#### Parameters

tag | a GSource ID |
name | debug name for the source |

Since: 2.26

### g_source_get_context ()

    GMainContext *
    g_source_get_context (GSource *source);

Gets the GMainContext with which the source is associated.

You can call this on a source that has been destroyed, provided that the GMainContext it was attached to still exists (in which case it will return that GMainContext). In particular, you can always call this function on the source returned from `g_main_current_source()`. But calling this function on a source whose GMainContext has been destroyed is an error.

#### Parameters

source | a GSource |

#### Returns

the GMainContext with which the source is associated, or `NULL` if the context has not yet been added to a source.

[transfer none][nullable]

### g_source_set_callback ()

    void
    g_source_set_callback (GSource *source,
                           GSourceFunc func,
                           gpointer data,
                           GDestroyNotify notify);

Sets the callback function for a source. The callback for a source is called from the source's dispatch function.

The exact type of `func` depends on the type of source; ie. you should not count on `func` being called with `data` as its first parameter.

See memory management of sources for details on how to handle memory management of `data` .

Typically, you won't use this function. Instead use functions specific to the type of source you are using.

#### Parameters

source | the source |
func | a callback function |
data | the data to pass to callback function |
notify | a function to call when `data` is no longer in use, or `NULL`. | [nullable]

### GSourceFunc ()

    gboolean
    (*GSourceFunc) (gpointer user_data);

Specifies the type of function passed to `g_timeout_add()`, `g_timeout_add_full()`, `g_idle_add()`, and `g_idle_add_full()`.

#### Parameters

user_data | data passed to the function, set when the source was created with one of the above functions |

#### Returns

`FALSE` if the source should be removed. G_SOURCE_CONTINUE and G_SOURCE_REMOVE are more memorable names for the return value.

### g_source_set_callback_indirect ()

    void
    g_source_set_callback_indirect (GSource *source,
                                    gpointer callback_data,
                                    GSourceCallbackFuncs *callback_funcs);

Sets the callback function storing the data as a refcounted callback "object". This is used internally. Note that calling `g_source_set_callback_indirect()` assumes an initial reference count on `callback_data` , and thus `callback_funcs->unref` will eventually be called once more than `callback_funcs->ref` .

#### Parameters

source | the source |
callback_data | pointer to callback data "object" |
callback_funcs | functions for reference counting `callback_data` and getting the callback and data |

### g_source_set_ready_time ()

    void
    g_source_set_ready_time (GSource *source,
                             gint64 ready_time);

Sets a GSource to be dispatched when the given monotonic time is reached (or passed). If the monotonic time is in the past (as it always will be if `ready_time` is 0) then the source will be dispatched immediately.

If `ready_time` is -1 then the source is never woken up on the basis of the passage of time.

Dispatching the source does not reset the ready time. You should do so yourself, from the source dispatch function.

Note that if you have a pair of sources where the ready time of one suggests that it will be delivered first but the priority for the other suggests that it would be delivered first, and the ready time for both sources is reached during the same main context iteration then the order of dispatch is undefined.

This API is only intended to be used by implementations of GSource. Do not call this API on a GSource that you did not create.

#### Parameters

source | a GSource |
ready_time | the monotonic time at which the source will be ready, 0 for "immediately", -1 for "never" |

Since: 2.36

### g_source_get_ready_time ()

    gint64
    g_source_get_ready_time (GSource *source);

Gets the "ready time" of `source` , as set by `g_source_set_ready_time()`.

Any time before the current monotonic time (including 0) is an indication that the source will fire immediately.

#### Parameters

source | a GSource |

#### Returns

the monotonic ready time, -1 for "never"

### g_source_add_unix_fd ()

    gpointer
    g_source_add_unix_fd (GSource *source,
                          gint fd,
                          GIOCondition events);

Monitors `fd` for the IO events in `events` .

The tag returned by this function can be used to remove or modify the monitoring of the fd using `g_source_remove_unix_fd()` or `g_source_modify_unix_fd()`.

It is not necessary to remove the fd before destroying the source; it will be cleaned up automatically.

This API is only intended to be used by implementations of GSource. Do not call this API on a GSource that you did not create.

As the name suggests, this function is not available on Windows.

#### Parameters

source | a GSource |
fd | the fd to monitor |
events | an event mask |

#### Returns

an opaque tag.

[not nullable]

Since: 2.36

### g_source_remove_unix_fd ()

    void
    g_source_remove_unix_fd (GSource *source,
                             gpointer tag);

Reverses the effect of a previous call to `g_source_add_unix_fd()`.

You only need to call this if you want to remove an fd from being watched while keeping the same source around. In the normal case you will just want to destroy the source.

This API is only intended to be used by implementations of GSource. Do not call this API on a GSource that you did not create.

As the name suggests, this function is not available on Windows.

#### Parameters

source | a GSource |
tag | the tag from `g_source_add_unix_fd()`. | [not nullable]

Since: 2.36

### g_source_modify_unix_fd ()

    void
    g_source_modify_unix_fd (GSource *source,
                             gpointer tag,
                             GIOCondition new_events);

Updates the event mask to watch for the fd identified by `tag` .

`tag` is the tag returned from `g_source_add_unix_fd()`.

If you want to remove a fd, don't set its event mask to zero. Instead, call `g_source_remove_unix_fd()`.

This API is only intended to be used by implementations of GSource. Do not call this API on a GSource that you did not create.

As the name suggests, this function is not available on Windows.

#### Parameters

source | a GSource |
tag | the tag from `g_source_add_unix_fd()`. | [not nullable]
new_events | the new event mask to watch |

Since: 2.36

### g_source_query_unix_fd ()

    GIOCondition
    g_source_query_unix_fd (GSource *source,
                            gpointer tag);

Queries the events reported for the fd corresponding to `tag` on `source` during the last poll.

The return value of this function is only defined when the function is called from the check or dispatch functions for `source` .

This API is only intended to be used by implementations of GSource. Do not call this API on a GSource that you did not create.

As the name suggests, this function is not available on Windows.

#### Parameters

source | a GSource |
tag | the tag from `g_source_add_unix_fd()`. | [not nullable]

#### Returns

the conditions reported on the fd

Since: 2.36

### g_source_add_poll ()

    void
    g_source_add_poll (GSource *source,
                       GPollFD *fd);

Adds a file descriptor to the set of file descriptors polled for this source. This is usually combined with `g_source_new()` to add an event source. The event source's check function will typically test the `revents` field in the GPollFD struct and return `TRUE` if events need to be processed.

This API is only intended to be used by implementations of GSource. Do not call this API on a GSource that you did not create.

Using this API forces the linear scanning of event sources on each main loop iteration. Newly-written event sources should try to use `g_source_add_unix_fd()` instead of this API.

#### Parameters

source | a GSource |
fd | a GPollFD structure holding information about a file descriptor to watch. |

### g_source_remove_poll ()

    void
    g_source_remove_poll (GSource *source,
                          GPollFD *fd);

Removes a file descriptor from the set of file descriptors polled for this source.

This API is only intended to be used by implementations of GSource. Do not call this API on a GSource that you did not create.

#### Parameters

source | a GSource |
fd | a GPollFD structure previously passed to `g_source_add_poll()`. |

### g_source_add_child_source ()

    void
    g_source_add_child_source (GSource *source,
                               GSource *child_source);

Adds `child_source` to `source` as a "polled" source; when `source` is added to a GMainContext, `child_source` will be automatically added with the same priority, when `child_source` is triggered, it will cause `source` to dispatch (in addition to calling its own callback), and when `source` is destroyed, it will destroy `child_source` as well. (`source` will also still be dispatched if its own prepare/check functions indicate that it is ready.)

If you don't need `child_source` to do anything on its own when it triggers, you can call `g_source_set_dummy_callback()` on it to set a callback that does nothing (except return `TRUE` if appropriate).

`source` will hold a reference on `child_source` while `child_source` is attached to it.

This API is only intended to be used by implementations of GSource. Do not call this API on a GSource that you did not create.

#### Parameters

source | a GSource |
child_source | a second GSource that `source` should "poll" |

Since: 2.28

### g_source_remove_child_source ()

    void
    g_source_remove_child_source (GSource *source,
                                  GSource *child_source);

Detaches `child_source` from `source` and destroys it.

This API is only intended to be used by implementations of GSource. Do not call this API on a GSource that you did not create.

#### Parameters

source | a GSource |
child_source | a GSource previously passed to `g_source_add_child_source()`. |

Since: 2.28

### g_source_get_time ()

    gint64
    g_source_get_time (GSource *source);

Gets the time to be used when checking this source. The advantage of calling this function over calling `g_get_monotonic_time()` directly is that when checking multiple sources, GLib can cache a single value instead of having to repeatedly get the system monotonic time.

The time here is the system monotonic time, if available, or some other reasonable alternative otherwise. See `g_get_monotonic_time()`.

#### Parameters

source | a GSource |

#### Returns

the monotonic time in microseconds

Since: 2.28

### g_source_get_current_time ()

    void
    g_source_get_current_time (GSource *source,
                               GTimeVal *timeval);

`g_source_get_current_time` has been deprecated since version 2.28 and should not be used in newly-written code.

use `g_source_get_time()` instead

This function ignores `source` and is otherwise the same as `g_get_current_time()`.

#### Parameters

source | a GSource |
timeval | GTimeVal structure in which to store current time. |

### g_source_remove ()

    gboolean
    g_source_remove (guint tag);

Removes the source with the given id from the default main context.

The id of a GSource is given by `g_source_get_id()`, or will be returned by the functions `g_source_attach()`, `g_idle_add()`, `g_idle_add_full()`, `g_timeout_add()`, `g_timeout_add_full()`, `g_child_watch_add()`, `g_child_watch_add_full()`, `g_io_add_watch()`, and `g_io_add_watch_full()`.

See also `g_source_destroy()`. You must use `g_source_destroy()` for sources added to a non-default main context.

It is a programmer error to attempt to remove a non-existent source.

More specifically: source IDs can be reissued after a source has been destroyed and therefore it is never valid to use this function with a source ID which may have already been removed. An example is when scheduling an idle to run in another thread with `g_idle_add()`: the idle may already have run and been removed by the time this function is called on its (now invalid) source ID. This source ID may have been reissued, leading to the operation being performed against the wrong source.

#### Parameters

tag | the ID of the source to remove. |

#### Returns

For historical reasons, this function always returns `TRUE`

### g_source_remove_by_funcs_user_data ()

    gboolean
    g_source_remove_by_funcs_user_data (GSourceFuncs *funcs,
                                        gpointer user_data);

Removes a source from the default main loop context given the source functions and user data. If multiple sources exist with the same source functions and user data, only one will be destroyed.

#### Parameters

funcs | The `source_funcs` passed to `g_source_new()` |
user_data | the user data for the callback |

#### Returns

`TRUE` if a source was found and removed.

### g_source_remove_by_user_data ()

    gboolean
    g_source_remove_by_user_data (gpointer user_data);

Removes a source from the default main loop context given the user data for the callback. If multiple sources exist with the same user data, only one will be destroyed.

#### Parameters

user_data | the user_data for the callback. |

#### Returns

`TRUE` if a source was found and removed.

## Types and Values

### GMainLoop

    typedef struct _GMainLoop GMainLoop;

The `GMainLoop` struct is an opaque data type representing the main event loop of a GLib or GTK+ application.

### G_PRIORITY_HIGH

    #define G_PRIORITY_HIGH            -100

Use this for high priority event sources.

It is not used within GLib or GTK+.

### G_PRIORITY_DEFAULT

    #define G_PRIORITY_DEFAULT          0

Use this for default priority event sources.

In GLib this priority is used when adding timeout functions with `g_timeout_add()`. In GDK this priority is used for events from the X server.

### G_PRIORITY_HIGH_IDLE

    #define G_PRIORITY_HIGH_IDLE        100

Use this for high priority idle functions.

GTK+ uses G_PRIORITY_HIGH_IDLE + 10 for resizing operations, and G_PRIORITY_HIGH_IDLE + 20 for redrawing operations. (This is done to ensure that any pending resizes are processed before any pending redraws, so that widgets are not redrawn twice unnecessarily.)

### G_PRIORITY_DEFAULT_IDLE

    #define G_PRIORITY_DEFAULT_IDLE     200

Use this for default priority idle functions.

In GLib this priority is used when adding idle functions with `g_idle_add()`.

### G_PRIORITY_LOW

    #define G_PRIORITY_LOW              300

Use this for very low priority background tasks.

It is not used within GLib or GTK+.

### G_SOURCE_CONTINUE

    #define G_SOURCE_CONTINUE       TRUE

Use this macro as the return value of a GSourceFunc to leave the GSource in the main loop.

Since: 2.32

### G_SOURCE_REMOVE

    #define G_SOURCE_REMOVE         FALSE

Use this macro as the return value of a GSourceFunc to remove the GSource from the main loop.

Since: 2.32

### GMainContext

    typedef struct _GMainContext GMainContext;

The `GMainContext` struct is an opaque data type representing a set of sources to be handled in a main loop.

### GPid

    typedef int GPid;

A type which is used to hold a process identification.

On UNIX, processes are identified by a process id (an integer), while Windows uses process handles (which are pointers).

GPid is used in GLib only for descendant processes spawned with the g_spawn functions.

### G_PID_FORMAT

    #define G_PID_FORMAT "i"

A format specifier that can be used in `printf()`-style format strings when printing a GPid.

Since: 2.50

### struct GPollFD

    struct GPollFD {
    #if defined (G_OS_WIN32) && GLIB_SIZEOF_VOID_P == 8
    #endif
    #else
      gint		fd;
    #endif
      gushort 	events;
      gushort 	revents;
    };

Represents a file descriptor, which events to poll for, and which events occurred.

#### Members

gint `fd`; | the file descriptor to poll (or a HANDLE on Win32) |
gushort `events`; | a bitwise combination from GIOCondition, specifying which events should be polled for. Typically for reading from a file descriptor you would use `G_IO_IN` | `G_IO_HUP` | `G_IO_ERR`, and for writing you would use `G_IO_OUT` | `G_IO_ERR`. |
gushort `revents`; | a bitwise combination of flags from GIOCondition, returned from the `poll()` function to indicate which events occurred. |

### G_POLLFD_FORMAT

    #define G_POLLFD_FORMAT "%d"

A format specifier that can be used in `printf()`-style format strings when printing the `fd` member of a GPollFD.

### struct GSource

    struct GSource {
    };

The `GSource` struct is an opaque data type representing an event source.

### struct GSourceFuncs

    struct GSourceFuncs {
      gboolean (*prepare)  (GSource    *source,
                            gint       *timeout_);
      gboolean (*check)    (GSource    *source);
      gboolean (*dispatch) (GSource    *source,
                            GSourceFunc callback,
                            gpointer    user_data);
      void     (*finalize) (GSource    *source); /* Can be NULL */
    };

The `GSourceFuncs` struct contains a table of functions used to handle event sources in a generic manner.

For idle sources, the prepare and check functions always return `TRUE` to indicate that the source is always ready to be processed. The prepare function also returns a timeout value of 0 to ensure that the `poll()` call doesn't block (since that would be time wasted which could have been spent running the idle function).

For timeout sources, the prepare and check functions both return `TRUE` if the timeout interval has expired. The prepare function also returns a timeout value to ensure that the `poll()` call doesn't block too long and miss the next timeout.

For file descriptor sources, the prepare function typically returns `FALSE`, since it must wait until `poll()` has been called before it knows whether any events need to be processed. It sets the returned timeout to -1 to indicate that it doesn't mind how long the `poll()` call blocks. In the check function, it tests the results of the `poll()` call to see if the required condition has been met, and returns `TRUE` if so.

#### Members

`prepare` () | Called before all the file descriptors are polled. If the source can determine that it is ready here (without waiting for the results of the `poll()` call) it should return `TRUE`. It can also return a `timeout_` value which should be the maximum timeout (in milliseconds) which should be passed to the `poll()` call. The actual timeout used will be -1 if all sources returned -1, or it will be the minimum of all the `timeout_` values returned which were >= 0. Since 2.36 this may be `NULL`, in which case the effect is as if the function always returns `FALSE` with a timeout of -1. If `prepare` returns a timeout and the source also has a 'ready time' set then the nearer of the two will be used. |
`check` () | Called after all the file descriptors are polled. The source should return `TRUE` if it is ready to be dispatched. Note that some time may have passed since the previous prepare function was called, so the source should be checked again here. Since 2.36 this may be `NULL`, in which case the effect is as if the function always returns `FALSE`. |
`dispatch` () | Called to dispatch the event source, after it has returned `TRUE` in either its `prepare` or its `check` function. The `dispatch` function is passed in a callback function and data. The callback function may be `NULL` if the source was never connected to a callback using `g_source_set_callback()`. The `dispatch` function should call the callback function with `user_data` and whatever additional parameters are needed for this type of event source. The return value of the `dispatch` function should be G_SOURCE_REMOVE if the source should be removed or G_SOURCE_CONTINUE to keep it. |
`finalize` () | Called when the source is finalized. |

### struct GSourceCallbackFuncs

    struct GSourceCallbackFuncs {
      void (*ref)   (gpointer     cb_data);
      void (*unref) (gpointer     cb_data);
      void (*get)   (gpointer     cb_data,
                     GSource     *source,
                     GSourceFunc *func,
                     gpointer    *data);
    };

The `GSourceCallbackFuncs` struct contains functions for managing callback objects.

#### Members

`ref` () | Called when a reference is added to the callback object |
`unref` () | Called when a reference to the callback object is dropped |
`get` () | Called to extract the callback function and data from the callback object. |