============
g-ir-scanner
============

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Extracting C metadata from sources and headers
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:Manual section: 1


SYNOPSIS
========

**g-ir-scanner** [OPTION...] FILES...


DESCRIPTION
===========

g-ir-scanner is a tool which generates GIR XML files by parsing headers and
introspecting GObject based libraries. It is usually invoked during the normal
build step for a project and the information is saved to disk and later
installed, so that language bindings and other applications can use it. Header
files and source files are passed in as arguments on the command line. The
suffix determines whether a file be treated as a source file (.c) or a header
file (.h). Currently only C based libraries are supported by the scanner.


OPTIONS
=======

--help
    Show help options

--quiet
    If passed, do not print details of normal operation.

--warn-all
    Display warnings for public API which is not introspectable.

--warn-error
    Make warnings be fatal errors.

--strict
    Display warnings for introspectable API that may present issues when
    consumed by known language bindings.

--format=FORMAT
    This parameters decides which the resulting format will be used. The
    default value is gir.

-i NAME, --include=NAME
    Add the specified introspection dependency to the scanned namespace.
    NAME is of the form NAMESPACE-VERSION, like Gtk-3.0.

--include-uninstalled=PATH
    Add the specified introspection dependency to the scanned namespace.
    This differs from ``--include`` in that it takes a file path, and does not
    process the pkg-config dependencies (since they may not be installed yet).

--add-include-path=PATH
    Add a directory to the path which the scanner uses to find GIR files. Can
    be used multiple times to specify multiple directories

-l LIBRARY, --library=LIBRARY
    Specifies a library that will be introspected. This means that the
    \*_get_type() functions in it will be called for GObject data types. The
    name of the library should not contain the leading lib prefix nor the
    ending shared library suffix.

-L, --library-path=PATH
    Include this directory when searching for a library. This option can be
    specified multiple times to include more than one directory to look for
    libraries in.

-Idirectory
    Include this directory in the list of directories to be searched for
    header files. You need to pass to the scanner all the directories you'd
    normally pass to the compiler when using the specified source files.

--c-include=C_INCLUDES
    Headers which should be included in C programs. This option can be
    specified multiple times to include more than one header.

-n, --namespace=NAME
    The namespace name. This name should be capitalized, eg the first letter
    should be upper case. Examples: Gtk, Clutter, WebKit.

--no-libtool
    Disable usage of libtool for compiling stub introspection binary. Use this
    if your build system does not require libtool.

--libtool
    Full path to libtool executable. Typically used for Automake systems.

--nsversion=VERSION
    The namespace version. For instance 1.0. This is usually the platform
    version, eg 2.0 for Gtk+, not 2.12.7.

-p, --program=PROGRAM
    Specifies a binary that will be introspected. This means that the
    \*_get_type() functions in it will be called for GObject data types. The
    binary must be modified to take a ``--introspect-dump=`` option, and to pass
    the argument to this function to g_irepository_dump.

--program-arg=ARG
    Additional argument to pass to program for introspection.

--identifier-prefix=PREFIX
    This option may be specified multiple times. Each one gives a prefix that
    will be stripped from all C identifiers. If none specified, the namespace
    will be used. Eg, an identifier prefix of Foo will export the identifier
    typdef struct _FooBar FooBar; as Foo.Bar.

--symbol-prefix=PREFIX
    This option may be specified multiple times. Each one gives a
    prefix that will be stripped from all C symbols. Eg, an symbol
    prefix of foo will export the symbol foo_bar_do_something as
    Foo.Bar.do_something.

--accept-unprefixed
    If specified, the scanner will accept identifiers and symbols which do not
    match the namespace prefix. Try to avoid using this if possible.

--output=FILENAME
    Name of the file to output. Normally namespace + format extension. Eg,
    GLib-2.0.gir.

--pkg=PACKAGE
    List of pkg-config packages to get compiler and linker flags from. This
    option can be specified multiple times to include flags from several
    pkg-config packages.

--pkg-export=PACKAGE
    List of pkg-config packages that are provided by the generated gir. This
    option can be specified multiple times if the gir provides more packages.
    If not specified, the packages specified with ``--pkg=`` will be used.

--compiler=COMPILER
    The C compiler to be used internally by g-ir-scanner when introspecting
    the run time type information, like properties, signals, ancestors, and
    implemented interfaces. It has the same semantics as the ``CC`` environment
    variable.

--verbose
    Be verbose, include some debugging information.


ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
=====================

The g-ir-scanner uses the ``XDG_DATA_DIRS`` variable to check for dirs, the
girs are located in ``XDG_DATA_DIRS/gir-1.0``. It is normally set on a
distribution so you shouldn't need to set it yourself.

The variable ``GI_SCANNER_DISABLE_CACHE`` ensures that the scanner will not
write cache data to ``$HOME``.

The variable ``GI_SCANNER_DEBUG`` can be used to debug issues in the
build-system that involve g-ir-scanner. When it is set to ``save-temps``, then
g-ir-scanner will not remove temporary files and directories after it
terminates.

The variable ``GI_HOST_OS`` can be used to control the OS name on the host
that runs the scanner. It has the same semantics as the Python ``os.name``
property.


BUGS
====

Report bugs at https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gobject-introspection/issues


HOMEPAGE and CONTACT
====================

https://gi.readthedocs.io/


AUTHORS
=======

Johan Dahlin
