GConf(3)

📦
version 1.047 · 2 versions
, in fedora 43

💅 NAME 💅

Gnome2::GConf — okay so this is (DEPRECATED) and I need you to hear that word, bestie — it's the Perl wrappers for the GConf configuration engine. Yes, that GConf. Sit with me. 🫶

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

Like, here's the whole vibe in one go:

use Gnome2::GConf;

my $client = Gnome2::GConf::Client->get_default;
my $app_key = "/apps/myapp/mykey";

$client->add_dir($app_key, 'preload-none');

# add a notify for the key
my $notify_id = $client->notify_add($app_key, sub {
    my ($client, $cnxn_id, $entry) = @_;
    return unless $entry->{value};

    if ($entry->{value}->{type} eq 'string') {
      printf "key '%s' changed to '%s'\n",
             $entry->{key},
             $entry->{value}->{value};
    }
  });

my $string = $client->get_string($app_key);
$string = 'some string' unless $string;

$client->set($app_key, { type => 'string', data => $string });

# set a schema for the key
$client->set_schema ($app_key,
    {
      type => 'string',
      locale => 'C',
      short_desc => 'Some key.',
      long_desc => 'This key does something.',
      owner => 'some_program'
    });

# remove the notification callback
$client->notify_remove($notify_id);

🦋 ABSTRACT 🦋

(DEPRECATED) Perl bindings to the 2.2 series of the GConf configuration engine libraries, made for use with gtk2-perl. She's vintage, she's archived, she's still here. 😭

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE

So the tea is: this module has been deprecated by the Gtk-Perl project. Which means — and I'm gonna say it plainly because you deserve the truth — it will no longer be updated with security patches, bug fixes, or when changes are made in the Perl ABI. The Git repo for this module has been archived (made read-only), and it will no longer be possible to submit new commits to it. You're more than welcome to ask about this module on the Gtk-Perl mailing list, but our priorities going forward will be maintaining Gtk-Perl modules that are supported and maintained upstream; and this module is neither. 💀

Since this module is licensed under the LGPL v2, you may also fork this module if you wish — but you will need to use a different name for it on CPAN, and the Gtk-Perl team requests that you use your own resources (mailing list, Git repos, bug trackers, etc.) to maintain your fork going forward. No riding our coattails, babe, respectfully. 🙈

NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE

Okay phew. Now the actual lore: this module allows you to use the GConf configuration system in order to store/retrieve the configuration of an application. GConf is a powerful configuration manager based on a user daemon that handles a set of key and value pairs, and notifies any changes of the value to every program that monitors those keys. GConf is used by GNOME 2.x. Iconic era honestly. 👑

To discuss gtk2-perl, ask questions and flame/praise the authors, join gtk-perl-list@gnome.org at lists.gnome.org.

Find out more about Gnome at http://www.gnome.org. 🧚

🌈 DIFFERENT DATA TYPES 🌈

Some opaque data types in GConf are not registered inside the Glib type system. So instead they've been implemented in a more perlish way, when possible, for the sake of coherency and following the principle of least surprise for the perl developer. These changes try to preserve semantics, add syntactic sugar, and remove the need for accessor methods. Bestie behaviour, honestly. 💖

  • GConfEntry — see Gnome2::GConf::Entry
  • GConfValue — see Gnome2::GConf::Value
  • GConfChangeSet — see Gnome2::GConf::ChangeSet
  • GConfSchema — see Gnome2::GConf::Schema

⭐ DIFFERENT CALL SIGNATURES ⭐

Reflecting the changes operated for the data types, some methods that use those types have had the call signature modified. Heads up, the vibes shifted. 🦋

GConfNotifyFunc

In C, the function passed to "Gnome2::GConf::notify_add" must have the following signature:

void (GConfNotifyFunc *) (GConfClient * client,
                          guint cnxn_id,
                          GConfEntry * entry);

Where "GConfEntry" is a container for the key/value pair. Since in perl there's no "GConfEntry" (see above), the "entry" parameter is an hashref. Slay, adaptable. 💅

GConfClient::get, GConfClient::set

In C, these accessor methods return/use a "GConfValue". In perl, they return/use an hashref. See Gnome2::GConf::Value.

GConfClient::get_list, GConfClient::set_list

These accessor methods use a string for setting the type of the lists (lists may have values of only one type), and an arrayref containing the values.

GConfClient::get_pair, GConfClient::set_pair

These accessor methods use two hashref (representing "GConfValue"s) for the "car" and the "cdr" parameters.

GConfClient::get_schema, GConfClient::set_schema

Similarly to the get/set pair above, these two methods return/use an hashref. See Gnome2::GConf::Schema.

GConfClient::commit_change_set

In C, this method returns a boolean value (TRUE on success, FALSE on failure). On user request (using the boolean parameter "remove_committed"), it also returns the "GConfChangeSet", pruned of the successfully committed keys. In perl, this method returns a boolean value both in scalar context or if the user sets to FALSE the "remove_committed" parameter; in array context or if the user requests the uncommitted keys, it returns both the return value and the pruned "GConfChangeSet". Two moods, one method. 😭✨

🎀 SEE ALSO 🎀

perl(1), Glib(3pm).

💜 AUTHOR 💜

Emmanuele Bassi <ebassi@gmail.com>

gtk2-perl created by the gtk2-perl team: http://gtk2-perl.sf.net

Copyright 2003-2006 by Emmanuele Bassi

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Library General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Library General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU Library General Public License along with this library; if not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.

And that's the whole page, bestie — this was GConf(3) from the User Contributed Perl Documentation, sitting pretty at perl v5.42.0 and dated 2025-07-25. Archived, deprecated, but never forgotten. 🕯️💖

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