dbus-binding-tool(1)		  User Commands		    dbus-binding-tool(1)

NAME
     dbus-binding-tool - C language dbus-glib bindings generation utility.

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

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

EXTENDED DESCRIPTION

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

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

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

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

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

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

     "org.freedesktop.DBus.GLib.CSymbol"

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

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

     "org.freedesktop.DBus.GLib.Async"

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

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

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

     For example:

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

     "org.freedesktop.DBus.GLib.Const"

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

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

     "org.freedesktop.DBus.GLib.ReturnVal"

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

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

OPTIONS
     The following options are supported:

     --force

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



     --help

	 Display usage information.



     --ignore-unsupported

	 If  set,  then	 unsupported  signatures for <method> parameters are ig-
	 nored.



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

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



     --output=file

	 Specify the output file.



     --prefix=symbol-prefix

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



     --version

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



OPERANDS
     The following operands are supported:

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



FILES
     The following files are used by this application:

     ${exec_prefix}/bin/dbus-binding-Executable	 for  the D-Bus Binding Tool ap-
				     plication.



SEE ALSO
     gdbus-codegen(1), dbus-cleanup-sockets(1), dbus-daemon(1), dbus-monitor(1),
     dbus-send(1), dbus-uuidgen(1)

NOTES
     dbus-binding-tool is part of dbus-glib, which is a deprecated D-Bus binding
     for GLib.

     dbus-glib receives minimal maintenance and security fixes for  the	 benefit
     of	 projects  like	 Telepathy and NetworkManager that still rely on it, but
     should not be used in new projects (and existing  projects	 should	 try  to
     move away from it, too). Please use GDBus, part of GLib since 2.26.

     gdbus-codegen(1) is the GDBus replacement for dbus-binding-tool.

AUTHORS
     Man page written by Brian Cameron, Sun Microsystems Inc., 2009.


dbus-glib 0.114			   8 Oct 2018		    dbus-binding-tool(1)