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Subclass(3pm)	      User Contributed Perl Documentation	 Subclass(3pm)

NAME
       Glib::Object::Subclass - register a perl class as a GObject class

SYNOPSIS
	 use Glib::Object::Subclass
	    Some::Base::Class::,   # parent class, derived from Glib::Object
	    signals => {
		   something_changed => {
		      class_closure => sub { do_something_fun () },
		      flags	    => [qw(run-first)],
		      return_type   => undef,
		      param_types   => [],
		   },
		   some_existing_signal => \&class_closure_override,
	    },
	    properties => [
	       Glib::ParamSpec->string (
		  'some_string',
		  'Some String Property',
		  'This property is a string that is used as an example',
		  'default value',
		  [qw/readable writable/]
	       ),
	    ];

DESCRIPTION
       This module allows you to create your own GObject classes, which is
       useful to e.g. implement your own Gtk2 widgets.

       It doesn't "export" anything into your namespace, but acts more like a
       pragmatic module that modifies your class to make it work as a GObject
       class.

       You may be wondering why you can't just bless a Glib::Object into a
       different package and add some subs.  Well, if you aren't interested in
       object parameters, signals, or having your new class interoperate
       transparently with other GObject-based modules (e.g., Gtk2 and
       friends), then you can just re-bless.

       However, a GObject's signals, properties, virtual functions, and
       GInterface implementations are specific to its GObjectClass.  If you
       want to create a new GObject which was a derivative of GtkDrawingArea,
       but adds a new signal, you must create a new GObjectClass to which to
       add the new signal.  If you don't, then all of the GtkDrawingAreas in
       your application will get that new signal!

       Thus, the only way to create a new signal or object property in the
       Perl bindings for Glib is to register a new subclass with the GLib type
       system via Glib::Type::register_object().  The Glib::Object::Subclass
       module is a Perl-developer-friendly interface to this bit of paradigm
       mismatch.

   USAGE
       This module works similar to the "use base" pragma in that it registers
       the current package as a subclass of some other class (which must be a
       GObjectClass implemented either in C or some other language).

       The pragma requires at least one argument, the parent class name.  The
       remaining arguments are key/value pairs, in any order, all optional:

       - properties => []
	   Add object properties; see "PROPERTIES".

       - signals => {}
	   Add or override signals; see "SIGNALS" and "OVERRIDING BASE
	   METHODS".

       - interfaces => []
	   Add GInterfaces to your class; see "INTERFACES".

       (Actually, these parameters are all passed straight through to
       Glib::Type::register_object(), adding __PACKAGE__ (the current package
       name) as the name of the new child class.)

   OBJECT METHODS AND FUNCTIONS
       The following methods are either added to your class on request (not
       yet implemented), or by default unless your own class implements them
       itself. This means that all these methods and functions will get
       sensible default implementations unless explicitly overwritten by you
       (by defining your own version).

       Except for "new", all of the following are functions and no methods.
       That means that you should not call the superclass method. Instead, the
       GObject system will call these functions per class as required,
       emulating normal inheritance.

       $class->new (attr => value, ...)
	   The default constructor just calls "Glib::Object::new", which
	   allows you to set properties on the newly created object. This is
	   done because many "new" methods inherited by Gtk2 or other
	   libraries don't have "new" methods suitable for subclassing.

       INIT_INSTANCE $self				   [not a method]
	   "INIT_INSTANCE" is called on each class in the hierarchy as the
	   object is being created (i.e., from "Glib::Object::new" or our
	   default "new"). Use this function to initialize any member data.
	   The default implementation will leave the object untouched.

       GET_PROPERTY $self, $pspec			   [not a method]
       SET_PROPERTY $self, $pspec, $newval		   [not a method]
	   "GET_PROPERTY" and "SET_PROPERTY" are called whenever somebody does
	   "$object->get ($propname)" or "$object->set ($propname => $newval)"
	   (from other languages, too).	 The default implementations hold
	   property values in the object hash, equivalent to

	      sub GET_PROPERTY {
		my ($self, $pspec) = @_;
		my $pname = $pspec->get_name;
		return (exists $self->{$pname} ? $self->{$pname}
			: $pspec->get_default_value);  # until set
	      }
	      sub SET_PROPERTY {
		my ($self, $pspec, $newval) = @_;
		$self->{$pspec->get_name} = $newval;
	      }

	   Because "$pspec->get_name" converts hyphens to underscores, a
	   property "line-style" is in the hash as "line_style".

	   These methods let you store/fetch properties in any way you need
	   to.	They don't have to be in the hash, you can calculate
	   something, read a file, whatever.

	   Most often you'll write your own "SET_PROPERTY" so you can take
	   action when a property changes, like redraw or resize a widget.
	   Eg.

	      sub SET_PROPERTY {
		my ($self, $pspec, $newval) = @_;
		my $pname = $pspec->get_name
		$self->{$pname} = $newval; # ready for default GET_PROPERTY

		if ($pname eq 'line_style') {
		  $self->queue_draw;  # redraw with new lines
		}
	      }

	   "GET_PROPERTY" is different from a C get_property method in that
	   the perl method returns the retrieved value. For symmetry, the
	   $newval and $pspec args on "SET_PROPERTY" are swapped from the C
	   usage.

       FINALIZE_INSTANCE $self				   [not a method]
	   "FINALIZE_INSTANCE" is called as the GObject is being finalized,
	   that is, as it is being really destroyed.  This is independent of
	   the more common DESTROY on the perl object; in fact, you must NOT
	   override "DESTROY" (it's not useful to you, in any case, as it is
	   being called multiple times!).

	   Use this hook to release anything you have to clean up manually.
	   FINALIZE_INSTANCE will be called for each perl instance, in reverse
	   order of construction.

	   The default finalizer does nothing.

       $object->DESTROY		  [DO NOT OVERWRITE]
	   Don't ever overwrite "DESTROY", use "FINALIZE_INSTANCE" instead.

	   The DESTROY method of all perl classes derived from GTypes is
	   implemented in the Glib module and (ab-)used for its own internal
	   purposes. Overwriting it is not useful as it will be called
	   multiple times, and often long before the object actually gets
	   destroyed.  Overwriting might be very harmful to your program, so
	   never do that.  Especially watch out for other classes in your ISA
	   tree.

PROPERTIES
       To create gobject properties, supply a list of Glib::ParamSpec objects
       as the value for the key 'properties'.  There are lots of different
       paramspec constructors, documented in the C API reference's Parameters
       and Values page, as well as Glib::ParamSpec.

       As of Glib 1.060, you can also specify explicit getters and setters for
       your properties at creation time.  The default values in your
       properties are also honored if you don't set anything else.  See
       Glib::Type::register_object in Glib::Type for an example.

SIGNALS
       Creating new signals for your new object is easy.  Just provide a hash
       of signal names and signal descriptions under the key 'signals'.	 Each
       signal description is also a hash, with a few expected keys.  All the
       keys are allowed to default.

       flags => GSignalFlags
	   If not present, assumed to be 'run-first'.

       param_types => reference to a list of package names
	   If not present, assumed to be empty (no parameters).

       class_closure => reference to a subroutine to call as the class
       closure.
	   may also be a string interpreted as the name of a subroutine to
	   call, but you should be very very very careful about that.

	   If not present, the library will attempt to call the method named
	   "do_signal_name" for the signal "signal_name" (uses underscores).

	   You'll want to be careful not to let this handler method be a
	   publically callable method, or one that has the name name as
	   something that emits the signal.  Due to the funky ways in which
	   Glib is different from Perl, the class closures should not inherit
	   through normal perl inheritance.

       return_type => package name for return value.
	   If undefined or not present, the signal expects no return value.
	   if defined, the signal is expected to return a value; flags must be
	   set such that the signal does not run only first (at least use
	   'run-last').

       accumulator => signal return value accumulator
	   quoting the Glib manual: "The signal accumulator is a special
	   callback function that can be used to collect return values of the
	   various callbacks that are called during a signal emission."

	   If not specified, the default accumulator is used, and you just get
	   the return value of the last handler to run.

	   Accumulators are not really documented very much in the C
	   reference, and the perl interface here is slightly different, so
	   here's an inordinate amount of detail for this arcane feature:

	   The accumulator function is called for every handler.  It is given
	   three arguments: the signal invocation hint as an anonymous hash
	   (containing the signal name, notably); the current accumulated
	   return value; and the value returned by the most recent handler.
	   The accumulator must return two values: a boolean value determining
	   whether signal emission should continue (false stops the emission),
	   and the new value for the accumulated return value.	(This is
	   different from the C version, which writes through the
	   return_accu.)

OVERRIDING BASE METHODS
       GLib pulls some fancy tricks with function pointers to implement
       methods in C.  This is not very language-binding-friendly, as you might
       guess.

       However, as described above, every signal allows a "class closure"; you
       may override thie class closure with your own function, and you can
       chain from the overridden method to the original.  This serves to
       implement virtual overrides for language bindings.

       So, to override a method, you supply a subroutine reference instead of
       a signal description hash as the value for the name of the existing
       signal in the "signals" hash described in "SIGNALS".

	 # override some important widget methods:
	 use Glib::Object::Subclass
	       Gtk2::Widget::,
	       signals => {
		       expose_event => \&expose_event,
		       configure_event => \&configure_event,
		       button_press_event => \&button_press_event,
		       button_release_event => \&button_release_event,
		       motion_notify_event => \&motion_notify_event,
		       # note the choice of names here... see the discussion.
		       size_request => \&do_size_request,
	       }

       It's important to note that the handlers you supply for these are
       class-specific, and that normal perl method inheritance rules are not
       followed to invoke them from within the library.	 However, perl code
       can still find them!  Therefore it's rather important that you choose
       your handlers' names carefully, avoiding any public interfaces that you
       might call from perl.  Case in point, since size_request is a widget
       method, i chose do_size_request as the override handler.

INTERFACES
       GObject supports only single inheritance; in place of multiple
       inheritance, GObject uses GInterfaces.  In the Perl bindings we have
       mostly masqueraded this with multiple inheritance (that is, simply
       adding the GInterface class to the @ISA of the implementing class), but
       in deriving new objects the facade breaks and the magic leaks out.

       In order to derive an object that implements a GInterface, you have to
       tell the GLib type system you want your class to include a GInterface.
       To do this, simply pass a list of package names through the
       "interfaces" key; this will add these packages to your @ISA, and cause
       perl to invoke methods that you must provide.

	 package Mup::MultilineEntry;
	 use Glib::Object::Subclass
	     'Gtk2::TextView',
	     interfaces => [ 'Gtk2::CellEditable' ],
	     ;

	 # perl will now invoke these methods, which are part of the
	 # GtkCellEditable GInterface, when somebody invokes the
	 # corresponding lower-case methods on your objects.
	 sub START_EDITING { warn "start editing\n"; }
	 sub EDITING_DONE { warn "editing done\n"; }
	 sub REMOVE_WIDGET { warn "remove widget\n"; }

SEE ALSO
	 GObject - http://developer.gnome.org/doc/API/2.0/gobject/

AUTHORS
       Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>, muppet <scott at asofyet dot org>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
       Copyright 2003-2004 by muppet and the gtk2-perl team

       This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
       under the terms of the Lesser General Public License (LGPL).  For more
       information, see http://www.fsf.org/licenses/lgpl.txt

perl v5.10.1			  2010-05-30			 Subclass(3pm)
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