Provided by: libdbus-glib-1-dev-bin_0.112-3build2_amd64 
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 deprecated 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.freedesktop.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 annotations:
"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 function, which does not return a
response straight away but will send the response 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 argument 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 expected 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 interfacing 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 ignored.
--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-toolSEE 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 0.112 8 Oct 2018 dbus-binding-tool(1)