FileChooser

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

class FileChooser(*args, **kwargs)

Implementations: FileChooserDialog, FileChooserNative, FileChooserWidget

GtkFileChooser is an interface that can be implemented by file selection widgets.

In GTK, the main objects that implement this interface are FileChooserWidget and FileChooserDialog.

You do not need to write an object that implements the GtkFileChooser interface unless you are trying to adapt an existing file selector to expose a standard programming interface.

GtkFileChooser allows for shortcuts to various places in the filesystem. In the default implementation these are displayed in the left pane. It may be a bit confusing at first that these shortcuts come from various sources and in various flavours, so lets explain the terminology here:

Bookmarks: are created by the user, by dragging folders from the right pane to the left pane, or by using the “Add”. Bookmarks can be renamed and deleted by the user.
Shortcuts: can be provided by the application. For example, a Paint program may want to add a shortcut for a Clipart folder. Shortcuts cannot be modified by the user.
Volumes: are provided by the underlying filesystem abstraction. They are the “roots” of the filesystem.

File Names and Encodings

When the user is finished selecting files in a GtkFileChooser, your program can get the selected filenames as GFile’s.

Adding options

You can add extra widgets to a file chooser to provide options that are not present in the default design, by using add_choice. Each choice has an identifier and a user visible label; additionally, each choice can have multiple options. If a choice has no option, it will be rendered as a check button with the given label; if a choice has options, it will be rendered as a combo box.

Methods

class FileChooser

add_choice(id: str, label: str, options: Sequence[str] | None = None, option_labels: Sequence[str] | None = None) → None

Adds a ‘choice’ to the file chooser.

This is typically implemented as a combobox or, for boolean choices, as a checkbutton. You can select a value using set_choice before the dialog is shown, and you can obtain the user-selected value in the response signal handler using get_choice.

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

Parameters:

id – id for the added choice
label – user-visible label for the added choice
options – ids for the options of the choice, or None for a boolean choice
option_labels – user-visible labels for the options, must be the same length as options

add_filter(filter: FileFilter) → None

Adds filter to the list of filters that the user can select between.

When a filter is selected, only files that are passed by that filter are displayed.

Note that the chooser takes ownership of the filter if it is floating, so you have to ref and sink it if you want to keep a reference.

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

Parameters:: filter – a GtkFileFilter

add_shortcut_folder(folder: File) → bool

Adds a folder to be displayed with the shortcut folders in a file chooser.

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

Parameters:: folder – a GFile for the folder to add

get_action() → FileChooserAction: Gets the type of operation that the file chooser is performing.

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

get_choice(id: str) → str | None

Gets the currently selected option in the ‘choice’ with the given ID.

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

Parameters:: id – the ID of the choice to get

get_create_folders() → bool: Gets whether file chooser will offer to create new folders.

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

get_current_folder() → File | None: Gets the current folder of chooser as GFile.

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

get_current_name() → str | None

Gets the current name in the file selector, as entered by the user.

This is meant to be used in save dialogs, to get the currently typed filename when the file itself does not exist yet.

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

get_file() → File | None

Gets the GFile for the currently selected file in the file selector.

If multiple files are selected, one of the files will be returned at random.

If the file chooser is in folder mode, this function returns the selected folder.

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

get_files() → ListModel: Lists all the selected files and subfolders in the current folder of chooser as GFile.

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

get_filter() → FileFilter | None: Gets the current filter.

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

get_filters() → ListModel

Gets the current set of user-selectable filters, as a list model.

See add_filter and remove_filter for changing individual filters.

You should not modify the returned list model. Future changes to chooser may or may not affect the returned model.

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

get_select_multiple() → bool: Gets whether multiple files can be selected in the file chooser.

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

get_shortcut_folders() → ListModel

Queries the list of shortcut folders in the file chooser.

You should not modify the returned list model. Future changes to chooser may or may not affect the returned model.

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

remove_choice(id: str) → None

Removes a ‘choice’ that has been added with add_choice().

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

Parameters:: id – the ID of the choice to remove

remove_filter(filter: FileFilter) → None

Removes filter from the list of filters that the user can select between.

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

Parameters:: filter – a GtkFileFilter

remove_shortcut_folder(folder: File) → bool

Removes a folder from the shortcut folders in a file chooser.

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

Parameters:: folder – a GFile for the folder to remove

set_action(action: FileChooserAction) → None

Sets the type of operation that the chooser is performing.

The user interface is adapted to suit the selected action.

For example, an option to create a new folder might be shown if the action is SAVE but not if the action is OPEN.

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

Parameters:: action – the action that the file selector is performing

set_choice(id: str, option: str) → None

Selects an option in a ‘choice’ that has been added with add_choice().

For a boolean choice, the possible options are “true” and “false”.

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

Parameters:

id – the ID of the choice to set
option – the ID of the option to select

set_create_folders(create_folders: bool) → None

Sets whether file chooser will offer to create new folders.

This is only relevant if the action is not set to be OPEN.

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

Parameters:: create_folders – True if the Create Folder button should be displayed

set_current_folder(file: File | None = None) → bool

Sets the current folder for chooser from a GFile.

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

Parameters:: file – the GFile for the new folder

set_current_name(name: str) → None

Sets the current name in the file selector, as if entered by the user.

Note that the name passed in here is a UTF-8 string rather than a filename. This function is meant for such uses as a suggested name in a “Save As…” dialog. You can pass “Untitled.doc” or a similarly suitable suggestion for the name.

If you want to preselect a particular existing file, you should use set_file instead.

Please see the documentation for those functions for an example of using set_current_name as well.

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

Parameters:: name – the filename to use, as a UTF-8 string

set_file(file: File) → bool

Sets file as the current filename for the file chooser.

This includes changing to the file’s parent folder and actually selecting the file in list. If the chooser is in SAVE mode, the file’s base name will also appear in the dialog’s file name entry.

If the file name isn’t in the current folder of chooser, then the current folder of chooser will be changed to the folder containing file.

Note that the file must exist, or nothing will be done except for the directory change.

If you are implementing a save dialog, you should use this function if you already have a file name to which the user may save; for example, when the user opens an existing file and then does “Save As…”. If you don’t have a file name already — for example, if the user just created a new file and is saving it for the first time, do not call this function.

Instead, use something similar to this:

static void
prepare_file_chooser (GtkFileChooser *chooser,
                      GFile          *existing_file)
{
  gboolean document_is_new = (existing_file == NULL);

  if (document_is_new)
    {
      GFile *default_file_for_saving = g_file_new_for_path ("./out.txt");
      // the user just created a new document
      gtk_file_chooser_set_current_folder (chooser, default_file_for_saving, NULL);
      gtk_file_chooser_set_current_name (chooser, "Untitled document");
      g_object_unref (default_file_for_saving);
    }
  else
    {
      // the user edited an existing document
      gtk_file_chooser_set_file (chooser, existing_file, NULL);
    }
}

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

Parameters:: file – the GFile to set as current

set_filter(filter: FileFilter) → None

Sets the current filter.

Only the files that pass the filter will be displayed. If the user-selectable list of filters is non-empty, then the filter should be one of the filters in that list.

Setting the current filter when the list of filters is empty is useful if you want to restrict the displayed set of files without letting the user change it.

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

Parameters:: filter – a GtkFileFilter

set_select_multiple(select_multiple: bool) → None

Sets whether multiple files can be selected in the file chooser.

This is only relevant if the action is set to be OPEN or SELECT_FOLDER.

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

Parameters:: select_multiple – True if multiple files can be selected.

Properties

class FileChooser

props.action: FileChooserAction: The type of operation that the file chooser is performing.

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

props.create_folders: bool: Whether a file chooser not in OPEN mode will offer the user to create new folders.

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

props.filter: FileFilter: The current filter for selecting files that are displayed.

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

props.filters: ListModel

A GListModel containing the filters that have been added with add_filter().

The returned object should not be modified. It may or may not be updated for later changes.

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

props.select_multiple: bool: Whether to allow multiple files to be selected.

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead

props.shortcut_folders: ListModel

A GListModel containing the shortcut folders that have been added with add_shortcut_folder().

The returned object should not be modified. It may or may not be updated for later changes.

Deprecated since version 4.10: Use FileDialog instead