SearchContext

class SearchContext(**properties: Any)

Superclasses: Object

Search context.

A GtkSourceSearchContext is used for the search and replace in a Buffer. The search settings are represented by a SearchSettings object. There can be a many-to-many relationship between buffers and search settings, with the search contexts in-between: a search settings object can be shared between several search contexts; and a buffer can contain several search contexts at the same time.

The total number of search occurrences can be retrieved with get_occurrences_count. To know the position of a certain match, use get_occurrence_position.

The buffer is scanned asynchronously, so it doesn’t block the user interface. For each search, the buffer is scanned at most once. After that, navigating through the occurrences doesn’t require to re-scan the buffer entirely.

To search forward, use forward or forward_async for the asynchronous version. The backward search is done similarly. To replace a search match, or all matches, use replace and replace_all.

The search occurrences are highlighted by default. To disable it, use set_highlight. You can enable the search highlighting for several GtkSourceSearchContext’s attached to the same buffer. Moreover, each of those GtkSourceSearchContext’s can have a different text style associated. Use set_match_style to specify the Style to apply on search matches.

Note that the highlight and match_style properties are in the GtkSourceSearchContext class, not SearchSettings. Appearance settings should be tied to one, and only one buffer, as different buffers can have different style scheme associated (a SearchSettings object can be bound indirectly to several buffers).

The concept of “current match” doesn’t exist yet. A way to highlight differently the current match is to select it.

A search occurrence’s position doesn’t depend on the cursor position or other parameters. Take for instance the buffer “aaaa” with the search text “aa”. The two occurrences are at positions [0:2] and [2:4]. If you begin to search at position 1, you will get the occurrence [2:4], not [1:3]. This is a prerequisite for regular expression searches. The pattern “.*” matches the entire line. If the cursor is at the middle of the line, you don’t want the rest of the line as the occurrence, you want an entire line. (As a side note, regular expression searches can also match multiple lines.)

In the GtkSourceView source code, there is an example of how to use the search and replace API: see the tests/test-search.c file. It is a mini application for the search and replace, with a basic user interface.

Constructors

class SearchContext
classmethod new(buffer: Buffer, settings: SearchSettings | None = None) → SearchContext

Creates a new search context, associated with buffer, and customized with settings.

If settings is None, a new SearchSettings object will be created, that you can retrieve with get_settings.

Parameters:

Methods

class SearchContext
backward(iter: TextIter) → tuple[bool, TextIter, TextIter, bool]

Synchronous backward search.

It is recommended to use the asynchronous functions instead, to not block the user interface. However, if you are sure that the buffer is small, this function is more convenient to use.

If the wrap_around property is False, this function doesn’t try to wrap around.

The has_wrapped_around out parameter is set independently of whether a match is found. So if this function returns False, has_wrapped_around will have the same value as the wrap_around property.

Parameters:

iter – start of search.

backward_async(iter: TextIter, cancellable: Cancellable | None = None, callback: Callable[[...], None] | None = None, *user_data: Any) → None

The asynchronous version of backward.

See the AsyncResult documentation to know how to use this function.

If the operation is cancelled, the callback will only be called if cancellable was not None. The method takes ownership of cancellable, so you can unref it after calling this function.

Parameters:

  • iter – start of search.

  • cancellable – a Cancellable, or None.

  • callback – a AsyncReadyCallback to call when the operation is finished.

  • user_data – the data to pass to the callback function.

backward_finish(result: AsyncResult) → tuple[bool, TextIter, TextIter, bool]

Finishes a backward search started with backward_async.

See the documentation of backward for more details.

Parameters:

result – a AsyncResult.

forward(iter: TextIter) → tuple[bool, TextIter, TextIter, bool]

Synchronous forward search.

It is recommended to use the asynchronous functions instead, to not block the user interface. However, if you are sure that the buffer is small, this function is more convenient to use.

If the wrap_around property is False, this function doesn’t try to wrap around.

The has_wrapped_around out parameter is set independently of whether a match is found. So if this function returns False, has_wrapped_around will have the same value as the wrap_around property.

Parameters:

iter – start of search.

forward_async(iter: TextIter, cancellable: Cancellable | None = None, callback: Callable[[...], None] | None = None, *user_data: Any) → None

The asynchronous version of forward.

See the AsyncResult documentation to know how to use this function.

If the operation is cancelled, the callback will only be called if cancellable was not None. The method takes ownership of cancellable, so you can unref it after calling this function.

Parameters:

  • iter – start of search.

  • cancellable – a Cancellable, or None.

  • callback – a AsyncReadyCallback to call when the operation is finished.

  • user_data – the data to pass to the callback function.

forward_finish(result: AsyncResult) → tuple[bool, TextIter, TextIter, bool]

Finishes a forward search started with forward_async.

See the documentation of forward for more details.

Parameters:

result – a AsyncResult.

get_buffer() → Buffer
get_highlight() → bool
get_match_style() → Style
get_occurrence_position(match_start: TextIter, match_end: TextIter) → int

Gets the position of a search occurrence.

If the buffer is not already fully scanned, the position may be unknown, and -1 is returned. If 0 is returned, it means that this part of the buffer has already been scanned, and that match_start and match_end don’t delimit an occurrence.

Parameters:

  • match_start – the start of the occurrence.

  • match_end – the end of the occurrence.

get_occurrences_count() → int

Gets the total number of search occurrences.

If the buffer is not already fully scanned, the total number of occurrences is unknown, and -1 is returned.

get_regex_error() → GError | None

Regular expression patterns must follow certain rules. If search_text breaks a rule, the error can be retrieved with this function.

The error domain is RegexError.

Free the return value with free.

get_settings() → SearchSettings
replace(match_start: TextIter, match_end: TextIter, replace: str, replace_length: int) → bool

Replaces a search match by another text. If match_start and match_end doesn’t correspond to a search match, False is returned.

match_start and match_end iters are revalidated to point to the replacement text boundaries.

For a regular expression replacement, you can check if replace is valid by calling check_replacement. The replace text can contain backreferences.

Parameters:

  • match_start – the start of the match to replace.

  • match_end – the end of the match to replace.

  • replace – the replacement text.

  • replace_length – the length of replace in bytes, or -1.

replace_all(replace: str, replace_length: int) → int

Replaces all search matches by another text.

It is a synchronous function, so it can block the user interface.

For a regular expression replacement, you can check if replace is valid by calling check_replacement. The replace text can contain backreferences.

Parameters:

  • replace – the replacement text.

  • replace_length – the length of replace in bytes, or -1.

set_highlight(highlight: bool) → None

Enables or disables the search occurrences highlighting.

Parameters:

highlight – the setting.

set_match_style(match_style: Style | None = None) → None

Set the style to apply on search matches.

If match_style is None, default theme’s scheme ‘match-style’ will be used. To enable or disable the search highlighting, use set_highlight.

Parameters:

match_style – a Style, or None.

Properties

class SearchContext
props.buffer: Buffer

The Buffer associated to the search context.

props.highlight: bool

Highlight the search occurrences.

props.match_style: Style

A Style, or None for theme’s scheme default style.

props.occurrences_count: int

The total number of search occurrences. If the search is disabled, the value is 0. If the buffer is not already fully scanned, the value is -1.

props.regex_error: GError

If the regex search pattern doesn’t follow all the rules, this Error property will be set. If the pattern is valid, the value is None.

Free with free.

props.settings: SearchSettings

The SearchSettings associated to the search context.

This property is construct-only since version 4.0.