GtkDialog: GTK+ 3 Reference Manual

## GtkDialog GtkDialog — Create popup windows |

## Functions

GtkWidget * | gtk_dialog_new ()
GtkWidget * | gtk_dialog_new_with_buttons ()
gint | gtk_dialog_run ()
void | gtk_dialog_response ()
GtkWidget * | gtk_dialog_add_button ()
void | gtk_dialog_add_buttons ()
void | gtk_dialog_add_action_widget ()
void | gtk_dialog_set_default_response ()
void | gtk_dialog_set_response_sensitive ()
gint | gtk_dialog_get_response_for_widget ()
GtkWidget * | gtk_dialog_get_widget_for_response ()
GtkWidget * | gtk_dialog_get_action_area ()
GtkWidget * | gtk_dialog_get_content_area ()
GtkWidget * | gtk_dialog_get_header_bar ()
gboolean | gtk_alternative_dialog_button_order ()
void | gtk_dialog_set_alternative_button_order ()
void | gtk_dialog_set_alternative_button_order_from_array ()

## Properties

int | use-header-bar | Read / Write / Construct Only

## Style Properties

int | action-area-border | Read
int | button-spacing | Read
int | content-area-border | Read
int | content-area-spacing | Read

## Signals

void | close | Action
void | response | Run Last

## Types and Values

struct | GtkDialog
struct | GtkDialogClass
enum | GtkDialogFlags
enum | GtkResponseType

## Object Hierarchy

        GObject
        ╰── GInitiallyUnowned
            ╰── GtkWidget
                ╰── GtkContainer
                    ╰── GtkBin
                        ╰── GtkWindow
                            ╰── GtkDialog
                                ├── GtkAboutDialog
                                ├── GtkAppChooserDialog
                                ├── GtkColorChooserDialog
                                ├── GtkColorSelectionDialog
                                ├── GtkFileChooserDialog
                                ├── GtkFontChooserDialog
                                ├── GtkFontSelectionDialog
                                ├── GtkMessageDialog
                                ├── GtkPageSetupUnixDialog
                                ├── GtkPrintUnixDialog
                                ╰── GtkRecentChooserDialog

## Implemented Interfaces

GtkDialog implements AtkImplementorIface and GtkBuildable.

## Includes

    #include <gtk/gtk.h>

## Description

Dialog boxes are a convenient way to prompt the user for a small amount of input, e.g. to display a message, ask a question, or anything else that does not require extensive effort on the user’s part.

GTK+ treats a dialog as a window split vertically. The top section is a GtkVBox, and is where widgets such as a GtkLabel or a GtkEntry should be packed. The bottom area is known as the “action area”. This is generally used for packing buttons into the dialog which may perform functions such as cancel, ok, or apply.

GtkDialog boxes are created with a call to `gtk_dialog_new()` or `gtk_dialog_new_with_buttons()`. `gtk_dialog_new_with_buttons()` is recommended; it allows you to set the dialog title, some convenient flags, and add simple buttons.

If “dialog” is a newly created dialog, the two primary areas of the window can be accessed through `gtk_dialog_get_content_area()` and `gtk_dialog_get_action_area()`, as can be seen from the example below.

A “modal” dialog (that is, one which freezes the rest of the application from user input), can be created by calling `gtk_window_set_modal()` on the dialog. Use the `GTK_WINDOW()` macro to cast the widget returned from `gtk_dialog_new()` into a GtkWindow. When using `gtk_dialog_new_with_buttons()` you can also pass the GTK_DIALOG_MODAL flag to make a dialog modal.

If you add buttons to GtkDialog using `gtk_dialog_new_with_buttons()`, `gtk_dialog_add_button()`, `gtk_dialog_add_buttons()`, or `gtk_dialog_add_action_widget()`, clicking the button will emit a signal called “response” with a response ID that you specified. GTK+ will never assign a meaning to positive response IDs; these are entirely user-defined. But for convenience, you can use the response IDs in the GtkResponseType enumeration (these all have values less than zero). If a dialog receives a delete event, the “response” signal will be emitted with a response ID of GTK_RESPONSE_DELETE_EVENT.

If you want to block waiting for a dialog to return before returning control flow to your code, you can call `gtk_dialog_run()`. This function enters a recursive main loop and waits for the user to respond to the dialog, returning the response ID corresponding to the button the user clicked.

For the simple dialog in the following example, in reality you’d probably use GtkMessageDialog to save yourself some effort. But you’d need to create the dialog contents manually if you had more than a simple message in the dialog.

An example for simple GtkDialog usage:

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    // Function to open a dialog box with a message
    void
    quick_message (GtkWindow *parent, gchar *message)
    {
     GtkWidget *dialog, *label, *content_area;
     GtkDialogFlags flags;

     // Create the widgets
     flags = GTK_DIALOG_DESTROY_WITH_PARENT;
     dialog = gtk_dialog_new_with_buttons ("Message",
                                           parent,
                                           flags,
                                           _("_OK"),
                                           GTK_RESPONSE_NONE,
                                           NULL);
     content_area = gtk_dialog_get_content_area (GTK_DIALOG (dialog));
     label = gtk_label_new (message);

     // Ensure that the dialog box is destroyed when the user responds

     g_signal_connect_swapped (dialog,
                               "response",
                               G_CALLBACK (gtk_widget_destroy),
                               dialog);

     // Add the label, and show everything we’ve added

     gtk_container_add (GTK_CONTAINER (content_area), label);
     gtk_widget_show_all (dialog);
    }

### GtkDialog as GtkBuildable

The GtkDialog implementation of the GtkBuildable interface exposes the `vbox` and `action_area` as internal children with the names “vbox” and “action_area”.

GtkDialog supports a custom `<action-widgets>` element, which can contain multiple `<action-widget>` elements. The “response” attribute specifies a numeric response, and the content of the element is the id of widget (which should be a child of the dialogs `action_area` ). To mark a response as default, set the “default“ attribute of the `<action-widget>` element to true.

GtkDialog supports adding action widgets by specifying “action“ as the “type“ attribute of a `<child>` element. The widget will be added either to the action area or the headerbar of the dialog, depending on the “use-header-bar“ property. The response id has to be associated with the action widget using the `<action-widgets>` element.

An example of a GtkDialog UI definition fragment:

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    <object class="GtkDialog" id="dialog1">
      <child type="action">
        <object class="GtkButton" id="button_cancel"/>
      </child>
      <child type="action">
        <object class="GtkButton" id="button_ok">
          <property name="can-default">True</property>
        </object>
      </child>
      <action-widgets>
        <action-widget response="cancel">button_cancel</action-widget>
        <action-widget response="ok" default="true">button_ok</action-widget>
      </action-widgets>
    </object>

## Functions

### gtk_dialog_new ()

    GtkWidget *
    gtk_dialog_new (void);

Creates a new dialog box.

Widgets should not be packed into this GtkWindow directly, but into the `vbox` and `action_area` , as described above.

#### Returns

the new dialog as a GtkWidget

### gtk_dialog_new_with_buttons ()

    GtkWidget *
    gtk_dialog_new_with_buttons (const gchar *title,
                                 GtkWindow *parent,
                                 GtkDialogFlags flags,
                                 const gchar *first_button_text,
                                 ...);

Creates a new GtkDialog with title `title` (or `NULL` for the default title; see `gtk_window_set_title()`) and transient parent `parent` (or `NULL` for none; see `gtk_window_set_transient_for()`). The `flags` argument can be used to make the dialog modal (GTK_DIALOG_MODAL) and/or to have it destroyed along with its transient parent (GTK_DIALOG_DESTROY_WITH_PARENT). After `flags` , button text/response ID pairs should be listed, with a `NULL` pointer ending the list. Button text can be arbitrary text. A response ID can be any positive number, or one of the values in the GtkResponseType enumeration. If the user clicks one of these dialog buttons, GtkDialog will emit the “response” signal with the corresponding response ID. If a GtkDialog receives the “delete-event” signal, it will emit ::response with a response ID of GTK_RESPONSE_DELETE_EVENT. However, destroying a dialog does not emit the ::response signal; so be careful relying on ::response when using the GTK_DIALOG_DESTROY_WITH_PARENT flag. Buttons are from left to right, so the first button in the list will be the leftmost button in the dialog.

Here’s a simple example:

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    GtkWidget *main_app_window; // Window the dialog should show up on
    GtkWidget *dialog;
    GtkDialogFlags flags = GTK_DIALOG_MODAL | GTK_DIALOG_DESTROY_WITH_PARENT;
    dialog = gtk_dialog_new_with_buttons ("My dialog",
                                          main_app_window,
                                          flags,
                                          _("_OK"),
                                          GTK_RESPONSE_ACCEPT,
                                          _("_Cancel"),
                                          GTK_RESPONSE_REJECT,
                                          NULL);

#### Parameters

title | Title of the dialog, or `NULL`. | [allow-none]
parent | Transient parent of the dialog, or `NULL`. | [allow-none]
flags | from GtkDialogFlags |
first_button_text | text to go in first button, or `NULL`. | [allow-none]
... | response ID for first button, then additional buttons, ending with `NULL` |

#### Returns

a new GtkDialog

### gtk_dialog_run ()

    gint
    gtk_dialog_run (GtkDialog *dialog);

Blocks in a recursive main loop until the `dialog` either emits the “response” signal, or is destroyed. If the dialog is destroyed during the call to `gtk_dialog_run()`, `gtk_dialog_run()` returns GTK_RESPONSE_NONE. Otherwise, it returns the response ID from the ::response signal emission.

Before entering the recursive main loop, `gtk_dialog_run()` calls `gtk_widget_show()` on the dialog for you. Note that you still need to show any children of the dialog yourself.

During `gtk_dialog_run()`, the default behavior of “delete-event” is disabled; if the dialog receives ::delete_event, it will not be destroyed as windows usually are, and `gtk_dialog_run()` will return GTK_RESPONSE_DELETE_EVENT. Also, during `gtk_dialog_run()` the dialog will be modal. You can force `gtk_dialog_run()` to return at any time by calling `gtk_dialog_response()` to emit the ::response signal. Destroying the dialog during `gtk_dialog_run()` is a very bad idea, because your post-run code won’t know whether the dialog was destroyed or not.

After `gtk_dialog_run()` returns, you are responsible for hiding or destroying the dialog if you wish to do so.

Typical usage of this function might be:

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    GtkWidget *dialog = gtk_dialog_new ();
    // Set up dialog...

    int result = gtk_dialog_run (GTK_DIALOG (dialog));
    switch (result)
      {
        case GTK_RESPONSE_ACCEPT:
           // do_application_specific_something ();
           break;
        default:
           // do_nothing_since_dialog_was_cancelled ();
           break;
      }
    gtk_widget_destroy (dialog);

Note that even though the recursive main loop gives the effect of a modal dialog (it prevents the user from interacting with other windows in the same window group while the dialog is run), callbacks such as timeouts, IO channel watches, DND drops, etc, will be triggered during a `gtk_dialog_run()` call.

#### Parameters

dialog | a GtkDialog |

#### Returns

response ID

### gtk_dialog_response ()

    void
    gtk_dialog_response (GtkDialog *dialog,
                         gint response_id);

Emits the “response” signal with the given response ID. Used to indicate that the user has responded to the dialog in some way; typically either you or `gtk_dialog_run()` will be monitoring the ::response signal and take appropriate action.

#### Parameters

dialog | a GtkDialog |
response_id | response ID |

### gtk_dialog_add_button ()

    GtkWidget *
    gtk_dialog_add_button (GtkDialog *dialog,
                           const gchar *button_text,
                           gint response_id);

Adds a button with the given text and sets things up so that clicking the button will emit the “response” signal with the given `response_id` . The button is appended to the end of the dialog’s action area. The button widget is returned, but usually you don’t need it.

#### Parameters

dialog | a GtkDialog |
button_text | text of button |
response_id | response ID for the button |

#### Returns

the GtkButton widget that was added.

[transfer none]

### gtk_dialog_add_buttons ()

    void
    gtk_dialog_add_buttons (GtkDialog *dialog,
                            const gchar *first_button_text,
                            ...);

Adds more buttons, same as calling `gtk_dialog_add_button()` repeatedly. The variable argument list should be `NULL`-terminated as with `gtk_dialog_new_with_buttons()`. Each button must have both text and response ID.

#### Parameters

dialog | a GtkDialog |
first_button_text | button text |
... | response ID for first button, then more text-response_id pairs |

### gtk_dialog_add_action_widget ()

    void
    gtk_dialog_add_action_widget (GtkDialog *dialog,
                                  GtkWidget *child,
                                  gint response_id);

Adds an activatable widget to the action area of a GtkDialog, connecting a signal handler that will emit the “response” signal on the dialog when the widget is activated. The widget is appended to the end of the dialog’s action area. If you want to add a non-activatable widget, simply pack it into the `action_area` field of the GtkDialog struct.

#### Parameters

dialog | a GtkDialog |
child | an activatable widget |
response_id | response ID for `child` |

### gtk_dialog_set_default_response ()

    void
    gtk_dialog_set_default_response (GtkDialog *dialog,
                                     gint response_id);

Sets the last widget in the dialog’s action area with the given `response_id` as the default widget for the dialog. Pressing “Enter” normally activates the default widget.

#### Parameters

dialog | a GtkDialog |
response_id | a response ID |

### gtk_dialog_set_response_sensitive ()

    void
    gtk_dialog_set_response_sensitive (GtkDialog *dialog,
                                       gint response_id,
                                       gboolean setting);

Calls `gtk_widget_set_sensitive (widget, @setting)` for each widget in the dialog’s action area with the given `response_id` . A convenient way to sensitize/desensitize dialog buttons.

#### Parameters

dialog | a GtkDialog |
response_id | a response ID |
setting | `TRUE` for sensitive |

### gtk_dialog_get_response_for_widget ()

    gint
    gtk_dialog_get_response_for_widget (GtkDialog *dialog,
                                        GtkWidget *widget);

Gets the response id of a widget in the action area of a dialog.

#### Parameters

dialog | a GtkDialog |
widget | a widget in the action area of `dialog` |

#### Returns

the response id of `widget` , or `GTK_RESPONSE_NONE` if `widget` doesn’t have a response id set.

Since: 2.8

### gtk_dialog_get_widget_for_response ()

    GtkWidget *
    gtk_dialog_get_widget_for_response (GtkDialog *dialog,
                                        gint response_id);

Gets the widget button that uses the given response ID in the action area of a dialog.

#### Parameters

dialog | a GtkDialog |
response_id | the response ID used by the `dialog` widget |

#### Returns

the `widget` button that uses the given `response_id` , or `NULL`.

[nullable][transfer none]

Since: 2.20

### gtk_dialog_get_action_area ()

    GtkWidget *
    gtk_dialog_get_action_area (GtkDialog *dialog);

`gtk_dialog_get_action_area` has been deprecated since version 3.12 and should not be used in newly-written code.

Direct access to the action area is discouraged; use `gtk_dialog_add_button()`, etc.

Returns the action area of `dialog` .

#### Parameters

dialog | a GtkDialog |

#### Returns

the action area.

[type Gtk.Box][transfer none]

Since: 2.14

### gtk_dialog_get_content_area ()

    GtkWidget *
    gtk_dialog_get_content_area (GtkDialog *dialog);

Returns the content area of `dialog` .

#### Parameters

dialog | a GtkDialog |

#### Returns

the content area GtkBox.

[type Gtk.Box][transfer none]

Since: 2.14

### gtk_dialog_get_header_bar ()

    GtkWidget *
    gtk_dialog_get_header_bar (GtkDialog *dialog);

Returns the header bar of `dialog` . Note that the headerbar is only used by the dialog if the “use-header-bar” property is `TRUE`.

#### Parameters

dialog | a GtkDialog |

#### Returns

the header bar.

[type Gtk.HeaderBar][transfer none]

Since: 3.12

### gtk_alternative_dialog_button_order ()

    gboolean
    gtk_alternative_dialog_button_order (GdkScreen *screen);

`gtk_alternative_dialog_button_order` has been deprecated since version 3.10 and should not be used in newly-written code.

Deprecated

Returns `TRUE` if dialogs are expected to use an alternative button order on the screen `screen` . See `gtk_dialog_set_alternative_button_order()` for more details about alternative button order.

If you need to use this function, you should probably connect to the ::notify:gtk-alternative-button-order signal on the GtkSettings object associated to `screen` , in order to be notified if the button order setting changes.

#### Parameters

screen | a GdkScreen, or `NULL` to use the default screen. | [allow-none]

#### Returns

Whether the alternative button order should be used

Since: 2.6

### gtk_dialog_set_alternative_button_order ()

    void
    gtk_dialog_set_alternative_button_order
                                   (GtkDialog *dialog,
                                    gint first_response_id,
                                    ...);

`gtk_dialog_set_alternative_button_order` has been deprecated since version 3.10 and should not be used in newly-written code.

Deprecated

Sets an alternative button order. If the “gtk-alternative-button-order” setting is set to `TRUE`, the dialog buttons are reordered according to the order of the response ids passed to this function.

By default, GTK+ dialogs use the button order advocated by the GNOME Human Interface Guidelines with the affirmative button at the far right, and the cancel button left of it. But the builtin GTK+ dialogs and GtkMessageDialogs do provide an alternative button order, which is more suitable on some platforms, e.g. Windows.

Use this function after adding all the buttons to your dialog, as the following example shows:

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    cancel_button = gtk_dialog_add_button (GTK_DIALOG (dialog),
                                           _("_Cancel"),
                                           GTK_RESPONSE_CANCEL);

    ok_button = gtk_dialog_add_button (GTK_DIALOG (dialog),
                                       _("_OK"),
                                       GTK_RESPONSE_OK);

    gtk_widget_grab_default (ok_button);

    help_button = gtk_dialog_add_button (GTK_DIALOG (dialog),
                                         _("_Help"),
                                         GTK_RESPONSE_HELP);

    gtk_dialog_set_alternative_button_order (GTK_DIALOG (dialog),
                                             GTK_RESPONSE_OK,
                                             GTK_RESPONSE_CANCEL,
                                             GTK_RESPONSE_HELP,
                                             -1);

#### Parameters

dialog | a GtkDialog |
first_response_id | a response id used by one `dialog` ’s buttons |
... | a list of more response ids of `dialog` ’s buttons, terminated by -1 |

Since: 2.6

### gtk_dialog_set_alternative_button_order_from_array ()

    void
    gtk_dialog_set_alternative_button_order_from_array
                                   (GtkDialog *dialog,
                                    gint n_params,
                                    gint *new_order);

`gtk_dialog_set_alternative_button_order_from_array` has been deprecated since version 3.10 and should not be used in newly-written code.

Deprecated

Sets an alternative button order. If the “gtk-alternative-button-order” setting is set to `TRUE`, the dialog buttons are reordered according to the order of the response ids in `new_order` .

See `gtk_dialog_set_alternative_button_order()` for more information.

This function is for use by language bindings.

#### Parameters

dialog | a GtkDialog |
n_params | the number of response ids in `new_order` |
new_order | an array of response ids of `dialog` ’s buttons. | [array length=n_params]

Since: 2.6

## Types and Values

### struct GtkDialog

    struct GtkDialog;

The GtkDialog contains only private fields and should not be directly accessed.

### struct GtkDialogClass

    struct GtkDialogClass {
      GtkWindowClass parent_class;

      void (* response) (GtkDialog *dialog, gint response_id);

      /* Keybinding signals */

      void (* close)    (GtkDialog *dialog);
    };

#### Members

`response` () | Signal emitted when an action widget is activated. |
`close` () | Signal emitted when the user uses a keybinding to close the dialog. |

### enum GtkDialogFlags

Flags used to influence dialog construction.

#### Members

GTK_DIALOG_MODAL | Make the constructed dialog modal, see `gtk_window_set_modal()` |
GTK_DIALOG_DESTROY_WITH_PARENT | Destroy the dialog when its parent is destroyed, see `gtk_window_set_destroy_with_parent()` |
GTK_DIALOG_USE_HEADER_BAR | Create dialog with actions in header bar instead of action area. Since 3.12. |

### enum GtkResponseType

Predefined values for use as response ids in `gtk_dialog_add_button()`. All predefined values are negative; GTK+ leaves values of 0 or greater for application-defined response ids.

#### Members

GTK_RESPONSE_NONE | Returned if an action widget has no response id, or if the dialog gets programmatically hidden or destroyed |
GTK_RESPONSE_REJECT | Generic response id, not used by GTK+ dialogs |
GTK_RESPONSE_ACCEPT | Generic response id, not used by GTK+ dialogs |
GTK_RESPONSE_DELETE_EVENT | Returned if the dialog is deleted |
GTK_RESPONSE_OK | Returned by OK buttons in GTK+ dialogs |
GTK_RESPONSE_CANCEL | Returned by Cancel buttons in GTK+ dialogs |
GTK_RESPONSE_CLOSE | Returned by Close buttons in GTK+ dialogs |
GTK_RESPONSE_YES | Returned by Yes buttons in GTK+ dialogs |
GTK_RESPONSE_NO | Returned by No buttons in GTK+ dialogs |
GTK_RESPONSE_APPLY | Returned by Apply buttons in GTK+ dialogs |
GTK_RESPONSE_HELP | Returned by Help buttons in GTK+ dialogs |

## Property Details

### The `“use-header-bar”` property

      “use-header-bar”           int

`TRUE` if the dialog uses a GtkHeaderBar for action buttons instead of the action-area.

For technical reasons, this property is declared as an integer property, but you should only set it to `TRUE` or `FALSE`.

Owner: GtkDialog

Flags: Read / Write / Construct Only

Allowed values: [-1,1]

Default value: -1

Since: 3.12

## Style Property Details

### The `“action-area-border”` style property

      “action-area-border”       int

The default border width used around the action area of the dialog, as returned by `gtk_dialog_get_action_area()`, unless `gtk_container_set_border_width()` was called on that widget directly.

Owner: GtkDialog

Flags: Read

Allowed values: >= 0

Default value: 5

### The `“button-spacing”` style property

      “button-spacing”           int

Spacing between buttons.

Owner: GtkDialog

Flags: Read

Allowed values: >= 0

Default value: 6

### The `“content-area-border”` style property

      “content-area-border”      int

The default border width used around the content area of the dialog, as returned by `gtk_dialog_get_content_area()`, unless `gtk_container_set_border_width()` was called on that widget directly.

Owner: GtkDialog

Flags: Read

Allowed values: >= 0

Default value: 2

### The `“content-area-spacing”` style property

      “content-area-spacing”     int

The default spacing used between elements of the content area of the dialog, as returned by `gtk_dialog_get_content_area()`, unless `gtk_box_set_spacing()` was called on that widget directly.

Owner: GtkDialog

Flags: Read

Allowed values: >= 0

Default value: 0

Since: 2.16

## Signal Details

### The `“close”` signal

    void
    user_function (GtkDialog *dialog,
                   gpointer   user_data)

The ::close signal is a keybinding signal which gets emitted when the user uses a keybinding to close the dialog.

The default binding for this signal is the Escape key.

#### Parameters

user_data | user data set when the signal handler was connected. |

Flags: Action

### The `“response”` signal

    void
    user_function (GtkDialog *dialog,
                   int        response_id,
                   gpointer   user_data)

Emitted when an action widget is clicked, the dialog receives a delete event, or the application programmer calls `gtk_dialog_response()`. On a delete event, the response ID is GTK_RESPONSE_DELETE_EVENT. Otherwise, it depends on which action widget was clicked.

#### Parameters

dialog | the object on which the signal is emitted |
response_id | the response ID |
user_data | user data set when the signal handler was connected. |

Flags: Run Last

## See Also

GtkVBox, GtkWindow, GtkButton