Miscellaneous Utility Functions: GLib Reference Manual

## Miscellaneous Utility Functions Miscellaneous Utility Functions — a selection of portable utility functions |

## Functions

const gchar * | g_get_application_name ()
void | g_set_application_name ()
const gchar * | g_get_prgname ()
void | g_set_prgname ()
gchar ** | g_get_environ ()
const gchar * | g_environ_getenv ()
gchar ** | g_environ_setenv ()
gchar ** | g_environ_unsetenv ()
const gchar * | g_getenv ()
gboolean | g_setenv ()
void | g_unsetenv ()
gchar ** | g_listenv ()
const gchar * | g_get_user_name ()
const gchar * | g_get_real_name ()
const gchar * | g_get_user_cache_dir ()
const gchar * | g_get_user_data_dir ()
const gchar * | g_get_user_config_dir ()
const gchar * | g_get_user_state_dir ()
const gchar * | g_get_user_runtime_dir ()
const gchar * | g_get_user_special_dir ()
const gchar * const * | g_get_system_data_dirs ()
const gchar * const * | g_get_system_config_dirs ()
void | g_reload_user_special_dirs_cache ()
gchar * | g_get_os_info ()
const gchar * | g_get_host_name ()
const gchar * | g_get_home_dir ()
const gchar * | g_get_tmp_dir ()
gchar * | g_get_current_dir ()
const gchar * | g_basename ()
gchar * | g_canonicalize_filename ()
gboolean | g_path_is_absolute ()
const gchar * | g_path_skip_root ()
gchar * | g_path_get_basename ()
gchar * | g_path_get_dirname ()
gchar * | g_build_filename ()
gchar * | g_build_filenamev ()
gchar * | g_build_filename_valist ()
gchar * | g_build_path ()
gchar * | g_build_pathv ()
gchar * | g_format_size ()
gchar * | g_format_size_full ()
gchar * | g_format_size_for_display ()
gchar * | g_find_program_in_path ()
#define | g_bit_nth_lsf()
#define | g_bit_nth_msf()
#define | g_bit_storage()
guint | g_spaced_primes_closest ()
void | g_atexit ()
#define | g_abort
guint | g_parse_debug_string ()
void | (*GVoidFunc) ()
void | (*GFreeFunc) ()
void | g_qsort_with_data ()
void | g_nullify_pointer ()

## Types and Values

enum | GUserDirectory
#define | G_OS_INFO_KEY_NAME
#define | G_OS_INFO_KEY_PRETTY_NAME
#define | G_OS_INFO_KEY_VERSION
#define | G_OS_INFO_KEY_VERSION_CODENAME
#define | G_OS_INFO_KEY_VERSION_ID
#define | G_OS_INFO_KEY_ID
#define | G_OS_INFO_KEY_HOME_URL
#define | G_OS_INFO_KEY_DOCUMENTATION_URL
#define | G_OS_INFO_KEY_SUPPORT_URL
#define | G_OS_INFO_KEY_BUG_REPORT_URL
#define | G_OS_INFO_KEY_PRIVACY_POLICY_URL
#define | g_dirname
enum | GFormatSizeFlags
struct | GDebugKey

## Includes

    #include <glib.h>
    #include <glib/gprintf.h>

## Description

These are portable utility functions.

## Functions

### g_get_application_name ()

    const gchar *
    g_get_application_name (void);

Gets a human-readable name for the application, as set by `g_set_application_name()`. This name should be localized if possible, and is intended for display to the user. Contrast with `g_get_prgname()`, which gets a non-localized name. If `g_set_application_name()` has not been called, returns the result of `g_get_prgname()` (which may be `NULL` if `g_set_prgname()` has also not been called).

#### Returns

human-readable application name. May return `NULL`.

[transfer none][nullable]

Since: 2.2

### g_set_application_name ()

    void
    g_set_application_name (const gchar *application_name);

Sets a human-readable name for the application. This name should be localized if possible, and is intended for display to the user. Contrast with `g_set_prgname()`, which sets a non-localized name. `g_set_prgname()` will be called automatically by `gtk_init()`, but `g_set_application_name()` will not.

Note that for thread safety reasons, this function can only be called once.

The application name will be used in contexts such as error messages, or when displaying an application's name in the task list.

#### Parameters

application_name | localized name of the application |

Since: 2.2

### g_get_prgname ()

    const gchar *
    g_get_prgname (void);

Gets the name of the program. This name should not be localized, in contrast to `g_get_application_name()`.

If you are using GApplication the program name is set in `g_application_run()`. In case of GDK or GTK it is set in `gdk_init()`, which is called by `gtk_init()` and the “startup” handler. The program name is found by taking the last component of `argv` [0].

#### Returns

the name of the program, or `NULL` if it has not been set yet. The returned string belongs to GLib and must not be modified or freed.

[nullable][transfer none]

### g_set_prgname ()

    void
    g_set_prgname (const gchar *prgname);

Sets the name of the program. This name should not be localized, in contrast to `g_set_application_name()`.

If you are using GApplication the program name is set in `g_application_run()`. In case of GDK or GTK it is set in `gdk_init()`, which is called by `gtk_init()` and the “startup” handler. The program name is found by taking the last component of `argv` [0].

Since GLib 2.72, this function can be called multiple times and is fully thread safe. Prior to GLib 2.72, this function could only be called once per process.

#### Parameters

prgname | the name of the program. |

### g_get_environ ()

    gchar **
    g_get_environ (void);

Gets the list of environment variables for the current process.

The list is `NULL` terminated and each item in the list is of the form 'NAME=VALUE'.

This is equivalent to direct access to the 'environ' global variable, except portable.

The return value is freshly allocated and it should be freed with `g_strfreev()` when it is no longer needed.

#### Returns

the list of environment variables.

[array zero-terminated=1][element-type filename][transfer full]

Since: 2.28

### g_environ_getenv ()

    const gchar *
    g_environ_getenv (gchar **envp,
                      const gchar *variable);

Returns the value of the environment variable `variable` in the provided list `envp` .

#### Parameters

envp | an environment list (eg, as returned from `g_get_environ()`), or `NULL` for an empty environment list. | [nullable][array zero-terminated=1][transfer none][element-type filename]
variable | the environment variable to get. | [type filename]

#### Returns

the value of the environment variable, or `NULL` if the environment variable is not set in `envp` . The returned string is owned by `envp` , and will be freed if `variable` is set or unset again.

[type filename][nullable]

Since: 2.32

### g_environ_setenv ()

    gchar **
    g_environ_setenv (gchar **envp,
                      const gchar *variable,
                      const gchar *value,
                      gboolean overwrite);

Sets the environment variable `variable` in the provided list `envp` to `value` .

#### Parameters

envp | an environment list that can be freed using `g_strfreev()` (e.g., as returned from `g_get_environ()`), or `NULL` for an empty environment list. | [nullable][array zero-terminated=1][element-type filename][transfer full]
variable | the environment variable to set, must not contain '='. | [type filename]
value | the value for to set the variable to. | [type filename]
overwrite | whether to change the variable if it already exists |

#### Returns

the updated environment list. Free it using `g_strfreev()`.

[array zero-terminated=1][element-type filename][transfer full]

Since: 2.32

### g_environ_unsetenv ()

    gchar **
    g_environ_unsetenv (gchar **envp,
                        const gchar *variable);

Removes the environment variable `variable` from the provided environment `envp` .

#### Parameters

envp | an environment list that can be freed using `g_strfreev()` (e.g., as returned from `g_get_environ()`), or `NULL` for an empty environment list. | [nullable][array zero-terminated=1][element-type filename][transfer full]
variable | the environment variable to remove, must not contain '='. | [type filename]

#### Returns

the updated environment list. Free it using `g_strfreev()`.

[array zero-terminated=1][element-type filename][transfer full]

Since: 2.32

### g_getenv ()

    const gchar *
    g_getenv (const gchar *variable);

Returns the value of an environment variable.

On UNIX, the name and value are byte strings which might or might not be in some consistent character set and encoding. On Windows, they are in UTF-8. On Windows, in case the environment variable's value contains references to other environment variables, they are expanded.

#### Parameters

variable | the environment variable to get. | [type filename]

#### Returns

the value of the environment variable, or `NULL` if the environment variable is not found. The returned string may be overwritten by the next call to `g_getenv()`, `g_setenv()` or `g_unsetenv()`.

[type filename][nullable]

### g_setenv ()

    gboolean
    g_setenv (const gchar *variable,
              const gchar *value,
              gboolean overwrite);

Sets an environment variable. On UNIX, both the variable's name and value can be arbitrary byte strings, except that the variable's name cannot contain '='. On Windows, they should be in UTF-8.

Note that on some systems, when variables are overwritten, the memory used for the previous variables and its value isn't reclaimed.

You should be mindful of the fact that environment variable handling in UNIX is not thread-safe, and your program may crash if one thread calls `g_setenv()` while another thread is calling `getenv()`. (And note that many functions, such as `gettext()`, call `getenv()` internally.) This function is only safe to use at the very start of your program, before creating any other threads (or creating objects that create worker threads of their own).

If you need to set up the environment for a child process, you can use `g_get_environ()` to get an environment array, modify that with `g_environ_setenv()` and `g_environ_unsetenv()`, and then pass that array directly to `execvpe()`, `g_spawn_async()`, or the like.

#### Parameters

variable | the environment variable to set, must not contain '='. | [type filename]
value | the value for to set the variable to. | [type filename]
overwrite | whether to change the variable if it already exists. |

#### Returns

`FALSE` if the environment variable couldn't be set.

Since: 2.4

### g_unsetenv ()

    void
    g_unsetenv (const gchar *variable);

Removes an environment variable from the environment.

Note that on some systems, when variables are overwritten, the memory used for the previous variables and its value isn't reclaimed.

You should be mindful of the fact that environment variable handling in UNIX is not thread-safe, and your program may crash if one thread calls `g_unsetenv()` while another thread is calling `getenv()`. (And note that many functions, such as `gettext()`, call `getenv()` internally.) This function is only safe to use at the very start of your program, before creating any other threads (or creating objects that create worker threads of their own).

If you need to set up the environment for a child process, you can use `g_get_environ()` to get an environment array, modify that with `g_environ_setenv()` and `g_environ_unsetenv()`, and then pass that array directly to `execvpe()`, `g_spawn_async()`, or the like.

#### Parameters

variable | the environment variable to remove, must not contain '='. | [type filename]

Since: 2.4

### g_listenv ()

    gchar **
    g_listenv (void);

Gets the names of all variables set in the environment.

Programs that want to be portable to Windows should typically use this function and `g_getenv()` instead of using the environ array from the C library directly. On Windows, the strings in the environ array are in system codepage encoding, while in most of the typical use cases for environment variables in GLib-using programs you want the UTF-8 encoding that this function and `g_getenv()` provide.

#### Returns

a `NULL`-terminated list of strings which must be freed with `g_strfreev()`.

[array zero-terminated=1][element-type filename][transfer full]

Since: 2.8

### g_get_user_name ()

    const gchar *
    g_get_user_name (void);

Gets the user name of the current user. The encoding of the returned string is system-defined. On UNIX, it might be the preferred file name encoding, or something else, and there is no guarantee that it is even consistent on a machine. On Windows, it is always UTF-8.

#### Returns

the user name of the current user.

[type filename][transfer none]

### g_get_real_name ()

    const gchar *
    g_get_real_name (void);

Gets the real name of the user. This usually comes from the user's entry in the `passwd` file. The encoding of the returned string is system-defined. (On Windows, it is, however, always UTF-8.) If the real user name cannot be determined, the string "Unknown" is returned.

#### Returns

the user's real name.

[type filename][transfer none]

### g_get_user_cache_dir ()

    const gchar *
    g_get_user_cache_dir (void);

Returns a base directory in which to store non-essential, cached data specific to particular user.

On UNIX platforms this is determined using the mechanisms described in the XDG Base Directory Specification. In this case the directory retrieved will be `XDG_CACHE_HOME`.

On Windows it follows XDG Base Directory Specification if `XDG_CACHE_HOME` is defined. If `XDG_CACHE_HOME` is undefined, the directory that serves as a common repository for temporary Internet files is used instead. A typical path is `C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files`. See the documentation for `FOLDERID_InternetCache`.

The return value is cached and modifying it at runtime is not supported, as it’s not thread-safe to modify environment variables at runtime.

#### Returns

a string owned by GLib that must not be modified or freed.

[type filename][transfer none]

Since: 2.6

### g_get_user_data_dir ()

    const gchar *
    g_get_user_data_dir (void);

Returns a base directory in which to access application data such as icons that is customized for a particular user.

On UNIX platforms this is determined using the mechanisms described in the XDG Base Directory Specification. In this case the directory retrieved will be `XDG_DATA_HOME`.

On Windows it follows XDG Base Directory Specification if `XDG_DATA_HOME` is defined. If `XDG_DATA_HOME` is undefined, the folder to use for local (as opposed to roaming) application data is used instead. See the documentation for `FOLDERID_LocalAppData`. Note that in this case on Windows it will be the same as what `g_get_user_config_dir()` returns.

The return value is cached and modifying it at runtime is not supported, as it’s not thread-safe to modify environment variables at runtime.

#### Returns

a string owned by GLib that must not be modified or freed.

[type filename][transfer none]

Since: 2.6

### g_get_user_config_dir ()

    const gchar *
    g_get_user_config_dir (void);

Returns a base directory in which to store user-specific application configuration information such as user preferences and settings.

On UNIX platforms this is determined using the mechanisms described in the XDG Base Directory Specification. In this case the directory retrieved will be `XDG_CONFIG_HOME`.

On Windows it follows XDG Base Directory Specification if `XDG_CONFIG_HOME` is defined. If `XDG_CONFIG_HOME` is undefined, the folder to use for local (as opposed to roaming) application data is used instead. See the documentation for `FOLDERID_LocalAppData`. Note that in this case on Windows it will be the same as what `g_get_user_data_dir()` returns.

The return value is cached and modifying it at runtime is not supported, as it’s not thread-safe to modify environment variables at runtime.

#### Returns

a string owned by GLib that must not be modified or freed.

[type filename][transfer none]

Since: 2.6

### g_get_user_state_dir ()

    const gchar *
    g_get_user_state_dir (void);

Returns a base directory in which to store state files specific to particular user.

On UNIX platforms this is determined using the mechanisms described in the XDG Base Directory Specification. In this case the directory retrieved will be `XDG_STATE_HOME`.

On Windows it follows XDG Base Directory Specification if `XDG_STATE_HOME` is defined. If `XDG_STATE_HOME` is undefined, the folder to use for local (as opposed to roaming) application data is used instead. See the documentation for `FOLDERID_LocalAppData`. Note that in this case on Windows it will be the same as what `g_get_user_data_dir()` returns.

The return value is cached and modifying it at runtime is not supported, as it’s not thread-safe to modify environment variables at runtime.

#### Returns

a string owned by GLib that must not be modified or freed.

[type filename][transfer none]

Since: 2.72

### g_get_user_runtime_dir ()

    const gchar *
    g_get_user_runtime_dir (void);

Returns a directory that is unique to the current user on the local system.

This is determined using the mechanisms described in the XDG Base Directory Specification. This is the directory specified in the `XDG_RUNTIME_DIR` environment variable. In the case that this variable is not set, we return the value of `g_get_user_cache_dir()`, after verifying that it exists.

The return value is cached and modifying it at runtime is not supported, as it’s not thread-safe to modify environment variables at runtime.

#### Returns

a string owned by GLib that must not be modified or freed.

[type filename]

Since: 2.28

### g_get_user_special_dir ()

    const gchar *
    g_get_user_special_dir (GUserDirectory directory);

Returns the full path of a special directory using its logical id.

On UNIX this is done using the XDG special user directories. For compatibility with existing practise, `G_USER_DIRECTORY_DESKTOP` falls back to `$HOME/Desktop` when XDG special user directories have not been set up.

Depending on the platform, the user might be able to change the path of the special directory without requiring the session to restart; GLib will not reflect any change once the special directories are loaded.

#### Parameters

directory | the logical id of special directory |

#### Returns

the path to the specified special directory, or `NULL` if the logical id was not found. The returned string is owned by GLib and should not be modified or freed.

[type filename][nullable]

Since: 2.14

### g_get_system_data_dirs ()

    const gchar * const *
    g_get_system_data_dirs (void);

Returns an ordered list of base directories in which to access system-wide application data.

On UNIX platforms this is determined using the mechanisms described in the XDG Base Directory Specification In this case the list of directories retrieved will be `XDG_DATA_DIRS`.

On Windows it follows XDG Base Directory Specification if `XDG_DATA_DIRS` is defined. If `XDG_DATA_DIRS` is undefined, the first elements in the list are the Application Data and Documents folders for All Users. (These can be determined only on Windows 2000 or later and are not present in the list on other Windows versions.) See documentation for FOLDERID_ProgramData and FOLDERID_PublicDocuments.

Then follows the "share" subfolder in the installation folder for the package containing the DLL that calls this function, if it can be determined.

Finally the list contains the "share" subfolder in the installation folder for GLib, and in the installation folder for the package the application's .exe file belongs to.

The installation folders above are determined by looking up the folder where the module (DLL or EXE) in question is located. If the folder's name is "bin", its parent is used, otherwise the folder itself.

Note that on Windows the returned list can vary depending on where this function is called.

The return value is cached and modifying it at runtime is not supported, as it’s not thread-safe to modify environment variables at runtime.

#### Returns

a `NULL`-terminated array of strings owned by GLib that must not be modified or freed.

[array zero-terminated=1][element-type filename][transfer none]

Since: 2.6

### g_get_system_config_dirs ()

    const gchar * const *
    g_get_system_config_dirs (void);

Returns an ordered list of base directories in which to access system-wide configuration information.

On UNIX platforms this is determined using the mechanisms described in the XDG Base Directory Specification. In this case the list of directories retrieved will be `XDG_CONFIG_DIRS`.

On Windows it follows XDG Base Directory Specification if `XDG_CONFIG_DIRS` is defined. If `XDG_CONFIG_DIRS` is undefined, the directory that contains application data for all users is used instead. A typical path is `C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data`. This folder is used for application data that is not user specific. For example, an application can store a spell-check dictionary, a database of clip art, or a log file in the FOLDERID_ProgramData folder. This information will not roam and is available to anyone using the computer.

The return value is cached and modifying it at runtime is not supported, as it’s not thread-safe to modify environment variables at runtime.

#### Returns

a `NULL`-terminated array of strings owned by GLib that must not be modified or freed.

[array zero-terminated=1][element-type filename][transfer none]

Since: 2.6

### g_reload_user_special_dirs_cache ()

    void
    g_reload_user_special_dirs_cache (void);

Resets the cache used for `g_get_user_special_dir()`, so that the latest on-disk version is used. Call this only if you just changed the data on disk yourself.

Due to thread safety issues this may cause leaking of strings that were previously returned from `g_get_user_special_dir()` that can't be freed. We ensure to only leak the data for the directories that actually changed value though.

Since: 2.22

### g_get_os_info ()

    gchar *
    g_get_os_info (const gchar *key_name);

Get information about the operating system.

On Linux this comes from the `/etc/os-release` file. On other systems, it may come from a variety of sources. You can either use the standard key names like `G_OS_INFO_KEY_NAME` or pass any UTF-8 string key name. For example, `/etc/os-release` provides a number of other less commonly used values that may be useful. No key is guaranteed to be provided, so the caller should always check if the result is `NULL`.

#### Parameters

key_name | a key for the OS info being requested, for example `G_OS_INFO_KEY_NAME`. |

#### Returns

The associated value for the requested key or `NULL` if this information is not provided.

[nullable]

Since: 2.64

### g_get_host_name ()

    const gchar *
    g_get_host_name (void);

Return a name for the machine.

The returned name is not necessarily a fully-qualified domain name, or even present in DNS or some other name service at all. It need not even be unique on your local network or site, but usually it is. Callers should not rely on the return value having any specific properties like uniqueness for security purposes. Even if the name of the machine is changed while an application is running, the return value from this function does not change. The returned string is owned by GLib and should not be modified or freed. If no name can be determined, a default fixed string "localhost" is returned.

The encoding of the returned string is UTF-8.

#### Returns

the host name of the machine.

[transfer none]

Since: 2.8

### g_get_home_dir ()

    const gchar *
    g_get_home_dir (void);

Gets the current user's home directory.

As with most UNIX tools, this function will return the value of the `HOME` environment variable if it is set to an existing absolute path name, falling back to the `passwd` file in the case that it is unset.

If the path given in `HOME` is non-absolute, does not exist, or is not a directory, the result is undefined.

Before version 2.36 this function would ignore the `HOME` environment variable, taking the value from the `passwd` database instead. This was changed to increase the compatibility of GLib with other programs (and the XDG basedir specification) and to increase testability of programs based on GLib (by making it easier to run them from test frameworks).

If your program has a strong requirement for either the new or the old behaviour (and if you don't wish to increase your GLib dependency to ensure that the new behaviour is in effect) then you should either directly check the `HOME` environment variable yourself or unset it before calling any functions in GLib.

#### Returns

the current user's home directory.

[type filename][transfer none]

### g_get_tmp_dir ()

    const gchar *
    g_get_tmp_dir (void);

Gets the directory to use for temporary files.

On UNIX, this is taken from the `TMPDIR` environment variable. If the variable is not set, `P_tmpdir` is used, as defined by the system C library. Failing that, a hard-coded default of "/tmp" is returned.

On Windows, the `TEMP` environment variable is used, with the root directory of the Windows installation (eg: "C:\") used as a default.

The encoding of the returned string is system-defined. On Windows, it is always UTF-8. The return value is never `NULL` or the empty string.

#### Returns

the directory to use for temporary files.

[type filename][transfer none]

### g_get_current_dir ()

    gchar *
    g_get_current_dir (void);

Gets the current directory.

The returned string should be freed when no longer needed. The encoding of the returned string is system defined. On Windows, it is always UTF-8.

Since GLib 2.40, this function will return the value of the "PWD" environment variable if it is set and it happens to be the same as the current directory. This can make a difference in the case that the current directory is the target of a symbolic link.

#### Returns

the current directory.

[type filename][transfer full]

### g_basename ()

    const gchar *
    g_basename (const gchar *file_name);

`g_basename` has been deprecated since version 2.2 and should not be used in newly-written code.

Use `g_path_get_basename()` instead, but notice that `g_path_get_basename()` allocates new memory for the returned string, unlike this function which returns a pointer into the argument.

Gets the name of the file without any leading directory components. It returns a pointer into the given file name string.

#### Parameters

file_name | the name of the file. | [type filename]

#### Returns

the name of the file without any leading directory components.

[type filename]

### g_canonicalize_filename ()

    gchar *
    g_canonicalize_filename (const gchar *filename,
                             const gchar *relative_to);

Gets the canonical file name from `filename` . All triple slashes are turned into single slashes, and all `..` and `.`s resolved against `relative_to` .

Symlinks are not followed, and the returned path is guaranteed to be absolute.

If `filename` is an absolute path, `relative_to` is ignored. Otherwise, `relative_to` will be prepended to `filename` to make it absolute. `relative_to` must be an absolute path, or `NULL`. If `relative_to` is `NULL`, it'll fallback to `g_get_current_dir()`.

This function never fails, and will canonicalize file paths even if they don't exist.

No file system I/O is done.

#### Parameters

filename | the name of the file. | [type filename]
relative_to | the relative directory, or `NULL` to use the current working directory. | [type filename][nullable]

#### Returns

a newly allocated string with the canonical file path.

[type filename][transfer full]

Since: 2.58

### g_path_is_absolute ()

    gboolean
    g_path_is_absolute (const gchar *file_name);

Returns `TRUE` if the given `file_name` is an absolute file name. Note that this is a somewhat vague concept on Windows.

On POSIX systems, an absolute file name is well-defined. It always starts from the single root directory. For example "/usr/local".

On Windows, the concepts of current drive and drive-specific current directory introduce vagueness. This function interprets as an absolute file name one that either begins with a directory separator such as "\Users\tml" or begins with the root on a drive, for example "C:\Windows". The first case also includes UNC paths such as "\\myserver\docs\foo". In all cases, either slashes or backslashes are accepted.

Note that a file name relative to the current drive root does not truly specify a file uniquely over time and across processes, as the current drive is a per-process value and can be changed.

File names relative the current directory on some specific drive, such as "D:foo/bar", are not interpreted as absolute by this function, but they obviously are not relative to the normal current directory as returned by `getcwd()` or `g_get_current_dir()` either. Such paths should be avoided, or need to be handled using Windows-specific code.

#### Parameters

file_name | a file name. | [type filename]

#### Returns

`TRUE` if `file_name` is absolute

### g_path_skip_root ()

    const gchar *
    g_path_skip_root (const gchar *file_name);

Returns a pointer into `file_name` after the root component, i.e. after the "/" in UNIX or "C:\" under Windows. If `file_name` is not an absolute path it returns `NULL`.

#### Parameters

file_name | a file name. | [type filename]

#### Returns

a pointer into `file_name` after the root component.

[type filename][nullable]

### g_path_get_basename ()

    gchar *
    g_path_get_basename (const gchar *file_name);

Gets the last component of the filename.

If `file_name` ends with a directory separator it gets the component before the last slash. If `file_name` consists only of directory separators (and on Windows, possibly a drive letter), a single separator is returned. If `file_name` is empty, it gets ".".

#### Parameters

file_name | the name of the file. | [type filename]

#### Returns

a newly allocated string containing the last component of the filename.

[type filename][transfer full]

### g_path_get_dirname ()

    gchar *
    g_path_get_dirname (const gchar *file_name);

Gets the directory components of a file name. For example, the directory component of `/usr/bin/test` is `/usr/bin`. The directory component of `/` is `/`.

If the file name has no directory components "." is returned. The returned string should be freed when no longer needed.

#### Parameters

file_name | the name of the file. | [type filename]

#### Returns

the directory components of the file.

[type filename][transfer full]

### g_build_filename ()

    gchar *
    g_build_filename (const gchar *first_element,
                      ...);

Creates a filename from a series of elements using the correct separator for the current platform.

On Unix, this function behaves identically to `g_build_path (G_DIR_SEPARATOR_S, first_element, ....)`.

On Windows, it takes into account that either the backslash (`\` or slash (`/`) can be used as separator in filenames, but otherwise behaves as on UNIX. When file pathname separators need to be inserted, the one that last previously occurred in the parameters (reading from left to right) is used.

No attempt is made to force the resulting filename to be an absolute path. If the first element is a relative path, the result will be a relative path.

If you are building a path programmatically you may want to use GPathBuf instead.

#### Parameters

first_element | the first element in the path. | [type filename]
... | remaining elements in path, terminated by `NULL` |

#### Returns

the newly allocated path.

[type filename][transfer full]

### g_build_filenamev ()

    gchar *
    g_build_filenamev (gchar **args);

Creates a filename from a vector of elements using the correct separator for the current platform.

This function behaves exactly like `g_build_filename()`, but takes the path elements as a string array, instead of varargs. This function is mainly meant for language bindings.

If you are building a path programmatically you may want to use GPathBuf instead.

#### Parameters

args | `NULL`-terminated array of strings containing the path elements. | [array zero-terminated=1][element-type filename]

#### Returns

the newly allocated path.

[type filename][transfer full]

Since: 2.8

### g_build_filename_valist ()

    gchar *
    g_build_filename_valist (const gchar *first_element,
                             va_list *args);

Creates a filename from a list of elements using the correct separator for the current platform.

Behaves exactly like `g_build_filename()`, but takes the path elements as a va_list.

This function is mainly meant for implementing other variadic arguments functions.

#### Parameters

first_element | the first element in the path. | [type filename]
args | va_list of remaining elements in path |

#### Returns

the newly allocated path.

[type filename][transfer full]

Since: 2.56

### g_build_path ()

    gchar *
    g_build_path (const gchar *separator,
                  const gchar *first_element,
                  ...);

Creates a path from a series of elements using `separator` as the separator between elements.

At the boundary between two elements, any trailing occurrences of separator in the first element, or leading occurrences of separator in the second element are removed and exactly one copy of the separator is inserted.

Empty elements are ignored.

The number of leading copies of the separator on the result is the same as the number of leading copies of the separator on the first non-empty element.

The number of trailing copies of the separator on the result is the same as the number of trailing copies of the separator on the last non-empty element. (Determination of the number of trailing copies is done without stripping leading copies, so if the separator is `ABA`, then `ABABA` has 1 trailing copy.)

However, if there is only a single non-empty element, and there are no characters in that element not part of the leading or trailing separators, then the result is exactly the original value of that element.

Other than for determination of the number of leading and trailing copies of the separator, elements consisting only of copies of the separator are ignored.

#### Parameters

separator | a string used to separator the elements of the path. | [type filename]
first_element | the first element in the path. | [type filename]
... | remaining elements in path, terminated by `NULL` |

#### Returns

the newly allocated path.

[type filename][transfer full]

### g_build_pathv ()

    gchar *
    g_build_pathv (const gchar *separator,
                   gchar **args);

Behaves exactly like `g_build_path()`, but takes the path elements as a string array, instead of variadic arguments.

This function is mainly meant for language bindings.

#### Parameters

separator | a string used to separator the elements of the path. |
args | `NULL`-terminated array of strings containing the path elements. | [array zero-terminated=1][element-type filename]

#### Returns

a newly-allocated string that must be freed with `g_free()`.

[type filename][transfer full]

Since: 2.8

### g_format_size ()

    gchar *
    g_format_size (guint64 size);

Formats a size (for example the size of a file) into a human readable string. Sizes are rounded to the nearest size prefix (kB, MB, GB) and are displayed rounded to the nearest tenth. E.g. the file size 3292528 bytes will be converted into the string "3.2 MB". The returned string is UTF-8, and may use a non-breaking space to separate the number and units, to ensure they aren’t separated when line wrapped.

The prefix units base is 1000 (i.e. 1 kB is 1000 bytes).

This string should be freed with `g_free()` when not needed any longer.

See `g_format_size_full()` for more options about how the size might be formatted.

#### Parameters

size | a size in bytes |

#### Returns

a newly-allocated formatted string containing a human readable file size.

[transfer full]

Since: 2.30

### g_format_size_full ()

    gchar *
    g_format_size_full (guint64 size,
                        GFormatSizeFlags flags);

Formats a size.

This function is similar to `g_format_size()` but allows for flags that modify the output. See GFormatSizeFlags.

#### Parameters

size | a size in bytes |
flags | GFormatSizeFlags to modify the output |

#### Returns

a newly-allocated formatted string containing a human readable file size.

[transfer full]

Since: 2.30

### g_format_size_for_display ()

    gchar *
    g_format_size_for_display (goffset size);

`g_format_size_for_display` has been deprecated since version 2.30 and should not be used in newly-written code.

This function is broken due to its use of SI suffixes to denote IEC units. Use `g_format_size()` instead.

Formats a size (for example the size of a file) into a human readable string. Sizes are rounded to the nearest size prefix (KB, MB, GB) and are displayed rounded to the nearest tenth. E.g. the file size 3292528 bytes will be converted into the string "3.1 MB".

The prefix units base is 1024 (i.e. 1 KB is 1024 bytes).

This string should be freed with `g_free()` when not needed any longer.

#### Parameters

size | a size in bytes |

#### Returns

a newly-allocated formatted string containing a human readable file size.

[transfer full]

Since: 2.16

### g_find_program_in_path ()

    gchar *
    g_find_program_in_path (const gchar *program);

Locates the first executable named `program` in the user's path, in the same way that `execvp()` would locate it. Returns an allocated string with the absolute path name, or `NULL` if the program is not found in the path. If `program` is already an absolute path, returns a copy of `program` if `program` exists and is executable, and `NULL` otherwise.

On Windows, if `program` does not have a file type suffix, tries with the suffixes .exe, .cmd, .bat and .com, and the suffixes in the `PATHEXT` environment variable.

On Windows, it looks for the file in the same way as `CreateProcess()` would. This means first in the directory where the executing program was loaded from, then in the current directory, then in the Windows 32-bit system directory, then in the Windows directory, and finally in the directories in the `PATH` environment variable. If the program is found, the return value contains the full name including the type suffix.

#### Parameters

program | a program name in the GLib file name encoding. | [type filename]

#### Returns

a newly-allocated string with the absolute path, or `NULL`.

[type filename][transfer full][nullable]

### g_bit_nth_lsf()

    #define             g_bit_nth_lsf(mask, nth_bit)

Find the position of the first bit set in `mask` , searching from (but not including) `nth_bit` upwards. Bits are numbered from 0 (least significant) to sizeof(gulong) * 8 - 1 (31 or 63, usually). To start searching from the 0th bit, set `nth_bit` to -1.

#### Parameters

mask | a gulong containing flags |
nth_bit | the index of the bit to start the search from |

#### Returns

the index of the first bit set which is higher than `nth_bit` , or -1 if no higher bits are set

### g_bit_nth_msf()

    #define             g_bit_nth_msf(mask, nth_bit)

Find the position of the first bit set in `mask` , searching from (but not including) `nth_bit` downwards. Bits are numbered from 0 (least significant) to sizeof(gulong) * 8 - 1 (31 or 63, usually). To start searching from the last bit, set `nth_bit` to -1 or GLIB_SIZEOF_LONG * 8.

#### Parameters

mask | a gulong containing flags |
nth_bit | the index of the bit to start the search from |

#### Returns

the index of the first bit set which is lower than `nth_bit` , or -1 if no lower bits are set

### g_bit_storage()

    #define             g_bit_storage(number)

Gets the number of bits used to hold `number` , e.g. if `number` is 4, 3 bits are needed.

#### Parameters

number | a guint |

#### Returns

the number of bits used to hold `number`

### g_spaced_primes_closest ()

    guint
    g_spaced_primes_closest (guint num);

Gets the smallest prime number from a built-in array of primes which is larger than `num` . This is used within GLib to calculate the optimum size of a GHashTable.

The built-in array of primes ranges from 11 to 13845163 such that each prime is approximately 1.5-2 times the previous prime.

#### Parameters

num | a guint |

#### Returns

the smallest prime number from a built-in array of primes which is larger than `num`

### g_atexit ()

    void
    g_atexit (GVoidFunc func);

`g_atexit` has been deprecated since version 2.32 and should not be used in newly-written code.

It is best to avoid `g_atexit()`.

Specifies a function to be called at normal program termination.

Since GLib 2.8.2, on Windows `g_atexit()` actually is a preprocessor macro that maps to a call to the `atexit()` function in the C library. This means that in case the code that calls `g_atexit()`, i.e. `atexit()`, is in a DLL, the function will be called when the DLL is detached from the program. This typically makes more sense than that the function is called when the GLib DLL is detached, which happened earlier when `g_atexit()` was a function in the GLib DLL.

The behaviour of `atexit()` in the context of dynamically loaded modules is not formally specified and varies wildly.

On POSIX systems, calling `g_atexit()` (or `atexit()`) in a dynamically loaded module which is unloaded before the program terminates might well cause a crash at program exit.

Some POSIX systems implement `atexit()` like Windows, and have each dynamically loaded module maintain an own atexit chain that is called when the module is unloaded.

On other POSIX systems, before a dynamically loaded module is unloaded, the registered atexit functions (if any) residing in that module are called, regardless where the code that registered them resided. This is presumably the most robust approach.

As can be seen from the above, for portability it's best to avoid calling `g_atexit()` (or `atexit()`) except in the main executable of a program.

#### Parameters

func | the function to call on normal program termination. | [scope async]

### g_abort

    #define             g_abort()

A wrapper for the POSIX `abort()` function.

On Windows it is a function that makes extra effort (including a call to `abort()`) to ensure that a debugger-catchable exception is thrown before the program terminates.

See your C library manual for more details about `abort()`.

Since: 2.50

### g_parse_debug_string ()

    guint
    g_parse_debug_string (const gchar *string,
                          const GDebugKey *keys,
                          guint nkeys);

Parses a string containing debugging options into a `guint` containing bit flags. This is used within GDK and GTK to parse the debug options passed on the command line or through environment variables.

If `string` is equal to "all", all flags are set. Any flags specified along with "all" in `string` are inverted; thus, "all,foo,bar" or "foo,bar,all" sets all flags except those corresponding to "foo" and "bar".

If `string` is equal to "help", all the available keys in `keys` are printed out to standard error.

#### Parameters

string | a list of debug options separated by colons, spaces, or commas, or `NULL`. | [nullable]
keys | pointer to an array of GDebugKey which associate strings with bit flags. | [array length=nkeys]
nkeys | the number of GDebugKeys in the array. |

#### Returns

the combined set of bit flags.

### GVoidFunc ()

    void
    (*GVoidFunc) (void);

`GVoidFunc` is deprecated and should not be used in newly-written code.

Declares a type of function which takes no arguments and has no return value. It is used to specify the type function passed to `g_atexit()`.

### GFreeFunc ()

    void
    (*GFreeFunc) (gpointer data);

Declares a type of function which takes an arbitrary data pointer argument and has no return value. It is not currently used in GLib or GTK.

#### Parameters

data | a data pointer |

### g_qsort_with_data ()

    void
    g_qsort_with_data (gconstpointer pbase,
                       gint total_elems,
                       gsize size,
                       GCompareDataFunc compare_func,
                       gpointer user_data);

This is just like the standard C `qsort()` function, but the comparison routine accepts a user data argument.

This is guaranteed to be a stable sort since version 2.32.

#### Parameters

pbase | start of array to sort. | [not nullable]
total_elems | elements in the array |
size | size of each element |
compare_func | function to compare elements |
user_data | data to pass to `compare_func` |

### g_nullify_pointer ()

    void
    g_nullify_pointer (gpointer *nullify_location);

Set the pointer at the specified location to `NULL`.

#### Parameters

nullify_location | the memory address of the pointer. | [not nullable]

## Types and Values

### enum GUserDirectory

These are logical ids for special directories which are defined depending on the platform used. You should use `g_get_user_special_dir()` to retrieve the full path associated to the logical id.

The GUserDirectory enumeration can be extended at later date. Not every platform has a directory for every logical id in this enumeration.

#### Members

G_USER_DIRECTORY_DESKTOP | the user's Desktop directory |
G_USER_DIRECTORY_DOCUMENTS | the user's Documents directory |
G_USER_DIRECTORY_DOWNLOAD | the user's Downloads directory |
G_USER_DIRECTORY_MUSIC | the user's Music directory |
G_USER_DIRECTORY_PICTURES | the user's Pictures directory |
G_USER_DIRECTORY_PUBLIC_SHARE | the user's shared directory |
G_USER_DIRECTORY_TEMPLATES | the user's Templates directory |
G_USER_DIRECTORY_VIDEOS | the user's Movies directory |
G_USER_N_DIRECTORIES | the number of enum values |

Since: 2.14

### G_OS_INFO_KEY_NAME

    #define             G_OS_INFO_KEY_NAME

A key to get the name of the operating system excluding version information suitable for presentation to the user, e.g. "YoYoOS"

Since: 2.64

### G_OS_INFO_KEY_PRETTY_NAME

    #define             G_OS_INFO_KEY_PRETTY_NAME

A key to get the name of the operating system in a format suitable for presentation to the user, e.g. "YoYoOS Foo"

Since: 2.64

### G_OS_INFO_KEY_VERSION

    #define             G_OS_INFO_KEY_VERSION

A key to get the operating system version suitable for presentation to the user, e.g. "42 (Foo)"

Since: 2.64

### G_OS_INFO_KEY_VERSION_CODENAME

    #define             G_OS_INFO_KEY_VERSION_CODENAME

A key to get a codename identifying the operating system release suitable for processing by scripts or usage in generated filenames, e.g. "foo"

Since: 2.64

### G_OS_INFO_KEY_VERSION_ID

    #define             G_OS_INFO_KEY_VERSION_ID

A key to get the version of the operating system suitable for processing by scripts or usage in generated filenames, e.g. "42"

Since: 2.64

### G_OS_INFO_KEY_ID

    #define             G_OS_INFO_KEY_ID

A key to get an ID identifying the operating system suitable for processing by scripts or usage in generated filenames, e.g. "yoyoos"

Since: 2.64

### G_OS_INFO_KEY_HOME_URL

    #define             G_OS_INFO_KEY_HOME_URL

A key to get the homepage for the operating system, e.g. "https://www.yoyo-os.com/"

Since: 2.64

### G_OS_INFO_KEY_DOCUMENTATION_URL

    #define             G_OS_INFO_KEY_DOCUMENTATION_URL

A key to get the documentation page for the operating system, e.g. "https://docs.yoyo-os.com/"

Since: 2.64

### G_OS_INFO_KEY_SUPPORT_URL

    #define             G_OS_INFO_KEY_SUPPORT_URL

A key to get the support page for the operating system, e.g. "https://support.yoyo-os.com/"

Since: 2.64

### G_OS_INFO_KEY_BUG_REPORT_URL

    #define             G_OS_INFO_KEY_BUG_REPORT_URL

A key to get the bug reporting page for the operating system, e.g. "https://bugs.yoyo-os.com/"

Since: 2.64

### G_OS_INFO_KEY_PRIVACY_POLICY_URL

    #define             G_OS_INFO_KEY_PRIVACY_POLICY_URL

A key to get the privacy policy for the operating system, e.g. "https://privacy.yoyo-os.com/"

Since: 2.64

### g_dirname

    #define             g_dirname

`g_dirname` is deprecated and should not be used in newly-written code.

use `g_path_get_dirname()` instead

Gets the directory components of a file name.

If the file name has no directory components "." is returned. The returned string should be freed when no longer needed.

#### Parameters

file_name | the name of the file. | [type filename]

#### Returns

the directory components of the file.

[type filename][transfer full]

### enum GFormatSizeFlags

Flags to modify the format of the string returned by `g_format_size_full()`.

#### Members

G_FORMAT_SIZE_DEFAULT | behave the same as `g_format_size()` |
G_FORMAT_SIZE_LONG_FORMAT | include the exact number of bytes as part of the returned string. For example, "45.6 kB (45,612 bytes)". |
G_FORMAT_SIZE_IEC_UNITS | use IEC (base 1024) units with "KiB"-style suffixes. IEC units should only be used for reporting things with a strong "power of 2" basis, like RAM sizes or RAID stripe sizes. Network and storage sizes should be reported in the normal SI units. |
G_FORMAT_SIZE_BITS | set the size as a quantity in bits, rather than bytes, and return units in bits. For example, ‘Mb’ rather than ‘MB’. |
G_FORMAT_SIZE_ONLY_VALUE | return only value, without unit; this should not be used together with `G_FORMAT_SIZE_LONG_FORMAT` nor `G_FORMAT_SIZE_ONLY_UNIT` . Since: 2.74 |
G_FORMAT_SIZE_ONLY_UNIT | return only unit, without value; this should not be used together with `G_FORMAT_SIZE_LONG_FORMAT` nor `G_FORMAT_SIZE_ONLY_VALUE` . Since: 2.74 |

### struct GDebugKey

    struct GDebugKey {
      const gchar *key;
      guint	       value;
    };

Associates a string with a bit flag. Used in `g_parse_debug_string()`.

#### Members

const gchar *`key`; | the string |
guint `value`; | the flag |