Text

class Text(**properties: Any)

Superclasses: Widget, InitiallyUnowned, Object

Implemented Interfaces: Accessible, AccessibleText, Buildable, ConstraintTarget, Editable

The GtkText widget is a single-line text entry widget.

GtkText is the common implementation of single-line text editing that is shared between Entry, PasswordEntry, SpinButton, and other widgets. In all of these, GtkText is used as the delegate for the Editable implementation.

A fairly large set of key bindings are supported by default. If the entered text is longer than the allocation of the widget, the widget will scroll so that the cursor position is visible.

When using an entry for passwords and other sensitive information, it can be put into “password mode” using set_visibility. In this mode, entered text is displayed using a “invisible” character. By default, GTK picks the best invisible character that is available in the current font, but it can be changed with set_invisible_char.

If you are looking to add icons or progress display in an entry, look at Entry. There other alternatives for more specialized use cases, such as SearchEntry.

If you need multi-line editable text, look at TextView.

CSS nodes

text[.read-only]
├── placeholder
├── undershoot.left
├── undershoot.right
├── [selection]
├── [block-cursor]
╰── [window.popup]

GtkText has a main node with the name text. Depending on the properties of the widget, the .read-only style class may appear.

When the entry has a selection, it adds a subnode with the name selection.

When the entry is in overwrite mode, it adds a subnode with the name block-cursor that determines how the block cursor is drawn.

The CSS node for a context menu is added as a subnode with the name popup.

The undershoot nodes are used to draw the underflow indication when content is scrolled out of view. These nodes get the .left or .right style class added depending on where the indication is drawn.

When touch is used and touch selection handles are shown, they are using CSS nodes with name cursor-handle. They get the .top or .bottom style class depending on where they are shown in relation to the selection. If there is just a single handle for the text cursor, it gets the style class .insertion-cursor.

Accessibility

GtkText uses the NONE role, which causes it to be skipped for accessibility. This is because GtkText is expected to be used as a delegate for a GtkEditable implementation that will be represented to accessibility.

Constructors

class Text

classmethod new() → Widget

Creates a new GtkText.

classmethod new_with_buffer(buffer: EntryBuffer) → Widget

Creates a new GtkText with the specified text buffer.

Parameters:

buffer – The buffer to use for the new GtkText.

Methods

class Text

compute_cursor_extents(position: int) → tuple[Rect, Rect]

Determine the positions of the strong and weak cursors if the insertion point in the layout is at position.

The position of each cursor is stored as a zero-width rectangle. The strong cursor location is the location where characters of the directionality equal to the base direction are inserted. The weak cursor location is the location where characters of the directionality opposite to the base direction are inserted.

The rectangle positions are in widget coordinates.

Added in version 4.4.

Parameters:

position – the character position

get_activates_default() → bool

Returns whether pressing Enter will activate the default widget for the window containing self.

See set_activates_default.

get_attributes() → AttrList | None

Gets the attribute list that was set on the GtkText.

See set_attributes.

get_buffer() → EntryBuffer

Get the GtkEntryBuffer object which holds the text for this widget.

get_enable_emoji_completion() → bool

Returns whether Emoji completion is enabled for this GtkText widget.

get_extra_menu() → MenuModel | None

Gets the menu model for extra items in the context menu.

See set_extra_menu.

get_input_hints() → InputHints

Gets the input hints of the GtkText.

get_input_purpose() → InputPurpose

Gets the input purpose of the GtkText.

get_invisible_char() → str

Retrieves the character displayed when visibility is set to false.

Note that GTK does not compute this value unless it needs it, so the value returned by this function is not very useful unless it has been explicitly set with set_invisible_char.

get_max_length() → int

Retrieves the maximum allowed length of the text in self.

See set_max_length.

This is equivalent to getting self’s GtkEntryBuffer and calling get_max_length on it.

get_overwrite_mode() → bool

Gets whether text is overwritten when typing in the GtkText.

See set_overwrite_mode.

get_placeholder_text() → str | None

Retrieves the text that will be displayed when self is empty and unfocused

If no placeholder text has been set, None will be returned.

get_propagate_text_width() → bool

Returns whether the GtkText will grow and shrink with the content.

get_tabs() → TabArray | None

Gets the tabstops that were set on the GtkText.

See set_tabs.

get_text_length() → int

Retrieves the current length of the text in self.

This is equivalent to getting self’s GtkEntryBuffer and calling get_length on it.

get_truncate_multiline() → bool

Returns whether the GtkText will truncate multi-line text that is pasted into the widget

get_visibility() → bool

Retrieves whether the text in self is visible.

grab_focus_without_selecting() → bool

Causes self to have keyboard focus.

It behaves like grab_focus, except that it doesn’t select the contents of self. You only want to call this on some special entries which the user usually doesn’t want to replace all text in, such as search-as-you-type entries.

set_activates_default(activates: bool) → None

If activates is True, pressing Enter will activate the default widget for the window containing self.

This usually means that the dialog containing the GtkText will be closed, since the default widget is usually one of the dialog buttons.

Parameters:

activates – True to activate window’s default widget on Enter keypress

set_attributes(attrs: AttrList | None = None) → None

Sets attributes that are applied to the text.

Parameters:

attrs – a PangoAttrList

set_buffer(buffer: EntryBuffer) → None

Set the GtkEntryBuffer object which holds the text for this widget.

Parameters:

buffer – a GtkEntryBuffer

set_enable_emoji_completion(enable_emoji_completion: bool) → None

Sets whether Emoji completion is enabled.

If it is, typing ‘:’, followed by a recognized keyword, will pop up a window with suggested Emojis matching the keyword.

Parameters:

enable_emoji_completion – True to enable Emoji completion

set_extra_menu(model: MenuModel | None = None) → None

Sets a menu model to add when constructing the context menu for self.

Parameters:

model – a GMenuModel

set_input_hints(hints: InputHints) → None

Sets input hints that allow input methods to fine-tune their behaviour.

Parameters:

hints – the hints

set_input_purpose(purpose: InputPurpose) → None

Sets the input purpose of the GtkText.

This can be used by on-screen keyboards and other input methods to adjust their behaviour.

Parameters:

purpose – the purpose

set_invisible_char(ch: str) → None

Sets the character to use when in “password mode”.

By default, GTK picks the best invisible char available in the current font. If you set the invisible char to 0, then the user will get no feedback at all; there will be no text on the screen as they type.

Parameters:

ch – a Unicode character

set_max_length(length: int) → None

Sets the maximum allowed length of the contents of the widget.

If the current contents are longer than the given length, then they will be truncated to fit.

This is equivalent to getting self’s GtkEntryBuffer and calling set_max_length on it.

Parameters:

length – the maximum length of the GtkText, or 0 for no maximum. (other than the maximum length of entries.) The value passed in will be clamped to the range 0-65536.

set_overwrite_mode(overwrite: bool) → None

Sets whether the text is overwritten when typing in the GtkText.

Parameters:

overwrite – new value

set_placeholder_text(text: str | None = None) → None

Sets text to be displayed in self when it is empty.

This can be used to give a visual hint of the expected contents of the GtkText.

Parameters:

text – a string to be displayed when self is empty and unfocused

set_propagate_text_width(propagate_text_width: bool) → None

Sets whether the GtkText should grow and shrink with the content.

Parameters:

propagate_text_width – True to propagate the text width

set_tabs(tabs: TabArray | None = None) → None

Sets tabstops that are applied to the text.

Parameters:

tabs – a PangoTabArray

set_truncate_multiline(truncate_multiline: bool) → None

Sets whether the GtkText should truncate multi-line text that is pasted into the widget.

Parameters:

truncate_multiline – True to truncate multi-line text

set_visibility(visible: bool) → None

Sets whether the contents of the GtkText are visible or not.

When visibility is set to False, characters are displayed as the invisible char, and will also appear that way when the text in the widget is copied to the clipboard.

By default, GTK picks the best invisible character available in the current font, but it can be changed with set_invisible_char.

Note that you probably want to set input_purpose to PASSWORD or PIN to inform input methods about the purpose of this self, in addition to setting visibility to False.

Parameters:

visible – True if the contents of the GtkText are displayed as plaintext

unset_invisible_char() → None

Unsets the invisible char.

After calling this, the default invisible char is used again.

Properties

class Text

props.activates_default: bool

Whether to activate the default widget when Enter is pressed.

props.attributes: AttrList

A list of Pango attributes to apply to the text of the GtkText.

This is mainly useful to change the size or weight of the text.

The PangoAttribute’s start_index and end_index must refer to the GtkEntryBuffer text, i.e. without the preedit string.

props.buffer: EntryBuffer

The GtkEntryBuffer object which stores the text.

props.enable_emoji_completion: bool

Whether to suggest Emoji replacements.

props.extra_menu: MenuModel

A menu model whose contents will be appended to the context menu.

props.im_module: str

Which IM (input method) module should be used for this self.

See IMMulticontext.

Setting this to a non-None value overrides the system-wide IM module setting. See the gtk_im_module property.

props.input_hints: InputHints

Additional hints that allow input methods to fine-tune their behaviour.

props.input_purpose: InputPurpose

The purpose of this text field.

This property can be used by on-screen keyboards and other input methods to adjust their behaviour.

Note that setting the purpose to PASSWORD or PIN is independent from setting visibility.

props.invisible_char: int

The character to used when masking contents (in “password mode”).

props.invisible_char_set: bool

Whether the invisible char has been set for the GtkText.

props.max_length: int

Maximum number of characters that are allowed.

Zero indicates no limit.

props.overwrite_mode: bool

If text is overwritten when typing in the GtkText.

props.placeholder_text: str

The text that will be displayed in the GtkText when it is empty and unfocused.

props.propagate_text_width: bool

Whether the widget should grow and shrink with the content.

props.scroll_offset: int

Number of pixels scrolled of the screen to the left.

props.tabs: TabArray

A list of tabstops to apply to the text of the GtkText.

props.truncate_multiline: bool

When True, pasted multi-line text is truncated to the first line.

props.visibility: bool

If False, the text is masked with the “invisible char”.

Signals

class Text.signals

activate() → None

Emitted when the user hits the Enter key.

The default bindings for this signal are all forms of the Enter key.

backspace() → None

Emitted when the user asks for it.

This is a keybinding signal.

The default bindings for this signal are Backspace and Shift`+:kbd:`Backspace.

copy_clipboard() → None

Emitted to copy the selection to the clipboard.

This is a keybinding signal.

The default bindings for this signal are Ctrl`+:kbd:`c and Ctrl`+:kbd:`Insert.

cut_clipboard() → None

Emitted to cut the selection to the clipboard.

This is a keybinding signal.

The default bindings for this signal are Ctrl`+:kbd:`x and Shift`+:kbd:`Delete.

delete_from_cursor(type: DeleteType, count: int) → None

Emitted when the user initiates a text deletion.

This is a keybinding signal.

If the type is CHARS, GTK deletes the selection if there is one, otherwise it deletes the requested number of characters.

The default bindings for this signal are Delete for deleting a character and Ctrl`+:kbd:`Delete for deleting a word.

Parameters:

• type – the granularity of the deletion, as a GtkDeleteType

• count – the number of type units to delete

insert_at_cursor(string: str) → None

Emitted when the user initiates the insertion of a fixed string at the cursor.

This is a keybinding signal.

This signal has no default bindings.

Parameters:

string – the string to insert

insert_emoji() → None

Emitted to present the Emoji chooser for the widget.

This is a keybinding signal.

The default bindings for this signal are :kbd:`Ctrl`+<kbd>.</kbd> and :kbd:`Ctrl`+<kbd>;</kbd>

move_cursor(step: MovementStep, count: int, extend: bool) → None

Emitted when the user initiates a cursor movement.

If the cursor is not visible in self, this signal causes the viewport to be moved instead.

This is a keybinding signal.

Applications should not connect to it, but may emit it with signal_emit_by_name() if they need to control the cursor programmatically.

The default bindings for this signal come in two variants, the variant with the Shift modifier extends the selection, the variant without it does not. There are too many key combinations to list them all here.

• ←, →, ↑, ↓ move by individual characters/lines

• Ctrl`+:kbd:`←, etc. move by words/paragraphs

• Home and End move to the ends of the buffer

Parameters:

• step – the granularity of the move, as a GtkMovementStep

• count – the number of step units to move

• extend – True if the move should extend the selection

paste_clipboard() → None

Emitted to paste the contents of the clipboard.

This is a keybinding signal.

The default bindings for this signal are Ctrl`+:kbd:`v and Shift`+:kbd:`Insert.

preedit_changed(preedit: str) → None

Emitted when the preedit text changes.

If an input method is used, the typed text will not immediately be committed to the buffer. So if you are interested in the text, connect to this signal.

Parameters:

preedit – the current preedit string

toggle_overwrite() → None

Emitted to toggle the overwrite mode of the GtkText.

This is a keybinding signal.

The default bindings for this signal is Insert.

Fields

class Text

parent_instance