GtkSourceSearchContext

Search context.

A GtkSourceSearchContext is used for the search and replace in a GtkSourceBuffer. The search settings are represented by a GtkSourceSearchSettings 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 gtk_source_search_context_get_occurrences_count(). To know the position of a certain match, use gtk_source_search_context_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 gtk_source_search_context_forward() or gtk_source_search_context_forward_async() for the asynchronous version. The backward search is done similarly. To replace a search match, or all matches, use gtk_source_search_context_replace() and gtk_source_search_context_replace_all().

The search occurrences are highlighted by default. To disable it, use gtk_source_search_context_set_highlight(). You can enable the search highlighting for several GtkSourceSearchContexts attached to the same buffer. Moreover, each of those GtkSourceSearchContexts can have a different text style associated. Use gtk_source_search_context_set_match_style() to specify the GtkSourceStyle to apply on search matches.

Note that the GtkSourceSearchContext:highlight and GtkSourceSearchContext:match-style properties are in the GtkSourceSearchContext class, not GtkSourceSearchSettings. Appearance settings should be tied to one, and only one buffer, as different buffers can have different style scheme associated (a GtkSourceSearchSettings 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.