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Proxy Plugin HowTo


Geany has built-in support for plugins. These plugins can alter the way Geany operates in many imaginable ways which leaves little to be desired.

However, there is one significant short-coming. Due to the infrastructure, Geany's built-in support only covers plugins written in C, perhaps C++ and Vala. Basically all languages which can be compiled into native shared libraries and can link GTK libraries. This excludes dynamic languages such as Python.

Geany provides a mechanism to enable support for those languages. Native plugins can register as proxy plugins by being a normal plugin to the Geany-side and by providing a bridge to write plugins in another language on the other side.

These plugins are also called sub-plugins. This refers to the relation to their proxy. To Geany they are first-class citizens.

Writing a Proxy Plugin

The basic idea is that a proxy plugin provides methods to match, load and unload one or more sub-plugin plugins in an abstract manner:

For providing these methods, GeanyPlugin has a field GeanyProxyFuncs which contains three function pointers which must be initialized prior to calling geany_plugin_register_proxy(). This should be done in the GeanyPluginFuncs::init function of the proxy plugin.

GeanyProxyFuncs::load and GeanyProxyFuncs::unload receive two GeanyPlugin pointers: One that corresponds to the proxy itself and another that corresponds to the sub-plugin. The sub-plugin's one may be used to call various API functions on behalf of the sub-plugin, including GEANY_PLUGIN_REGISTER() and GEANY_PLUGIN_REGISTER_FULL().

GeanyProxyFuncs::load may return a pointer that is passed back to GeanyProxyFuncs::unload. This can be used to store proxy-defined but sub-plugin-specific data required for unloading. However, this pointer is not passed to the sub-plugin's GeanyPluginFuncs. To arrange for that, you want to call GEANY_PLUGIN_REGISTER_FULL(). This method is the key to enable proxy plugins to wrap the GeanyPluginFuncs of all sub-plugins and yet multiplex between multiple sub-plugin, for example by storing a per-sub-plugin interpreter context.

If the pointer returned from GeanyProxyFuncs::load is the same that is passed to GEANY_PLUGIN_REGISTER_FULL() then you must pass NULL as free_func, because that would be invoked prior to unloading. Insert the corresponding code into GeanyProxyFuncs::unload.

Guideline for Checking Compatibility

Determining if a plugin candidate is compatible is not a single test. There are multiple levels and each should be handled differently in order to give the user a consistent feedback.

Consider the 5 basic cases:

1) A candidate comes with a suitable file extension but is not a workable plugin file at all. For example, your proxy supports plugins written in a shell script (.sh) but the shebang of that script points to an incompatible shell (or even lacks a shebang). You should check for this in GeanyProxyFuncs::probe() and return GEANY_PROXY_IGNORE which hides that script from the Plugin Manager and allows other enabled proxy plugins to pick it up. GeanyProxyFuncs::probe() returning GEANY_PROXY_IGNORE is an indication that the candidate is meant for another proxy, or the user placed the file by accident in one of Geany's plugin directories. In other words the candidate simply doesn't correspond to your proxy. Thus any noise by debug messages for this case is undesirable.

2) A proxy plugin provides its own, versioned API to sub-plugin. The API version of the sub-plugin is not compatible with the API exposed by the proxy. GeanyProxyFuncs::probe() should never perform a version check because its sole purpose is to indicate a proxy's correspondence to a given candidate. It should return GEANY_PROXY_MATCH instead. Later, Geany will invoke the GeanyProxyFuncs::load(), and this function is the right place for a version check. If it fails then you simply do not call GEANY_PLUGIN_REGISTER(), but rather print a debug message. The result is that the sub-plugin is not shown in the Plugin Manager at all. This is consistent with the treatment of native plugins by Geany.

3) The sub-plugin is also depending on Geany's API version (whether it is or not depends on the design of the proxy). In this case do not do anything special but forward the API version the sub-plugin is written/compiled against to GEANY_PLUGIN_REGISTER(). Here, Geany will perform its own compatibility check, allowing for a consistent user feedback. The result is again that the sub-plugin is hidden from the Plugin Manager, like in case 2. But Geany will print a debug message so you can skip that.

If you have even more cases try to fit it into case 1 or 2, depending on whether other proxy plugins should get a chance to load the candidate or not.

Guideline for Runtime Errors

A sub-plugin might not be able to run even if it's perfectly compatible with its proxy. This includes the case when it lacks certain runtime dependencies such as programs or modules but also syntactic problems or other errors.

There are two basic classes:

1) Runtime errors that can be determined at load time. For example, the shebang of a script indicates a specific interpreter version but that version is not installed on the system. Your proxy should respond the same way as for version-incompatible plugins: don't register the plugin at all, but leave a message the user suggesting what has to be installed in order to work. Handle syntax errors in the scripts of sub-plugins the same way if possible.

2) Runtime errors that cannot be determined without actually running the plugin. An example would be missing modules in Python scripts. If your proxy has no way of foreseeing the problem the plugin will be registered normally. However, you can catch runtime errors by implementing GeanyPluginFuncs::init() on the plugin's behalf. This is called after user activation and allows to indicate errors by returning FALSE. However, allowing the user to enable a plugin and then disabling anyway is a poor user experience.

Therefore, if possible, try to fail fast and disallow registration.

Plugin Example

In this section a dumb example proxy plugin is shown in order to give a practical starting point. The sub-plugin are not actually code but rather a ini-style description of one or more menu items that are added to Geany's tools menu and a help dialog. Real world sub-plugins would contain actual code, usually written in a scripting language.

A sub-plugin file looks like this:

item0 = Bam
item1 = Foo
item2 = Bar
text = I'm a simple test. Nothing to see!
name = Demo Proxy Tester
description = I'm a simple test. Nothing to see!
version = 0.1
author = The Geany developer team

The first line acts as a verification that this file is truly a sub-plugin. Within the [Init] section there is the menu items for Geany's tools menu. The [Help] section declares the sub-plugins help text which is shown in its help dialog (via GeanyPluginFuncs::help). The [Info] section is used as-is for filling the sub-plugins PluginInfo fields.

That's it, this dumb format is purely declarative and contains no logic. Yet we will create plugins from it.

We start by registering the proxy plugin to Geany. There is nothing special to it compared to normal plugins. A proxy plugin must also fill its own PluginInfo and GeanyPluginFuncs, followed by registering through GEANY_PLUGIN_REGISTER().

/* Called by Geany to initialize the plugin. */
static gboolean demoproxy_init(GeanyPlugin *plugin, gpointer pdata)
// ...
/* Called by Geany before unloading the plugin. */
static void demoproxy_cleanup(GeanyPlugin *plugin, gpointer data)
// ...
plugin->info->name = _("Demo Proxy");
plugin->info->description = _("Example Proxy.");
plugin->info->version = "0.1";
plugin->info->author = _("The Geany developer team");
plugin->funcs->init = demoproxy_init;
plugin->funcs->cleanup = demoproxy_cleanup;

The next step is to actually register as a proxy plugin. This is done in demoproxy_init(). As previously mentioned, it needs a list of accepted file extensions and a set of callback functions.

static gboolean demoproxy_init(GeanyPlugin *plugin, gpointer pdata)
const gchar *extensions[] = { "ini", "px", NULL };
plugin->proxy_funcs->probe = demoproxy_probe;
plugin->proxy_funcs->load = demoproxy_load;
plugin->proxy_funcs->unload = demoproxy_unload;
return geany_plugin_register_proxy(plugin, extensions);

The callback functions deserve a closer look.

As already mentioned the file format includes a magic first line which must be present. GeanyProxyFuncs::probe() verifies that it's present and avoids showing the sub-plugin in the Plugin Manager if not.

static gint demoproxy_probe(GeanyPlugin *proxy, const gchar *filename, gpointer pdata)
/* We know the extension is right (Geany checks that). For demo purposes we perform an
* additional check. This is not necessary when the extension is unique enough. */
gboolean match = FALSE;
gchar linebuf[128];
if (f != NULL)
if (fgets(linebuf, sizeof(linebuf), f) != NULL)
match = utils_str_equal(linebuf, "#!!PROXY_MAGIC!!\n");

GeanyProxyFuncs::load is a bit more complex. It reads the file, fills the sub-plugin's PluginInfo fields and calls GEANY_PLUGIN_REGISTER_FULL(). Additionally, it creates a per-plugin context that holds GKeyFile instance (a poor man's interpreter context). You can also see that it does not call GEANY_PLUGIN_REGISTER_FULL() if g_key_file_load_from_file() found an error (probably a syntax problem) which means the sub-plugin cannot be enabled.

It also installs wrapper functions for the sub-plugin's GeanyPluginFuncs as ini files aren't code. It's very likely that your proxy needs something similar because you can only install function pointers to native code.

typedef struct {
GKeyFile *file;
gchar *help_text;
GSList *menu_items;
static gboolean proxy_init(GeanyPlugin *plugin, gpointer pdata);
static void proxy_help(GeanyPlugin *plugin, gpointer pdata);
static void proxy_cleanup(GeanyPlugin *plugin, gpointer pdata);
static gpointer demoproxy_load(GeanyPlugin *proxy, GeanyPlugin *plugin,
const gchar *filename, gpointer pdata)
GKeyFile *file;
gboolean result;
file = g_key_file_new();
result = g_key_file_load_from_file(file, filename, 0, NULL);
if (result)
PluginContext *data = g_new0(PluginContext, 1);
data->file = file;
plugin->info->name = g_key_file_get_locale_string(data->file, "Info", "name", NULL, NULL);
plugin->info->description = g_key_file_get_locale_string(data->file, "Info", "description", NULL, NULL);
plugin->info->version = g_key_file_get_locale_string(data->file, "Info", "version", NULL, NULL);
plugin->info->author = g_key_file_get_locale_string(data->file, "Info", "author", NULL, NULL);
plugin->funcs->init = proxy_init;
plugin->funcs->help = proxy_help;
plugin->funcs->cleanup = proxy_cleanup;
/* Cannot pass g_free as free_func be Geany calls it before unloading, and since
* demoproxy_unload() accesses the data this would be catastrophic */
return data;
return NULL;

demoproxy_unload() simply releases all resources acquired in demoproxy_load(). It does not have to do anything else in for unloading.

static void demoproxy_unload(GeanyPlugin *proxy, GeanyPlugin *plugin, gpointer load_data, gpointer pdata)
PluginContext *data = load_data;
g_free((gchar *)plugin->info->name);
g_free((gchar *)plugin->info->description);
g_free((gchar *)plugin->info->version);
g_free((gchar *)plugin->info->author);

Finally the demo_proxy's wrapper GeanyPluginFuncs. They are called for each possible sub-plugin and therefore have to multiplex between each using the plugin-defined data pointer. Each is called by Geany as if it were an ordinary, native plugin.

proxy_init() actually reads the sub-plugin's file using GKeyFile APIs. It prepares for the help dialog and installs the menu items. proxy_help() is called when the user clicks the help button in the Plugin Manager. Consequently, this fires up a suitable dialog, although with a dummy message. proxy_cleanup() frees all memory allocated in proxy_init().

static gboolean proxy_init(GeanyPlugin *plugin, gpointer pdata)
PluginContext *data;
gint i = 0;
gchar *text;
data = (PluginContext *) pdata;
/* Normally, you would instruct the VM/interpreter to call into the actual plugin. The
* plugin would be identified by pdata. Because there is no interpreter for
* .ini files we do it inline, as this is just a demo */
data->help_text = g_key_file_get_locale_string(data->file, "Help", "text", NULL, NULL);
while (TRUE)
GtkWidget *item;
gchar *key = g_strdup_printf("item%d", i++);
text = g_key_file_get_locale_string(data->file, "Init", key, NULL, NULL);
if (!text)
item = gtk_menu_item_new_with_label(text);
gtk_container_add(GTK_CONTAINER(plugin->geany_data->main_widgets->tools_menu), item);
gtk_widget_set_sensitive(item, FALSE);
data->menu_items = g_slist_prepend(data->menu_items, (gpointer) item);
return TRUE;
static void proxy_help(GeanyPlugin *plugin, gpointer pdata)
PluginContext *data;
GtkWidget *dialog;
data = (PluginContext *) pdata;
dialog = gtk_message_dialog_new(
"%s", data->help_text);
_("(From the %s plugin)"), plugin->info->name);
static void proxy_cleanup(GeanyPlugin *plugin, gpointer pdata)
PluginContext *data = (PluginContext *) pdata;
g_slist_free_full(data->menu_items, (GDestroyNotify) gtk_widget_destroy);