1 /* -*- Mode: IDL; tab-width: 2; indent-tabs-mode: nil; c-basic-offset: 2 -*- */
2 /* This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public
3 * License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this
4 * file, You can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/. */
6 #include
"nsISupports.idl"
9 #include
"nsLiteralString.h"
12 interface nsIObserver
;
15 * The nsIPrefBranch interface is used to manipulate the preferences data. This
16 * object may be obtained from the preferences service (nsIPrefService) and
17 * used to get and set default and/or user preferences across the application.
19 * This object is created with a "root" value which describes the base point in
20 * the preferences "tree" from which this "branch" stems. Preferences are
21 * accessed off of this root by using just the final portion of the preference.
22 * For example, if this object is created with the root "browser.startup.",
23 * the preferences "browser.startup.page", "browser.startup.homepage",
24 * and "browser.startup.homepage_override" can be accessed by simply passing
25 * "page", "homepage", or "homepage_override" to the various Get/Set methods.
30 [scriptable
, builtinclass
, uuid(55d25e49
-793f
-4727-a69f
-de8b15f4b985
)]
31 interface nsIPrefBranch
: nsISupports
35 * Values describing the basic preference types.
39 const long PREF_INVALID
= 0;
40 const long PREF_STRING
= 32;
41 const long PREF_INT
= 64;
42 const long PREF_BOOL
= 128;
45 * Called to get the root on which this branch is based, such as
48 readonly attribute ACString root
;
51 * Called to determine the type of a specific preference.
53 * @param aPrefName The preference to get the type of.
55 * @return long A value representing the type of the preference. This
56 * value will be PREF_STRING, PREF_INT, or PREF_BOOL.
58 long getPrefType
(in string aPrefName
);
61 * Called to get the state of an individual boolean preference.
63 * @param aPrefName The boolean preference to get the state of.
64 * @param aDefaultValue The value to return if the preference is not set.
66 * @return boolean The value of the requested boolean preference.
70 [optional_argc
,binaryname
(GetBoolPrefWithDefault
)]
71 boolean getBoolPref
(in string aPrefName
, [optional] in boolean aDefaultValue
);
72 [noscript
,binaryname
(GetBoolPref
)]
73 boolean getBoolPrefXPCOM
(in string aPrefName
);
76 * Called to set the state of an individual boolean preference.
78 * @param aPrefName The boolean preference to set the state of.
79 * @param aValue The boolean value to set the preference to.
81 * @throws Error if setting failed or the preference has a default
82 value of a type other than boolean.
86 void setBoolPref
(in string aPrefName
, in boolean aValue
);
89 * Called to get the state of an individual floating-point preference.
90 * "Floating point" preferences are really string preferences that
91 * are converted to floating point numbers.
93 * @param aPrefName The floating point preference to get the state of.
94 * @param aDefaultValue The value to return if the preference is not set.
96 * @return float The value of the requested floating point preference.
100 [optional_argc
,binaryname
(GetFloatPrefWithDefault
)]
101 float getFloatPref
(in string aPrefName
, [optional] in float aDefaultValue
);
102 [noscript
,binaryname
(GetFloatPref
)]
103 float getFloatPrefXPCOM
(in string aPrefName
);
106 * Called to get the state of an individual ascii string preference.
108 * @param aPrefName The string preference to retrieve.
109 * @param aDefaultValue The string to return if the preference is not set.
111 * @return ACString The value of the requested string preference.
115 [optional_argc
,binaryname
(GetCharPrefWithDefault
)]
116 ACString getCharPref
(in string aPrefName
,
117 [optional] in ACString aDefaultValue
);
118 [noscript
,binaryname
(GetCharPref
)]
119 ACString getCharPrefXPCOM
(in string aPrefName
);
122 * Called to set the state of an individual ascii string preference.
124 * @param aPrefName The string preference to set.
125 * @param aValue The string value to set the preference to.
127 * @throws Error if setting failed or the preference has a default
128 value of a type other than string.
132 void setCharPref
(in string aPrefName
, in ACString aValue
);
135 * Called to get the state of an individual unicode string preference.
137 * @param aPrefName The string preference to retrieve.
138 * @param aDefaultValue The string to return if the preference is not set.
140 * @return AUTF8String The value of the requested string preference.
145 AUTF8String getStringPref
(in string aPrefName
,
146 [optional] in AUTF8String aDefaultValue
);
149 * Called to set the state of an individual unicode string preference.
151 * @param aPrefName The string preference to set.
152 * @param aValue The string value to set the preference to.
154 * @throws Error if setting failed or the preference has a default
155 value of a type other than string.
159 void setStringPref
(in string aPrefName
, in AUTF8String aValue
);
162 * Called to get the state of an individual integer preference.
164 * @param aPrefName The integer preference to get the value of.
165 * @param aDefaultValue The value to return if the preference is not set.
167 * @return long The value of the requested integer preference.
171 [optional_argc
,binaryname
(GetIntPrefWithDefault
)]
172 long getIntPref
(in string aPrefName
, [optional] in long aDefaultValue
);
173 [noscript
,binaryname
(GetIntPref
)]
174 long getIntPrefXPCOM
(in string aPrefName
);
177 * Called to set the state of an individual integer preference.
179 * @param aPrefName The integer preference to set the value of.
180 * @param aValue The integer value to set the preference to.
182 * @throws Error if setting failed or the preference has a default
183 value of a type other than integer.
187 void setIntPref
(in string aPrefName
, in long aValue
);
190 * Called to get the state of an individual complex preference. A complex
191 * preference is a preference which represents an XPCOM object that can not
192 * be easily represented using a standard boolean, integer or string value.
194 * @param aPrefName The complex preference to get the value of.
195 * @param aType The XPCOM interface that this complex preference
196 * represents. Interfaces currently supported are:
198 * - nsIPrefLocalizedString (Localized UniChar)
199 * @param aValue The XPCOM object into which to the complex preference
200 * value should be retrieved.
202 * @throws Error The value does not exist or is the wrong type.
204 * @see setComplexValue
206 void getComplexValue
(in string aPrefName
, in nsIIDRef aType
,
207 [iid_is(aType
), retval] out nsQIResult aValue
);
210 * Called to set the state of an individual complex preference. A complex
211 * preference is a preference which represents an XPCOM object that can not
212 * be easily represented using a standard boolean, integer or string value.
214 * @param aPrefName The complex preference to set the value of.
215 * @param aType The XPCOM interface that this complex preference
216 * represents. Interfaces currently supported are:
218 * - nsISupportsString (UniChar)
219 * (deprecated; see setStringPref)
220 * - nsIPrefLocalizedString (Localized UniChar)
221 * @param aValue The XPCOM object from which to set the complex preference
224 * @throws Error if setting failed or the value is the wrong type.
226 * @see getComplexValue
228 void setComplexValue
(in string aPrefName
, in nsIIDRef aType
, in nsISupports aValue
);
231 * Called to clear a user set value from a specific preference. This will, in
232 * effect, reset the value to the default value. If no default value exists
233 * the preference will cease to exist.
235 * @param aPrefName The preference to be cleared.
238 * This method does nothing if this object is a default branch.
240 void clearUserPref
(in string aPrefName
);
243 * Called to lock a specific preference. Locking a preference will cause the
244 * preference service to always return the default value regardless of
245 * whether there is a user set value or not.
247 * @param aPrefName The preference to be locked.
250 * This method can be called on either a default or user branch but, in
251 * effect, always operates on the default branch.
253 * @throws Error The preference does not exist or an error occurred.
257 void lockPref
(in string aPrefName
);
260 * Called to check if a specific preference has a user value associated to
263 * @param aPrefName The preference to be tested.
266 * This method can be called on either a default or user branch but, in
267 * effect, always operates on the user branch.
270 * If a preference was manually set to a value that equals the default value,
271 * then the preference no longer has a user set value, i.e. it is
272 * considered reset to its default value.
273 * In particular, this method will return false for such a preference and
274 * the preference will not be saved to a file by nsIPrefService.savePrefFile.
276 * @return boolean true The preference has a user set value.
277 * false The preference only has a default value.
279 boolean prefHasUserValue
(in string aPrefName
);
282 * Called to check if a specific preference has a default value associated to
285 * @param aPrefName The preference to be tested.
288 * This method can be called on either a default or user branch but, in
289 * effect, always operates on the user branch.
292 * This method can be used to distinguish between a built-in preference and a
293 * user-added preference.
295 * @return boolean true The preference has a default value.
296 * false The preference only has a user value.
298 boolean prefHasDefaultValue
(in string aPrefName
);
301 * Called to check if a specific preference is locked. If a preference is
302 * locked calling its Get method will always return the default value.
304 * @param aPrefName The preference to be tested.
307 * This method can be called on either a default or user branch but, in
308 * effect, always operates on the default branch.
310 * @return boolean true The preference is locked.
311 * false The preference is not locked.
316 boolean prefIsLocked
(in string aPrefName
);
319 * Called to check if a specific preference has been sanitized. If a
320 * preference is sanitized, any user value the preference may have will not
321 * be present in a sub-process. A preference is never sanitized in the
322 * parent process; it is only marked as sanitized when it is converted
323 * to a dom::Pref for serialization to a child process.
325 * @param aPrefName The preference to be tested.
328 * This method can be called on either a default or user branch but it
329 * makes no difference.
331 * @return boolean true The preference is sanitized.
332 * false The preference is not sanitized.
334 boolean prefIsSanitized
(in string aPrefName
);
337 * Called to unlock a specific preference. Unlocking a previously locked
338 * preference allows the preference service to once again return the user set
339 * value of the preference.
341 * @param aPrefName The preference to be unlocked.
344 * This method can be called on either a default or user branch but, in
345 * effect, always operates on the default branch.
347 * @throws Error The preference does not exist or an error occurred.
351 void unlockPref
(in string aPrefName
);
355 * Called to remove all of the preferences referenced by this branch.
357 * @param aStartingAt The point on the branch at which to start the deleting
358 * preferences. Pass in "" to remove all preferences
359 * referenced by this branch.
362 * This method can be called on either a default or user branch but, in
363 * effect, always operates on both.
365 * @throws Error The preference(s) do not exist or an error occurred.
367 void deleteBranch
(in string aStartingAt
);
370 * Returns an array of strings representing the child preferences of the
371 * root of this branch.
373 * @param aStartingAt The point on the branch at which to start enumerating
374 * the child preferences. Pass in "" to enumerate all
375 * preferences referenced by this branch.
376 * @return The array of child preferences.
379 * This method can be called on either a default or user branch but, in
380 * effect, always operates on both.
382 * @throws Error The preference(s) do not exist or an error occurred.
384 Array
<ACString
> getChildList
(in string aStartingAt
);
387 * Add a preference change observer. On preference changes, the following
388 * arguments will be passed to the nsIObserver.observe() method:
389 * aSubject - The nsIPrefBranch object (this)
390 * aTopic - The string defined by NS_PREFBRANCH_PREFCHANGE_TOPIC_ID
391 * aData - The name of the preference which has changed, relative to
392 * the |root| of the aSubject branch.
394 * aSubject.get*Pref(aData) will get the new value of the modified
395 * preference. For example, if your observer is registered with
396 * addObserver("bar.", ...) on a branch with root "foo.", modifying
397 * the preference "foo.bar.baz" will trigger the observer, and aData
398 * parameter will be "bar.baz".
400 * @param aDomain The preference on which to listen for changes. This can
401 * be the name of an entire branch to observe.
402 * e.g. Holding the "root" prefbranch and calling
403 * addObserver("foo.bar.", ...) will observe changes to
404 * foo.bar.baz and foo.bar.bzip
405 * @param aObserver The object to be notified if the preference changes.
406 * @param aHoldWeak true Hold a weak reference to |aObserver|. The object
407 * must implement the nsISupportsWeakReference
408 * interface or this will fail.
409 * false Hold a strong reference to |aObserver|.
412 * Registering as a preference observer can open an object to potential
413 * cyclical references which will cause memory leaks. These cycles generally
414 * occur because an object both registers itself as an observer (causing the
415 * branch to hold a reference to the observer) and holds a reference to the
416 * branch object for the purpose of getting/setting preference values. There
417 * are 3 approaches which have been implemented in an attempt to avoid these
419 * 1) The nsPrefBranch object supports nsISupportsWeakReference. Any consumer
420 * may hold a weak reference to it instead of a strong one.
421 * 2) The nsPrefBranch object listens for xpcom-shutdown and frees all of the
422 * objects currently in its observer list. This ensures that long lived
423 * objects (services for example) will be freed correctly.
424 * 3) The observer can request to be held as a weak reference when it is
425 * registered. This insures that shorter lived objects (say one tied to an
426 * open window) will not fall into the cyclical reference trap.
429 * The list of registered observers may be changed during the dispatch of
430 * nsPref:changed notification. However, the observers are not guaranteed
431 * to be notified in any particular order, so you can't be sure whether the
432 * added/removed observer will be called during the notification when it
436 * It is possible to change preferences during the notification.
439 * It is not safe to change observers during this callback in Gecko
440 * releases before 1.9. If you want a safe way to remove a pref observer,
441 * please use an nsITimer.
444 * @see removeObserver
446 [binaryname
(AddObserverImpl
)]
447 void addObserver
(in ACString aDomain
, in nsIObserver aObserver
,
448 [optional] in boolean aHoldWeak
);
451 * Remove a preference change observer.
453 * @param aDomain The preference which is being observed for changes.
454 * @param aObserver An observer previously registered with addObserver().
457 * Note that you must call removeObserver() on the same nsIPrefBranch
458 * instance on which you called addObserver() in order to remove aObserver;
459 * otherwise, the observer will not be removed.
464 [binaryname
(RemoveObserverImpl
)]
465 void removeObserver
(in ACString aDomain
, in nsIObserver aObserver
);
468 nsresult AddObserver
(const nsACString
& aDomain
, nsIObserver
* aObserver
,
469 bool aHoldWeak
= false
)
471 return AddObserverImpl
(aDomain
, aObserver
, aHoldWeak
);
475 nsresult AddObserver
(const char (&aDomain
)[N
], nsIObserver
* aObserver
,
476 bool aHoldWeak
= false
)
478 return AddObserverImpl
(nsLiteralCString
(aDomain
), aObserver
, aHoldWeak
);
481 nsresult RemoveObserver
(const nsACString
& aDomain
, nsIObserver
* aObserver
)
483 return RemoveObserverImpl
(aDomain
, aObserver
);
487 nsresult RemoveObserver
(const char (&aDomain
)[N
], nsIObserver
* aObserver
)
489 return RemoveObserverImpl
(nsLiteralCString
(aDomain
), aObserver
);
498 * Notification sent when a preference changes.
500 #define NS_PREFBRANCH_PREFCHANGE_TOPIC_ID
"nsPref:changed"