GtkNotebook as GtkBuildable

The GtkNotebook implementation of the GtkBuildable interface supports placing children into tabs by specifying “tab” as the “type” attribute of a <child> element. Note that the content of the tab must be created before the tab can be filled. A tab child can be specified without specifying a <child> type attribute.

To add a child widget in the notebooks action area, specify "action-start" or “action-end” as the “type” attribute of the <child> element.

An example of a UI definition fragment with GtkNotebook:

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<object class="GtkNotebook">
  <child>
    <object class="GtkLabel" id="notebook-content">
      <property name="label">Content</property>
    </object>
  </child>
  <child type="tab">
    <object class="GtkLabel" id="notebook-tab">
      <property name="label">Tab</property>
    </object>
  </child>
</object>

CSS nodes

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notebook
├── header.top
│   ├── [<action widget>]
│   ├── tabs
│   │   ├── [arrow]
│   │   ├── tab
│   │   │   ╰── <tab label>
┊   ┊   ┊
│   │   ├── tab[.reorderable-page]
│   │   │   ╰── <tab label>
│   │   ╰── [arrow]
│   ╰── [<action widget>]
│
╰── stack
    ├── <child>
    ┊
    ╰── <child>

GtkNotebook has a main CSS node with name notebook, a subnode with name header and below that a subnode with name tabs which contains one subnode per tab with name tab.

If action widgets are present, their CSS nodes are placed next to the tabs node. If the notebook is scrollable, CSS nodes with name arrow are placed as first and last child of the tabs node.

The main node gets the .frame style class when the notebook has a border (see gtk_notebook_set_show_border()).

The header node gets one of the style class .top, .bottom, .left or .right, depending on where the tabs are placed. For reorderable pages, the tab node gets the .reorderable-page class.

A tab node gets the .dnd style class while it is moved with drag-and-drop.

The nodes are always arranged from left-to-right, regarldess of text direction.

gtk_notebook_new ()

GtkWidget *
gtk_notebook_new (void);

Creates a new GtkNotebook widget with no pages.

gtk_notebook_append_page ()

gint
gtk_notebook_append_page (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                          GtkWidget *child,
                          GtkWidget *tab_label);

Appends a page to notebook .

gtk_notebook_append_page_menu ()

gint
gtk_notebook_append_page_menu (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                               GtkWidget *child,
                               GtkWidget *tab_label,
                               GtkWidget *menu_label);

Appends a page to notebook , specifying the widget to use as the label in the popup menu.

gtk_notebook_prepend_page ()

gint
gtk_notebook_prepend_page (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                           GtkWidget *child,
                           GtkWidget *tab_label);

Prepends a page to notebook .

gtk_notebook_prepend_page_menu ()

gint
gtk_notebook_prepend_page_menu (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                                GtkWidget *child,
                                GtkWidget *tab_label,
                                GtkWidget *menu_label);

Prepends a page to notebook , specifying the widget to use as the label in the popup menu.

gtk_notebook_insert_page ()

gint
gtk_notebook_insert_page (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                          GtkWidget *child,
                          GtkWidget *tab_label,
                          gint position);

Insert a page into notebook at the given position.

gtk_notebook_insert_page_menu ()

gint
gtk_notebook_insert_page_menu (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                               GtkWidget *child,
                               GtkWidget *tab_label,
                               GtkWidget *menu_label,
                               gint position);

Insert a page into notebook at the given position, specifying the widget to use as the label in the popup menu.

gtk_notebook_remove_page ()

void
gtk_notebook_remove_page (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                          gint page_num);

Removes a page from the notebook given its index in the notebook.

gtk_notebook_detach_tab ()

void
gtk_notebook_detach_tab (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                         GtkWidget *child);

Removes the child from the notebook.

This function is very similar to gtk_container_remove(), but additionally informs the notebook that the removal is happening as part of a tab DND operation, which should not be cancelled.

Since: 3.16

gtk_notebook_page_num ()

gint
gtk_notebook_page_num (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                       GtkWidget *child);

Finds the index of the page which contains the given child widget.

gtk_notebook_next_page ()

void
gtk_notebook_next_page (GtkNotebook *notebook);

Switches to the next page. Nothing happens if the current page is the last page.

gtk_notebook_prev_page ()

void
gtk_notebook_prev_page (GtkNotebook *notebook);

Switches to the previous page. Nothing happens if the current page is the first page.

gtk_notebook_reorder_child ()

void
gtk_notebook_reorder_child (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                            GtkWidget *child,
                            gint position);

Reorders the page containing child , so that it appears in position position . If position is greater than or equal to the number of children in the list or negative, child will be moved to the end of the list.

gtk_notebook_set_tab_pos ()

void
gtk_notebook_set_tab_pos (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                          GtkPositionType pos);

Sets the edge at which the tabs for switching pages in the notebook are drawn.

gtk_notebook_set_show_tabs ()

void
gtk_notebook_set_show_tabs (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                            gboolean show_tabs);

Sets whether to show the tabs for the notebook or not.

gtk_notebook_set_show_border ()

void
gtk_notebook_set_show_border (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                              gboolean show_border);

Sets whether a bevel will be drawn around the notebook pages. This only has a visual effect when the tabs are not shown. See gtk_notebook_set_show_tabs().

gtk_notebook_set_scrollable ()

void
gtk_notebook_set_scrollable (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                             gboolean scrollable);

Sets whether the tab label area will have arrows for scrolling if there are too many tabs to fit in the area.

gtk_notebook_popup_enable ()

void
gtk_notebook_popup_enable (GtkNotebook *notebook);

Enables the popup menu: if the user clicks with the right mouse button on the tab labels, a menu with all the pages will be popped up.

gtk_notebook_popup_disable ()

void
gtk_notebook_popup_disable (GtkNotebook *notebook);

Disables the popup menu.

gtk_notebook_get_current_page ()

gint
gtk_notebook_get_current_page (GtkNotebook *notebook);

Returns the page number of the current page.

gtk_notebook_get_menu_label ()

GtkWidget *
gtk_notebook_get_menu_label (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                             GtkWidget *child);

Retrieves the menu label widget of the page containing child .

gtk_notebook_get_nth_page ()

GtkWidget *
gtk_notebook_get_nth_page (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                           gint page_num);

Returns the child widget contained in page number page_num .

gtk_notebook_get_n_pages ()

gint
gtk_notebook_get_n_pages (GtkNotebook *notebook);

Gets the number of pages in a notebook.

Since: 2.2

gtk_notebook_get_tab_label ()

GtkWidget *
gtk_notebook_get_tab_label (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                            GtkWidget *child);

Returns the tab label widget for the page child . NULL is returned if child is not in notebook or if no tab label has specifically been set for child .

gtk_notebook_set_menu_label ()

void
gtk_notebook_set_menu_label (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                             GtkWidget *child,
                             GtkWidget *menu_label);

Changes the menu label for the page containing child .

gtk_notebook_set_menu_label_text ()

void
gtk_notebook_set_menu_label_text (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                                  GtkWidget *child,
                                  const gchar *menu_text);

Creates a new label and sets it as the menu label of child .

gtk_notebook_set_tab_label ()

void
gtk_notebook_set_tab_label (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                            GtkWidget *child,
                            GtkWidget *tab_label);

Changes the tab label for child . If NULL is specified for tab_label , then the page will have the label “page N”.

gtk_notebook_set_tab_label_text ()

void
gtk_notebook_set_tab_label_text (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                                 GtkWidget *child,
                                 const gchar *tab_text);

Creates a new label and sets it as the tab label for the page containing child .

gtk_notebook_set_tab_reorderable ()

void
gtk_notebook_set_tab_reorderable (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                                  GtkWidget *child,
                                  gboolean reorderable);

Sets whether the notebook tab can be reordered via drag and drop or not.

Since: 2.10

gtk_notebook_set_tab_detachable ()

void
gtk_notebook_set_tab_detachable (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                                 GtkWidget *child,
                                 gboolean detachable);

Sets whether the tab can be detached from notebook to another notebook or widget.

Note that 2 notebooks must share a common group identificator (see gtk_notebook_set_group_name()) to allow automatic tabs interchange between them.

If you want a widget to interact with a notebook through DnD (i.e.: accept dragged tabs from it) it must be set as a drop destination and accept the target “GTK_NOTEBOOK_TAB”. The notebook will fill the selection with a GtkWidget** pointing to the child widget that corresponds to the dropped tab.

Note that you should use gtk_notebook_detach_tab() instead of gtk_container_remove() if you want to remove the tab from the source notebook as part of accepting a drop. Otherwise, the source notebook will think that the dragged tab was removed from underneath the ongoing drag operation, and will initiate a drag cancel animation.

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static void
on_drag_data_received (GtkWidget        *widget,
                       GdkDragContext   *context,
                       gint              x,
                       gint              y,
                       GtkSelectionData *data,
                       guint             info,
                       guint             time,
                       gpointer          user_data)
{
  GtkWidget *notebook;
  GtkWidget **child;

  notebook = gtk_drag_get_source_widget (context);
  child = (void*) gtk_selection_data_get_data (data);

  // process_widget (*child);

  gtk_notebook_detach_tab (GTK_NOTEBOOK (notebook), *child);
}

If you want a notebook to accept drags from other widgets, you will have to set your own DnD code to do it.

Since: 2.10

gtk_notebook_get_menu_label_text ()

const gchar *
gtk_notebook_get_menu_label_text (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                                  GtkWidget *child);

Retrieves the text of the menu label for the page containing child .

gtk_notebook_get_scrollable ()

gboolean
gtk_notebook_get_scrollable (GtkNotebook *notebook);

Returns whether the tab label area has arrows for scrolling. See gtk_notebook_set_scrollable().

gtk_notebook_get_show_border ()

gboolean
gtk_notebook_get_show_border (GtkNotebook *notebook);

Returns whether a bevel will be drawn around the notebook pages. See gtk_notebook_set_show_border().

gtk_notebook_get_show_tabs ()

gboolean
gtk_notebook_get_show_tabs (GtkNotebook *notebook);

Returns whether the tabs of the notebook are shown. See gtk_notebook_set_show_tabs().

gtk_notebook_get_tab_label_text ()

const gchar *
gtk_notebook_get_tab_label_text (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                                 GtkWidget *child);

Retrieves the text of the tab label for the page containing child .

gtk_notebook_get_tab_pos ()

GtkPositionType
gtk_notebook_get_tab_pos (GtkNotebook *notebook);

Gets the edge at which the tabs for switching pages in the notebook are drawn.

gtk_notebook_get_tab_reorderable ()

gboolean
gtk_notebook_get_tab_reorderable (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                                  GtkWidget *child);

Gets whether the tab can be reordered via drag and drop or not.

Since: 2.10

gtk_notebook_get_tab_detachable ()

gboolean
gtk_notebook_get_tab_detachable (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                                 GtkWidget *child);

Returns whether the tab contents can be detached from notebook .

Since: 2.10

gtk_notebook_get_tab_hborder ()

guint16
gtk_notebook_get_tab_hborder (GtkNotebook *notebook);

Returns the horizontal width of a tab border.

Since: 2.22

gtk_notebook_get_tab_vborder ()

guint16
gtk_notebook_get_tab_vborder (GtkNotebook *notebook);

Returns the vertical width of a tab border.

Since: 2.22

gtk_notebook_set_current_page ()

void
gtk_notebook_set_current_page (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                               gint page_num);

Switches to the page number page_num .

Note that due to historical reasons, GtkNotebook refuses to switch to a page unless the child widget is visible. Therefore, it is recommended to show child widgets before adding them to a notebook.

gtk_notebook_set_group_name ()

void
gtk_notebook_set_group_name (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                             const gchar *group_name);

Sets a group name for notebook .

Notebooks with the same name will be able to exchange tabs via drag and drop. A notebook with a NULL group name will not be able to exchange tabs with any other notebook.

Since: 2.24

gtk_notebook_get_group_name ()

const gchar *
gtk_notebook_get_group_name (GtkNotebook *notebook);

Gets the current group name for notebook .

Since: 2.24

gtk_notebook_set_action_widget ()

void
gtk_notebook_set_action_widget (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                                GtkWidget *widget,
                                GtkPackType pack_type);

Sets widget as one of the action widgets. Depending on the pack type the widget will be placed before or after the tabs. You can use a GtkBox if you need to pack more than one widget on the same side.

Note that action widgets are “internal” children of the notebook and thus not included in the list returned from gtk_container_foreach().

Since: 2.20

gtk_notebook_get_action_widget ()

GtkWidget *
gtk_notebook_get_action_widget (GtkNotebook *notebook,
                                GtkPackType pack_type);

Gets one of the action widgets. See gtk_notebook_set_action_widget().

Since: 2.20

struct GtkNotebook

struct GtkNotebook;

The “enable-popup” property

  “enable-popup”             gboolean

If TRUE, pressing the right mouse button on the notebook pops up a menu that you can use to go to a page.

Owner: GtkNotebook

Flags: Read / Write

Default value: FALSE

The “group-name” property

  “group-name”               char *

Group name for tab drag and drop.

Owner: GtkNotebook

Flags: Read / Write

Default value: NULL

Since: 2.24

The “page” property

  “page”                     int

The index of the current page.

Owner: GtkNotebook

Flags: Read / Write

Allowed values: >= -1

Default value: -1

The “scrollable” property

  “scrollable”               gboolean

If TRUE, scroll arrows are added if there are too many tabs to fit.

Owner: GtkNotebook

Flags: Read / Write

Default value: FALSE

The “show-border” property

  “show-border”              gboolean

Whether the border should be shown.

Owner: GtkNotebook

Flags: Read / Write

Default value: TRUE

The “show-tabs” property

  “show-tabs”                gboolean

Whether tabs should be shown.

Owner: GtkNotebook

Flags: Read / Write

Default value: TRUE

The “tab-pos” property

  “tab-pos”                  GtkPositionType

Which side of the notebook holds the tabs.

Owner: GtkNotebook

Flags: Read / Write

Default value: GTK_POS_TOP

The “detachable” child property

  “detachable”               gboolean

Whether the tab is detachable.

Owner: GtkNotebook

Flags: Read / Write

Default value: FALSE

The “menu-label” child property

  “menu-label”               char *

The string displayed in the child's menu entry.

Owner: GtkNotebook

Flags: Read / Write

Default value: NULL

The “position” child property

  “position”                 int

The index of the child in the parent.

Owner: GtkNotebook

Flags: Read / Write

Allowed values: >= -1

Default value: 0

The “reorderable” child property

  “reorderable”              gboolean

Whether the tab is reorderable by user action.

Owner: GtkNotebook

Flags: Read / Write

Default value: FALSE

The “tab-expand” child property

  “tab-expand”               gboolean

Whether to expand the child's tab.

Owner: GtkNotebook

Flags: Read / Write

Default value: FALSE

The “tab-fill” child property

  “tab-fill”                 gboolean

Whether the child's tab should fill the allocated area.

Owner: GtkNotebook

Flags: Read / Write

Default value: TRUE

The “tab-label” child property

  “tab-label”                char *

The string displayed on the child's tab label.

Owner: GtkNotebook

Flags: Read / Write

Default value: NULL

The “arrow-spacing” style property

  “arrow-spacing”            int

The "arrow-spacing" property defines the spacing between the scroll arrows and the tabs.

Owner: GtkNotebook

Flags: Read

Allowed values: >= 0

Default value: 0

Since: 2.10

The “has-backward-stepper” style property

  “has-backward-stepper”     gboolean

The “has-backward-stepper” property determines whether the standard backward arrow button is displayed.

Owner: GtkNotebook

Flags: Read

Default value: TRUE

Since: 2.4

The “has-forward-stepper” style property

  “has-forward-stepper”      gboolean

The “has-forward-stepper” property determines whether the standard forward arrow button is displayed.

Owner: GtkNotebook

Flags: Read

Default value: TRUE

Since: 2.4

The “has-secondary-backward-stepper” style property

  “has-secondary-backward-stepper” gboolean

The “has-secondary-backward-stepper” property determines whether a second backward arrow button is displayed on the opposite end of the tab area.

Owner: GtkNotebook

Flags: Read

Default value: FALSE

Since: 2.4

The “has-secondary-forward-stepper” style property

  “has-secondary-forward-stepper” gboolean

The “has-secondary-forward-stepper” property determines whether a second forward arrow button is displayed on the opposite end of the tab area.

Owner: GtkNotebook

Flags: Read

Default value: FALSE

Since: 2.4

The “has-tab-gap” style property

  “has-tab-gap”              gboolean

The "has-tab-gap" property defines whether the active tab is draw with a gap at the bottom. When TRUE the theme engine uses gtk_render_extension to draw the active tab. When FALSE gtk_render_background and gtk_render_frame are used.

Owner: GtkNotebook

Flags: Read

Default value: TRUE

Since: 3.12

The “initial-gap” style property

  “initial-gap”              int

The "initial-gap" property defines the minimum size for the initial gap between the first tab.

Owner: GtkNotebook

Flags: Read

Allowed values: >= 0

Default value: 0

Since: 3.2

The “tab-curvature” style property

  “tab-curvature”            int

The “tab-curvature” property defines size of tab curvature.

Owner: GtkNotebook

Flags: Read

Allowed values: >= 0

Default value: 1

Since: 2.10

The “tab-overlap” style property

  “tab-overlap”              int

The “tab-overlap” property defines size of tab overlap area.

Owner: GtkNotebook

Flags: Read

Default value: 2

Since: 2.10

The “change-current-page” signal

gboolean
user_function (GtkNotebook *notebook,
               int          arg1,
               gpointer     user_data)

Flags: Action

The “create-window” signal

GtkNotebook*
user_function (GtkNotebook *notebook,
               GtkWidget   *page,
               int          x,
               int          y,
               gpointer     user_data)

The ::create-window signal is emitted when a detachable tab is dropped on the root window.

A handler for this signal can create a window containing a notebook where the tab will be attached. It is also responsible for moving/resizing the window and adding the necessary properties to the notebook (e.g. the “group-name” ).

Flags: Run Last

Since: 2.12

The “focus-tab” signal

gboolean
user_function (GtkNotebook   *notebook,
               GtkNotebookTab arg1,
               gpointer       user_data)

Flags: Action

The “move-focus-out” signal

void
user_function (GtkNotebook     *notebook,
               GtkDirectionType arg1,
               gpointer         user_data)

Flags: Action

The “page-added” signal

void
user_function (GtkNotebook *notebook,
               GtkWidget   *child,
               guint        page_num,
               gpointer     user_data)

the ::page-added signal is emitted in the notebook right after a page is added to the notebook.

Flags: Run Last

Since: 2.10

The “page-removed” signal

void
user_function (GtkNotebook *notebook,
               GtkWidget   *child,
               guint        page_num,
               gpointer     user_data)

the ::page-removed signal is emitted in the notebook right after a page is removed from the notebook.

Flags: Run Last

Since: 2.10

The “page-reordered” signal

void
user_function (GtkNotebook *notebook,
               GtkWidget   *child,
               guint        page_num,
               gpointer     user_data)

the ::page-reordered signal is emitted in the notebook right after a page has been reordered.

Flags: Run Last

Since: 2.10

The “reorder-tab” signal

gboolean
user_function (GtkNotebook     *notebook,
               GtkDirectionType arg1,
               gboolean         arg2,
               gpointer         user_data)

Flags: Action

The “select-page” signal

gboolean
user_function (GtkNotebook *notebook,
               gboolean     arg1,
               gpointer     user_data)

Flags: Action

The “switch-page” signal

void
user_function (GtkNotebook *notebook,
               GtkWidget   *page,
               guint        page_num,
               gpointer     user_data)

Emitted when the user or a function changes the current page.

Flags: Run Last