Port Extensions to GNOME Shell 48

Metadata

TIP

There were no relevant changes to metadata.json in GNOME 48.

Extension

TIP

There were no relevant changes to extension.js in GNOME 48.

Preferences

TIP

There were no relevant changes to prefs.js in GNOME 48.

GNOME Shell

Custom Logger

For convenience, ExtensionBase added the new getLogger() method to provide a better logging experience for extensions. By using the logger class, you get the extension name as a prefix in the logs.

These are the supported methods, which you can use in the same way you use the console methods:

• log()
• warn()
• error()
• info()
• debug()
• assert()
• trace()
• group()
• groupEnd()

InputSourceManager

The /ui/status/keyboard.js/InputSourceManager._switchInputSource() method now includes an event parameter:

Old	New
_switchInputSource(display, window, binding)	_switchInputSource(display, window, event, binding)

Keyboard

The /ui/keyboard.js/Key box pointer style class name changed from keyboard-subkeys to keyboard-subkeys-boxpointer.

Also /ui/keyboard.js/EmojiSelection key style class name changed from keyboard-hide-symbolic to osk-hide-symbolic.

The following icon names also changed for /ui/keyboard.js/Keyboard:

Old	New
keyboard-caps-lock-symbolic	osk-caps-lock-symbolic
keyboard-shift-symbolic	osk-shift-symbolic

Cogl.SnippetHook

Cogl.SnippetHook is exposed in version 45 and later, use Cogl.SnippetHook.FRAGMENT instead of Shell.SnippetHook.FRAGMENT.

MessageTray

/ui/messageTray.js/Notification now has a new removeAction() method.

QuickMenuToggle

/ui/quickSettings.js/QuickMenuToggle changed style class names:

Old	New
quick-menu-toggle	quick-toggle-has-menu
quick-toggle-arrow icon-button	quick-toggle-menu-button icon-button

The new separator also has the quick-toggle-separator style class name.

WindowManager

These methods in /ui/windowManager.js/WindowManager now include an event parameter as their third argument:

• _startSwitcher()
• _startA11ySwitcher()
• _switchToApplication()
• _openNewApplicationWindow()
• _showWorkspaceSwitcher()

St Widgets Orientation

The vertical property of St widgets is deprecated and will be removed in a future GNOME Shell release (potentially version 50). Replace its usage with the orientation property, using Clutter.Orientation values.

For example, use orientation: Clutter.Orientation.VERTICAL instead of vertical: true.

Time Limit and Break Manager

GNOME Shell 48 includes new /misc/breakManager.js and /misc/timeLimitsManager.js files for break reminders and screen time statistics.

The main instances of the break manager and time limit manager can be accessed directly in /ui/main.js/ with:

Variable Name	Type	Description
breakManager	/misc/breakManager.js/BreakManager	Tracks active/inactive time and signals break times.
breakManagerDispatcher	/misc/breakManager.js/BreakDispatcher	Converts break status to notify a break event.
timeLimitsManager	/misc/timeLimitsManager.js/TimeLimitsManager	Tracks active/inactive time and signals daily time limit reached.
timeLimitsDispatcher	/misc/timeLimitsManager.js/TimeLimitsDispatcher	Converts time limit status to a notify event.

There is also /ui/shellDBus.js/ScreenTimeDBus for the screen time D-Bus interface.

Notifications Per App Group

GNOME Shell 48 introduces grouped notifications, with the following changes:

• /ui/calendar.js/NotificationMessage has been moved to /ui/messageList.js.

• /ui/calendar.js/CalendarMessageList no longer using section list and uses /ui/messageList.js/MessageView instead. MessageView is using message-view style class name.

• /ui/mpris.js/MediaMessage has been moved to /ui/messageList.js.

• /ui/mpris.js/MediaSection has been renamed to /ui/mpris.js/MprisSource.

• The maximum number of notifications per source for /ui/messageTray.js/MAX_NOTIFICATIONS_PER_SOURCE has been increased from 3 to 10.

• The /ui/messageList.js/MessageListSection class has been removed and replaced by the NotificationMessageGroup. This new class provides expand() and colapse() methods for controlling the expansion state of the message group. This class emits an expand-toggle-requested signal for that.

  These are the style class names using by this class:

  name	description
  .message-group-header	Box layout for the message group header.
  .message-notification-group	Widget for the group expander layout.
  .message-group-title	Label for the message group title.
  .message-collapse-button	Button for collapsing the group's messages.

• /ui/messageList.js/NotificationMessageGroup uses /ui/messageList.js/MessageGroupExpanderLayout to manage its layout.

GJS

Clutter.Image

Clutter.Image has been removed and you can use St.ImageContent instead. There is no need to version check for St.ImageContent as it's already available in GNOME Shell 45 and higher.

set_bytes() and set_data() in St.ImageContent now have a new parameter, and the first parameter is now a Cogl.Context. You can get the instance from global.stage.context.get_backend().get_cogl_context().

Clutter.Stage.get_key_focus()

Clutter.Stage.get_key_focus() now always matches the key_focus property. If no explicit focus is set, it will return null, rather than the stage itself.

Meta

These Meta functions have been renamed and moved to the new namespace:

Old	New
Meta.disable_unredirect_for_display	Meta.Compositor.disable_unredirect
Meta.enable_unredirect_for_display	Meta.Compositor.enable_unredirect
Meta.get_top_window_group_for_display	Meta.Compositor.get_top_window_group
Meta.get_window_actors	Meta.Compositor.get_window_actors
Meta.get_window_group_for_display	Meta.Compositor.get_window_group
Meta.CursorTracker.get_for_display()	global.backend.get_cursor_tracker()

You can get the Meta.Compositor using global.compositor.

Also, these Meta functions have been removed, and you need to use Clutter instead:

Old	New
Meta.get_clutter_debug_flags()	Clutter.get_debug_flags()
Meta.add_clutter_debug_flags()	Clutter.add_debug_flags()
Meta.remove_clutter_debug_flags()	Clutter.remove_debug_flags()