Editing Text

There are two primary widgets that allow the user to edit text in GTK: Gtk.Entry and Gtk.TextView. While they are quite similar the general rule is Gtk.Entry is built for short, simple text input while Gtk.TextView is built for multi-line or formatted text.

Buffers

Both Gtk.Entry and Gtk.TextView rely on buffers to store their text for them. A buffer is an object that stores and manages text for a widget. Gtk.Entry uses Gtk.EntryBuffer while Gtk.TextView uses Gtk.TextBuffer. You must pass a new buffer to the buffer property when creating a Gtk.Entry or a Gtk.TextView.

Gtk.Entry

Gtk.Entry is a simple, one-line text field that allows the user to enter short amounts of data.

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#!/usr/bin/env gjs

imports.gi.versions.Gtk = "3.0";
const { Gtk } = imports.gi;

Gtk.init(null);

const box = new Gtk.Box({ orientation: Gtk.Orientation.VERTICAL });

const entry = new Gtk.Entry({
    buffer: new Gtk.EntryBuffer()
});

box.add(entry);

const button = new Gtk.Button({
    label: 'Enter'
});

button.connect('clicked', () => {
    log('Entered in the entry: ' + entry.get_buffer().text);
});

box.add(button);

const win = new Gtk.Window({ defaultHeight: 600, defaultWidth: 800 });
win.connect('destroy', () => { Gtk.main_quit(); });
win.add(box);
win.show_all();

Gtk.main();

Gtk.TextView

Gtk.TextView is a multi-line text field that allows the user to enter long amounts of data with formatting if desired.

Learn More

#!/usr/bin/env gjs

imports.gi.versions.Gtk = "3.0";
const { Gtk } = imports.gi;

Gtk.init(null);

const box = new Gtk.Box({ orientation: Gtk.Orientation.VERTICAL });

const entry = new Gtk.TextView({
    buffer: new Gtk.TextBuffer(),
    vexpand: true
});

box.add(entry);

const button = new Gtk.Button({
    label: 'Enter'
});

button.connect('clicked', () => {
    log('Entered in the text view: ' + entry.get_buffer().text);
});

box.add(button);

const win = new Gtk.Window({ defaultHeight: 600, defaultWidth: 800 });
win.connect('destroy', () => { Gtk.main_quit(); });
win.add(box);
win.show_all();

Gtk.main();