wayland

(index)

wl_display

core global object

Interface
Version 1

The core global object. This is a special singleton object. It is used for internal Wayland protocol features.

wl_display.sync

asynchronous roundtrip

Request
Since Version 1

The sync request asks the server to emit the 'done' event on the returned wl_callback object. Since requests are handled in-order and events are delivered in-order, this can be used as a barrier to ensure all previous requests and the resulting events have been handled.

The object returned by this request will be destroyed by the compositor after the callback is fired and as such the client must not attempt to use it after that point.

The callback_data passed in the callback is undefined and should be ignored.

ArgumentTypeDescription
callbacknew_id<wl_callback>

callback object for the sync request

wl_display.get_registry

get global registry object

Request
Since Version 1

This request creates a registry object that allows the client to list and bind the global objects available from the compositor.

It should be noted that the server side resources consumed in response to a get_registry request can only be released when the client disconnects, not when the client side proxy is destroyed. Therefore, clients should invoke get_registry as infrequently as possible to avoid wasting memory.

ArgumentTypeDescription
registrynew_id<wl_registry>

global registry object

wl_display.error

fatal error event

Event
Since Version 1

The error event is sent out when a fatal (non-recoverable) error has occurred. The object_id argument is the object where the error occurred, most often in response to a request to that object. The code identifies the error and is defined by the object interface. As such, each interface defines its own set of error codes. The message is a brief description of the error, for (debugging) convenience.

ArgumentTypeDescription
object_idobject

object where the error occurred

codeuint

error code

messagestring

error description

wl_display.delete_id

acknowledge object ID deletion

Event
Since Version 1

This event is used internally by the object ID management logic. When a client deletes an object that it had created, the server will send this event to acknowledge that it has seen the delete request. When the client receives this event, it will know that it can safely reuse the object ID.

ArgumentTypeDescription
iduint

deleted object ID

wl_display.error

global error values

Enum
Since Version 1

These errors are global and can be emitted in response to any server request.

EntryValueSinceDescription
invalid_object01

server couldn't find object

invalid_method11

method doesn't exist on the specified interface or malformed request

no_memory21

server is out of memory

implementation31

implementation error in compositor

wl_registry

global registry object

Interface
Version 1

The singleton global registry object. The server has a number of global objects that are available to all clients. These objects typically represent an actual object in the server (for example, an input device) or they are singleton objects that provide extension functionality.

When a client creates a registry object, the registry object will emit a global event for each global currently in the registry. Globals come and go as a result of device or monitor hotplugs, reconfiguration or other events, and the registry will send out global and global_remove events to keep the client up to date with the changes. To mark the end of the initial burst of events, the client can use the wl_display.sync request immediately after calling wl_display.get_registry.

A client can bind to a global object by using the bind request. This creates a client-side handle that lets the object emit events to the client and lets the client invoke requests on the object.

wl_registry.bind

bind an object to the display

Request
Since Version 1

Binds a new, client-created object to the server using the specified name as the identifier.

ArgumentTypeDescription
nameuint

unique numeric name of the object

idnew_id

bounded object

wl_registry.global

announce global object

Event
Since Version 1

Notify the client of global objects.

The event notifies the client that a global object with the given name is now available, and it implements the given version of the given interface.

ArgumentTypeDescription
nameuint

numeric name of the global object

interfacestring

interface implemented by the object

versionuint

interface version

wl_registry.global_remove

announce removal of global object

Event
Since Version 1

Notify the client of removed global objects.

This event notifies the client that the global identified by name is no longer available. If the client bound to the global using the bind request, the client should now destroy that object.

The object remains valid and requests to the object will be ignored until the client destroys it, to avoid races between the global going away and a client sending a request to it.

ArgumentTypeDescription
nameuint

numeric name of the global object

wl_callback

callback object

Interface
Version 1

Clients can handle the 'done' event to get notified when the related request is done.

Note, because wl_callback objects are created from multiple independent factory interfaces, the wl_callback interface is frozen at version 1.

wl_callback.done

done event

Destructor Event
Since Version 1

Notify the client when the related request is done.

ArgumentTypeDescription
callback_datauint

request-specific data for the callback

wl_compositor

the compositor singleton

Interface
Version 7

A compositor. This object is a singleton global. The compositor is in charge of combining the contents of multiple surfaces into one displayable output.

wl_compositor.create_surface

create new surface

Request
Since Version 1

Ask the compositor to create a new surface.

ArgumentTypeDescription
idnew_id<wl_surface>

the new surface

wl_compositor.create_region

create new region

Request
Since Version 1

Ask the compositor to create a new region.

ArgumentTypeDescription
idnew_id<wl_region>

the new region

wl_compositor.release

destroy wl_compositor

Destructor Request
Since Version 7

This request destroys the wl_compositor. This has no effect on any other objects.

wl_shm_pool

a shared memory pool

Interface
Version 2

The wl_shm_pool object encapsulates a piece of memory shared between the compositor and client. Through the wl_shm_pool object, the client can allocate shared memory wl_buffer objects. All objects created through the same pool share the same underlying mapped memory. Reusing the mapped memory avoids the setup/teardown overhead and is useful when interactively resizing a surface or for many small buffers.

wl_shm_pool.create_buffer

create a buffer from the pool

Request
Since Version 1

Create a wl_buffer object from the pool.

The buffer is created offset bytes into the pool and has width and height as specified. The stride argument specifies the number of bytes from the beginning of one row to the beginning of the next. The format is the pixel format of the buffer and must be one of those advertised through the wl_shm.format event.

A buffer will keep a reference to the pool it was created from so it is valid to destroy the pool immediately after creating a buffer from it.

ArgumentTypeDescription
idnew_id<wl_buffer>

buffer to create

offsetint

buffer byte offset within the pool

widthint

buffer width, in pixels

heightint

buffer height, in pixels

strideint

number of bytes from the beginning of one row to the beginning of the next row

formatuint<wl_shm.format>

buffer pixel format

wl_shm_pool.destroy

destroy the pool

Destructor Request
Since Version 1

Destroy the shared memory pool.

The mmapped memory will be released when all buffers that have been created from this pool are gone.

wl_shm_pool.resize

change the size of the pool mapping

Request
Since Version 1

This request will cause the server to remap the backing memory for the pool from the file descriptor passed when the pool was created, but using the new size. This request can only be used to make the pool bigger.

This request only changes the amount of bytes that are mmapped by the server and does not touch the file corresponding to the file descriptor passed at creation time. It is the client's responsibility to ensure that the file is at least as big as the new pool size.

ArgumentTypeDescription
sizeint

new size of the pool, in bytes

wl_shm

shared memory support

Interface
Version 2

A singleton global object that provides support for shared memory.

Clients can create wl_shm_pool objects using the create_pool request.

On binding the wl_shm object one or more format events are emitted to inform clients about the valid pixel formats that can be used for buffers.

wl_shm.create_pool

create a shm pool

Request
Since Version 1

Create a new wl_shm_pool object.

The pool can be used to create shared memory based buffer objects. The server will mmap size bytes of the passed file descriptor, to use as backing memory for the pool.

ArgumentTypeDescription
idnew_id<wl_shm_pool>

pool to create

fdfd

file descriptor for the pool

sizeint

pool size, in bytes

wl_shm.release

release the shm object

Destructor Request
Since Version 2

Using this request a client can tell the server that it is not going to use the shm object anymore.

Objects created via this interface remain unaffected.

wl_shm.format

pixel format description

Event
Since Version 1

Informs the client about a valid pixel format that can be used for buffers. Known formats include argb8888 and xrgb8888.

Extensions to drm_fourcc.h (or the format enum) do not require increasing the wl_shm version; as a result, clients may receive format codes which were not in the list at the time the client was made.

ArgumentTypeDescription
formatuint<format>

buffer pixel format

wl_shm.error

wl_shm error values

Enum
Since Version 1

These errors can be emitted in response to wl_shm requests.

EntryValueSinceDescription
invalid_format01

buffer format is not known

invalid_stride11

invalid size or stride during pool or buffer creation

invalid_fd21

mmapping the file descriptor failed

wl_shm.format

pixel formats

Enum
Since Version 1

This describes the memory layout of an individual pixel.

All renderers should support argb8888 and xrgb8888 but any other formats are optional and may not be supported by the particular renderer in use.

The drm format codes match the macros defined in drm_fourcc.h, except argb8888 and xrgb8888. The formats actually supported by the compositor will be reported by the format event. See drm_fourcc.h for more detailed format descriptions.

For all wl_shm formats and unless specified in another protocol extension, pre-multiplied alpha is used for pixel values.

EntryValueSinceDescription
argb888801

32-bit ARGB format, [31:0] A:R:G:B 8:8:8:8 little endian

xrgb888811

32-bit RGB format, [31:0] x:R:G:B 8:8:8:8 little endian

c80x202038431

8-bit color index format, [7:0] C

rgb3320x384247521

8-bit RGB format, [7:0] R:G:B 3:3:2

bgr2330x385247421

8-bit BGR format, [7:0] B:G:R 2:3:3

xrgb44440x323152581

16-bit xRGB format, [15:0] x:R:G:B 4:4:4:4 little endian

xbgr44440x323142581

16-bit xBGR format, [15:0] x:B:G:R 4:4:4:4 little endian

rgbx44440x323158521

16-bit RGBx format, [15:0] R:G:B:x 4:4:4:4 little endian

bgrx44440x323158421

16-bit BGRx format, [15:0] B:G:R:x 4:4:4:4 little endian

argb44440x323152411

16-bit ARGB format, [15:0] A:R:G:B 4:4:4:4 little endian

abgr44440x323142411

16-bit ABGR format, [15:0] A:B:G:R 4:4:4:4 little endian

rgba44440x323141521

16-bit RBGA format, [15:0] R:G:B:A 4:4:4:4 little endian

bgra44440x323141421

16-bit BGRA format, [15:0] B:G:R:A 4:4:4:4 little endian

xrgb15550x353152581

16-bit xRGB format, [15:0] x:R:G:B 1:5:5:5 little endian

xbgr15550x353142581

16-bit xBGR 1555 format, [15:0] x:B:G:R 1:5:5:5 little endian

rgbx55510x353158521

16-bit RGBx 5551 format, [15:0] R:G:B:x 5:5:5:1 little endian

bgrx55510x353158421

16-bit BGRx 5551 format, [15:0] B:G:R:x 5:5:5:1 little endian

argb15550x353152411

16-bit ARGB 1555 format, [15:0] A:R:G:B 1:5:5:5 little endian

abgr15550x353142411

16-bit ABGR 1555 format, [15:0] A:B:G:R 1:5:5:5 little endian

rgba55510x353141521

16-bit RGBA 5551 format, [15:0] R:G:B:A 5:5:5:1 little endian

bgra55510x353141421

16-bit BGRA 5551 format, [15:0] B:G:R:A 5:5:5:1 little endian

rgb5650x363147521

16-bit RGB 565 format, [15:0] R:G:B 5:6:5 little endian

bgr5650x363147421

16-bit BGR 565 format, [15:0] B:G:R 5:6:5 little endian

rgb8880x343247521

24-bit RGB format, [23:0] R:G:B little endian

bgr8880x343247421

24-bit BGR format, [23:0] B:G:R little endian

xbgr88880x343242581

32-bit xBGR format, [31:0] x:B:G:R 8:8:8:8 little endian

rgbx88880x343258521

32-bit RGBx format, [31:0] R:G:B:x 8:8:8:8 little endian

bgrx88880x343258421

32-bit BGRx format, [31:0] B:G:R:x 8:8:8:8 little endian

abgr88880x343242411

32-bit ABGR format, [31:0] A:B:G:R 8:8:8:8 little endian

rgba88880x343241521

32-bit RGBA format, [31:0] R:G:B:A 8:8:8:8 little endian

bgra88880x343241421

32-bit BGRA format, [31:0] B:G:R:A 8:8:8:8 little endian

xrgb21010100x303352581

32-bit xRGB format, [31:0] x:R:G:B 2:10:10:10 little endian

xbgr21010100x303342581

32-bit xBGR format, [31:0] x:B:G:R 2:10:10:10 little endian

rgbx10101020x303358521

32-bit RGBx format, [31:0] R:G:B:x 10:10:10:2 little endian

bgrx10101020x303358421

32-bit BGRx format, [31:0] B:G:R:x 10:10:10:2 little endian

argb21010100x303352411

32-bit ARGB format, [31:0] A:R:G:B 2:10:10:10 little endian

abgr21010100x303342411

32-bit ABGR format, [31:0] A:B:G:R 2:10:10:10 little endian

rgba10101020x303341521

32-bit RGBA format, [31:0] R:G:B:A 10:10:10:2 little endian

bgra10101020x303341421

32-bit BGRA format, [31:0] B:G:R:A 10:10:10:2 little endian

yuyv0x565955591

packed YCbCr format, [31:0] Cr0:Y1:Cb0:Y0 8:8:8:8 little endian

yvyu0x555956591

packed YCbCr format, [31:0] Cb0:Y1:Cr0:Y0 8:8:8:8 little endian

uyvy0x595659551

packed YCbCr format, [31:0] Y1:Cr0:Y0:Cb0 8:8:8:8 little endian

vyuy0x595559561

packed YCbCr format, [31:0] Y1:Cb0:Y0:Cr0 8:8:8:8 little endian

ayuv0x565559411

packed AYCbCr format, [31:0] A:Y:Cb:Cr 8:8:8:8 little endian

nv120x3231564e1

2 plane YCbCr Cr:Cb format, 2x2 subsampled Cr:Cb plane

nv210x3132564e1

2 plane YCbCr Cb:Cr format, 2x2 subsampled Cb:Cr plane

nv160x3631564e1

2 plane YCbCr Cr:Cb format, 2x1 subsampled Cr:Cb plane

nv610x3136564e1

2 plane YCbCr Cb:Cr format, 2x1 subsampled Cb:Cr plane

yuv4100x395655591

3 plane YCbCr format, 4x4 subsampled Cb (1) and Cr (2) planes

yvu4100x395556591

3 plane YCbCr format, 4x4 subsampled Cr (1) and Cb (2) planes

yuv4110x313155591

3 plane YCbCr format, 4x1 subsampled Cb (1) and Cr (2) planes

yvu4110x313156591

3 plane YCbCr format, 4x1 subsampled Cr (1) and Cb (2) planes

yuv4200x323155591

3 plane YCbCr format, 2x2 subsampled Cb (1) and Cr (2) planes

yvu4200x323156591

3 plane YCbCr format, 2x2 subsampled Cr (1) and Cb (2) planes

yuv4220x363155591

3 plane YCbCr format, 2x1 subsampled Cb (1) and Cr (2) planes

yvu4220x363156591

3 plane YCbCr format, 2x1 subsampled Cr (1) and Cb (2) planes

yuv4440x343255591

3 plane YCbCr format, non-subsampled Cb (1) and Cr (2) planes

yvu4440x343256591

3 plane YCbCr format, non-subsampled Cr (1) and Cb (2) planes

r80x202038521

[7:0] R

r160x203631521

[15:0] R little endian

rg880x383847521

[15:0] R:G 8:8 little endian

gr880x383852471

[15:0] G:R 8:8 little endian

rg16160x323347521

[31:0] R:G 16:16 little endian

gr16160x323352471

[31:0] G:R 16:16 little endian

xrgb16161616f0x483452581

[63:0] x:R:G:B 16:16:16:16 little endian

xbgr16161616f0x483442581

[63:0] x:B:G:R 16:16:16:16 little endian

argb16161616f0x483452411

[63:0] A:R:G:B 16:16:16:16 little endian

abgr16161616f0x483442411

[63:0] A:B:G:R 16:16:16:16 little endian

xyuv88880x565559581

[31:0] X:Y:Cb:Cr 8:8:8:8 little endian

vuy8880x343255561

[23:0] Cr:Cb:Y 8:8:8 little endian

vuy1010100x303355561

Y followed by U then V, 10:10:10. Non-linear modifier only

y2100x303132591

[63:0] Cr0:0:Y1:0:Cb0:0:Y0:0 10:6:10:6:10:6:10:6 little endian per 2 Y pixels

y2120x323132591

[63:0] Cr0:0:Y1:0:Cb0:0:Y0:0 12:4:12:4:12:4:12:4 little endian per 2 Y pixels

y2160x363132591

[63:0] Cr0:Y1:Cb0:Y0 16:16:16:16 little endian per 2 Y pixels

y4100x303134591

[31:0] A:Cr:Y:Cb 2:10:10:10 little endian

y4120x323134591

[63:0] A:0:Cr:0:Y:0:Cb:0 12:4:12:4:12:4:12:4 little endian

y4160x363134591

[63:0] A:Cr:Y:Cb 16:16:16:16 little endian

xvyu21010100x303356581

[31:0] X:Cr:Y:Cb 2:10:10:10 little endian

xvyu12_161616160x363356581

[63:0] X:0:Cr:0:Y:0:Cb:0 12:4:12:4:12:4:12:4 little endian

xvyu161616160x383456581

[63:0] X:Cr:Y:Cb 16:16:16:16 little endian

y0l00x304c30591

[63:0] A3:A2:Y3:0:Cr0:0:Y2:0:A1:A0:Y1:0:Cb0:0:Y0:0 1:1:8:2:8:2:8:2:1:1:8:2:8:2:8:2 little endian

x0l00x304c30581

[63:0] X3:X2:Y3:0:Cr0:0:Y2:0:X1:X0:Y1:0:Cb0:0:Y0:0 1:1:8:2:8:2:8:2:1:1:8:2:8:2:8:2 little endian

y0l20x324c30591

[63:0] A3:A2:Y3:Cr0:Y2:A1:A0:Y1:Cb0:Y0 1:1:10:10:10:1:1:10:10:10 little endian

x0l20x324c30581

[63:0] X3:X2:Y3:Cr0:Y2:X1:X0:Y1:Cb0:Y0 1:1:10:10:10:1:1:10:10:10 little endian

yuv420_8bit0x383055591

yuv420_10bit0x303155591

xrgb8888_a80x384152581

xbgr8888_a80x384142581

rgbx8888_a80x384158521

bgrx8888_a80x384158421

rgb888_a80x384138521

bgr888_a80x384138421

rgb565_a80x384135521

bgr565_a80x384135421

nv240x3432564e1

non-subsampled Cr:Cb plane

nv420x3234564e1

non-subsampled Cb:Cr plane

p2100x303132501

2x1 subsampled Cr:Cb plane, 10 bit per channel

p0100x303130501

2x2 subsampled Cr:Cb plane 10 bits per channel

p0120x323130501

2x2 subsampled Cr:Cb plane 12 bits per channel

p0160x363130501

2x2 subsampled Cr:Cb plane 16 bits per channel

axbxgxrx1061061061060x303142411

[63:0] A:x:B:x:G:x:R:x 10:6:10:6:10:6:10:6 little endian

nv150x3531564e1

2x2 subsampled Cr:Cb plane

q4100x303134511

q4010x313034511

xrgb161616160x383452581

[63:0] x:R:G:B 16:16:16:16 little endian

xbgr161616160x383442581

[63:0] x:B:G:R 16:16:16:16 little endian

argb161616160x383452411

[63:0] A:R:G:B 16:16:16:16 little endian

abgr161616160x383442411

[63:0] A:B:G:R 16:16:16:16 little endian

c10x202031431

[7:0] C0:C1:C2:C3:C4:C5:C6:C7 1:1:1:1:1:1:1:1 eight pixels/byte

c20x202032431

[7:0] C0:C1:C2:C3 2:2:2:2 four pixels/byte

c40x202034431

[7:0] C0:C1 4:4 two pixels/byte

d10x202031441

[7:0] D0:D1:D2:D3:D4:D5:D6:D7 1:1:1:1:1:1:1:1 eight pixels/byte

d20x202032441

[7:0] D0:D1:D2:D3 2:2:2:2 four pixels/byte

d40x202034441

[7:0] D0:D1 4:4 two pixels/byte

d80x202038441

[7:0] D

r10x202031521

[7:0] R0:R1:R2:R3:R4:R5:R6:R7 1:1:1:1:1:1:1:1 eight pixels/byte

r20x202032521

[7:0] R0:R1:R2:R3 2:2:2:2 four pixels/byte

r40x202034521

[7:0] R0:R1 4:4 two pixels/byte

r100x203031521

[15:0] x:R 6:10 little endian

r120x203231521

[15:0] x:R 4:12 little endian

avuy88880x595556411

[31:0] A:Cr:Cb:Y 8:8:8:8 little endian

xvuy88880x595556581

[31:0] X:Cr:Cb:Y 8:8:8:8 little endian

p0300x303330501

2x2 subsampled Cr:Cb plane 10 bits per channel packed

rgb1616160x383447521

[47:0] R:G:B 16:16:16 little endian

bgr1616160x383447421

[47:0] B:G:R 16:16:16 little endian

r16f0x482020521

[15:0] R 16 little endian

gr1616f0x482052471

[31:0] G:R 16:16 little endian

bgr161616f0x485247421

[47:0] B:G:R 16:16:16 little endian

r32f0x462020521

[31:0] R 32 little endian

gr3232f0x462052471

[63:0] R:G 32:32 little endian

bgr323232f0x465247421

[95:0] R:G:B 32:32:32 little endian

abgr32323232f0x463842411

[127:0] R:G:B:A 32:32:32:32 little endian

nv200x3032564e1

2x1 subsampled Cr:Cb plane

nv300x3033564e1

non-subsampled Cr:Cb plane

s0100x303130531

2x2 subsampled Cb (1) and Cr (2) planes 10 bits per channel

s2100x303132531

2x1 subsampled Cb (1) and Cr (2) planes 10 bits per channel

s4100x303134531

non-subsampled Cb (1) and Cr (2) planes 10 bits per channel

s0120x323130531

2x2 subsampled Cb (1) and Cr (2) planes 12 bits per channel

s2120x323132531

2x1 subsampled Cb (1) and Cr (2) planes 12 bits per channel

s4120x323134531

non-subsampled Cb (1) and Cr (2) planes 12 bits per channel

s0160x363130531

2x2 subsampled Cb (1) and Cr (2) planes 16 bits per channel

s2160x363132531

2x1 subsampled Cb (1) and Cr (2) planes 16 bits per channel

s4160x363134531

non-subsampled Cb (1) and Cr (2) planes 16 bits per channel

wl_buffer

content for a wl_surface

Interface
Version 1

A buffer provides the content for a wl_surface. Buffers are created through factory interfaces such as wl_shm, wp_linux_buffer_params (from the linux-dmabuf protocol extension) or similar. It has a width and a height and can be attached to a wl_surface, but the mechanism by which a client provides and updates the contents is defined by the buffer factory interface.

Color channels are assumed to be electrical rather than optical (in other words, encoded with a transfer function) unless otherwise specified. If the buffer uses a format that has an alpha channel, the alpha channel is assumed to be premultiplied into the electrical color channel values (after transfer function encoding) unless otherwise specified.

Note, because wl_buffer objects are created from multiple independent factory interfaces, the wl_buffer interface is frozen at version 1.

wl_buffer.destroy

destroy a buffer

Destructor Request
Since Version 1

Destroy a buffer. If and how you need to release the backing storage is defined by the buffer factory interface.

For possible side-effects to a surface, see wl_surface.attach.

wl_buffer.release

compositor releases buffer

Event
Since Version 1

Sent when this wl_buffer is no longer used by the compositor.

For more information on when release events may or may not be sent, and what consequences it has, please see the description of wl_surface.attach.

If a client receives a release event before the frame callback requested in the same wl_surface.commit that attaches this wl_buffer to a surface, then the client is immediately free to reuse the buffer and its backing storage, and does not need a second buffer for the next surface content update. Typically this is possible, when the compositor maintains a copy of the wl_surface contents, e.g. as a GL texture. This is an important optimization for GL(ES) compositors with wl_shm clients.

wl_data_offer

offer to transfer data

Interface
Version 4

A wl_data_offer represents a piece of data offered for transfer by another client (the source client). It is used by the copy-and-paste and drag-and-drop mechanisms. The offer describes the different mime types that the data can be converted to and provides the mechanism for transferring the data directly from the source client.

wl_data_offer.accept

accept one of the offered mime types

Request
Since Version 1

Indicate that the client can accept the given mime type, or NULL for not accepted.

For objects of version 2 or older, this request is used by the client to give feedback whether the client can receive the given mime type, or NULL if none is accepted; the feedback does not determine whether the drag-and-drop operation succeeds or not.

For objects of version 3 or newer, this request determines the final result of the drag-and-drop operation. If the end result is that no mime types were accepted, the drag-and-drop operation will be cancelled and the corresponding drag source will receive wl_data_source.cancelled. Clients may still use this event in conjunction with wl_data_source.action for feedback.

ArgumentTypeDescription
serialuint

serial number of the accept request

mime_typenullable string

mime type accepted by the client

wl_data_offer.receive

request that the data is transferred

Request
Since Version 1

To transfer the offered data, the client issues this request and indicates the mime type it wants to receive. The transfer happens through the passed file descriptor (typically created with the pipe system call). The source client writes the data in the mime type representation requested and then closes the file descriptor.

The receiving client reads from the read end of the pipe until EOF and then closes its end, at which point the transfer is complete.

This request may happen multiple times for different mime types, both before and after wl_data_device.drop. Drag-and-drop destination clients may preemptively fetch data or examine it more closely to determine acceptance.

ArgumentTypeDescription
mime_typestring

mime type desired by receiver

fdfd

file descriptor for data transfer

wl_data_offer.destroy

destroy data offer

Destructor Request
Since Version 1

Destroy the data offer.

wl_data_offer.finish

the offer will no longer be used

Request
Since Version 3

Notifies the compositor that the drag destination successfully finished the drag-and-drop operation.

Upon receiving this request, the compositor will emit wl_data_source.dnd_finished on the drag source client.

It is a client error to perform other requests than wl_data_offer.destroy after this one. It is also an error to perform this request after a NULL mime type has been set in wl_data_offer.accept or no action was received through wl_data_offer.action.

If wl_data_offer.finish request is received for a non drag and drop operation, the invalid_finish protocol error is raised.

wl_data_offer.set_actions

set the available/preferred drag-and-drop actions

Request
Since Version 3

Sets the actions that the destination side client supports for this operation. This request may trigger the emission of wl_data_source.action and wl_data_offer.action events if the compositor needs to change the selected action.

This request can be called multiple times throughout the drag-and-drop operation, typically in response to wl_data_device.enter or wl_data_device.motion events.

This request determines the final result of the drag-and-drop operation. If the end result is that no action is accepted, the drag source will receive wl_data_source.cancelled.

The dnd_actions argument must contain only values expressed in the wl_data_device_manager.dnd_actions enum, and the preferred_action argument must only contain one of those values set, otherwise it will result in a protocol error.

While managing an "ask" action, the destination drag-and-drop client may perform further wl_data_offer.receive requests, and is expected to perform one last wl_data_offer.set_actions request with a preferred action other than "ask" (and optionally wl_data_offer.accept) before requesting wl_data_offer.finish, in order to convey the action selected by the user. If the preferred action is not in the wl_data_offer.source_actions mask, an error will be raised.

If the "ask" action is dismissed (e.g. user cancellation), the client is expected to perform wl_data_offer.destroy right away.

This request can only be made on drag-and-drop offers, a protocol error will be raised otherwise.

ArgumentTypeDescription
dnd_actionsuint<wl_data_device_manager.dnd_action>

actions supported by the destination client

preferred_actionuint<wl_data_device_manager.dnd_action>

action preferred by the destination client

wl_data_offer.offer

advertise offered mime type

Event
Since Version 1

Sent immediately after creating the wl_data_offer object. One event per offered mime type.

ArgumentTypeDescription
mime_typestring

offered mime type

wl_data_offer.source_actions

notify the source-side available actions

Event
Since Version 3

This event indicates the actions offered by the data source. It will be sent immediately after creating the wl_data_offer object, or anytime the source side changes its offered actions through wl_data_source.set_actions.

ArgumentTypeDescription
source_actionsuint<wl_data_device_manager.dnd_action>

actions offered by the data source

wl_data_offer.action

notify the selected action

Event
Since Version 3

This event indicates the action selected by the compositor after matching the source/destination side actions. Only one action (or none) will be offered here.

This event can be emitted multiple times during the drag-and-drop operation in response to destination side action changes through wl_data_offer.set_actions.

This event will no longer be emitted after wl_data_device.drop happened on the drag-and-drop destination, the client must honor the last action received, or the last preferred one set through wl_data_offer.set_actions when handling an "ask" action.

Compositors may also change the selected action on the fly, mainly in response to keyboard modifier changes during the drag-and-drop operation.

The most recent action received is always the valid one. Prior to receiving wl_data_device.drop, the chosen action may change (e.g. due to keyboard modifiers being pressed). At the time of receiving wl_data_device.drop the drag-and-drop destination must honor the last action received.

Action changes may still happen after wl_data_device.drop, especially on "ask" actions, where the drag-and-drop destination may choose another action afterwards. Action changes happening at this stage are always the result of inter-client negotiation, the compositor shall no longer be able to induce a different action.

Upon "ask" actions, it is expected that the drag-and-drop destination may potentially choose a different action and/or mime type, based on wl_data_offer.source_actions and finally chosen by the user (e.g. popping up a menu with the available options). The final wl_data_offer.set_actions and wl_data_offer.accept requests must happen before the call to wl_data_offer.finish.

ArgumentTypeDescription
dnd_actionuint<wl_data_device_manager.dnd_action>

action selected by the compositor

wl_data_offer.error

Enum
Since Version 1
EntryValueSinceDescription
invalid_finish01

finish request was called untimely

invalid_action_mask11

action mask contains invalid values

invalid_action21

action argument has an invalid value

invalid_offer31

offer doesn't accept this request

wl_data_source

offer to transfer data

Interface
Version 4

The wl_data_source object is the source side of a wl_data_offer. It is created by the source client in a data transfer and provides a way to describe the offered data and a way to respond to requests to transfer the data.

wl_data_source.offer

add an offered mime type

Request
Since Version 1

This request adds a mime type to the set of mime types advertised to targets. Can be called several times to offer multiple types.

ArgumentTypeDescription
mime_typestring

mime type offered by the data source

wl_data_source.destroy

destroy the data source

Destructor Request
Since Version 1

Destroy the data source.

wl_data_source.set_actions

set the available drag-and-drop actions

Request
Since Version 3

Sets the actions that the source side client supports for this operation. This request may trigger wl_data_source.action and wl_data_offer.action events if the compositor needs to change the selected action.

The dnd_actions argument must contain only values expressed in the wl_data_device_manager.dnd_actions enum, otherwise it will result in a protocol error.

This request must be made once only, and can only be made on sources used in drag-and-drop, so it must be performed before wl_data_device.start_drag. Attempting to use the source other than for drag-and-drop will raise a protocol error.

ArgumentTypeDescription
dnd_actionsuint<wl_data_device_manager.dnd_action>

actions supported by the data source

wl_data_source.target

a target accepts an offered mime type

Event
Since Version 1

Sent when a target accepts pointer_focus or motion events. If a target does not accept any of the offered types, type is NULL.

Used for feedback during drag-and-drop.

ArgumentTypeDescription
mime_typenullable string

mime type accepted by the target

wl_data_source.send

send the data

Event
Since Version 1

Request for data from the client. Send the data as the specified mime type over the passed file descriptor, then close it.

ArgumentTypeDescription
mime_typestring

mime type for the data

fdfd

file descriptor for the data

wl_data_source.cancelled

selection was cancelled

Event
Since Version 1

This data source is no longer valid. There are several reasons why this could happen:

- The data source has been replaced by another data source.

- The drag-and-drop operation was performed, but the drop destination did not accept any of the mime types offered through wl_data_source.target.

- The drag-and-drop operation was performed, but the drop destination did not select any of the actions present in the mask offered through wl_data_source.action.

- The drag-and-drop operation was performed but didn't happen over a surface.

- The compositor cancelled the drag-and-drop operation (e.g. compositor dependent timeouts to avoid stale drag-and-drop transfers).

The client should clean up and destroy this data source.

For objects of version 2 or older, wl_data_source.cancelled will only be emitted if the data source was replaced by another data source.

wl_data_source.dnd_drop_performed

the drag-and-drop operation physically finished

Event
Since Version 3

The user performed the drop action. This event does not indicate acceptance, wl_data_source.cancelled may still be emitted afterwards if the drop destination does not accept any mime type.

However, this event might however not be received if the compositor cancelled the drag-and-drop operation before this event could happen.

Note that the data_source may still be used in the future and should not be destroyed here.

wl_data_source.dnd_finished

the drag-and-drop operation concluded

Event
Since Version 3

The drop destination finished interoperating with this data source, so the client is now free to destroy this data source and free all associated data.

If the action used to perform the operation was "move", the source can now delete the transferred data.

wl_data_source.action

notify the selected action

Event
Since Version 3

This event indicates the action selected by the compositor after matching the source/destination side actions. Only one action (or none) will be offered here.

This event can be emitted multiple times during the drag-and-drop operation, mainly in response to destination side changes through wl_data_offer.set_actions, and as the data device enters/leaves surfaces.

It is only possible to receive this event after wl_data_source.dnd_drop_performed if the drag-and-drop operation ended in an "ask" action, in which case the final wl_data_source.action event will happen immediately before wl_data_source.dnd_finished.

Compositors may also change the selected action on the fly, mainly in response to keyboard modifier changes during the drag-and-drop operation.

The most recent action received is always the valid one. The chosen action may change alongside negotiation (e.g. an "ask" action can turn into a "move" operation), so the effects of the final action must always be applied in wl_data_offer.dnd_finished.

Clients can trigger cursor surface changes from this point, so they reflect the current action.

ArgumentTypeDescription
dnd_actionuint<wl_data_device_manager.dnd_action>

action selected by the compositor

wl_data_source.error

Enum
Since Version 1
EntryValueSinceDescription
invalid_action_mask01

action mask contains invalid values

invalid_source11

source doesn't accept this request

wl_data_device

data transfer device

Interface
Version 4

There is one wl_data_device per seat which can be obtained from the global wl_data_device_manager singleton.

A wl_data_device provides access to inter-client data transfer mechanisms such as copy-and-paste and drag-and-drop.

wl_data_device.start_drag

start drag-and-drop operation

Request
Since Version 1

This request asks the compositor to start a drag-and-drop operation on behalf of the client.

The source argument is the data source that provides the data for the eventual data transfer. If source is NULL, enter, leave and motion events are sent only to the client that initiated the drag and the client is expected to handle the data passing internally. If source is destroyed, the drag-and-drop session will be cancelled.

The origin surface is the surface where the drag originates and the client must have an active implicit grab that matches the serial.

The icon surface is an optional (can be NULL) surface that provides an icon to be moved around with the cursor. Initially, the top-left corner of the icon surface is placed at the cursor hotspot, but subsequent wl_surface.offset requests can move the relative position. Attach requests must be confirmed with wl_surface.commit as usual. The icon surface is given the role of a drag-and-drop icon. If the icon surface already has another role, it raises a protocol error.

The input region is ignored for wl_surfaces with the role of a drag-and-drop icon.

The given source may not be used in any further set_selection or start_drag requests. Attempting to reuse a previously-used source may send a used_source error.

ArgumentTypeDescription
sourcenullable object<wl_data_source>

data source for the eventual transfer

originobject<wl_surface>

surface where the drag originates

iconnullable object<wl_surface>

drag-and-drop icon surface

serialuint

serial number of the implicit grab on the origin

wl_data_device.set_selection

copy data to the selection

Request
Since Version 1

This request asks the compositor to set the selection to the data from the source on behalf of the client.

To unset the selection, set the source to NULL.

The given source may not be used in any further set_selection or start_drag requests. Attempting to reuse a previously-used source may send a used_source error.

ArgumentTypeDescription
sourcenullable object<wl_data_source>

data source for the selection

serialuint

serial number of the event that triggered this request

wl_data_device.release

destroy data device

Destructor Request
Since Version 2

This request destroys the data device.

wl_data_device.data_offer

introduce a new wl_data_offer

Event
Since Version 1

The data_offer event introduces a new wl_data_offer object, which will subsequently be used in either the data_device.enter event (for drag-and-drop) or the data_device.selection event (for selections). Immediately following the data_device.data_offer event, the new data_offer object will send out data_offer events to describe the mime types it offers.

ArgumentTypeDescription
idnew_id<wl_data_offer>

the new data_offer object

wl_data_device.enter

initiate drag-and-drop session

Event
Since Version 1

This event is sent when an active drag-and-drop pointer enters a surface owned by the client. The position of the pointer at enter time is provided by the x and y arguments, in surface-local coordinates.

ArgumentTypeDescription
serialuint

serial number of the enter event

surfaceobject<wl_surface>

client surface entered

xfixed

surface-local x coordinate

yfixed

surface-local y coordinate

idnullable object<wl_data_offer>

source data_offer object

wl_data_device.leave

end drag-and-drop session

Event
Since Version 1

This event is sent when the drag-and-drop pointer leaves the surface and the session ends. The client must destroy the wl_data_offer introduced at enter time at this point.

wl_data_device.motion

drag-and-drop session motion

Event
Since Version 1

This event is sent when the drag-and-drop pointer moves within the currently focused surface. The new position of the pointer is provided by the x and y arguments, in surface-local coordinates.

ArgumentTypeDescription
timeuint

timestamp with millisecond granularity

xfixed

surface-local x coordinate

yfixed

surface-local y coordinate

wl_data_device.drop

end drag-and-drop session successfully

Event
Since Version 1

The event is sent when a drag-and-drop operation is ended because the implicit grab is removed.

The drag-and-drop destination is expected to honor the last action received through wl_data_offer.action, if the resulting action is "copy" or "move", the destination can still perform wl_data_offer.receive requests, and is expected to end all transfers with a wl_data_offer.finish request.

If the resulting action is "ask", the action will not be considered final. The drag-and-drop destination is expected to perform one last wl_data_offer.set_actions request, or wl_data_offer.destroy in order to cancel the operation.

wl_data_device.selection

advertise new selection

Event
Since Version 1

The selection event is sent out to notify the client of a new wl_data_offer for the selection for this device. The data_device.data_offer and the data_offer events are sent out immediately before this event to introduce the data offer object. The selection event is sent to a client immediately before receiving keyboard focus and when a new selection is set while the client has keyboard focus. The data_offer is valid until a new data_offer or NULL is received or until the client loses keyboard focus. Switching surface with keyboard focus within the same client doesn't mean a new selection will be sent. The client must destroy the previous selection data_offer, if any, upon receiving this event.

ArgumentTypeDescription
idnullable object<wl_data_offer>

selection data_offer object

wl_data_device.error

Enum
Since Version 1
EntryValueSinceDescription
role01

given wl_surface has another role

used_source11

source has already been used

wl_data_device_manager

data transfer interface

Interface
Version 4

The wl_data_device_manager is a singleton global object that provides access to inter-client data transfer mechanisms such as copy-and-paste and drag-and-drop. These mechanisms are tied to a wl_seat and this interface lets a client get a wl_data_device corresponding to a wl_seat.

Depending on the version bound, the objects created from the bound wl_data_device_manager object will have different requirements for functioning properly. See wl_data_source.set_actions, wl_data_offer.accept and wl_data_offer.finish for details.

wl_data_device_manager.create_data_source

create a new data source

Request
Since Version 1

Create a new data source.

ArgumentTypeDescription
idnew_id<wl_data_source>

data source to create

wl_data_device_manager.get_data_device

create a new data device

Request
Since Version 1

Create a new data device for a given seat.

ArgumentTypeDescription
idnew_id<wl_data_device>

data device to create

seatobject<wl_seat>

seat associated with the data device

wl_data_device_manager.release

destroy wl_data_device_manager

Destructor Request
Since Version 4

This request destroys the wl_data_device_manager. This has no effect on any other objects.

wl_data_device_manager.dnd_action

drag and drop actions

Bitfield Enum
Since Version 3

This is a bitmask of the available/preferred actions in a drag-and-drop operation.

In the compositor, the selected action is a result of matching the actions offered by the source and destination sides. "action" events with a "none" action will be sent to both source and destination if there is no match. All further checks will effectively happen on (source actions ∩ destination actions).

In addition, compositors may also pick different actions in reaction to key modifiers being pressed. One common design that is used in major toolkits (and the behavior recommended for compositors) is:

- If no modifiers are pressed, the first match (in bit order) will be used.

- Pressing Shift selects "move", if enabled in the mask.

- Pressing Control selects "copy", if enabled in the mask.

Behavior beyond that is considered implementation-dependent. Compositors may for example bind other modifiers (like Alt/Meta) or drags initiated with other buttons than BTN_LEFT to specific actions (e.g. "ask").

EntryValueSinceDescription
none01

no action

copy11

copy action

move21

move action

ask41

ask action

wl_surface

an onscreen surface

Interface
Version 7

A surface is a rectangular area that may be displayed on zero or more outputs, and shown any number of times at the compositor's discretion. They can present wl_buffers, receive user input, and define a local coordinate system.

The size of a surface (and relative positions on it) is described in surface-local coordinates, which may differ from the buffer coordinates of the pixel content, in case a buffer_transform or a buffer_scale is used.

A surface without a "role" is fairly useless: a compositor does not know where, when or how to present it. The role is the purpose of a wl_surface. Examples of roles are a cursor for a pointer (as set by wl_pointer.set_cursor), a drag icon (wl_data_device.start_drag), a sub-surface (wl_subcompositor.get_subsurface), and a window as defined by a shell protocol (e.g. wl_shell.get_shell_surface).

A surface can have only one role at a time. Initially a wl_surface does not have a role. Once a wl_surface is given a role, it is set permanently for the whole lifetime of the wl_surface object. Giving the current role again is allowed, unless explicitly forbidden by the relevant interface specification.

Surface roles are given by requests in other interfaces such as wl_pointer.set_cursor. The request should explicitly mention that this request gives a role to a wl_surface. Often, this request also creates a new protocol object that represents the role and adds additional functionality to wl_surface. When a client wants to destroy a wl_surface, they must destroy this role object before the wl_surface, otherwise a defunct_role_object error is sent.

Destroying the role object does not remove the role from the wl_surface, but it may stop the wl_surface from "playing the role". For instance, if a wl_subsurface object is destroyed, the wl_surface it was created for will be unmapped and forget its position and z-order. It is allowed to create a wl_subsurface for the same wl_surface again, but it is not allowed to use the wl_surface as a cursor (cursor is a different role than sub-surface, and role switching is not allowed).

wl_surface.destroy

delete surface

Destructor Request
Since Version 1

Deletes the surface and invalidates its object ID.

wl_surface.attach

set the surface contents

Request
Since Version 1

Set a buffer as the content of this surface.

The new size of the surface is calculated based on the buffer size transformed by the inverse buffer_transform and the inverse buffer_scale. This means that at commit time the supplied buffer size must be an integer multiple of the buffer_scale. If that's not the case, an invalid_size error is sent.

The x and y arguments specify the location of the new pending buffer's upper left corner, relative to the current buffer's upper left corner, in surface-local coordinates. In other words, the x and y, combined with the new surface size define in which directions the surface's size changes. Setting anything other than 0 as x and y arguments is discouraged, and should instead be replaced with using the separate wl_surface.offset request.

When the bound wl_surface version is 5 or higher, passing any non-zero x or y is a protocol violation, and will result in an 'invalid_offset' error being raised. The x and y arguments are ignored and do not change the pending state. To achieve equivalent semantics, use wl_surface.offset.

Surface contents are double-buffered state, see wl_surface.commit.

The initial surface contents are void; there is no content. wl_surface.attach assigns the given wl_buffer as the pending wl_buffer. wl_surface.commit makes the pending wl_buffer the new surface contents, and the size of the surface becomes the size calculated from the wl_buffer, as described above. After commit, there is no pending buffer until the next attach.

Committing a pending wl_buffer allows the compositor to read the pixels in the wl_buffer. The compositor may access the pixels at any time after the wl_surface.commit request. When the compositor will not access the pixels anymore, it will send the wl_buffer.release event. Only after receiving wl_buffer.release, the client may reuse the wl_buffer. A wl_buffer that has been attached and then replaced by another attach instead of committed will not receive a release event, and is not used by the compositor.

If a pending wl_buffer has been committed to more than one wl_surface, the delivery of wl_buffer.release events becomes undefined. A well behaved client should not rely on wl_buffer.release events in this case. Instead, clients hitting this case should use wl_surface.get_release or use a protocol extension providing per-commit release notifications (if none of these options are available, a fallback can be implemented by creating multiple wl_buffer objects from the same backing storage).

Destroying the wl_buffer after wl_buffer.release does not change the surface contents. Destroying the wl_buffer before wl_buffer.release is allowed as long as the underlying buffer storage isn't re-used (this can happen e.g. on client process termination). However, if the client destroys the wl_buffer before receiving the wl_buffer.release event and mutates the underlying buffer storage, the surface contents become undefined immediately.

If wl_surface.attach is sent with a NULL wl_buffer, the following wl_surface.commit will remove the surface content.

If a pending wl_buffer has been destroyed, the result is not specified. Many compositors are known to remove the surface content on the following wl_surface.commit, but this behaviour is not universal. Clients seeking to maximise compatibility should not destroy pending buffers and should ensure that they explicitly remove content from surfaces, even after destroying buffers.

ArgumentTypeDescription
buffernullable object<wl_buffer>

buffer of surface contents

xint

surface-local x coordinate

yint

surface-local y coordinate

wl_surface.damage

mark part of the surface damaged

Request
Since Version 1

This request is used to describe the regions where the pending buffer is different from the current surface contents, and where the surface therefore needs to be repainted. The compositor ignores the parts of the damage that fall outside of the surface.

Damage is double-buffered state, see wl_surface.commit.

The damage rectangle is specified in surface-local coordinates, where x and y specify the upper left corner of the damage rectangle.

The initial value for pending damage is empty: no damage. wl_surface.damage adds pending damage: the new pending damage is the union of old pending damage and the given rectangle.

wl_surface.commit assigns pending damage as the current damage, and clears pending damage. The server will clear the current damage as it repaints the surface.

Note! New clients should not use this request. Instead damage can be posted with wl_surface.damage_buffer which uses buffer coordinates instead of surface coordinates.

ArgumentTypeDescription
xint

surface-local x coordinate

yint

surface-local y coordinate

widthint

width of damage rectangle

heightint

height of damage rectangle

wl_surface.frame

request a frame throttling hint

Request
Since Version 1

Request a notification when it is a good time to start drawing a new frame, by creating a frame callback. This is useful for throttling redrawing operations, and driving animations.

When a client is animating on a wl_surface, it can use the 'frame' request to get notified when it is a good time to draw and commit the next frame of animation. If the client commits an update earlier than that, it is likely that some updates will not make it to the display, and the client is wasting resources by drawing too often.

The frame request will take effect on the next wl_surface.commit. The notification will only be posted for one frame unless requested again. For a wl_surface, the notifications are posted in the order the frame requests were committed.

The server must send the notifications so that a client will not send excessive updates, while still allowing the highest possible update rate for clients that wait for the reply before drawing again. The server should give some time for the client to draw and commit after sending the frame callback events to let it hit the next output refresh.

A server should avoid signaling the frame callbacks if the surface is not visible in any way, e.g. the surface is off-screen, or completely obscured by other opaque surfaces.

The object returned by this request will be destroyed by the compositor after the callback is fired and as such the client must not attempt to use it after that point.

The callback_data passed in the callback is the current time, in milliseconds, with an undefined base.

ArgumentTypeDescription
callbacknew_id<wl_callback>

callback object for the frame request

wl_surface.set_opaque_region

set opaque region

Request
Since Version 1

This request sets the region of the surface that contains opaque content.

The opaque region is an optimization hint for the compositor that lets it optimize the redrawing of content behind opaque regions. Setting an opaque region is not required for correct behaviour, but marking transparent content as opaque will result in repaint artifacts.

The opaque region is specified in surface-local coordinates.

The compositor ignores the parts of the opaque region that fall outside of the surface.

Opaque region is double-buffered state, see wl_surface.commit.

wl_surface.set_opaque_region changes the pending opaque region. wl_surface.commit copies the pending region to the current region. Otherwise, the pending and current regions are never changed.

The initial value for an opaque region is empty. Setting the pending opaque region has copy semantics, and the wl_region object can be destroyed immediately. A NULL wl_region causes the pending opaque region to be set to empty.

ArgumentTypeDescription
regionnullable object<wl_region>

opaque region of the surface

wl_surface.set_input_region

set input region

Request
Since Version 1

This request sets the region of the surface that can receive pointer and touch events.

Input events happening outside of this region will try the next surface in the server surface stack. The compositor ignores the parts of the input region that fall outside of the surface.

The input region is specified in surface-local coordinates.

Input region is double-buffered state, see wl_surface.commit.

wl_surface.set_input_region changes the pending input region. wl_surface.commit copies the pending region to the current region. Otherwise the pending and current regions are never changed, except cursor and icon surfaces are special cases, see wl_pointer.set_cursor and wl_data_device.start_drag.

The initial value for an input region is infinite. That means the whole surface will accept input. Setting the pending input region has copy semantics, and the wl_region object can be destroyed immediately. A NULL wl_region causes the input region to be set to infinite.

ArgumentTypeDescription
regionnullable object<wl_region>

input region of the surface

wl_surface.commit

commit pending surface state

Request
Since Version 1

Surface state (input, opaque, and damage regions, attached buffers, etc.) is double-buffered. Protocol requests modify the pending state, as opposed to the active state in use by the compositor.

All requests that need a commit to become effective are documented to affect double-buffered state.

Other interfaces may add further double-buffered surface state.

A commit request atomically creates a Content Update (CU) from the pending state, even if the pending state has not been touched. The content update is placed at the end of a per-surface queue until it becomes active. After commit, the new pending state is as documented for each related request.

A CU is either a Desync Content Update (DCU) or a Sync Content Update (SCU). If the surface is effectively synchronized at the commit request, it is a SCU, otherwise a DCU.

When a surface transitions from effectively synchronized to effectively desynchronized, all SCUs in its queue which are not reachable by any DCU become DCUs and dependency edges from outside the queue to these CUs are removed.

See wl_subsurface for the definition of 'effectively synchronized' and 'effectively desynchronized'.

When a CU is placed in the queue, the CU has a dependency on the CU in front of it and to the SCU at end of the queue of every direct child surface if that SCU exists and does not have another dependent. This can form a directed acyclic graph of CUs with dependencies as edges.

In addition to surface state, the CU can have constraints that must be satisfied before it can be applied. Other interfaces may add CU constraints.

All DCUs which do not have a SCU in front of themselves in their queue, are candidates. If the graph that's reachable by a candidate does not have any unsatisfied constraints, the entire graph must be applied atomically.

When a CU is applied, the wl_buffer is applied before all other state. This means that all coordinates in double-buffered state are relative to the newly attached wl_buffers, except for wl_surface.attach itself. If there is no newly attached wl_buffer, the coordinates are relative to the previous content update.

wl_surface.set_buffer_transform

sets the buffer transformation

Request
Since Version 2

This request sets the transformation that the client has already applied to the content of the buffer. The accepted values for the transform parameter are the values for wl_output.transform.

The compositor applies the inverse of this transformation whenever it uses the buffer contents.

Buffer transform is double-buffered state, see wl_surface.commit.

A newly created surface has its buffer transformation set to normal.

wl_surface.set_buffer_transform changes the pending buffer transformation. wl_surface.commit copies the pending buffer transformation to the current one. Otherwise, the pending and current values are never changed.

The purpose of this request is to allow clients to render content according to the output transform, thus permitting the compositor to use certain optimizations even if the display is rotated. Using hardware overlays and scanning out a client buffer for fullscreen surfaces are examples of such optimizations. Those optimizations are highly dependent on the compositor implementation, so the use of this request should be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Note that if the transform value includes 90 or 270 degree rotation, the width of the buffer will become the surface height and the height of the buffer will become the surface width.

If transform is not one of the values from the wl_output.transform enum the invalid_transform protocol error is raised.

ArgumentTypeDescription
transformint<wl_output.transform>

transform for interpreting buffer contents

wl_surface.set_buffer_scale

sets the buffer scaling factor

Request
Since Version 3

This request sets an optional scaling factor on how the compositor interprets the contents of the buffer attached to the window.

Buffer scale is double-buffered state, see wl_surface.commit.

A newly created surface has its buffer scale set to 1.

wl_surface.set_buffer_scale changes the pending buffer scale. wl_surface.commit copies the pending buffer scale to the current one. Otherwise, the pending and current values are never changed.

The purpose of this request is to allow clients to supply higher resolution buffer data for use on high resolution outputs. It is intended that you pick the same buffer scale as the scale of the output that the surface is displayed on. This means the compositor can avoid scaling when rendering the surface on that output.

Note that if the scale is larger than 1, then you have to attach a buffer that is larger (by a factor of scale in each dimension) than the desired surface size.

If scale is not greater than 0 the invalid_scale protocol error is raised.

ArgumentTypeDescription
scaleint

scale for interpreting buffer contents

wl_surface.damage_buffer

mark part of the surface damaged using buffer coordinates

Request
Since Version 4

This request is used to describe the regions where the pending buffer is different from the current surface contents, and where the surface therefore needs to be repainted. The compositor ignores the parts of the damage that fall outside of the surface.

Damage is double-buffered state, see wl_surface.commit.

The damage rectangle is specified in buffer coordinates, where x and y specify the upper left corner of the damage rectangle.

The initial value for pending damage is empty: no damage. wl_surface.damage_buffer adds pending damage: the new pending damage is the union of old pending damage and the given rectangle.

wl_surface.commit assigns pending damage as the current damage, and clears pending damage. The server will clear the current damage as it repaints the surface.

This request differs from wl_surface.damage in only one way - it takes damage in buffer coordinates instead of surface-local coordinates. While this generally is more intuitive than surface coordinates, it is especially desirable when using wp_viewport or when a drawing library (like EGL) is unaware of buffer scale and buffer transform.

Note: Because buffer transformation changes and damage requests may be interleaved in the protocol stream, it is impossible to determine the actual mapping between surface and buffer damage until wl_surface.commit time. Therefore, compositors wishing to take both kinds of damage into account will have to accumulate damage from the two requests separately and only transform from one to the other after receiving the wl_surface.commit.

ArgumentTypeDescription
xint

buffer-local x coordinate

yint

buffer-local y coordinate

widthint

width of damage rectangle

heightint

height of damage rectangle

wl_surface.offset

set the surface contents offset

Request
Since Version 5

The x and y arguments specify the location of the new pending buffer's upper left corner, relative to the current buffer's upper left corner, in surface-local coordinates. In other words, the x and y, combined with the new surface size define in which directions the surface's size changes.

The exact semantics of wl_surface.offset are role-specific. Refer to the documentation of specific roles for more information.

Surface location offset is double-buffered state, see wl_surface.commit.

This request is semantically equivalent to and the replaces the x and y arguments in the wl_surface.attach request in wl_surface versions prior to 5. See wl_surface.attach for details.

ArgumentTypeDescription
xint

surface-local x coordinate

yint

surface-local y coordinate

wl_surface.get_release

get a release callback

Request
Since Version 7

Create a callback for the release of the buffer attached by the client with wl_surface.attach.

The compositor will release the buffer when it has finished its usage of the underlying storage for the relevant commit. Once the client receives this event, and assuming the associated buffer is not pending release from other wl_surface.commit requests, the client can safely re-use the buffer.

Release callbacks are double-buffered state, and will be associated with the pending buffer at wl_surface.commit time.

The callback_data passed in the wl_callback.done event is unused and is always zero.

Sending this request without attaching a non-null buffer in the same content update is a protocol error. The compositor will send the no_buffer error in this case.

ArgumentTypeDescription
callbacknew_id<wl_callback>

callback object for the release

wl_surface.enter

surface enters an output

Event
Since Version 1

This is emitted whenever a surface's creation, movement, or resizing results in some part of it being within the scanout region of an output.

Note that a surface may be overlapping with zero or more outputs.

ArgumentTypeDescription
outputobject<wl_output>

output entered by the surface

wl_surface.leave

surface leaves an output

Event
Since Version 1

This is emitted whenever a surface's creation, movement, or resizing results in it no longer having any part of it within the scanout region of an output.

Clients should not use the number of outputs the surface is on for frame throttling purposes. The surface might be hidden even if no leave event has been sent, and the compositor might expect new surface content updates even if no enter event has been sent. The frame event should be used instead.

ArgumentTypeDescription
outputobject<wl_output>

output left by the surface

wl_surface.preferred_buffer_scale

preferred buffer scale for the surface

Event
Since Version 6

This event indicates the preferred buffer scale for this surface. It is sent whenever the compositor's preference changes.

Before receiving this event the preferred buffer scale for this surface is 1.

It is intended that scaling aware clients use this event to scale their content and use wl_surface.set_buffer_scale to indicate the scale they have rendered with. This allows clients to supply a higher detail buffer.

The compositor shall emit a scale value greater than 0.

ArgumentTypeDescription
factorint

preferred scaling factor

wl_surface.preferred_buffer_transform

preferred buffer transform for the surface

Event
Since Version 6

This event indicates the preferred buffer transform for this surface. It is sent whenever the compositor's preference changes.

Before receiving this event the preferred buffer transform for this surface is normal.

Applying this transformation to the surface buffer contents and using wl_surface.set_buffer_transform might allow the compositor to use the surface buffer more efficiently.

ArgumentTypeDescription
transformuint<wl_output.transform>

preferred transform

wl_surface.error

wl_surface error values

Enum
Since Version 1

These errors can be emitted in response to wl_surface requests.

EntryValueSinceDescription
invalid_scale01

buffer scale value is invalid

invalid_transform11

buffer transform value is invalid

invalid_size21

buffer size is invalid

invalid_offset31

buffer offset is invalid

defunct_role_object41

surface was destroyed before its role object

no_buffer51

no buffer was attached

wl_seat

group of input devices

Interface
Version 10

A seat is a group of keyboards, pointer and touch devices. This object is published as a global during start up, or when such a device is hot plugged. A seat typically has a pointer and maintains a keyboard focus and a pointer focus.

wl_seat.get_pointer

return pointer object

Request
Since Version 1

The ID provided will be initialized to the wl_pointer interface for this seat.

This request only takes effect if the seat has the pointer capability, or has had the pointer capability in the past. It is a protocol violation to issue this request on a seat that has never had the pointer capability. The missing_capability error will be sent in this case.

ArgumentTypeDescription
idnew_id<wl_pointer>

seat pointer

wl_seat.get_keyboard

return keyboard object

Request
Since Version 1

The ID provided will be initialized to the wl_keyboard interface for this seat.

This request only takes effect if the seat has the keyboard capability, or has had the keyboard capability in the past. It is a protocol violation to issue this request on a seat that has never had the keyboard capability. The missing_capability error will be sent in this case.

ArgumentTypeDescription
idnew_id<wl_keyboard>

seat keyboard

wl_seat.get_touch

return touch object

Request
Since Version 1

The ID provided will be initialized to the wl_touch interface for this seat.

This request only takes effect if the seat has the touch capability, or has had the touch capability in the past. It is a protocol violation to issue this request on a seat that has never had the touch capability. The missing_capability error will be sent in this case.

ArgumentTypeDescription
idnew_id<wl_touch>

seat touch interface

wl_seat.release

release the seat object

Destructor Request
Since Version 5

Using this request a client can tell the server that it is not going to use the seat object anymore.

wl_seat.capabilities

seat capabilities changed

Event
Since Version 1

This is sent on binding to the seat global or whenever a seat gains or loses the pointer, keyboard or touch capabilities. The argument is a capability enum containing the complete set of capabilities this seat has.

When the pointer capability is added, a client may create a wl_pointer object using the wl_seat.get_pointer request. This object will receive pointer events until the capability is removed in the future.

When the pointer capability is removed, a client should destroy the wl_pointer objects associated with the seat where the capability was removed, using the wl_pointer.release request. No further pointer events will be received on these objects.

In some compositors, if a seat regains the pointer capability and a client has a previously obtained wl_pointer object of version 4 or less, that object may start sending pointer events again. This behavior is considered a misinterpretation of the intended behavior and must not be relied upon by the client. wl_pointer objects of version 5 or later must not send events if created before the most recent event notifying the client of an added pointer capability.

The above behavior also applies to wl_keyboard and wl_touch with the keyboard and touch capabilities, respectively.

ArgumentTypeDescription
capabilitiesuint<capability>

capabilities of the seat

wl_seat.name

unique identifier for this seat

Event
Since Version 2

In a multi-seat configuration the seat name can be used by clients to help identify which physical devices the seat represents.

The seat name is a UTF-8 string with no convention defined for its contents. Each name is unique among all wl_seat globals. The name is only guaranteed to be unique for the current compositor instance.

The same seat names are used for all clients. Thus, the name can be shared across processes to refer to a specific wl_seat global.

The name event is sent after binding to the seat global, and should be sent before announcing capabilities. This event only sent once per seat object, and the name does not change over the lifetime of the wl_seat global.

Compositors may re-use the same seat name if the wl_seat global is destroyed and re-created later.

ArgumentTypeDescription
namestring

seat identifier

wl_seat.capability

seat capability bitmask

Bitfield Enum
Since Version 1

This is a bitmask of capabilities this seat has; if a member is set, then it is present on the seat.

EntryValueSinceDescription
pointer11

the seat has pointer devices

keyboard21

the seat has one or more keyboards

touch41

the seat has touch devices

wl_seat.error

wl_seat error values

Enum
Since Version 1

These errors can be emitted in response to wl_seat requests.

EntryValueSinceDescription
missing_capability01

get_pointer, get_keyboard or get_touch called on seat without the matching capability

wl_pointer

pointer input device

Interface
Version 10

The wl_pointer interface represents one or more input devices, such as mice, which control the pointer location and pointer_focus of a seat.

The wl_pointer interface generates motion, enter and leave events for the surfaces that the pointer is located over, and button and axis events for button presses, button releases and scrolling.

wl_pointer.set_cursor

set the pointer surface

Request
Since Version 1

Set the pointer surface, i.e., the surface that contains the pointer image (cursor). This request gives the surface the role of a cursor. If the surface already has another role, it raises a protocol error.

The cursor actually changes only if the pointer focus for this device is one of the requesting client's surfaces or the surface parameter is the current pointer surface. If there was a previous surface set with this request it is replaced. If surface is NULL, the pointer image is hidden.

The parameters hotspot_x and hotspot_y define the position of the pointer surface relative to the pointer location. Its top-left corner is always at (x, y) - (hotspot_x, hotspot_y), where (x, y) are the coordinates of the pointer location, in surface-local coordinates.

On wl_surface.offset requests to the pointer surface, hotspot_x and hotspot_y are decremented by the x and y parameters passed to the request. The offset must be applied by wl_surface.commit as usual.

The hotspot can also be updated by passing the currently set pointer surface to this request with new values for hotspot_x and hotspot_y.

The input region is ignored for wl_surfaces with the role of a cursor. When the use as a cursor ends, the wl_surface is unmapped.

The serial parameter must match the latest wl_pointer.enter serial number sent to the client. Otherwise the request will be ignored.

ArgumentTypeDescription
serialuint

serial number of the enter event

surfacenullable object<wl_surface>

pointer surface

hotspot_xint

surface-local x coordinate

hotspot_yint

surface-local y coordinate

wl_pointer.release

release the pointer object

Destructor Request
Since Version 3

Using this request a client can tell the server that it is not going to use the pointer object anymore.

This request destroys the pointer proxy object, so clients must not call wl_pointer_destroy() after using this request.

wl_pointer.enter

enter event

Event
Since Version 1

Notification that this seat's pointer is focused on a certain surface.

When a seat's focus enters a surface, the pointer image is undefined and a client should respond to this event by setting an appropriate pointer image with the set_cursor request.

ArgumentTypeDescription
serialuint

serial number of the enter event

surfaceobject<wl_surface>

surface entered by the pointer

surface_xfixed

surface-local x coordinate

surface_yfixed

surface-local y coordinate

wl_pointer.leave

leave event

Event
Since Version 1

Notification that this seat's pointer is no longer focused on a certain surface.

The leave notification is sent before the enter notification for the new focus.

ArgumentTypeDescription
serialuint

serial number of the leave event

surfaceobject<wl_surface>

surface left by the pointer

wl_pointer.motion

pointer motion event

Event
Since Version 1

Notification of pointer location change. The arguments surface_x and surface_y are the location relative to the focused surface.

ArgumentTypeDescription
timeuint

timestamp with millisecond granularity

surface_xfixed

surface-local x coordinate

surface_yfixed

surface-local y coordinate

wl_pointer.button

pointer button event

Event
Since Version 1

Mouse button click and release notifications.

The location of the click is given by the last motion or enter event. The time argument is a timestamp with millisecond granularity, with an undefined base.

The button is a button code as defined in the Linux kernel's linux/input-event-codes.h header file, e.g. BTN_LEFT.

Any 16-bit button code value is reserved for future additions to the kernel's event code list. All other button codes above 0xFFFF are currently undefined but may be used in future versions of this protocol.

ArgumentTypeDescription
serialuint

serial number of the button event

timeuint

timestamp with millisecond granularity

buttonuint

button that produced the event

stateuint<button_state>

physical state of the button

wl_pointer.axis

axis event

Event
Since Version 1

Scroll and other axis notifications.

For scroll events (vertical and horizontal scroll axes), the value parameter is the length of a vector along the specified axis in a coordinate space identical to those of motion events, representing a relative movement along the specified axis.

For devices that support movements non-parallel to axes multiple axis events will be emitted.

When applicable, for example for touch pads, the server can choose to emit scroll events where the motion vector is equivalent to a motion event vector.

When applicable, a client can transform its content relative to the scroll distance.

ArgumentTypeDescription
timeuint

timestamp with millisecond granularity

axisuint<axis>

axis type

valuefixed

length of vector in surface-local coordinate space

wl_pointer.frame

end of a pointer event sequence

Event
Since Version 5

Indicates the end of a set of events that logically belong together. A client is expected to accumulate the data in all events within the frame before proceeding.

All wl_pointer events before a wl_pointer.frame event belong logically together. For example, in a diagonal scroll motion the compositor will send an optional wl_pointer.axis_source event, two wl_pointer.axis events (horizontal and vertical) and finally a wl_pointer.frame event. The client may use this information to calculate a diagonal vector for scrolling.

When multiple wl_pointer.axis events occur within the same frame, the motion vector is the combined motion of all events. When a wl_pointer.axis and a wl_pointer.axis_stop event occur within the same frame, this indicates that axis movement in one axis has stopped but continues in the other axis. When multiple wl_pointer.axis_stop events occur within the same frame, this indicates that these axes stopped in the same instance.

A wl_pointer.frame event is sent for every logical event group, even if the group only contains a single wl_pointer event. Specifically, a client may get a sequence: motion, frame, button, frame, axis, frame, axis_stop, frame.

The wl_pointer.enter and wl_pointer.leave events are logical events generated by the compositor and not the hardware. These events are also grouped by a wl_pointer.frame. When a pointer moves from one surface to another, a compositor should group the wl_pointer.leave event within the same wl_pointer.frame. However, a client must not rely on wl_pointer.leave and wl_pointer.enter being in the same wl_pointer.frame. Compositor-specific policies may require the wl_pointer.leave and wl_pointer.enter event being split across multiple wl_pointer.frame groups.

wl_pointer.axis_source

axis source event

Event
Since Version 5

Source information for scroll and other axes.

This event does not occur on its own. It is sent before a wl_pointer.frame event and carries the source information for all events within that frame.

The source specifies how this event was generated. If the source is wl_pointer.axis_source.finger, a wl_pointer.axis_stop event will be sent when the user lifts the finger off the device.

If the source is wl_pointer.axis_source.wheel, wl_pointer.axis_source.wheel_tilt or wl_pointer.axis_source.continuous, a wl_pointer.axis_stop event may or may not be sent. Whether a compositor sends an axis_stop event for these sources is hardware-specific and implementation-dependent; clients must not rely on receiving an axis_stop event for these scroll sources and should treat scroll sequences from these scroll sources as unterminated by default.

This event is optional. If the source is unknown for a particular axis event sequence, no event is sent. Only one wl_pointer.axis_source event is permitted per frame.

The order of wl_pointer.axis_discrete and wl_pointer.axis_source is not guaranteed.

ArgumentTypeDescription
axis_sourceuint<axis_source>

source of the axis event

wl_pointer.axis_stop

axis stop event

Event
Since Version 5

Stop notification for scroll and other axes.

For some wl_pointer.axis_source types, a wl_pointer.axis_stop event is sent to notify a client that the axis sequence has terminated. This enables the client to implement kinetic scrolling. See the wl_pointer.axis_source documentation for information on when this event may be generated.

Any wl_pointer.axis events with the same axis_source after this event should be considered as the start of a new axis motion.

The timestamp is to be interpreted identical to the timestamp in the wl_pointer.axis event. The timestamp value may be the same as a preceding wl_pointer.axis event.

ArgumentTypeDescription
timeuint

timestamp with millisecond granularity

axisuint<axis>

the axis stopped with this event

wl_pointer.axis_discrete

axis click event

Event
Since Version 5

Discrete step information for scroll and other axes.

This event carries the axis value of the wl_pointer.axis event in discrete steps (e.g. mouse wheel clicks).

This event is deprecated with wl_pointer version 8 - this event is not sent to clients supporting version 8 or later.

This event does not occur on its own, it is coupled with a wl_pointer.axis event that represents this axis value on a continuous scale. The protocol guarantees that each axis_discrete event is always followed by exactly one axis event with the same axis number within the same wl_pointer.frame. Note that the protocol allows for other events to occur between the axis_discrete and its coupled axis event, including other axis_discrete or axis events. A wl_pointer.frame must not contain more than one axis_discrete event per axis type.

This event is optional; continuous scrolling devices like two-finger scrolling on touchpads do not have discrete steps and do not generate this event.

The discrete value carries the directional information. e.g. a value of -2 is two steps towards the negative direction of this axis.

The axis number is identical to the axis number in the associated axis event.

The order of wl_pointer.axis_discrete and wl_pointer.axis_source is not guaranteed.

ArgumentTypeDescription
axisuint<axis>

axis type

discreteint

number of steps

wl_pointer.axis_value120

axis high-resolution scroll event

Event
Since Version 8

Discrete high-resolution scroll information.

This event carries high-resolution wheel scroll information, with each multiple of 120 representing one logical scroll step (a wheel detent). For example, an axis_value120 of 30 is one quarter of a logical scroll step in the positive direction, a value120 of -240 are two logical scroll steps in the negative direction within the same hardware event. Clients that rely on discrete scrolling should accumulate the value120 to multiples of 120 before processing the event.

The value120 must not be zero.

This event replaces the wl_pointer.axis_discrete event in clients supporting wl_pointer version 8 or later.

Where a wl_pointer.axis_source event occurs in the same wl_pointer.frame, the axis source applies to this event.

The order of wl_pointer.axis_value120 and wl_pointer.axis_source is not guaranteed.

ArgumentTypeDescription
axisuint<axis>

axis type

value120int

scroll distance as fraction of 120

wl_pointer.axis_relative_direction

axis relative physical direction event

Event
Since Version 9

Relative directional information of the entity causing the axis motion.

For a wl_pointer.axis event, the wl_pointer.axis_relative_direction event specifies the movement direction of the entity causing the wl_pointer.axis event. For example:

- if a user's fingers on a touchpad move down and this causes a wl_pointer.axis vertical_scroll down event, the physical direction is 'identical'

- if a user's fingers on a touchpad move down and this causes a wl_pointer.axis vertical_scroll up scroll up event ('natural scrolling'), the physical direction is 'inverted'.

A client may use this information to adjust scroll motion of components. Specifically, enabling natural scrolling causes the content to change direction compared to traditional scrolling. Some widgets like volume control sliders should usually match the physical direction regardless of whether natural scrolling is active. This event enables clients to match the scroll direction of a widget to the physical direction.

This event does not occur on its own, it is coupled with a wl_pointer.axis event that represents this axis value. The protocol guarantees that each axis_relative_direction event is always followed by exactly one axis event with the same axis number within the same wl_pointer.frame. Note that the protocol allows for other events to occur between the axis_relative_direction and its coupled axis event.

The axis number is identical to the axis number in the associated axis event.

The order of wl_pointer.axis_relative_direction, wl_pointer.axis_discrete and wl_pointer.axis_source is not guaranteed.

ArgumentTypeDescription
axisuint<axis>

axis type

directionuint<axis_relative_direction>

physical direction relative to axis motion

wl_pointer.error

Enum
Since Version 1
EntryValueSinceDescription
role01

given wl_surface has another role

wl_pointer.button_state

physical button state

Enum
Since Version 1

Describes the physical state of a button that produced the button event.

EntryValueSinceDescription
released01

the button is not pressed

pressed11

the button is pressed

wl_pointer.axis

axis types

Enum
Since Version 1

Describes the axis types of scroll events.

EntryValueSinceDescription
vertical_scroll01

vertical axis

horizontal_scroll11

horizontal axis

wl_pointer.axis_source

axis source types

Enum
Since Version 1

Describes the source types for axis events. This indicates to the client how an axis event was physically generated; a client may adjust the user interface accordingly. For example, scroll events from a "finger" source may be in a smooth coordinate space with kinetic scrolling whereas a "wheel" source may be in discrete steps of a number of lines.

The "continuous" axis source is a device generating events in a continuous coordinate space, but using something other than a finger. One example for this source is button-based scrolling where the vertical motion of a device is converted to scroll events while a button is held down.

The "wheel tilt" axis source indicates that the actual device is a wheel but the scroll event is not caused by a rotation but a (usually sideways) tilt of the wheel.

EntryValueSinceDescription
wheel01

a physical wheel rotation

finger11

finger on a touch surface

continuous21

continuous coordinate space

wheel_tilt36

a physical wheel tilt

wl_pointer.axis_relative_direction

axis relative direction

Enum
Since Version 1

This specifies the direction of the physical motion that caused a wl_pointer.axis event, relative to the wl_pointer.axis direction.

EntryValueSinceDescription
identical01

physical motion matches axis direction

inverted11

physical motion is the inverse of the axis direction

wl_keyboard

keyboard input device

Interface
Version 10

The wl_keyboard interface represents one or more keyboards associated with a seat.

Each wl_keyboard has the following logical state:

- an active surface (possibly null),

- the keys currently logically down,

- the active modifiers,

- the active group.

By default, the active surface is null, the keys currently logically down are empty, the active modifiers and the active group are 0.

wl_keyboard.release

release the keyboard object

Destructor Request
Since Version 3

wl_keyboard.keymap

keyboard mapping

Event
Since Version 1

This event provides a file descriptor to the client which can be memory-mapped in read-only mode to provide a keyboard mapping description.

From version 7 onwards, the fd must be mapped with MAP_PRIVATE by the recipient, as MAP_SHARED may fail.

ArgumentTypeDescription
formatuint<keymap_format>

keymap format

fdfd

keymap file descriptor

sizeuint

keymap size, in bytes

wl_keyboard.enter

enter event

Event
Since Version 1

Notification that this seat's keyboard focus is on a certain surface.

The compositor must send the wl_keyboard.modifiers event after this event.

In the wl_keyboard logical state, this event sets the active surface to the surface argument and the keys currently logically down to the keys in the keys argument. The compositor must not send this event if the wl_keyboard already had an active surface immediately before this event.

Clients should not use the list of pressed keys to emulate key-press events. The order of keys in the list is unspecified.

ArgumentTypeDescription
serialuint

serial number of the enter event

surfaceobject<wl_surface>

surface gaining keyboard focus

keysarray

the keys currently logically down

wl_keyboard.leave

leave event

Event
Since Version 1

Notification that this seat's keyboard focus is no longer on a certain surface.

The leave notification is sent before the enter notification for the new focus.

In the wl_keyboard logical state, this event resets all values to their defaults. The compositor must not send this event if the active surface of the wl_keyboard was not equal to the surface argument immediately before this event.

ArgumentTypeDescription
serialuint

serial number of the leave event

surfaceobject<wl_surface>

surface that lost keyboard focus

wl_keyboard.key

key event

Event
Since Version 1

A key was pressed or released. The time argument is a timestamp with millisecond granularity, with an undefined base.

The key is a platform-specific key code that can be interpreted by feeding it to the keyboard mapping (see the keymap event).

If this event produces a change in modifiers, then the resulting wl_keyboard.modifiers event must be sent after this event.

In the wl_keyboard logical state, this event adds the key to the keys currently logically down (if the state argument is pressed) or removes the key from the keys currently logically down (if the state argument is released). The compositor must not send this event if the wl_keyboard did not have an active surface immediately before this event. The compositor must not send this event if state is pressed (resp. released) and the key was already logically down (resp. was not logically down) immediately before this event.

Since version 10, compositors may send key events with the "repeated" key state when a wl_keyboard.repeat_info event with a rate argument of 0 has been received. This allows the compositor to take over the responsibility of key repetition.

ArgumentTypeDescription
serialuint

serial number of the key event

timeuint

timestamp with millisecond granularity

keyuint

key that produced the event

stateuint<key_state>

physical state of the key

wl_keyboard.modifiers

modifier and group state

Event
Since Version 1

Notifies clients that the modifier and/or group state has changed, and it should update its local state.

The compositor may send this event without a surface of the client having keyboard focus, for example to tie modifier information to pointer focus instead. If a modifier event with pressed modifiers is sent without a prior enter event, the client can assume the modifier state is valid until it receives the next wl_keyboard.modifiers event. In order to reset the modifier state again, the compositor can send a wl_keyboard.modifiers event with no pressed modifiers.

In the wl_keyboard logical state, this event updates the modifiers and group.

ArgumentTypeDescription
serialuint

serial number of the modifiers event

mods_depresseduint

depressed modifiers

mods_latcheduint

latched modifiers

mods_lockeduint

locked modifiers

groupuint

keyboard layout

wl_keyboard.repeat_info

repeat rate and delay

Event
Since Version 4

Informs the client about the keyboard's repeat rate and delay.

This event is sent as soon as the wl_keyboard object has been created, and is guaranteed to be received by the client before any key press event.

Negative values for either rate or delay are illegal. A rate of zero will disable any repeating (regardless of the value of delay).

This event can be sent later on as well with a new value if necessary, so clients should continue listening for the event past the creation of wl_keyboard.

ArgumentTypeDescription
rateint

the rate of repeating keys in characters per second

delayint

delay in milliseconds since key down until repeating starts

wl_keyboard.keymap_format

keyboard mapping format

Enum
Since Version 1

This specifies the format of the keymap provided to the client with the wl_keyboard.keymap event.

EntryValueSinceDescription
no_keymap01

no keymap; client must understand how to interpret the raw keycode

xkb_v111

libxkbcommon compatible, null-terminated string; to determine the xkb keycode, clients must add 8 to the key event keycode

wl_keyboard.key_state

physical key state

Enum
Since Version 1

Describes the physical state of a key that produced the key event.

Since version 10, the key can be in a "repeated" pseudo-state which means the same as "pressed", but is used to signal repetition in the key event.

The key may only enter the repeated state after entering the pressed state and before entering the released state. This event may be generated multiple times while the key is down.

EntryValueSinceDescription
released01

key is not pressed

pressed11

key is pressed

repeated210

key was repeated

wl_touch

touchscreen input device

Interface
Version 10

The wl_touch interface represents a touchscreen associated with a seat.

Touch interactions can consist of one or more contacts. For each contact, a series of events is generated, starting with a down event, followed by zero or more motion events, and ending with an up event. Events relating to the same contact point can be identified by the ID of the sequence.

wl_touch.release

release the touch object

Destructor Request
Since Version 3

wl_touch.down

touch down event and beginning of a touch sequence

Event
Since Version 1

A new touch point has appeared on the surface. This touch point is assigned a unique ID. Future events from this touch point reference this ID. The ID ceases to be valid after a touch up event and may be reused in the future.

ArgumentTypeDescription
serialuint

serial number of the touch down event

timeuint

timestamp with millisecond granularity

surfaceobject<wl_surface>

surface touched

idint

the unique ID of this touch point

xfixed

surface-local x coordinate

yfixed

surface-local y coordinate

wl_touch.up

end of a touch event sequence

Event
Since Version 1

The touch point has disappeared. No further events will be sent for this touch point and the touch point's ID is released and may be reused in a future touch down event.

ArgumentTypeDescription
serialuint

serial number of the touch up event

timeuint

timestamp with millisecond granularity

idint

the unique ID of this touch point

wl_touch.motion

update of touch point coordinates

Event
Since Version 1

A touch point has changed coordinates.

ArgumentTypeDescription
timeuint

timestamp with millisecond granularity

idint

the unique ID of this touch point

xfixed

surface-local x coordinate

yfixed

surface-local y coordinate

wl_touch.frame

end of touch frame event

Event
Since Version 1

Indicates the end of a set of events that logically belong together. A client is expected to accumulate the data in all events within the frame before proceeding.

A wl_touch.frame terminates at least one event but otherwise no guarantee is provided about the set of events within a frame. A client must assume that any state not updated in a frame is unchanged from the previously known state.

wl_touch.cancel

touch session cancelled

Event
Since Version 1

Sent if the compositor decides the touch stream is a global gesture. No further events are sent to the clients from that particular gesture. Touch cancellation applies to all touch points currently active on this client's surface. The client is responsible for finalizing the touch points, future touch points on this surface may reuse the touch point ID.

No frame event is required after the cancel event.

wl_touch.shape

update shape of touch point

Event
Since Version 6

Sent when a touchpoint has changed its shape.

This event does not occur on its own. It is sent before a wl_touch.frame event and carries the new shape information for any previously reported, or new touch points of that frame.

Other events describing the touch point such as wl_touch.down, wl_touch.motion or wl_touch.orientation may be sent within the same wl_touch.frame. A client should treat these events as a single logical touch point update. The order of wl_touch.shape, wl_touch.orientation and wl_touch.motion is not guaranteed. A wl_touch.down event is guaranteed to occur before the first wl_touch.shape event for this touch ID but both events may occur within the same wl_touch.frame.

A touchpoint shape is approximated by an ellipse through the major and minor axis length. The major axis length describes the longer diameter of the ellipse, while the minor axis length describes the shorter diameter. Major and minor are orthogonal and both are specified in surface-local coordinates. The center of the ellipse is always at the touchpoint location as reported by wl_touch.down or wl_touch.move.

This event is only sent by the compositor if the touch device supports shape reports. The client has to make reasonable assumptions about the shape if it did not receive this event.

ArgumentTypeDescription
idint

the unique ID of this touch point

majorfixed

length of the major axis in surface-local coordinates

minorfixed

length of the minor axis in surface-local coordinates

wl_touch.orientation

update orientation of touch point

Event
Since Version 6

Sent when a touchpoint has changed its orientation.

This event does not occur on its own. It is sent before a wl_touch.frame event and carries the new shape information for any previously reported, or new touch points of that frame.

Other events describing the touch point such as wl_touch.down, wl_touch.motion or wl_touch.shape may be sent within the same wl_touch.frame. A client should treat these events as a single logical touch point update. The order of wl_touch.shape, wl_touch.orientation and wl_touch.motion is not guaranteed. A wl_touch.down event is guaranteed to occur before the first wl_touch.orientation event for this touch ID but both events may occur within the same wl_touch.frame.

The orientation describes the clockwise angle of a touchpoint's major axis to the positive surface y-axis and is normalized to the -180 to +180 degree range. The granularity of orientation depends on the touch device, some devices only support binary rotation values between 0 and 90 degrees.

This event is only sent by the compositor if the touch device supports orientation reports.

ArgumentTypeDescription
idint

the unique ID of this touch point

orientationfixed

angle between major axis and positive surface y-axis in degrees

wl_output

compositor output region

Interface
Version 4

An output describes part of the compositor geometry. The compositor works in the 'compositor coordinate system' and an output corresponds to a rectangular area in that space that is actually visible. This typically corresponds to a monitor that displays part of the compositor space. This object is published as global during start up, or when a monitor is hotplugged.

wl_output.release

release the output object

Destructor Request
Since Version 3

Using this request a client can tell the server that it is not going to use the output object anymore.

wl_output.geometry

properties of the output

Event
Since Version 1

The geometry event describes geometric properties of the output. The event is sent when binding to the output object and whenever any of the properties change.

The physical size can be set to zero if it doesn't make sense for this output (e.g. for projectors or virtual outputs).

The geometry event will be followed by a done event (starting from version 2).

Clients should use wl_surface.preferred_buffer_transform instead of the transform advertised by this event to find the preferred buffer transform to use for a surface.

Note: wl_output only advertises partial information about the output position and identification. Some compositors, for instance those not implementing a desktop-style output layout or those exposing virtual outputs, might fake this information. Instead of using x and y, clients should use xdg_output.logical_position. Instead of using make and model, clients should use name and description.

ArgumentTypeDescription
xint

x position within the global compositor space

yint

y position within the global compositor space

physical_widthint

width in millimeters of the output

physical_heightint

height in millimeters of the output

subpixelint<subpixel>

subpixel orientation of the output

makestring

textual description of the manufacturer

modelstring

textual description of the model

transformint<transform>

additional transformation applied to buffer contents during presentation

wl_output.mode

advertise available modes for the output

Event
Since Version 1

The mode event describes an available mode for the output.

The event is sent when binding to the output object and there will always be one mode, the current mode. The event is sent again if an output changes mode, for the mode that is now current. In other words, the current mode is always the last mode that was received with the current flag set.

Non-current modes are deprecated. A compositor can decide to only advertise the current mode and never send other modes. Clients should not rely on non-current modes.

The size of a mode is given in physical hardware units of the output device. This is not necessarily the same as the output size in the global compositor space. For instance, the output may be scaled, as described in wl_output.scale, or transformed, as described in wl_output.transform. Clients willing to retrieve the output size in the global compositor space should use xdg_output.logical_size instead.

The vertical refresh rate can be set to zero if it doesn't make sense for this output (e.g. for virtual outputs).

The mode event will be followed by a done event (starting from version 2).

Clients should not use the refresh rate to schedule frames. Instead, they should use the wl_surface.frame event or the presentation-time protocol.

Note: this information is not always meaningful for all outputs. Some compositors, such as those exposing virtual outputs, might fake the refresh rate or the size.

ArgumentTypeDescription
flagsuint<mode>

bitfield of mode flags

widthint

width of the mode in hardware units

heightint

height of the mode in hardware units

refreshint

vertical refresh rate in mHz

wl_output.done

sent all information about output

Event
Since Version 2

This event is sent after all other properties have been sent after binding to the output object and after any other property changes done after that. This allows changes to the output properties to be seen as atomic, even if they happen via multiple events.

wl_output.scale

output scaling properties

Event
Since Version 2

This event contains scaling geometry information that is not in the geometry event. It may be sent after binding the output object or if the output scale changes later. The compositor will emit a non-zero, positive value for scale. If it is not sent, the client should assume a scale of 1.

A scale larger than 1 means that the compositor will automatically scale surface buffers by this amount when rendering. This is used for very high resolution displays where applications rendering at the native resolution would be too small to be legible.

Clients should use wl_surface.preferred_buffer_scale instead of this event to find the preferred buffer scale to use for a surface.

The scale event will be followed by a done event.

ArgumentTypeDescription
factorint

scaling factor of output

wl_output.name

name of this output

Event
Since Version 4

Many compositors will assign user-friendly names to their outputs, show them to the user, allow the user to refer to an output, etc. The client may wish to know this name as well to offer the user similar behaviors.

The name is a UTF-8 string with no convention defined for its contents. Each name is unique among all wl_output globals. The name is only guaranteed to be unique for the compositor instance.

The same output name is used for all clients for a given wl_output global. Thus, the name can be shared across processes to refer to a specific wl_output global.

The name is not guaranteed to be persistent across sessions, thus cannot be used to reliably identify an output in e.g. configuration files.

Examples of names include 'HDMI-A-1', 'WL-1', 'X11-1', etc. However, do not assume that the name is a reflection of an underlying DRM connector, X11 connection, etc.

The name event is sent after binding the output object. This event is only sent once per output object, and the name does not change over the lifetime of the wl_output global.

Compositors may re-use the same output name if the wl_output global is destroyed and re-created later. Compositors should avoid re-using the same name if possible.

The name event will be followed by a done event.

ArgumentTypeDescription
namestring

output name

wl_output.description

human-readable description of this output

Event
Since Version 4

Many compositors can produce human-readable descriptions of their outputs. The client may wish to know this description as well, e.g. for output selection purposes.

The description is a UTF-8 string with no convention defined for its contents. The description is not guaranteed to be unique among all wl_output globals. Examples might include 'Foocorp 11" Display' or 'Virtual X11 output via :1'.

The description event is sent after binding the output object and whenever the description changes. The description is optional, and may not be sent at all.

The description event will be followed by a done event.

ArgumentTypeDescription
descriptionstring

output description

wl_output.subpixel

subpixel geometry information

Enum
Since Version 1

This enumeration describes how the physical pixels on an output are laid out.

EntryValueSinceDescription
unknown01

unknown geometry

none11

no geometry

horizontal_rgb21

horizontal RGB

horizontal_bgr31

horizontal BGR

vertical_rgb41

vertical RGB

vertical_bgr51

vertical BGR

wl_output.transform

transformation applied to buffer contents

Enum
Since Version 1

This describes transformations that clients and compositors apply to buffer contents.

The flipped values correspond to an initial flip around a vertical axis followed by rotation.

The purpose is mainly to allow clients to render accordingly and tell the compositor, so that for fullscreen surfaces, the compositor will still be able to scan out directly from client surfaces.

EntryValueSinceDescription
normal01

no transform

9011

90 degrees counter-clockwise

18021

180 degrees counter-clockwise

27031

270 degrees counter-clockwise

flipped41

180 degree flip around a vertical axis

flipped_9051

flip and rotate 90 degrees counter-clockwise

flipped_18061

flip and rotate 180 degrees counter-clockwise

flipped_27071

flip and rotate 270 degrees counter-clockwise

wl_output.mode

mode information

Bitfield Enum
Since Version 1

These flags describe properties of an output mode. They are used in the flags bitfield of the mode event.

EntryValueSinceDescription
current0x11

indicates this is the current mode

preferred0x21

indicates this is the preferred mode

wl_region

region interface

Interface
Version 7

A region object describes an area.

Region objects are used to describe the opaque and input regions of a surface.

wl_region.destroy

destroy region

Destructor Request
Since Version 1

Destroy the region. This will invalidate the object ID.

wl_region.add

add rectangle to region

Request
Since Version 1

Add the specified rectangle to the region.

ArgumentTypeDescription
xint

region-local x coordinate

yint

region-local y coordinate

widthint

rectangle width

heightint

rectangle height

wl_region.subtract

subtract rectangle from region

Request
Since Version 1

Subtract the specified rectangle from the region.

ArgumentTypeDescription
xint

region-local x coordinate

yint

region-local y coordinate

widthint

rectangle width

heightint

rectangle height

wl_subcompositor

sub-surface compositing

Interface
Version 1

The global interface exposing sub-surface compositing capabilities. A wl_surface, that has sub-surfaces associated, is called the parent surface. Sub-surfaces can be arbitrarily nested and create a tree of sub-surfaces.

The root surface in a tree of sub-surfaces is the main surface. The main surface cannot be a sub-surface, because sub-surfaces must always have a parent.

A main surface with its sub-surfaces forms a (compound) window. For window management purposes, this set of wl_surface objects is to be considered as a single window, and it should also behave as such.

The aim of sub-surfaces is to offload some of the compositing work within a window from clients to the compositor. A prime example is a video player with decorations and video in separate wl_surface objects. This should allow the compositor to pass YUV video buffer processing to dedicated overlay hardware when possible.

wl_subcompositor.destroy

unbind from the subcompositor interface

Destructor Request
Since Version 1

Informs the server that the client will not be using this protocol object anymore. This does not affect any other objects, wl_subsurface objects included.

wl_subcompositor.get_subsurface

give a surface the role sub-surface

Request
Since Version 1

Create a sub-surface interface for the given surface, and associate it with the given parent surface. This turns a plain wl_surface into a sub-surface.

The to-be sub-surface must not already have another role, and it must not have an existing wl_subsurface object. Otherwise the bad_surface protocol error is raised.

Adding sub-surfaces to a parent is a double-buffered operation on the parent (see wl_surface.commit). The effect of adding a sub-surface becomes visible on the next time the state of the parent surface is applied.

The parent surface must not be one of the child surface's descendants, and the parent must be different from the child surface, otherwise the bad_parent protocol error is raised.

This request modifies the behaviour of wl_surface.commit request on the sub-surface, see the documentation on wl_subsurface interface.

ArgumentTypeDescription
idnew_id<wl_subsurface>

the new sub-surface object ID

surfaceobject<wl_surface>

the surface to be turned into a sub-surface

parentobject<wl_surface>

the parent surface

wl_subcompositor.error

Enum
Since Version 1
EntryValueSinceDescription
bad_surface01

the to-be sub-surface is invalid

bad_parent11

the to-be sub-surface parent is invalid

wl_subsurface

sub-surface interface to a wl_surface

Interface
Version 1

An additional interface to a wl_surface object, which has been made a sub-surface. A sub-surface has one parent surface. A sub-surface's size and position are not limited to that of the parent. Particularly, a sub-surface is not automatically clipped to its parent's area.

A sub-surface becomes mapped, when a non-NULL wl_buffer is applied and the parent surface is mapped. The order of which one happens first is irrelevant. A sub-surface is hidden if the parent becomes hidden, or if a NULL wl_buffer is applied. These rules apply recursively through the tree of surfaces.

A sub-surface can be in one of two modes. The possible modes are synchronized and desynchronized, see methods wl_subsurface.set_sync and wl_subsurface.set_desync.

The main surface can be thought to be always in desynchronized mode, since it does not have a parent in the sub-surfaces sense.

Even if a sub-surface is in desynchronized mode, it will behave as in synchronized mode, if its parent surface behaves as in synchronized mode. This rule is applied recursively throughout the tree of surfaces. This means, that one can set a sub-surface into synchronized mode, and then assume that all its child and grand-child sub-surfaces are synchronized, too, without explicitly setting them.

If a surface behaves as in synchronized mode, it is effectively synchronized, otherwise it is effectively desynchronized.

A sub-surface is initially in the synchronized mode.

The wl_subsurface interface has requests which modify double-buffered state of the parent surface (wl_subsurface.set_position, .place_above and .place_below).

Destroying a sub-surface takes effect immediately. If you need to synchronize the removal of a sub-surface to the parent surface update, unmap the sub-surface first by attaching a NULL wl_buffer, update parent, and then destroy the sub-surface.

If the parent wl_surface object is destroyed, the sub-surface is unmapped.

A sub-surface never has the keyboard focus of any seat.

The wl_surface.offset request is ignored: clients must use set_position instead to move the sub-surface.

wl_subsurface.destroy

remove sub-surface interface

Destructor Request
Since Version 1

The sub-surface interface is removed from the wl_surface object that was turned into a sub-surface with a wl_subcompositor.get_subsurface request. The wl_surface's association to the parent is deleted. The wl_surface is unmapped immediately.

wl_subsurface.set_position

reposition the sub-surface

Request
Since Version 1

This sets the position of the sub-surface, relative to the parent surface.

The sub-surface will be moved so that its origin (top left corner pixel) will be at the location x, y of the parent surface coordinate system. The coordinates are not restricted to the parent surface area. Negative values are allowed.

The initial position is 0, 0.

Position is double-buffered state on the parent surface, see wl_subsurface and wl_surface.commit for more information.

ArgumentTypeDescription
xint

x coordinate in the parent surface

yint

y coordinate in the parent surface

wl_subsurface.place_above

restack the sub-surface

Request
Since Version 1

This sub-surface is taken from the stack, and put back just above the reference surface, changing the z-order of the sub-surfaces. The reference surface must be one of the sibling surfaces, or the parent surface. Using any other surface, including this sub-surface, will cause a protocol error.

A new sub-surface is initially added as the top-most in the stack of its siblings and parent.

Z-order is double-buffered state on the parent surface, see wl_subsurface and wl_surface.commit for more information.

ArgumentTypeDescription
siblingobject<wl_surface>

the reference surface

wl_subsurface.place_below

restack the sub-surface

Request
Since Version 1

The sub-surface is placed just below the reference surface.

See wl_subsurface.place_above.

ArgumentTypeDescription
siblingobject<wl_surface>

the reference surface

wl_subsurface.set_sync

set sub-surface to synchronized mode

Request
Since Version 1

Change the commit behaviour of the sub-surface to synchronized mode.

See wl_subsurface and wl_surface.commit for more information.

wl_subsurface.set_desync

set sub-surface to desynchronized mode

Request
Since Version 1

Change the commit behaviour of the sub-surface to desynchronized mode.

See wl_subsurface and wl_surface.commit for more information.

wl_subsurface.error

Enum
Since Version 1
EntryValueSinceDescription
bad_surface01

wl_surface is not a sibling or the parent

wl_fixes

wayland protocol fixes

Interface
Version 2

This global fixes problems with other core-protocol interfaces that cannot be fixed in these interfaces themselves.

wl_fixes.destroy

destroys this object

Destructor Request
Since Version 1

wl_fixes.destroy_registry

destroy a wl_registry

Request
Since Version 1

This request destroys a wl_registry object.

The client should no longer use the wl_registry after making this request.

The compositor will emit a wl_display.delete_id event with the object ID of the registry and will no longer emit any events on the registry. The client should re-use the object ID once it receives the wl_display.delete_id event.

ArgumentTypeDescription
registryobject<wl_registry>

the registry to destroy

wl_fixes.ack_global_remove

acknowledge global removal

Request
Since Version 2

Acknowledge the removal of the specified global.

If no global with the specified name exists or the global is not removed, the wl_fixes.invalid_ack_remove protocol error will be posted.

Due to the Wayland protocol being asynchronous, the wl_global objects cannot be destroyed immediately. For example, if a wl_global is removed and a client attempts to bind that global around same time, it can result in a protocol error due to an unknown global name in the bind request.

In order to avoid crashing clients, the compositor should remove the wl_global once it is guaranteed that no more bind requests will come.

The wl_fixes.ack_global_remove() request is used to signal to the compositor that the client will not bind the given global anymore. After all clients acknowledge the removal of the global, the compositor can safely destroy it.

The client must call the wl_fixes.ack_global_remove() request in response to a wl_registry.global_remove() event even if it did not bind the corresponding global.

ArgumentTypeDescription
registryobject<wl_registry>

the registry object

nameuint

unique name of the global

wl_fixes.error

wl_fixes error values

Enum
Since Version 1

These errors can be emitted in response to wl_fixes requests.

EntryValueSinceDescription
invalid_ack_remove01

unknown global or the global is not removed

Copyright