godot-docs/classes/class_gdnativelibrary.rst

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.. DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE, but the GDNativeLibrary.xml source instead.
.. The source is found in doc/classes or modules/<name>/doc_classes.

.. _class_GDNativeLibrary:

GDNativeLibrary
===============

**Inherits:** :ref:`Resource<class_Resource>` **<** :ref:`Reference<class_Reference>` **<** :ref:`Object<class_Object>`

An external library containing functions or script classes to use in Godot.

Description
-----------

A GDNative library can implement :ref:`NativeScript<class_NativeScript>`\ s, global functions to call with the :ref:`GDNative<class_GDNative>` class, or low-level engine extensions through interfaces such as :ref:`ARVRInterfaceGDNative<class_ARVRInterfaceGDNative>`. The library must be compiled for each platform and architecture that the project will run on.

Tutorials
---------

- :doc:`../tutorials/scripting/gdnative/gdnative_c_example`

- :doc:`../tutorials/scripting/gdnative/gdnative_cpp_example`

Properties
----------

+-------------------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------+--------------+
| :ref:`ConfigFile<class_ConfigFile>` | :ref:`config_file<class_GDNativeLibrary_property_config_file>`     |              |
+-------------------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------+--------------+
| :ref:`bool<class_bool>`             | :ref:`load_once<class_GDNativeLibrary_property_load_once>`         | ``true``     |
+-------------------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------+--------------+
| :ref:`bool<class_bool>`             | :ref:`reloadable<class_GDNativeLibrary_property_reloadable>`       | ``true``     |
+-------------------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------+--------------+
| :ref:`bool<class_bool>`             | :ref:`singleton<class_GDNativeLibrary_property_singleton>`         | ``false``    |
+-------------------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------+--------------+
| :ref:`String<class_String>`         | :ref:`symbol_prefix<class_GDNativeLibrary_property_symbol_prefix>` | ``"godot_"`` |
+-------------------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------+--------------+

Methods
-------

+-----------------------------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| :ref:`PoolStringArray<class_PoolStringArray>` | :ref:`get_current_dependencies<class_GDNativeLibrary_method_get_current_dependencies>` **(** **)** |const| |
+-----------------------------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| :ref:`String<class_String>`                   | :ref:`get_current_library_path<class_GDNativeLibrary_method_get_current_library_path>` **(** **)** |const| |
+-----------------------------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Property Descriptions
---------------------

.. _class_GDNativeLibrary_property_config_file:

- :ref:`ConfigFile<class_ConfigFile>` **config_file**

+----------+------------------------+
| *Setter* | set_config_file(value) |
+----------+------------------------+
| *Getter* | get_config_file()      |
+----------+------------------------+

This resource in INI-style :ref:`ConfigFile<class_ConfigFile>` format, as in ``.gdnlib`` files.

----

.. _class_GDNativeLibrary_property_load_once:

- :ref:`bool<class_bool>` **load_once**

+-----------+----------------------+
| *Default* | ``true``             |
+-----------+----------------------+
| *Setter*  | set_load_once(value) |
+-----------+----------------------+
| *Getter*  | should_load_once()   |
+-----------+----------------------+

If ``true``, Godot loads only one copy of the library and each script that references the library will share static data like static or global variables.

If ``false``, Godot loads a separate copy of the library into memory for each script that references it.

----

.. _class_GDNativeLibrary_property_reloadable:

- :ref:`bool<class_bool>` **reloadable**

+-----------+-----------------------+
| *Default* | ``true``              |
+-----------+-----------------------+
| *Setter*  | set_reloadable(value) |
+-----------+-----------------------+
| *Getter*  | is_reloadable()       |
+-----------+-----------------------+

If ``true``, the editor will temporarily unload the library whenever the user switches away from the editor window, allowing the user to recompile the library without restarting Godot.

**Note:** If the library defines tool scripts that run inside the editor, ``reloadable`` must be ``false``. Otherwise, the editor will attempt to unload the tool scripts while they're in use and crash.

----

.. _class_GDNativeLibrary_property_singleton:

- :ref:`bool<class_bool>` **singleton**

+-----------+----------------------+
| *Default* | ``false``            |
+-----------+----------------------+
| *Setter*  | set_singleton(value) |
+-----------+----------------------+
| *Getter*  | is_singleton()       |
+-----------+----------------------+

If ``true``, Godot loads the library at startup rather than the first time a script uses the library, calling ``{prefix}gdnative_singleton`` after initializing the library (where ``{prefix}`` is the value of :ref:`symbol_prefix<class_GDNativeLibrary_property_symbol_prefix>`). The library remains loaded as long as Godot is running.

**Note:** A singleton library cannot be :ref:`reloadable<class_GDNativeLibrary_property_reloadable>`.

----

.. _class_GDNativeLibrary_property_symbol_prefix:

- :ref:`String<class_String>` **symbol_prefix**

+-----------+--------------------------+
| *Default* | ``"godot_"``             |
+-----------+--------------------------+
| *Setter*  | set_symbol_prefix(value) |
+-----------+--------------------------+
| *Getter*  | get_symbol_prefix()      |
+-----------+--------------------------+

The prefix this library's entry point functions begin with. For example, a GDNativeLibrary would declare its ``gdnative_init`` function as ``godot_gdnative_init`` by default.

On platforms that require statically linking libraries (currently only iOS), each library must have a different ``symbol_prefix``.

Method Descriptions
-------------------

.. _class_GDNativeLibrary_method_get_current_dependencies:

- :ref:`PoolStringArray<class_PoolStringArray>` **get_current_dependencies** **(** **)** |const|

Returns paths to all dependency libraries for the current platform and architecture.

----

.. _class_GDNativeLibrary_method_get_current_library_path:

- :ref:`String<class_String>` **get_current_library_path** **(** **)** |const|

Returns the path to the dynamic library file for the current platform and architecture.

.. |virtual| replace:: :abbr:`virtual (This method should typically be overridden by the user to have any effect.)`
.. |const| replace:: :abbr:`const (This method has no side effects. It doesn't modify any of the instance's member variables.)`
.. |vararg| replace:: :abbr:`vararg (This method accepts any number of arguments after the ones described here.)`