Search context.
A `GtkSourceSearchContext` is used for the search and replace in a [class@Buffer]. The search settings are represented by a [
class@SearchSettings] object. There can be a many-to-many relationship between buffers and search settings, with the search contexts
in-between: a search settings object can be shared between several search contexts; and a buffer can contain several search contexts at
the same time.
The total number of search occurrences can be retrieved with [[email protected]_occurrences_count]. To know the position of a
certain match, use [[email protected]_occurrence_position].
The buffer is scanned asynchronously, so it doesn't block the user interface. For each search, the buffer is scanned at most once. After
that, navigating through the occurrences doesn't require to re-scan the buffer entirely.
To search forward, use [[email protected]] or [[email protected]_async] for the asynchronous version. The backward
search is done similarly. To replace a search match, or all matches, use [[email protected]] and [
[email protected]_all].
The search occurrences are highlighted by default. To disable it, use [[email protected]_highlight]. You can enable the search
highlighting for several `GtkSourceSearchContext`s attached to the same buffer. Moreover, each of those `GtkSourceSearchContext`s can have
a different text style associated. Use [[email protected]_match_style] to specify the [class@Style] to apply on search matches.
Note that the [property@SearchContext:highlight] and [property@SearchContext:match-style] properties are in the `GtkSourceSearchContext`
class, not [class@SearchSettings]. Appearance settings should be tied to one, and only one buffer, as different buffers can have different
style scheme associated (a [class@SearchSettings] object can be bound indirectly to several buffers).
The concept of "current match" doesn't exist yet. A way to highlight differently the current match is to select it.
A search occurrence's position doesn't depend on the cursor position or other parameters. Take for instance the buffer "aaaa" with the
search text "aa". The two occurrences are at positions [0:2] and [2:4]. If you begin to search at position 1, you will get the occurrence
[2:4], not [1:3]. This is a prerequisite for regular expression searches. The pattern ".*" matches the entire line. If the cursor is at
the middle of the line, you don't want the rest of the line as the occurrence, you want an entire line. (As a side note, regular
expression searches can also match multiple lines.)
In the GtkSourceView source code, there is an example of how to use the search and replace API: see the tests/test-search.c file. It is a
mini application for the search and replace, with a basic user interface.