Am I using Gio GFile monitor_file wrong?

Question

I'm using Gio monitor_file like this.

def callback(*args):
    print 'ok'

gio_pointer = Gio.File.new_for_path(os.environ['HOME']+'/temp')
monitor = gio_pointer.monitor_file(Gio.FileMonitorFlags.NONE, None)
monitor.connect("changed", callback)

Nothing happens for the modified file. Gio works for other file operations like creation, read, and write.

Am I using it wrong, or could this be a system problem?

My environment: Gtk graphics, Python, Linux Ubuntu 12.10, regular pc.

Answer 1

It could be failing because gobject's main loop is required in order for signals to work.

The following complete example works for me:

import os
from gi.repository import Gtk, Gio

# This allows Ctrl+C to exit the program
import signal
signal.signal(signal.SIGINT, signal.SIG_DFL)

def callback(m, f, o, event):
    # Without this check, multiple 'ok's will be printed for each file change
    if event == Gio.FileMonitorEvent.CHANGES_DONE_HINT:
        print ('ok')

gio_file = Gio.File.new_for_path(os.environ['HOME']+'/temp')
monitor = gio_file.monitor_file(Gio.FileMonitorFlags.NONE, None)
monitor.connect("changed", callback)

Gtk.main()