GdkDevice

GdkDevice is an object in the GDK library used by GTK applications to represent an input device. It provides a programmatic handle to hardware such as mice, keyboards, touchscreens, and drawing tablets, abstracted to work across different display systems like X11 and Wayland. Each device has an identity, a type (for example pointer-like, keyboard-like, or touch-like), a source that indicates the original hardware family, and a set of capabilities describing which kinds of events the device can generate (movement, button presses, touch contact, pressure, tilt). Applications can query these properties to implement per-device behavior, filter input sources, or collect per-device statistics.

Events in GDK can be associated with a specific GdkDevice, enabling applications to distinguish input from multiple devices. The device objects are created by the display subsystem and are typically tied to a seat, representing a group of devices that can provide input to the session. GdkDevice is a GObject and participates in the library's reference counting and lifecycle management.

Common use cases include handling per-device motion or pressure data from tablets and styluses, or recognizing when an input comes from a dedicated keyboard versus a pointer device. In multi-input environments, managing devices through GdkDevice helps applications provide more precise and customizable input handling.

Related topics include GdkSeat, which groups devices for a user session, and GdkDisplay, which manages the overall display and input topology. This article summarizes the role of GdkDevice in the GDK input subsystem.