[gtk.file_chooser.FileChooser] is an interface that can be implemented by file selection widgets.

In GTK, the main objects that implement this interface are [gtk.file_chooser_widget.FileChooserWidget] and [gtk.file_chooser_dialog.FileChooserDialog].

You do not need to write an object that implements the [gtk.file_chooser.FileChooser] interface unless you are trying to adapt an existing file selector to expose a standard programming interface.

[gtk.file_chooser.FileChooser] allows for shortcuts to various places in the filesystem. In the default implementation these are displayed in the left pane. It may be a bit confusing at first that these shortcuts come from various sources and in various flavours, so lets explain the terminology here:

• Bookmarks: are created by the user, by dragging folders from the

right pane to the left pane, or by using the “Add”. Bookmarks can be renamed and deleted by the user.

• Shortcuts: can be provided by the application. For example, a Paint

program may want to add a shortcut for a Clipart folder. Shortcuts cannot be modified by the user.

• Volumes: are provided by the underlying filesystem abstraction. They are

the “roots” of the filesystem.

File Names and Encodings

When the user is finished selecting files in a [gtk.file_chooser.FileChooser], your program can get the selected filenames as [gio.file.File]s.

Adding options

You can add extra widgets to a file chooser to provide options that are not present in the default design, by using [gtk.file_chooser.FileChooser.addChoice]. Each choice has an identifier and a user visible label; additionally, each choice can have multiple options. If a choice has no option, it will be rendered as a check button with the given label; if a choice has options, it will be rendered as a combo box.