Merge lp:~ricotz/plank/dbus into lp:plank

[Rico Tzschichholz]

Provide Client class which discovers and connect to a running dock which provides certain inferfaces to control and manipulate it.

Provide a simple example using the Client class.

[lp:~ricotz/plank/dbus]

1182. By Rico Tzschichholz on 2015-02-12

items: Add boolean return-value to public DockContainer/-Provider methods

This will indicate the success or failure of the corresponding operation.

1183. By Rico Tzschichholz on 2015-02-21

items: Avoid removal-delay when unpinning an application

Remove an AppDockItem if it doesn't represent a running application and
doesn't have visible remote-info coming via LauncherEntry.

1184. By Rico Tzschichholz on 2015-02-27

po: Update translations

1185. By Rico Tzschichholz on 2015-03-11

items: It is an ApplicationDockItem, no need to use "as"

1186. By Rico Tzschichholz on 2015-03-11

renderer: Draw final internal dock-buffer on window-context at (0,0)

1187. By Rico Tzschichholz on 2015-03-11

build: Make "distcheck" work independent from originally passed confflags

1188. By Rico Tzschichholz on 2015-03-11

dockwindow: Drop hack for menu-position with gtk+ 3.15+

Reverts r1158

1189. By Rico Tzschichholz on 2015-03-12

hidemanager: Add window-dodge hide-mode

1190. By Rico Tzschichholz on 2015-03-15

po: Update translations

1191. By Rico Tzschichholz on 2015-03-16

item: Rename protected arraylist-fields *_items to *_elements

1192. By Rico Tzschichholz on 2015-03-16

dockcontainer: Rename property Elements to VisibleElements

1193. By Rico Tzschichholz on 2015-03-16

controller: Rename property Items to VisibleItems

1194. By Rico Tzschichholz on 2015-03-16

controller: Add Items property

Which actually returns a list of all items regardless their visibility.

1195. By Rico Tzschichholz on 2015-03-16

controller: Call update_items while replacing default_provider

1196. By Rico Tzschichholz on 2015-03-16

Update symbols

1197. By Rico Tzschichholz on 2015-03-16

Add DBusManager to provide some useful remotely accessible actions

Provide "net.launchpad.plank.Items" interface with "Add", "Remove",
"GetCount", "GetPersistentApplications" and "GetTransientApplications"
methods.

=== modified file '.bzrignore'
--- .bzrignore	2014-06-02 14:18:48 +0000
+++ .bzrignore	2015-03-16 17:58:40 +0000
@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@
 docs/c-doc
 docs/vala-doc
 docs/web-doc
+examples/remote-client
+examples/*.c
+examples/*.stamp
 lib/abi*
 lib/*-abi
 lib/*.c
@@ -41,6 +44,7 @@
 lib/*.vapi
 lib/*.pc
 lib/*.stamp
+lib/DBus/*.c
 lib/Drawing/*.c
 lib/Factories/*.c
 lib/Services/*.c
 
=== modified file 'Makefile.am'
--- Makefile.am	2015-03-11 16:25:25 +0000
+++ Makefile.am	2015-03-16 17:58:40 +0000
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 	vapi \
 	src \
 	tests \
+	examples \
 	$(NULL)
 
 if HAVE_VALADOC
 
=== modified file 'configure.ac'
--- configure.ac	2015-01-25 19:35:00 +0000
+++ configure.ac	2015-03-16 17:58:40 +0000
@@ -356,6 +356,7 @@
 docs/Makefile
 po/Makefile.in
 tests/Makefile
+examples/Makefile
 vapi/Makefile
 ])
 
 
=== modified file 'docs/Makefile.am'
--- docs/Makefile.am	2015-03-11 16:25:25 +0000
+++ docs/Makefile.am	2015-03-16 17:58:40 +0000
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 	$(NULL)
 
 plank_doc_files = \
+	$(top_srcdir)/lib/DBusManager.vala \
 	$(top_srcdir)/lib/DockController.vala \
 	$(top_srcdir)/lib/DockPreferences.vala \
 	$(top_srcdir)/lib/DockRenderer.vala \
@@ -24,6 +25,8 @@
 	$(top_srcdir)/lib/HideManager.vala \
 	$(top_srcdir)/lib/PositionManager.vala \
 	$(top_builddir)/lib/Version.vala \
+	$(top_srcdir)/lib/DBus/Client.vala \
+	$(top_srcdir)/lib/DBus/Interfaces.vala \
 	$(top_srcdir)/lib/Drawing/AnimatedRenderer.vala \
 	$(top_srcdir)/lib/Drawing/Color.vala \
 	$(top_srcdir)/lib/Drawing/DrawingService.vala \
 
=== added directory 'examples'
=== added file 'examples/Makefile.am'
--- examples/Makefile.am	1970-01-01 00:00:00 +0000
+++ examples/Makefile.am	2015-03-16 17:58:40 +0000
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+include $(top_srcdir)/Makefile.common
+
+remote_client_VALAFLAGS = \
+	$(PLANK_CORE_VALAFLAGS) \
+	$(top_builddir)/lib/plank.vapi \
+	--vapidir $(top_srcdir)/vapi \
+	-C \
+	$(NULL)
+
+BUILT_SOURCES = remote_client_vala.stamp
+
+noinst_PROGRAMS = remote-client
+
+remote_client_CFLAGS = \
+	$(PLANK_CORE_CFLAGS) \
+	-include config.h \
+	-w \
+	-I$(top_builddir)/lib \
+	$(NULL)
+
+remote_client_LDADD = \
+	$(PLANK_CORE_LIBS) \
+	$(top_builddir)/lib/libplank.la \
+	$(NULL)
+
+remote_client_VALASOURCES = \
+	RemoteClient.vala \
+	$(NULL)
+
+nodist_remote_client_SOURCES = \
+	remote_client_vala.stamp \
+	$(remote_client_VALASOURCES:.vala=.c) \
+	$(NULL)
+
+remote_client_vala.stamp: $(remote_client_VALASOURCES) $(top_builddir)/lib/plank.vapi Makefile
+	$(AM_V_VALA)$(VALAC) \
+		$(remote_client_VALAFLAGS) \
+		$(filter %.vala %.c,$^)
+	$(AM_V_at)touch $@
+
+CLEANFILES = \
+	$(nodist_remote_client_SOURCES) \
+	$(NULL)
+
+EXTRA_DIST = \
+	$(remote_client_VALASOURCES) \
+	$(NULL)
+
 
=== added file 'examples/RemoteClient.vala'
--- examples/RemoteClient.vala	1970-01-01 00:00:00 +0000
+++ examples/RemoteClient.vala	2015-03-16 17:58:40 +0000
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+//
+//  Copyright (C) 2015 Rico Tzschichholz
+//
+//  This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+//  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+//  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+//  (at your option) any later version.
+//
+//  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+//  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+//  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+//  GNU General Public License for more details.
+//
+//  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+//  along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+//
+
+using Plank.DBus;
+using Plank.Services;
+
+namespace Plank.Examples
+{
+	public class RemoteClient : GLib.Application
+	{
+		construct
+		{
+			application_id = "net.launchpad.plank.remote-client";
+			flags = ApplicationFlags.FLAGS_NONE;
+			
+			Logger.initialize ("remote-client");
+			Logger.DisplayLevel = LogLevel.DEBUG;
+		}
+		
+		public override void activate ()
+		{
+			hold ();
+			
+			var client = Client.get_instance ();
+			client.proxy_changed.connect (handle_proxy_changed);
+		}
+		
+		void handle_proxy_changed (Client client)
+		{
+			if (!client.is_connected)
+				return;
+			
+			print ("List all persistent applications:\n");
+			foreach (unowned string s in client.get_persistent_applications ())
+				print (" + %s\n", s);
+			
+			print ("List all transient applications:\n");
+			foreach (unowned string s in client.get_transient_applications ())
+				print (" + %s\n", s);
+			
+			print ("\n");
+		}
+		
+		public static int main (string[] args)
+		{
+			var application = new RemoteClient ();
+			return application.run (args);
+		}
+		
+	}
+}
 
=== added directory 'lib/DBus'
=== added file 'lib/DBus/Client.vala'
--- lib/DBus/Client.vala	1970-01-01 00:00:00 +0000
+++ lib/DBus/Client.vala	2015-03-16 17:58:40 +0000
@@ -0,0 +1,307 @@
+//
+//  Copyright (C) 2015 Rico Tzschichholz
+//
+//  This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+//  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+//  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+//  (at your option) any later version.
+//
+//  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+//  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+//  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+//  GNU General Public License for more details.
+//
+//  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+//  along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+//
+
+namespace Plank.DBus
+{
+	/**
+	 * Connects to a running instance of plank via DBus and
+	 * provides remote interface to a currently runnning dock.
+	 */
+	public class Client : GLib.Object
+	{
+		static Client? instance;
+		
+		/**
+		 * Get the singleton instance of {@link Plank.DBus.Client}
+		 */
+		public static unowned Client get_instance ()
+		{
+			if (instance == null)
+				instance = new Client ();
+			
+			return instance;
+		}
+		
+		/**
+		 * If the proxy interfaces for the dock are ready to be used
+		 * or were changed on runtime this signal will be emitted.
+		 */
+		public signal void proxy_changed ();
+		
+		/**
+		 * Whether the client is in an operatable state and connected to
+		 * a running dock
+		 */
+		public bool is_connected {
+			get {
+				return (items_proxy != null);
+			}
+		}
+		
+		DBusConnection? connection = null;
+		string? client_object_path;
+		
+		string? dock_bus_owner;
+		string? dock_bus_name;
+		string? dock_object_path;
+		
+		uint dbus_dock_ping_id = 0;
+		uint dbus_name_owner_changed_signal_id = 0;
+		
+		ItemsIface? items_proxy = null;
+		int items_count = int.MIN;
+		string[]? persistent_apps_list = null;
+		string[]? transient_apps_list = null;
+		
+		Client ()
+		{
+			Object ();
+		}
+		
+		construct
+		{
+			unowned Application? application = GLib.Application.get_default ();
+			unowned string? object_path = null;
+			
+			if (application != null) {
+				connection = application.get_dbus_connection ();
+				object_path = application.get_dbus_object_path ();
+			}
+			
+			if (connection == null || object_path == null) {
+				critical ("Initializing client failed");
+				return;
+			}
+			
+			try {
+				// Listen for "Ping" signals coming from docks
+				dbus_dock_ping_id = connection.signal_subscribe (null, Plank.DBus.DOCK_INTERFACE_NAME,
+					Plank.DBus.PING_NAME, null, null, DBusSignalFlags.NONE, handle_dock_ping);
+			} catch (IOError e) {
+				warning ("Could not subscribe for dock signal (%s)", e.message);
+			}
+			
+			dbus_name_owner_changed_signal_id = connection.signal_subscribe ("org.freedesktop.DBus", "org.freedesktop.DBus",
+				"NameOwnerChanged", "/org/freedesktop/DBus", null, DBusSignalFlags.NONE, handle_name_owner_changed);
+			
+			client_object_path = object_path;
+			
+			try {
+				// Broadcast to inform running docks
+				connection.emit_signal (null, client_object_path, Plank.DBus.CLIENT_INTERFACE_NAME, Plank.DBus.PING_NAME, null);
+			} catch (Error e) {
+				warning ("Could not ping running docks (%s)", e.message);
+			}
+		}
+		
+		~Client ()
+		{
+			if (connection != null) {
+				if (dbus_dock_ping_id > 0)
+					connection.signal_unsubscribe (dbus_dock_ping_id);
+				if (dbus_name_owner_changed_signal_id > 0)
+					connection.signal_unsubscribe (dbus_name_owner_changed_signal_id);
+			}
+		}
+		
+		void handle_dock_ping (DBusConnection connection, string sender_name, string object_path,
+			string interface_name, string signal_name, Variant parameters)
+		{
+			if (dock_bus_name == null && dock_bus_name != sender_name)
+				connect_proxies (connection, sender_name, object_path);
+		}
+		
+		void handle_name_owner_changed (DBusConnection connection, string sender_name, string object_path,
+			string interface_name, string signal_name, Variant parameters)
+		{
+			string name, before, after;
+			parameters.get ("(sss)", out name, out before, out after);
+			
+			if (dock_bus_owner != null && dock_bus_owner == after)
+				return;
+			
+			if (name != null && name != "" && name != dock_bus_name)
+				return;
+			
+			if (after == null || after == "") {
+				disconnect_proxies ();
+				return;
+			}
+			
+			connect_proxies (connection, name, object_path);
+		}
+		
+		void connect_proxies (DBusConnection connection, string sender_name, string object_path)
+		{	
+			debug ("Connecting and create proxies for '%s' (%s)", sender_name, object_path);
+			
+			try {
+				items_proxy = connection.get_proxy_sync<Plank.DBus.ItemsIface> (sender_name, object_path, DBusProxyFlags.NONE);
+				items_proxy.changed.connect (invalidate_items_cache);
+				dock_bus_owner = ((DBusProxy) items_proxy).get_name_owner ();
+				dock_bus_name = sender_name;
+				dock_object_path = object_path;
+			} catch (Error e) {
+				dock_bus_owner = null;
+				dock_bus_name = null;
+				dock_object_path = null;
+				
+				items_proxy = null;
+				critical ("Failed to create items proxy for '%s' (%s)", sender_name, object_path);
+			}
+			
+			proxy_changed ();
+		}
+		
+		void disconnect_proxies ()
+		{
+			debug ("Disconnecting from '%s' (%s)", dock_bus_name, dock_object_path);
+			
+			dock_bus_owner = null;
+			dock_bus_name = null;
+			dock_object_path = null;
+			
+			items_proxy.changed.disconnect (invalidate_items_cache);
+			items_proxy = null;
+		}
+		
+		
+		void invalidate_items_cache ()
+		{
+			items_count = int.MIN;
+			persistent_apps_list = null;
+			transient_apps_list = null;
+		}
+		
+		/**
+		 * Add a new item for the given uri to the dock
+		 *
+		 * @param uri an URI
+		 * @return whether it was successfully added
+		 */
+		public bool add_item (string uri)
+		{
+			if (items_proxy == null) {
+				warning ("No proxy connected");
+				return false;
+			}
+			
+			try {
+				return items_proxy.add (uri);
+			} catch (IOError e) {
+				warning (e.message);
+				return false;
+			}
+		}
+		
+		/**
+		 * Remove an existing item for the given uri from the dock
+		 *
+		 * @param uri an URI
+		 * @return whether it was successfully removed
+		 */
+		public bool remove_item (string uri)
+		{
+			if (items_proxy == null) {
+				warning ("No proxy connected");
+				return false;
+			}
+			
+			try {
+				return items_proxy.remove (uri);
+			} catch (IOError e) {
+				warning (e.message);
+				return false;
+			}
+		}
+		
+		/**
+		 * Returns the number of currently visible items on the dock
+		 *
+		 * @return the item-count
+		 */
+		public int get_items_count ()
+		{
+			if (items_proxy == null) {
+				warning ("No proxy connected");
+				return -1;
+			}
+			
+			try {
+				if (items_count == int.MIN)
+					items_count = items_proxy.get_count ();
+			} catch (IOError e) {
+				warning (e.message);
+				return -1;
+			}
+			
+			return items_count;
+		}
+		
+		/**
+		 * Returns an array of uris of the persistent applications on the dock
+		 *
+		 * @return the array of uris
+		 */
+		public unowned string[]? get_persistent_applications ()
+		{
+			if (items_proxy == null) {
+				warning ("No proxy connected");
+				return null;
+			}
+			
+			if (persistent_apps_list != null)
+				return persistent_apps_list;
+			
+			try {
+				if (persistent_apps_list == null)
+					persistent_apps_list = items_proxy.get_persistent_applications ();
+				return persistent_apps_list;
+			} catch (IOError e) {
+				warning (e.message);
+			}
+			
+			return null;
+		}
+		
+		/**
+		 * Returns an array of uris of the transient applications on the dock
+		 *
+		 * @return the array of uris
+		 */
+		public unowned string[]? get_transient_applications ()
+		{
+			if (items_proxy == null) {
+				warning ("No proxy connected");
+				return null;
+			}
+			
+			if (transient_apps_list != null)
+				return transient_apps_list;
+			
+			try {
+				if (transient_apps_list == null)
+					transient_apps_list = items_proxy.get_transient_applications ();
+				return transient_apps_list;
+			} catch (IOError e) {
+				warning (e.message);
+			}
+			
+			return null;
+		}
+	}
+}
 
=== added file 'lib/DBus/Interfaces.vala'
--- lib/DBus/Interfaces.vala	1970-01-01 00:00:00 +0000
+++ lib/DBus/Interfaces.vala	2015-03-16 17:58:40 +0000
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+//
+//  Copyright (C) 2015 Rico Tzschichholz
+//
+//  This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+//  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+//  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+//  (at your option) any later version.
+//
+//  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+//  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+//  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+//  GNU General Public License for more details.
+//
+//  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+//  along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+//
+
+namespace Plank.DBus
+{
+	const string PING_NAME = "Ping";
+	
+	const string DOCK_INTERFACE_NAME = "net.launchpad.plank";
+	const string CLIENT_INTERFACE_NAME = "net.launchpad.plank.Client";
+
+	/**
+	 * Provide an interface to manage items of the dock
+	 */
+	[DBus (name = "net.launchpad.plank.Items")]
+	interface ItemsIface : GLib.Object
+	{
+		/**
+		 * Emmited when items are changed
+		 */
+		public signal void changed ();
+		
+		/**
+		 * Add a new item for the given uri to the dock
+		 *
+		 * @param uri an URI
+		 * @return whether it was successfully added
+		 */
+		public abstract bool add (string uri) throws GLib.IOError;
+		
+		/**
+		 * Remove an existing item for the given uri from the dock
+		 *
+		 * @param uri an URI
+		 * @return whether it was successfully removed
+		 */
+		public abstract bool remove (string uri) throws GLib.IOError;
+		
+		/**
+		 * Returns the number of currently visible items on the dock
+		 *
+		 * @return the item-count
+		 */
+		public abstract int get_count () throws GLib.IOError;
+		
+		/**
+		 * Returns an array of uris of the persistent applications on the dock
+		 *
+		 * @return the array of uris
+		 */
+		public abstract string[] get_persistent_applications () throws GLib.IOError;
+		
+		/**
+		 * Returns an array of uris of the transient applications on the dock
+		 *
+		 * @return the array of uris
+		 */
+		public abstract string[] get_transient_applications () throws GLib.IOError;
+	}
+}
 
=== added file 'lib/DBusManager.vala'
--- lib/DBusManager.vala	1970-01-01 00:00:00 +0000
+++ lib/DBusManager.vala	2015-03-16 17:58:40 +0000
@@ -0,0 +1,220 @@
+//
+//  Copyright (C) 2015 Rico Tzschichholz
+//
+//  This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+//  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+//  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+//  (at your option) any later version.
+//
+//  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+//  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+//  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+//  GNU General Public License for more details.
+//
+//  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+//  along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+//
+
+using Plank.Factories;
+using Plank.Items;
+using Plank.Services;
+
+namespace Plank
+{
+	/**
+	 * Provide an interface to manage items of the dock
+	 */
+	class DBusItems : GLib.Object, Plank.DBus.ItemsIface
+	{
+		DockController controller;
+		uint changed_timer = 0;		
+		
+		public DBusItems (DockController _controller)
+		{
+			controller = _controller;
+			controller.items_changed.connect (handle_items_changed);
+		}
+		
+		~DBusItems ()
+		{
+			controller.items_changed.disconnect (handle_items_changed);
+			
+			if (changed_timer > 0) {
+				GLib.Source.remove (changed_timer);
+				changed_timer = 0;
+			}
+		}
+		
+		void handle_items_changed ()
+		{
+			if (changed_timer > 0)
+				return;
+			
+			// Fire updates with a reasonable rate
+			changed_timer = Timeout.add (500, () => {
+				changed_timer = 0;
+				changed ();
+				return false;
+			});
+		}
+		
+		public bool add (string uri)
+		{
+			debug ("Try to remotely add '%s'", uri);
+			
+			unowned ApplicationDockItemProvider? provider = controller.default_provider;
+			if (provider == null)
+				return false;
+			
+			unowned DockItem? item = provider.item_for_uri (uri);
+			if (item != null && item is TransientDockItem) {
+				((TransientDockItem) item).pin_launcher ();
+				return true;
+			}
+			
+			return provider.add_item_with_uri (uri);
+		}
+		
+		public bool remove (string uri)
+		{
+			debug ("Try to remotely remove '%s'", uri);
+			
+			unowned ApplicationDockItemProvider? provider = controller.default_provider;
+			if (provider == null)
+				return false;
+			
+			unowned DockItem? item = provider.item_for_uri (uri);
+			if (item == null)
+				return false;
+			
+			if (item is ApplicationDockItem) {
+				if (!(item is TransientDockItem))
+					((ApplicationDockItem) item).pin_launcher ();
+				return true;
+			}
+			
+			return provider.remove_item (item);
+		}
+		
+		public int get_count ()
+		{
+			return controller.VisibleItems.size;
+		}
+		
+		public string[] get_persistent_applications ()
+		{
+			Logger.verbose ("Remotely list persistent items");
+			
+			var items = controller.Items;
+			
+			string[] result = {};
+			unowned string launcher;
+			foreach (unowned DockItem item in items) {
+				if (item is ApplicationDockItem && !(item is TransientDockItem)) {
+					launcher = item.Launcher;
+					if (launcher != null && launcher != "")
+						result += launcher;
+				}
+			}
+			
+			return result;
+		}
+		
+		public string[] get_transient_applications ()
+		{
+			Logger.verbose ("Remotely list transient items");
+			
+			var items = controller.Items;
+			
+			string[] result = {};
+			unowned string launcher;
+			foreach (unowned DockItem item in items) {
+				if (item is TransientDockItem) {
+					launcher = item.Launcher;
+					if (launcher != null && launcher != "")
+						result += launcher;
+				}
+			}
+			
+			return result;
+		}
+	}
+	
+	/**
+	 * Handles all the exported DBus functions of the dock
+	 */
+	public class DBusManager : GLib.Object
+	{
+		public DockController controller { private get; construct; }
+		
+		string? dock_object_path;
+		
+		uint dbus_items_id = 0;
+		uint dbus_client_ping_id = 0;
+		
+		public DBusManager (DockController controller)
+		{
+			Object (controller: controller);
+		}
+		
+		construct
+		{
+			unowned Application application = Application.get_default ();
+			unowned DBusConnection connection = application.get_dbus_connection ();
+			unowned string? object_path = application.get_dbus_object_path ();
+			
+			if (connection == null || object_path == null) {
+				critical ("Not able to register our interfaces");
+				return;
+			}
+			
+			// Listen for "Ping" signals coming from clients
+			try {
+				dbus_client_ping_id = connection.signal_subscribe (null, Plank.DBus.CLIENT_INTERFACE_NAME,
+					Plank.DBus.PING_NAME, null, null, DBusSignalFlags.NONE, handle_client_ping);
+			} catch (IOError e) {
+				warning ("Could not subscribe for client signal (%s)", e.message);
+			}
+			
+			try {
+				var dbus_items = new DBusItems (controller);
+				dbus_items_id = connection.register_object<Plank.DBus.ItemsIface> (object_path, dbus_items);
+			} catch (IOError e) {
+				warning ("Could not register service (%s)", e.message);
+			}
+			
+			dock_object_path = object_path;
+			
+			try {
+				// Broadcast to inform running clients
+				connection.emit_signal (null, dock_object_path, Plank.DBus.DOCK_INTERFACE_NAME, Plank.DBus.PING_NAME, null);
+			} catch (Error e) {
+				warning ("Could not ping running clients (%s)", e.message);
+			}
+		}
+		
+		~DBusManager ()
+		{
+			unowned Application application = Application.get_default ();
+			unowned DBusConnection connection = application.get_dbus_connection ();
+			
+			if (connection != null) {
+				if (dbus_items_id > 0)
+					connection.unregister_object (dbus_items_id);
+				if (dbus_client_ping_id > 0)
+					connection.signal_unsubscribe (dbus_client_ping_id);
+			}
+		}
+		
+		void handle_client_ping (DBusConnection connection, string sender_name, string object_path,
+			string interface_name, string signal_name, Variant parameters)
+		{
+			try {
+				// Broadcast to inform running clients
+				connection.emit_signal (null, dock_object_path, Plank.DBus.DOCK_INTERFACE_NAME, Plank.DBus.PING_NAME, null);
+			} catch (Error e) {
+				warning ("Could not ping running clients (%s)", e.message);
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
 
=== modified file 'lib/DockController.vala'
--- lib/DockController.vala	2015-03-16 17:44:57 +0000
+++ lib/DockController.vala	2015-03-16 17:58:40 +0000
@@ -42,7 +42,9 @@
 		public DockRenderer renderer { get; protected set; }
 		public DockWindow window { get; protected set; }
 		
-		ApplicationDockItemProvider? default_provider;
+		public ApplicationDockItemProvider? default_provider { get; private set; }
+		
+		DBusManager dbus_manager;
 		Gee.ArrayList<unowned DockItem> visible_items;
 		Gee.ArrayList<unowned DockItem> items;
 		
@@ -90,6 +92,8 @@
 			
 			prefs.notify["PinnedOnly"].connect (update_default_provider);
 			
+			dbus_manager = new DBusManager (this);
+			
 			position_manager = new PositionManager (this);
 			drag_manager = new DragManager (this);
 			hide_manager = new HideManager (this);
@@ -135,12 +139,12 @@
 				return;
 			
 			Logger.verbose ("DockController.add_default_provider ()");
-			default_provider = get_default_provider ();
+			default_provider = create_default_provider ();
 			
 			add_item (default_provider);
 		}
 		
-		ApplicationDockItemProvider get_default_provider ()
+		ApplicationDockItemProvider create_default_provider ()
 		{
 			ApplicationDockItemProvider provider;
 			
@@ -169,7 +173,7 @@
 				return;
 			
 			var old_default_provider = default_provider;
-			default_provider = get_default_provider ();
+			default_provider = create_default_provider ();
 			default_provider.prepare ();
 			replace_item (default_provider, old_default_provider);
 			
@@ -275,6 +279,8 @@
 				position_manager.update_regions ();
 			}
 			window.update_icon_regions ();
+			
+			items_changed (added, removed);
 		}
 		
 		void handle_item_positions_changed (DockContainer provider, Gee.List<unowned DockElement> moved_items)
 
=== modified file 'lib/Makefile.am'
--- lib/Makefile.am	2015-01-22 10:24:51 +0000
+++ lib/Makefile.am	2015-03-16 17:58:40 +0000
@@ -61,12 +61,15 @@
 	$(NULL)
 
 libplank_la_VALASOURCES = \
+	DBusManager.vala \
 	DockController.vala \
 	DockPreferences.vala \
 	DockRenderer.vala \
 	DragManager.vala \
 	HideManager.vala \
 	PositionManager.vala \
+	DBus/Client.vala \
+	DBus/Interfaces.vala \
 	Drawing/AnimatedRenderer.vala \
 	Drawing/Color.vala \
 	Drawing/DrawingService.vala \
 
=== modified file 'lib/libplank.symbols'
--- lib/libplank.symbols	2015-03-16 17:47:28 +0000
+++ lib/libplank.symbols	2015-03-16 17:58:40 +0000
@@ -1,6 +1,18 @@
+plank_dbus_client_add_item
+plank_dbus_client_get_instance
+plank_dbus_client_get_is_connected
+plank_dbus_client_get_items_count
+plank_dbus_client_get_persistent_applications
+plank_dbus_client_get_transient_applications
+plank_dbus_client_get_type
+plank_dbus_client_remove_item
+plank_dbus_manager_construct
+plank_dbus_manager_get_type
+plank_dbus_manager_new
 plank_dock_controller_add_default_provider
 plank_dock_controller_construct
 plank_dock_controller_get_config_folder
+plank_dock_controller_get_default_provider
 plank_dock_controller_get_drag_manager
 plank_dock_controller_get_hide_manager
 plank_dock_controller_get_Items