I’ve been working on tweaking the Addon Manager and am a bit distressed about how long and fast it bangs retries when a target file/server is unavailable. I have found hundreds of 404 warning messages in my console when the internet is disconnected or it fails to find an addons-xx.json for the current locality.
(It was also concerning to see 404 warnings apparently from polling of the Project addons-en.json files during startup of Gramps. Since the Addon Manager’s Settings are set to “Never” for checking for updates, I did not expect to see Gramps polling project URLs unless the Addon Manager or Plugin Manager was active. )
With the addition of the FamilySearch active portal, what is the chance that Gramps will become unresponsive if a user has intermittent connectivity. Will it continuously retry until hitting some hard limit and then pop an warning dialog?
In future, if some feature starts pinging gramps-project.org, I am concerned that we may inadvertently create our own DoS attack.
So, are there guidelines for how to reduce unnecessary load when Gramps is trying to find a net resource? Some Signal/Callback for when there is a change in connectivity?
Perplexity sketched out a suggestion
When to use NetworkManager
If you want more detailed state than “available/not available,” NetworkManager’s D-Bus or
libnmAPI is the stronger option. NetworkManager explicitly provides a D-Bus interface, and itslibnmbindings are described as often simpler for GLib-based applications.stackoverflowGramps integration idea
For a Gramps add-on, the cleanest design is usually:
- listen for
Gio.NetworkMonitor::network-changed.- when
availablebecomes true, emit your own internal callback or refresh event.- keep the Gramps-side logic separate so the addon can refresh only the pieces that depend on online access.
That gives you the same general “signal/callback” model Gramps uses, just driven by GTK/GIO rather than by Gramps core.networkmanager
Caveat
network-changedmeans the network configuration changed, not necessarily that a specific internet host is reachable. If your addon depends on a particular website or API, pair the signal with a quick reachability check usingcan_reach()or a lightweight probe before refreshing.
A usual requirement would be to debounce the connectivity signal so you only emit your Gramps refresh event after the network has stayed “available” for a short stable period.Gio.NetworkMonitor::network-changedfires on configuration changes, and GLib’s timeout helpers are suitable for delaying action, though they are not precise timers.docs.gtk+1Debounce pattern
A common pattern is:
- on every
network-changedevent, cancel any pending refresh timer.- start a new timeout for, say, 2–5 seconds.
- when the timeout expires, check
network_availableagain.- only then emit your internal “online restored” signal.
That way, brief flapping does not trigger repeated refreshes.
import gi
gi.require_version("Gio", "2.0")
gi.require_version("GLib", "2.0")
from gi.repository import Gio, GLib
class NetWatcher:
def __init__(self, stable_ms=3000):
self.monitor = Gio.NetworkMonitor.get_default()
self.stable_ms = stable_ms
self._timeout_id = 0
self._last_available = self.monitor.get_network_available()
self.monitor.connect("network-changed", self._on_network_changed)
def _on_network_changed(self, monitor, available):
self._last_available = available
if self._timeout_id:
GLib.source_remove(self._timeout_id)
self._timeout_id = 0
if available:
self._timeout_id = GLib.timeout_add(self.stable_ms, self._emit_if_still_online)
else:
self._on_offline()
def _emit_if_still_online(self):
self._timeout_id = 0
if self.monitor.get_network_available():
self._on_online_stable()
return False
def _on_online_stable(self):
pass
def _on_offline(self):
pass
