gobject-introspection 2.2.4-x64-mingw32

data/vendor/local/include/gobject-introspection-1.0/giunioninfo.h

@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+/* -*- mode: C; c-file-style: "gnu"; indent-tabs-mode: nil; -*-
+ * GObject introspection: Union
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2005 Matthias Clasen
+ * Copyright (C) 2008,2009 Red Hat, Inc.
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library 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
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with this library; if not, write to the
+ * Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330,
+ * Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
+ */
+
+#ifndef __GIUNIONINFO_H__
+#define __GIUNIONINFO_H__
+
+#if !defined (__GIREPOSITORY_H_INSIDE__) && !defined (GI_COMPILATION)
+#error "Only <girepository.h> can be included directly."
+#endif
+
+#include <gitypes.h>
+
+G_BEGIN_DECLS
+
+/**
+ * GI_IS_UNION_INFO
+ * @info: an info structure
+ *
+ * Checks if @info is a #GIUnionInfo.
+ */
+#define GI_IS_UNION_INFO(info) \
+    (g_base_info_get_type((GIBaseInfo*)info) ==  GI_INFO_TYPE_UNION)
+
+GI_AVAILABLE_IN_ALL
+gint             g_union_info_get_n_fields             (GIUnionInfo *info);
+
+GI_AVAILABLE_IN_ALL
+GIFieldInfo *    g_union_info_get_field                (GIUnionInfo *info,
+							gint         n);
+
+GI_AVAILABLE_IN_ALL
+gint             g_union_info_get_n_methods            (GIUnionInfo *info);
+
+GI_AVAILABLE_IN_ALL
+GIFunctionInfo * g_union_info_get_method               (GIUnionInfo *info,
+							gint         n);
+
+GI_AVAILABLE_IN_ALL
+gboolean         g_union_info_is_discriminated         (GIUnionInfo *info);
+
+GI_AVAILABLE_IN_ALL
+gint             g_union_info_get_discriminator_offset (GIUnionInfo *info);
+
+GI_AVAILABLE_IN_ALL
+GITypeInfo *     g_union_info_get_discriminator_type   (GIUnionInfo *info);
+
+GI_AVAILABLE_IN_ALL
+GIConstantInfo * g_union_info_get_discriminator        (GIUnionInfo *info,
+							gint         n);
+
+GI_AVAILABLE_IN_ALL
+GIFunctionInfo * g_union_info_find_method              (GIUnionInfo *info,
+							const gchar *name);
+
+GI_AVAILABLE_IN_ALL
+gsize            g_union_info_get_size                 (GIUnionInfo *info);
+
+GI_AVAILABLE_IN_ALL
+gsize            g_union_info_get_alignment            (GIUnionInfo *info);
+
+G_END_DECLS
+
+
+#endif  /* __GIUNIONINFO_H__ */
+

data/vendor/local/include/gobject-introspection-1.0/giversionmacros.h

@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+/* -*- mode: C; c-file-style: "gnu"; indent-tabs-mode: nil; -*-
+ * GObject introspection: Versioning and export macros
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2014 Chun-wei Fan
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library 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
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with this library; if not, write to the
+ * Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330,
+ * Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
+ */
+
+#include <glib.h>
+
+#ifndef __GIVERSIONMACROS_H__
+#define __GIVERSIONMACROS_H__
+
+#if !defined (__GIREPOSITORY_H_INSIDE__) && !defined (GI_COMPILATION)
+#error "Only <girepository.h> can be included directly."
+#endif
+
+#ifndef _GI_EXTERN
+#define _GI_EXTERN extern
+#endif
+
+#define GI_AVAILABLE_IN_ALL _GI_EXTERN
+
+/* XXX: Every new stable minor release should add a set of macros here
+ *
+ * We are using the GLib versions here as the G-I minor versions
+ * need to be in sync with the GLib minor versions.  Api's added
+ * at or before 1.30 are marked as GI_AVAILABLE_IN_ALL
+ */
+
+#if GLIB_VERSION_MIN_REQUIRED >= GLIB_VERSION_2_32
+# define GI_DEPRECATED_IN_1_32                GLIB_DEPRECATED
+# define GI_DEPRECATED_IN_1_32_FOR(f)         GLIB_DEPRECATED_FOR(f)
+#else
+# define GI_DEPRECATED_IN_1_32                _GI_EXTERN
+# define GI_DEPRECATED_IN_1_32_FOR(f)         _GI_EXTERN
+#endif
+
+#if GLIB_VERSION_MAX_ALLOWED < GLIB_VERSION_2_32
+# define GI_AVAILABLE_IN_1_32                 GLIB_UNAVAILABLE(2, 32)
+#else
+# define GI_AVAILABLE_IN_1_32                 _GI_EXTERN
+#endif
+
+#if GLIB_VERSION_MIN_REQUIRED >= GLIB_VERSION_2_34
+# define GI_DEPRECATED_IN_1_34                GLIB_DEPRECATED
+# define GI_DEPRECATED_IN_1_34_FOR(f)         GLIB_DEPRECATED_FOR(f)
+#else
+# define GI_DEPRECATED_IN_1_34                _GI_EXTERN
+# define GI_DEPRECATED_IN_1_34_FOR(f)         _GI_EXTERN
+#endif
+
+#if GLIB_VERSION_MAX_ALLOWED < GLIB_VERSION_2_34
+# define GI_AVAILABLE_IN_1_34                 GLIB_UNAVAILABLE(2, 34)
+#else
+# define GI_AVAILABLE_IN_1_34                 _GI_EXTERN
+#endif
+
+#if GLIB_VERSION_MIN_REQUIRED >= GLIB_VERSION_2_36
+# define GI_DEPRECATED_IN_1_36                GLIB_DEPRECATED
+# define GI_DEPRECATED_IN_1_36_FOR(f)         GLIB_DEPRECATED_FOR(f)
+#else
+# define GI_DEPRECATED_IN_1_36                _GI_EXTERN
+# define GI_DEPRECATED_IN_1_36_FOR(f)         _GI_EXTERN
+#endif
+
+#if GLIB_VERSION_MAX_ALLOWED < GLIB_VERSION_2_36
+# define GI_AVAILABLE_IN_1_36                 GLIB_UNAVAILABLE(2, 36)
+#else
+# define GI_AVAILABLE_IN_1_36                 _GI_EXTERN
+#endif
+
+#if GLIB_VERSION_MIN_REQUIRED >= GLIB_VERSION_2_38
+# define GI_DEPRECATED_IN_1_38                GLIB_DEPRECATED
+# define GI_DEPRECATED_IN_1_38_FOR(f)         GLIB_DEPRECATED_FOR(f)
+#else
+# define GI_DEPRECATED_IN_1_38                _GI_EXTERN
+# define GI_DEPRECATED_IN_1_38_FOR(f)         _GI_EXTERN
+#endif
+
+#if GLIB_VERSION_MAX_ALLOWED < GLIB_VERSION_2_38
+# define GI_AVAILABLE_IN_1_38                 GLIB_UNAVAILABLE(2, 38)
+#else
+# define GI_AVAILABLE_IN_1_38                 _GI_EXTERN
+#endif
+
+#if GLIB_VERSION_MIN_REQUIRED >= GLIB_VERSION_2_40
+# define GI_DEPRECATED_IN_1_40                GLIB_DEPRECATED
+# define GI_DEPRECATED_IN_1_40_FOR(f)         GLIB_DEPRECATED_FOR(f)
+#else
+# define GI_DEPRECATED_IN_1_40                _GI_EXTERN
+# define GI_DEPRECATED_IN_1_40_FOR(f)         _GI_EXTERN
+#endif
+
+#if GLIB_VERSION_MAX_ALLOWED < GLIB_VERSION_2_40
+# define GI_AVAILABLE_IN_1_40                 GLIB_UNAVAILABLE(2, 40)
+#else
+# define GI_AVAILABLE_IN_1_40                 _GI_EXTERN
+#endif
+
+#if GLIB_VERSION_MIN_REQUIRED >= GLIB_VERSION_2_42
+# define GI_DEPRECATED_IN_1_42                GLIB_DEPRECATED
+# define GI_DEPRECATED_IN_1_42_FOR(f)         GLIB_DEPRECATED_FOR(f)
+#else
+# define GI_DEPRECATED_IN_1_42                _GI_EXTERN
+# define GI_DEPRECATED_IN_1_42_FOR(f)         _GI_EXTERN
+#endif
+
+#if GLIB_VERSION_MAX_ALLOWED < GLIB_VERSION_2_42
+# define GI_AVAILABLE_IN_1_42                 GLIB_UNAVAILABLE(2, 42)
+#else
+# define GI_AVAILABLE_IN_1_42                 _GI_EXTERN
+#endif
+
+#endif /* __GIVERSIONMACROS_H__ */

data/vendor/local/include/gobject-introspection-1.0/givfuncinfo.h

@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+/* -*- mode: C; c-file-style: "gnu"; indent-tabs-mode: nil; -*-
+ * GObject introspection: Virtual Functions
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2005 Matthias Clasen
+ * Copyright (C) 2008,2009 Red Hat, Inc.
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library 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
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with this library; if not, write to the
+ * Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330,
+ * Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
+ */
+
+#ifndef __GIVFUNCINFO_H__
+#define __GIVFUNCINFO_H__
+
+#if !defined (__GIREPOSITORY_H_INSIDE__) && !defined (GI_COMPILATION)
+#error "Only <girepository.h> can be included directly."
+#endif
+
+#include <gitypes.h>
+
+G_BEGIN_DECLS
+
+/**
+ * GI_IS_VFUNC_INFO
+ * @info: an info structure
+ *
+ * Checks if @info is a #GIVfuncInfo.
+ */
+#define GI_IS_VFUNC_INFO(info) \
+    (g_base_info_get_type((GIBaseInfo*)info) ==  GI_INFO_TYPE_VFUNC)
+
+GI_AVAILABLE_IN_ALL
+GIVFuncInfoFlags  g_vfunc_info_get_flags   (GIVFuncInfo *info);
+
+GI_AVAILABLE_IN_ALL
+gint              g_vfunc_info_get_offset  (GIVFuncInfo *info);
+
+GI_AVAILABLE_IN_ALL
+GISignalInfo *    g_vfunc_info_get_signal  (GIVFuncInfo *info);
+
+GI_AVAILABLE_IN_ALL
+GIFunctionInfo *  g_vfunc_info_get_invoker (GIVFuncInfo *info);
+
+GI_AVAILABLE_IN_ALL
+gpointer          g_vfunc_info_get_address (GIVFuncInfo *info,
+                                            GType        implementor_gtype,
+                                            GError     **error);
+
+GI_AVAILABLE_IN_ALL
+gboolean          g_vfunc_info_invoke      (GIVFuncInfo      *info,
+                                            GType             implementor,
+                                            const GIArgument *in_args,
+                                            int               n_in_args,
+                                            const GIArgument *out_args,
+                                            int               n_out_args,
+                                            GIArgument       *return_value,
+                                            GError          **error);
+
+G_END_DECLS
+
+
+#endif  /* __GIVFUNCINFO_H__ */

data/vendor/local/lib/gobject-introspection/giscanner/__init__.py

@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+# -*- Mode: Python -*-
+# GObject-Introspection - a framework for introspecting GObject libraries
+# Copyright (C) 2008  Johan Dahlin
+#
+# This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+# modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+# License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+# version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This library 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
+# Lesser General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+# License along with this library; if not, write to the
+# Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330,
+# Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
+#
+
+import os
+builddir = os.environ.get('UNINSTALLED_INTROSPECTION_BUILDDIR')
+if builddir is not None:
+    __path__.append(os.path.join(builddir, 'giscanner'))

data/vendor/local/lib/gobject-introspection/giscanner/annotationmain.py

@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+# -*- Mode: Python -*-
+# GObject-Introspection - a framework for introspecting GObject libraries
+# Copyright (C) 2010 Johan Dahlin
+#
+# 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 2
+# 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, write to the Free Software
+# Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA
+# 02110-1301, USA.
+#
+
+import optparse
+
+from giscanner import message
+from giscanner.annotationparser import GtkDocCommentBlockParser, GtkDocCommentBlockWriter
+from giscanner.scannermain import (get_preprocessor_option_group,
+                                   create_source_scanner,
+                                   process_packages)
+
+
+def annotation_main(args):
+    parser = optparse.OptionParser('%prog [options] sources')
+
+    group = optparse.OptionGroup(parser, "Tool modes, one is required")
+    group.add_option("-e", "--extract",
+                     action="store_true", dest="extract",
+                     help="Extract annotations from the input files")
+    parser.add_option_group(group)
+
+    group = get_preprocessor_option_group(parser)
+    group.add_option("-L", "--library-path",
+                     action="append", dest="library_paths", default=[],
+                     help="directories to search for libraries")
+    group.add_option("", "--pkg",
+                     action="append", dest="packages", default=[],
+                     help="pkg-config packages to get cflags from")
+    parser.add_option_group(group)
+
+    options, args = parser.parse_args(args)
+
+    if not options.extract:
+        raise SystemExit("ERROR: Nothing to do")
+
+    if options.packages:
+        process_packages(options, options.packages)
+
+    logger = message.MessageLogger.get(namespace=None)
+
+    ss = create_source_scanner(options, args)
+
+    if options.extract:
+        parser = GtkDocCommentBlockParser()
+        writer = GtkDocCommentBlockWriter(indent=False)
+        blocks = parser.parse_comment_blocks(ss.get_comments())
+        print '/' + ('*' * 60) + '/'
+        print '/* THIS FILE IS GENERATED DO NOT EDIT */'
+        print '/' + ('*' * 60) + '/'
+        print
+        for block in sorted(blocks.values()):
+            print writer.write(block)
+            print
+        print
+        print '/' + ('*' * 60) + '/'
+        print '/* THIS FILE IS GENERATED DO NOT EDIT */'
+        print '/' + ('*' * 60) + '/'
+
+    return 0

data/vendor/local/lib/gobject-introspection/giscanner/annotationparser.py

@@ -0,0 +1,2161 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# -*- Mode: Python -*-
+
+# GObject-Introspection - a framework for introspecting GObject libraries
+# Copyright (C) 2008-2010 Johan Dahlin
+# Copyright (C) 2012-2013 Dieter Verfaillie <dieterv@optionexplicit.be>
+#
+# 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 2
+# 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, write to the Free Software
+# Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA
+# 02110-1301, USA.
+#
+
+
+'''
+GTK-Doc comment block format
+----------------------------
+
+A GTK-Doc comment block is built out of multiple parts. Each part can be further
+divided into fields which are separated by a colon ("``:``") delimiter.
+
+Known parts and the fields they are constructed from look like the following
+(optional fields are enclosed in square brackets)::
+
+    ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
+    │ /**                                                       │ ─▷ start token
+    ├────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────┤
+    │  * identifier_name │ [: annotations]                      │ ─▷ identifier part
+    ├────────────────────┼─────────────────┬────────────────────┤
+    │  * @parameter_name │ [: annotations] │ : description      │ ─▷ parameter part
+    ├────────────────────┴─────────────────┴────────────────────┤
+    │  *                                                        │ ─▷ comment block description
+    │  * comment_block_description                              │
+    ├─────────────┬─────────────────┬───────────┬───────────────┤
+    │  * tag_name │ [: annotations] │ [: value] │ : description │ ─▷ tag part
+    ├─────────────┴─────────────────┴───────────┴───────────────┤
+    │  */                                                       │ ─▷ end token
+    └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
+
+There are two conditions that must be met before a comment block is recognized
+as a GTK-Doc comment block:
+
+#. The comment block is opened with a GTK-Doc start token ("``/**``")
+#. The first line following the start token contains a valid identifier part
+
+Once a GTK-Doc comment block has been identified as such and has been stripped
+from its start and end tokens the remaining parts have to be written in a
+specific order:
+
+#. There must be exactly 1 `identifier` part on the first line of the
+   comment block which consists of:
+
+   * a required `identifier_name` field
+   * an optional `annotations` field
+
+#. Zero or more `parameter` parts, each consisting of:
+
+   * a required `parameter_name` field
+   * an optional `annotations` field
+   * a required `description` field (can be the empty string)
+
+#. One optional `comment block description` part which must begin with at
+   least 1 empty line signaling the start of this part.
+
+#. Zero or more `tag` parts, each consisting of:
+
+   * a required `tag_name` field
+   * an optional `annotations` field
+   * an optional `value` field
+   * a required `description` field (can be the empty string)
+
+Additionally, the following restrictions are in effect:
+
+#. Separating parts with an empty line:
+
+   * `identifier` and `parameter` parts cannot be separated from each other by
+     an empty line as this would signal the start of the
+     `comment block description` part (see above).
+   * it is required to separate the `comment block description` part from the
+     `identifier` or `parameter` parts with an empty line (see above)
+   * `comment block description` and `tag` parts can optionally be separated
+     by an empty line
+
+#. Parts and fields cannot span multiple lines, except for:
+
+   * the `comment_block_description` part
+   * `parameter description` and `tag description` fields
+
+#. Taking the above restrictions into account, spanning multiple paragraphs is
+   limited to the `comment block description` part and `tag description` fields.
+
+Refer to the `GTK-Doc manual`_ for more detailed usage information.
+
+.. _GTK-Doc manual:
+        http://developer.gnome.org/gtk-doc-manual/1.18/documenting.html.en
+'''
+
+
+from __future__ import absolute_import
+
+import os
+import re
+
+from collections import namedtuple
+from operator import ne, gt, lt
+
+from .collections import Counter, OrderedDict
+from .message import Position, warn, error
+
+
+# GTK-Doc comment block parts
+PART_IDENTIFIER = 0
+PART_PARAMETERS = 1
+PART_DESCRIPTION = 2
+PART_TAGS = 3
+
+# GTK-Doc comment block tags
+#   1) Basic GTK-Doc tags.
+#      Note: This list cannot be extended unless the GTK-Doc project defines new tags.
+TAG_DEPRECATED = 'deprecated'
+TAG_RETURNS = 'returns'
+TAG_SINCE = 'since'
+TAG_STABILITY = 'stability'
+
+GTKDOC_TAGS = [TAG_DEPRECATED,
+               TAG_RETURNS,
+               TAG_SINCE,
+               TAG_STABILITY]
+
+#   2) Deprecated basic GTK-Doc tags.
+#      Note: This list cannot be extended unless the GTK-Doc project defines new deprecated tags.
+TAG_DESCRIPTION = 'description'
+TAG_RETURN_VALUE = 'return value'
+
+DEPRECATED_GTKDOC_TAGS = [TAG_DESCRIPTION,
+                          TAG_RETURN_VALUE]
+
+#   3) Deprecated GObject-Introspection tags.
+#      Unfortunately, these where accepted by old versions of this module.
+TAG_RETURN = 'return'
+TAG_RETURNS_VALUE = 'returns value'
+
+DEPRECATED_GI_TAGS = [TAG_RETURN,
+                      TAG_RETURNS_VALUE]
+
+#   4) Deprecated GObject-Introspection annotation tags.
+#      Accepted by old versions of this module while they should have been
+#      annotations on the identifier part instead.
+#      Note: This list can not be extended ever again. The GObject-Introspection project is not
+#            allowed to invent GTK-Doc tags. Please create new annotations instead.
+TAG_ATTRIBUTES = 'attributes'
+TAG_GET_VALUE_FUNC = 'get value func'
+TAG_REF_FUNC = 'ref func'
+TAG_RENAME_TO = 'rename to'
+TAG_SET_VALUE_FUNC = 'set value func'
+TAG_TRANSFER = 'transfer'
+TAG_TYPE = 'type'
+TAG_UNREF_FUNC = 'unref func'
+TAG_VALUE = 'value'
+TAG_VFUNC = 'virtual'
+
+DEPRECATED_GI_ANN_TAGS = [TAG_ATTRIBUTES,
+                          TAG_GET_VALUE_FUNC,
+                          TAG_REF_FUNC,
+                          TAG_RENAME_TO,
+                          TAG_SET_VALUE_FUNC,
+                          TAG_TRANSFER,
+                          TAG_TYPE,
+                          TAG_UNREF_FUNC,
+                          TAG_VALUE,
+                          TAG_VFUNC]
+
+ALL_TAGS = GTKDOC_TAGS + DEPRECATED_GTKDOC_TAGS + DEPRECATED_GI_TAGS + DEPRECATED_GI_ANN_TAGS
+
+# GObject-Introspection annotation start/end tokens
+ANN_LPAR = '('
+ANN_RPAR = ')'
+
+# GObject-Introspection annotations
+#   1) Supported annotations
+#      Note: when adding new annotations, GTK-Doc project's gtkdoc-mkdb needs to be modified too!
+ANN_ALLOW_NONE = 'allow-none'
+ANN_ARRAY = 'array'
+ANN_ATTRIBUTES = 'attributes'
+ANN_CLOSURE = 'closure'
+ANN_CONSTRUCTOR = 'constructor'
+ANN_DESTROY = 'destroy'
+ANN_ELEMENT_TYPE = 'element-type'
+ANN_FOREIGN = 'foreign'
+ANN_GET_VALUE_FUNC = 'get-value-func'
+ANN_IN = 'in'
+ANN_INOUT = 'inout'
+ANN_METHOD = 'method'
+ANN_NULLABLE = 'nullable'
+ANN_OPTIONAL = 'optional'
+ANN_OUT = 'out'
+ANN_REF_FUNC = 'ref-func'
+ANN_RENAME_TO = 'rename-to'
+ANN_SCOPE = 'scope'
+ANN_SET_VALUE_FUNC = 'set-value-func'
+ANN_SKIP = 'skip'
+ANN_TRANSFER = 'transfer'
+ANN_TYPE = 'type'
+ANN_UNREF_FUNC = 'unref-func'
+ANN_VFUNC = 'virtual'
+ANN_VALUE = 'value'
+
+GI_ANNS = [ANN_ALLOW_NONE,
+           ANN_NULLABLE,
+           ANN_OPTIONAL,
+           ANN_ARRAY,
+           ANN_ATTRIBUTES,
+           ANN_CLOSURE,
+           ANN_CONSTRUCTOR,
+           ANN_DESTROY,
+           ANN_ELEMENT_TYPE,
+           ANN_FOREIGN,
+           ANN_GET_VALUE_FUNC,
+           ANN_IN,
+           ANN_INOUT,
+           ANN_METHOD,
+           ANN_OUT,
+           ANN_REF_FUNC,
+           ANN_RENAME_TO,
+           ANN_SCOPE,
+           ANN_SET_VALUE_FUNC,
+           ANN_SKIP,
+           ANN_TRANSFER,
+           ANN_TYPE,
+           ANN_UNREF_FUNC,
+           ANN_VFUNC,
+           ANN_VALUE]
+
+#   2) Deprecated GObject-Introspection annotations
+ANN_ATTRIBUTE = 'attribute'
+ANN_INOUT_ALT = 'in-out'
+
+DEPRECATED_GI_ANNS = [ANN_ATTRIBUTE,
+                      ANN_INOUT_ALT]
+
+ALL_ANNOTATIONS = GI_ANNS + DEPRECATED_GI_ANNS
+DICT_ANNOTATIONS = [ANN_ARRAY, ANN_ATTRIBUTES]
+LIST_ANNOTATIONS = [ann for ann in ALL_ANNOTATIONS if ann not in DICT_ANNOTATIONS]
+
+# (array) annotation options
+OPT_ARRAY_FIXED_SIZE = 'fixed-size'
+OPT_ARRAY_LENGTH = 'length'
+OPT_ARRAY_ZERO_TERMINATED = 'zero-terminated'
+
+ARRAY_OPTIONS = [OPT_ARRAY_FIXED_SIZE,
+                 OPT_ARRAY_LENGTH,
+                 OPT_ARRAY_ZERO_TERMINATED]
+
+# (out) annotation options
+OPT_OUT_CALLEE_ALLOCATES = 'callee-allocates'
+OPT_OUT_CALLER_ALLOCATES = 'caller-allocates'
+
+OUT_OPTIONS = [OPT_OUT_CALLEE_ALLOCATES,
+               OPT_OUT_CALLER_ALLOCATES]
+
+# (scope) annotation options
+OPT_SCOPE_ASYNC = 'async'
+OPT_SCOPE_CALL = 'call'
+OPT_SCOPE_NOTIFIED = 'notified'
+
+SCOPE_OPTIONS = [OPT_SCOPE_ASYNC,
+                 OPT_SCOPE_CALL,
+                 OPT_SCOPE_NOTIFIED]
+
+# (transfer) annotation options
+OPT_TRANSFER_CONTAINER = 'container'
+OPT_TRANSFER_FLOATING = 'floating'
+OPT_TRANSFER_FULL = 'full'
+OPT_TRANSFER_NONE = 'none'
+
+TRANSFER_OPTIONS = [OPT_TRANSFER_CONTAINER,
+                    OPT_TRANSFER_FLOATING,
+                    OPT_TRANSFER_FULL,
+                    OPT_TRANSFER_NONE]
+
+
+# Pattern used to normalize different types of line endings
+LINE_BREAK_RE = re.compile(r'\r\n|\r|\n', re.UNICODE)
+
+# Pattern matching the start token of a comment block.
+COMMENT_BLOCK_START_RE = re.compile(
+    r'''
+    ^                                                    # start
+    (?P<code>.*?)                                        # whitespace, code, ...
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    (?P<token>/\*{2}(?![\*/]))                           # 1 forward slash character followed
+                                                         #   by exactly 2 asterisk characters
+                                                         #   and not followed by a slash character
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    (?P<comment>.*?)                                     # GTK-Doc comment text
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    $                                                    # end
+    ''',
+    re.UNICODE | re.VERBOSE)
+
+# Pattern matching the end token of a comment block.
+COMMENT_BLOCK_END_RE = re.compile(
+    r'''
+    ^                                                    # start
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    (?P<comment>.*?)                                     # GTK-Doc comment text
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    (?P<token>\*+/)                                      # 1 or more asterisk characters followed
+                                                         #   by exactly 1 forward slash character
+    (?P<code>.*?)                                        # whitespace, code, ...
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    $                                                    # end
+    ''',
+    re.UNICODE | re.VERBOSE)
+
+# Pattern matching the ' * ' at the beginning of every
+# line inside a comment block.
+COMMENT_ASTERISK_RE = re.compile(
+    r'''
+    ^                                                    # start
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    (?P<comment>.*?)                                     # invalid comment text
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    \*                                                   # 1 asterisk character
+    \s?                                                  # 0 or 1 whitespace characters
+                                                         #   WARNING: removing more than 1
+                                                         #   whitespace character breaks
+                                                         #   embedded example program indentation
+    ''',
+    re.UNICODE | re.VERBOSE)
+
+# Pattern matching the indentation level of a line (used
+# to get the indentation before and after the ' * ').
+INDENTATION_RE = re.compile(
+    r'''
+    ^
+    (?P<indentation>\s*)                                 # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    .*
+    $
+    ''',
+    re.UNICODE | re.VERBOSE)
+
+# Pattern matching an empty line.
+EMPTY_LINE_RE = re.compile(
+    r'''
+    ^                                                    # start
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    $                                                    # end
+    ''',
+    re.UNICODE | re.VERBOSE)
+
+# Pattern matching SECTION identifiers.
+SECTION_RE = re.compile(
+    r'''
+    ^                                                    # start
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    SECTION                                              # SECTION
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    (?P<delimiter>:?)                                    # delimiter
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    (?P<section_name>\w\S+?)                             # section name
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    :?                                                   # invalid delimiter
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    $
+    ''',
+    re.UNICODE | re.VERBOSE)
+
+# Pattern matching symbol (function, constant, struct and enum) identifiers.
+SYMBOL_RE = re.compile(
+    r'''
+    ^                                                    # start
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    (?P<symbol_name>[\w-]*\w)                            # symbol name
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    (?P<delimiter>:?)                                    # delimiter
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    (?P<fields>.*?)                                      # annotations + description
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    :?                                                   # invalid delimiter
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    $                                                    # end
+    ''',
+    re.UNICODE | re.VERBOSE)
+
+# Pattern matching property identifiers.
+PROPERTY_RE = re.compile(
+    r'''
+    ^                                                    # start
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    (?P<class_name>[\w]+)                                # class name
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    :{1}                                                 # 1 required colon
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    (?P<property_name>[\w-]*\w)                          # property name
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    (?P<delimiter>:?)                                    # delimiter
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    (?P<fields>.*?)                                      # annotations + description
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    :?                                                   # invalid delimiter
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    $                                                    # end
+    ''',
+    re.UNICODE | re.VERBOSE)
+
+# Pattern matching signal identifiers.
+SIGNAL_RE = re.compile(
+    r'''
+    ^                                                    # start
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    (?P<class_name>[\w]+)                                # class name
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    :{2}                                                 # 2 required colons
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    (?P<signal_name>[\w-]*\w)                            # signal name
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    (?P<delimiter>:?)                                    # delimiter
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    (?P<fields>.*?)                                      # annotations + description
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    :?                                                   # invalid delimiter
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    $                                                    # end
+    ''',
+    re.UNICODE | re.VERBOSE)
+
+# Pattern matching parameters.
+PARAMETER_RE = re.compile(
+    r'''
+    ^                                                    # start
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    @                                                    # @ character
+    (?P<parameter_name>[\w-]*\w|.*?\.\.\.)               # parameter name
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    :{1}                                                 # 1 required delimiter
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    (?P<fields>.*?)                                      # annotations + description
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    $                                                    # end
+    ''',
+    re.UNICODE | re.VERBOSE)
+
+# Pattern matching tags.
+_all_tags = '|'.join(ALL_TAGS).replace(' ', r'\s')
+TAG_RE = re.compile(
+    r'''
+    ^                                                    # start
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    (?P<tag_name>''' + _all_tags + r''')                 # tag name
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    :{1}                                                 # 1 required delimiter
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    (?P<fields>.*?)                                      # annotations + value + description
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    $                                                    # end
+    ''',
+    re.UNICODE | re.VERBOSE | re.IGNORECASE)
+
+# Pattern matching value and description fields for TAG_DEPRECATED & TAG_SINCE tags.
+TAG_VALUE_VERSION_RE = re.compile(
+    r'''
+    ^                                                    # start
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    (?P<value>([0-9\.])*)                                # value
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    (?P<delimiter>:?)                                    # delimiter
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    (?P<description>.*?)                                 # description
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    $                                                    # end
+    ''',
+    re.UNICODE | re.VERBOSE)
+
+# Pattern matching value and description fields for TAG_STABILITY tags.
+TAG_VALUE_STABILITY_RE = re.compile(
+    r'''
+    ^                                                    # start
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    (?P<value>(stable|unstable|private|internal)?)       # value
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    (?P<delimiter>:?)                                    # delimiter
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    (?P<description>.*?)                                 # description
+    \s*                                                  # 0 or more whitespace characters
+    $                                                    # end
+    ''',
+    re.UNICODE | re.VERBOSE | re.IGNORECASE)
+
+
+class GtkDocAnnotations(OrderedDict):
+    '''
+    An ordered dictionary mapping annotation names to annotation options (if any). Annotation
+    options can be either a :class:`list`, a :class:`giscanner.collections.OrderedDict`
+    (depending on the annotation name)or :const:`None`.
+    '''
+
+    __slots__ = ('position')
+
+    def __init__(self, position=None):
+        OrderedDict.__init__(self)
+
+        #: A :class:`giscanner.message.Position` instance specifying the location of the
+        #: annotations in the source file or :const:`None`.
+        self.position = position
+
+
+class GtkDocAnnotatable(object):
+    '''
+    Base class for GTK-Doc comment block parts that can be annotated.
+    '''
+
+    __slots__ = ('position', 'annotations')
+
+    #: A :class:`tuple` of annotation name constants that are valid for this object. Annotation
+    #: names not in this :class:`tuple` will be reported as *unknown* by :func:`validate`. The
+    #: :attr:`valid_annotations` class attribute should be overridden by subclasses.
+    valid_annotations = ()
+
+    def __init__(self, position=None):
+        #: A :class:`giscanner.message.Position` instance specifying the location of the
+        #: annotatable comment block part in the source file or :const:`None`.
+        self.position = position
+
+        #: A :class:`GtkDocAnnotations` instance representing the annotations
+        #: applied to this :class:`GtkDocAnnotatable` instance.
+        self.annotations = GtkDocAnnotations()
+
+    def __repr__(self):
+        return '<GtkDocAnnotatable %r %r>' % (self.annotations, )
+
+    def validate(self):
+        '''
+        Validate annotations stored by the :class:`GtkDocAnnotatable` instance, if any.
+        '''
+
+        if self.annotations:
+            position = self.annotations.position
+
+            for ann_name, options in self.annotations.items():
+                if ann_name in self.valid_annotations:
+                    validate = getattr(self, '_do_validate_' + ann_name.replace('-', '_'))
+                    validate(position, ann_name, options)
+                elif ann_name in ALL_ANNOTATIONS:
+                    # Not error() as ann_name might be valid in some newer
+                    # GObject-Instrospection version.
+                    warn('unexpected annotation: %s' % (ann_name, ), position)
+                else:
+                    # Not error() as ann_name might be valid in some newer
+                    # GObject-Instrospection version.
+                    warn('unknown annotation: %s' % (ann_name, ), position)
+
+    def _validate_options(self, position, ann_name, n_options, expected_n_options, operator,
+                          message):
+        '''
+        Validate the number of options held by an annotation according to the test
+        ``operator(n_options, expected_n_options)``.
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of the line in the source file
+                         containing the annotation to be validated
+        :param ann_name: name of the annotation holding the options to validate
+        :param n_options: number of options held by the annotation
+        :param expected_n_options: number of expected options
+        :param operator: an operator function from python's :mod:`operator` module, for example
+                         :func:`operator.ne` or :func:`operator.lt`
+        :param message: warning message used when the test
+                        ``operator(n_options, expected_n_options)`` fails.
+        '''
+
+        if n_options == 0:
+            t = 'none'
+        else:
+            t = '%d' % (n_options, )
+
+        if expected_n_options == 0:
+            s = 'no options'
+        elif expected_n_options == 1:
+            s = 'one option'
+        else:
+            s = '%d options' % (expected_n_options, )
+
+        if operator(n_options, expected_n_options):
+            warn('"%s" annotation %s %s, %s given' % (ann_name, message, s, t), position)
+
+    def _validate_annotation(self, position, ann_name, options, choices=None,
+                             exact_n_options=None, min_n_options=None, max_n_options=None):
+        '''
+        Validate an annotation.
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of the line in the source file
+                         containing the annotation to be validated
+        :param ann_name: name of the annotation holding the options to validate
+        :param options: annotation options to be validated
+        :param choices: an iterable of allowed option names or :const:`None` to skip this test
+        :param exact_n_options: exact number of expected options or :const:`None` to skip this test
+        :param min_n_options: minimum number of expected options or :const:`None` to skip this test
+        :param max_n_options: maximum number of expected options or :const:`None` to skip this test
+        '''
+
+        n_options = len(options)
+
+        if exact_n_options is not None:
+            self._validate_options(position,
+                                   ann_name, n_options, exact_n_options, ne, 'needs')
+
+        if min_n_options is not None:
+            self._validate_options(position,
+                                   ann_name, n_options, min_n_options, lt, 'takes at least')
+
+        if max_n_options is not None:
+            self._validate_options(position,
+                                   ann_name, n_options, max_n_options, gt, 'takes at most')
+
+        if options and choices is not None:
+            option = options[0]
+            if option not in choices:
+                warn('invalid "%s" annotation option: "%s"' % (ann_name, option), position)
+
+    def _do_validate_allow_none(self, position, ann_name, options):
+        '''
+        Validate the ``(allow-none)`` annotation.
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of the line in the source file
+                         containing the annotation to be validated
+        :param ann_name: name of the annotation holding the options to validate
+        :param options: annotation options held by the annotation
+        '''
+
+        self._validate_annotation(position, ann_name, options, exact_n_options=0)
+
+    def _do_validate_array(self, position, ann_name, options):
+        '''
+        Validate the ``(array)`` annotation.
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of the line in the source file
+                         containing the annotation to be validated
+        :param ann_name: name of the annotation holding the options to validate
+        :param options: annotation options held by the annotation
+        '''
+
+        if len(options) == 0:
+            return
+
+        for option, value in options.items():
+            if option in [OPT_ARRAY_ZERO_TERMINATED, OPT_ARRAY_FIXED_SIZE]:
+                try:
+                    int(value)
+                except (TypeError, ValueError):
+                    if value is None:
+                        warn('"%s" annotation option "%s" needs a value' % (ann_name, option),
+                             position)
+                    else:
+                        warn('invalid "%s" annotation option "%s" value "%s", must be an integer' %
+                             (ann_name, option, value),
+                             position)
+            elif option == OPT_ARRAY_LENGTH:
+                if value is None:
+                    warn('"%s" annotation option "length" needs a value' % (ann_name, ),
+                         position)
+            else:
+                warn('invalid "%s" annotation option: "%s"' % (ann_name, option),
+                     position)
+
+    def _do_validate_attributes(self, position, ann_name, options):
+        '''
+        Validate the ``(attributes)`` annotation.
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of the line in the source file
+                         containing the annotation to be validated
+        :param ann_name: name of the annotation holding the options to validate
+        :param options: annotation options to validate
+        '''
+
+        # The 'attributes' annotation allows free form annotations.
+        pass
+
+    def _do_validate_closure(self, position, ann_name, options):
+        '''
+        Validate the ``(closure)`` annotation.
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of the line in the source file
+                         containing the annotation to be validated
+        :param ann_name: name of the annotation holding the options to validate
+        :param options: annotation options to validate
+        '''
+
+        self._validate_annotation(position, ann_name, options, max_n_options=1)
+
+    def _do_validate_constructor(self, position, ann_name, options):
+        '''
+        Validate the ``(constructor)`` annotation.
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of the line in the source file
+                         containing the annotation to be validated
+        :param ann_name: name of the annotation holding the options to validate
+        :param options: annotation options to validate
+        '''
+
+        self._validate_annotation(position, ann_name, options, exact_n_options=0)
+
+    def _do_validate_destroy(self, position, ann_name, options):
+        '''
+        Validate the ``(destroy)`` annotation.
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of the line in the source file
+                         containing the annotation to be validated
+        :param ann_name: name of the annotation holding the options to validate
+        :param options: annotation options to validate
+        '''
+
+        self._validate_annotation(position, ann_name, options, exact_n_options=1)
+
+    def _do_validate_element_type(self, position, ann_name, options):
+        '''
+        Validate the ``(element)`` annotation.
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of the line in the source file
+                         containing the annotation to be validated
+        :param ann_name: name of the annotation holding the options to validate
+        :param options: annotation options to validate
+        '''
+
+        self._validate_annotation(position, ann_name, options, min_n_options=1, max_n_options=2)
+
+    def _do_validate_foreign(self, position, ann_name, options):
+        '''
+        Validate the ``(foreign)`` annotation.
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of the line in the source file
+                         containing the annotation to be validated
+        :param ann_name: name of the annotation holding the options to validate
+        :param options: annotation options to validate
+        '''
+
+        self._validate_annotation(position, ann_name, options, exact_n_options=0)
+
+    def _do_validate_get_value_func(self, position, ann_name, options):
+        '''
+        Validate the ``(value-func)`` annotation.
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of the line in the source file
+                         containing the annotation to be validated
+        :param ann_name: name of the annotation holding the options to validate
+        :param options: annotation options to validate
+        '''
+
+        self._validate_annotation(position, ann_name, options, exact_n_options=1)
+
+    def _do_validate_in(self, position, ann_name, options):
+        '''
+        Validate the ``(in)`` annotation.
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of the line in the source file
+                         containing the annotation to be validated
+        :param ann_name: name of the annotation holding the options to validate
+        :param options: annotation options to validate
+        '''
+
+        self._validate_annotation(position, ann_name, options, exact_n_options=0)
+
+    def _do_validate_inout(self, position, ann_name, options):
+        '''
+        Validate the ``(in-out)`` annotation.
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of the line in the source file
+                         containing the annotation to be validated
+        :param ann_name: name of the annotation holding the options to validate
+        :param options: annotation options to validate
+        '''
+
+        self._validate_annotation(position, ann_name, options, exact_n_options=0)
+
+    def _do_validate_method(self, position, ann_name, options):
+        '''
+        Validate the ``(method)`` annotation.
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of the line in the source file
+                         containing the annotation to be validated
+        :param ann_name: name of the annotation holding the options to validate
+        :param options: annotation options to validate
+        '''
+
+        self._validate_annotation(position, ann_name, options, exact_n_options=0)
+
+    def _do_validate_nullable(self, position, ann_name, options):
+        '''
+        Validate the ``(nullable)`` annotation.
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of the line in the source file
+                         containing the annotation to be validated
+        :param ann_name: name of the annotation holding the options to validate
+        :param options: annotation options held by the annotation
+        '''
+
+        self._validate_annotation(position, ann_name, options, exact_n_options=0)
+
+    def _do_validate_optional(self, position, ann_name, options):
+        '''
+        Validate the ``(optional)`` annotation.
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of the line in the source file
+                         containing the annotation to be validated
+        :param ann_name: name of the annotation holding the options to validate
+        :param options: annotation options held by the annotation
+        '''
+
+        self._validate_annotation(position, ann_name, options, exact_n_options=0)
+
+    def _do_validate_out(self, position, ann_name, options):
+        '''
+        Validate the ``(out)`` annotation.
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of the line in the source file
+                         containing the annotation to be validated
+        :param ann_name: name of the annotation holding the options to validate
+        :param options: annotation options to validate
+        '''
+
+        self._validate_annotation(position, ann_name, options, max_n_options=1,
+                                  choices=OUT_OPTIONS)
+
+    def _do_validate_ref_func(self, position, ann_name, options):
+        '''
+        Validate the ``(ref-func)`` annotation.
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of the line in the source file
+                         containing the annotation to be validated
+        :param ann_name: name of the annotation holding the options to validate
+        :param options: annotation options to validate
+        '''
+
+        self._validate_annotation(position, ann_name, options, exact_n_options=1)
+
+    def _do_validate_rename_to(self, position, ann_name, options):
+        '''
+        Validate the ``(rename-to)`` annotation.
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of the line in the source file
+                         containing the annotation to be validated
+        :param ann_name: name of the annotation holding the options to validate
+        :param options: annotation options to validate
+        '''
+
+        self._validate_annotation(position, ann_name, options, exact_n_options=1)
+
+    def _do_validate_scope(self, position, ann_name, options):
+        '''
+        Validate the ``(scope)`` annotation.
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of the line in the source file
+                         containing the annotation to be validated
+        :param ann_name: name of the annotation holding the options to validate
+        :param options: annotation options to validate
+        '''
+
+        self._validate_annotation(position, ann_name, options, exact_n_options=1,
+                                  choices=SCOPE_OPTIONS)
+
+    def _do_validate_set_value_func(self, position, ann_name, options):
+        '''
+        Validate the ``(value-func)`` annotation.
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of the line in the source file
+                         containing the annotation to be validated
+        :param ann_name: name of the annotation holding the options to validate
+        :param options: annotation options to validate
+        '''
+
+        self._validate_annotation(position, ann_name, options, exact_n_options=1)
+
+    def _do_validate_skip(self, position, ann_name, options):
+        '''
+        Validate the ``(skip)`` annotation.
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of the line in the source file
+                         containing the annotation to be validated
+        :param ann_name: name of the annotation holding the options to validate
+        :param options: annotation options to validate
+        '''
+
+        self._validate_annotation(position, ann_name, options, exact_n_options=0)
+
+    def _do_validate_transfer(self, position, ann_name, options):
+        '''
+        Validate the ``(transfer)`` annotation.
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of the line in the source file
+                         containing the annotation to be validated
+        :param ann_name: name of the annotation holding the options to validate
+        :param options: annotation options to validate
+        '''
+
+        self._validate_annotation(position, ann_name, options, exact_n_options=1,
+                                  choices=TRANSFER_OPTIONS)
+
+    def _do_validate_type(self, position, ann_name, options):
+        '''
+        Validate the ``(type)`` annotation.
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of the line in the source file
+                         containing the annotation to be validated
+        :param ann_name: name of the annotation holding the options to validate
+        :param options: annotation options to validate
+        '''
+
+        self._validate_annotation(position, ann_name, options, exact_n_options=1)
+
+    def _do_validate_unref_func(self, position, ann_name, options):
+        '''
+        Validate the ``(unref-func)`` annotation.
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of the line in the source file
+                         containing the annotation to be validated
+        :param ann_name: name of the annotation holding the options to validate
+        :param options: annotation options to validate
+        '''
+
+        self._validate_annotation(position, ann_name, options, exact_n_options=1)
+
+    def _do_validate_value(self, position, ann_name, options):
+        '''
+        Validate the ``(value)`` annotation.
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of the line in the source file
+                         containing the annotation to be validated
+        :param ann_name: name of the annotation holding the options to validate
+        :param options: annotation options to validate
+        '''
+
+        self._validate_annotation(position, ann_name, options, exact_n_options=1)
+
+    def _do_validate_virtual(self, position, ann_name, options):
+        '''
+        Validate the ``(virtual)`` annotation.
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of the line in the source file
+                         containing the annotation to be validated
+        :param ann_name: name of the annotation holding the options to validate
+        :param options: annotation options to validate
+        '''
+
+        self._validate_annotation(position, ann_name, options, exact_n_options=1)
+
+
+class GtkDocParameter(GtkDocAnnotatable):
+    '''
+    Represents a GTK-Doc parameter part.
+    '''
+
+    __slots__ = ('name', 'description')
+
+    valid_annotations = (ANN_ALLOW_NONE, ANN_ARRAY, ANN_ATTRIBUTES, ANN_CLOSURE, ANN_DESTROY,
+                         ANN_ELEMENT_TYPE, ANN_IN, ANN_INOUT, ANN_OUT, ANN_SCOPE, ANN_SKIP,
+                         ANN_TRANSFER, ANN_TYPE, ANN_OPTIONAL, ANN_NULLABLE)
+
+    def __init__(self, name, position=None):
+        GtkDocAnnotatable.__init__(self, position)
+
+        #: Parameter name.
+        self.name = name
+
+        #: Parameter description or :const:`None`.
+        self.description = None
+
+    def __repr__(self):
+        return '<GtkDocParameter %r %r>' % (self.name, self.annotations)
+
+
+class GtkDocTag(GtkDocAnnotatable):
+    '''
+    Represents a GTK-Doc tag part.
+    '''
+
+    __slots__ = ('name', 'value', 'description')
+
+    valid_annotations = (ANN_ALLOW_NONE, ANN_ARRAY, ANN_ATTRIBUTES, ANN_ELEMENT_TYPE, ANN_SKIP,
+                         ANN_TRANSFER, ANN_TYPE, ANN_NULLABLE, ANN_OPTIONAL)
+
+    def __init__(self, name, position=None):
+        GtkDocAnnotatable.__init__(self, position)
+
+        #: Tag name.
+        self.name = name
+
+        #: Tag value or :const:`None`.
+        self.value = None
+
+        #: Tag description or :const:`None`.
+        self.description = None
+
+    def __repr__(self):
+        return '<GtkDocTag %r %r>' % (self.name, self.annotations)
+
+
+class GtkDocCommentBlock(GtkDocAnnotatable):
+    '''
+    Represents a GTK-Doc comment block.
+    '''
+
+    __slots__ = ('code_before', 'code_after', 'indentation',
+                 'name', 'params', 'description', 'tags')
+
+    #: Valid annotation names for the GTK-Doc comment block identifier part.
+    valid_annotations = (ANN_ATTRIBUTES, ANN_CONSTRUCTOR, ANN_FOREIGN, ANN_GET_VALUE_FUNC,
+                         ANN_METHOD, ANN_REF_FUNC, ANN_RENAME_TO, ANN_SET_VALUE_FUNC,
+                         ANN_SKIP, ANN_TRANSFER, ANN_TYPE, ANN_UNREF_FUNC, ANN_VALUE, ANN_VFUNC)
+
+    def __init__(self, name, position=None):
+        GtkDocAnnotatable.__init__(self, position)
+
+        #: Code preceding the GTK-Doc comment block start token ("``/**``"), if any.
+        self.code_before = None
+
+        #: Code following the GTK-Doc comment block end token ("``*/``"), if any.
+        self.code_after = None
+
+        #: List of indentation levels (preceding the "``*``") for all lines in the comment
+        #: block's source text.
+        self.indentation = []
+
+        #: Identifier name.
+        self.name = name
+
+        #: Ordered dictionary mapping parameter names to :class:`GtkDocParameter` instances
+        #: applied to this :class:`GtkDocCommentBlock`.
+        self.params = OrderedDict()
+
+        #: The GTK-Doc comment block description part.
+        self.description = None
+
+        #: Ordered dictionary mapping tag names to :class:`GtkDocTag` instances
+        #: applied to this :class:`GtkDocCommentBlock`.
+        self.tags = OrderedDict()
+
+    def __cmp__(self, other):
+        # Note: This is used by g-ir-annotation-tool, which does a ``sorted(blocks.values())``,
+        #       meaning that keeping this around makes update-glib-annotations.py patches
+        #       easier to review.
+        return cmp(self.name, other.name)
+
+    def __repr__(self):
+        return '<GtkDocCommentBlock %r %r>' % (self.name, self.annotations)
+
+    def validate(self):
+        '''
+        Validate annotations applied to the :class:`GtkDocCommentBlock` identifier, parameters
+        and tags.
+        '''
+        GtkDocAnnotatable.validate(self)
+
+        for param in self.params.values():
+            param.validate()
+
+        for tag in self.tags.values():
+            tag.validate()
+
+
+#: Result object returned by :class:`GtkDocCommentBlockParser`._parse_annotations()
+_ParseAnnotationsResult = namedtuple('Result', ['success', 'annotations', 'start_pos', 'end_pos'])
+
+#: Result object returned by :class:`GtkDocCommentBlockParser`._parse_fields()
+_ParseFieldsResult = namedtuple('Result', ['success', 'annotations', 'description'])
+
+
+class GtkDocCommentBlockParser(object):
+    '''
+    Parse GTK-Doc comment blocks into a parse tree built out of :class:`GtkDocCommentBlock`,
+    :class:`GtkDocParameter`, :class:`GtkDocTag` and :class:`GtkDocAnnotations`
+    objects. This parser tries to accept malformed input whenever possible and does
+    not cause the process to exit on syntax errors. It does however emit:
+
+        * warning messages at the slightest indication of recoverable malformed input and
+        * error messages for unrecoverable malformed input
+
+    whenever possible. Recoverable, in this context, means that we can serialize the
+    :class:`GtkDocCommentBlock` instance using a :class:`GtkDocCommentBlockWriter` without
+    information being lost. It is usually a good idea to heed these warning and error messages
+    as malformed input can result in both:
+
+        * invalid GTK-Doc output (HTML, pdf, ...) when the comment blocks are parsed
+          with GTK-Doc's gtkdoc-mkdb
+        * unexpected introspection behavior, for example missing parameters in the
+          generated .gir and .typelib files
+
+    .. NOTE:: :class:`GtkDocCommentBlockParser` functionality is heavily based on gtkdoc-mkdb's
+        `ScanSourceFile()`_ function and is currently in sync with GTK-Doc
+        commit `47abcd5`_.
+
+    .. _ScanSourceFile():
+           http://git.gnome.org/browse/gtk-doc/tree/gtkdoc-mkdb.in#n3722
+    .. _47abcd5:
+           https://git.gnome.org/browse/gtk-doc/commit/?id=47abcd53b8489ebceec9e394676512a181c1f1f6
+    '''
+
+    def parse_comment_blocks(self, comments):
+        '''
+        Parse multiple GTK-Doc comment blocks.
+
+        :param comments: an iterable of ``(comment, filename, lineno)`` tuples
+        :returns: a dictionary mapping identifier names to :class:`GtkDocCommentBlock` objects
+        '''
+
+        comment_blocks = {}
+
+        for (comment, filename, lineno) in comments:
+            try:
+                comment_block = self.parse_comment_block(comment, filename, lineno)
+            except Exception:
+                error('unrecoverable parse error, please file a GObject-Introspection bug'
+                      'report including the complete comment block at the indicated location.',
+                      Position(filename, lineno))
+                continue
+
+            if comment_block is not None:
+                # Note: previous versions of this parser did not check if an identifier was
+                #       already stored in comment_blocks, so when different comment blocks where
+                #       encountered documenting the same identifier the last comment block seen
+                #       "wins". Keep this behavior for backwards compatibility, but emit a warning.
+                if comment_block.name in comment_blocks:
+                    firstseen = comment_blocks[comment_block.name]
+                    path = os.path.dirname(firstseen.position.filename)
+                    warn('multiple comment blocks documenting \'%s:\' identifier '
+                         '(already seen at %s).' %
+                         (comment_block.name, firstseen.position.format(path)),
+                         comment_block.position)
+
+                comment_blocks[comment_block.name] = comment_block
+
+        return comment_blocks
+
+    def parse_comment_block(self, comment, filename, lineno):
+        '''
+        Parse a single GTK-Doc comment block.
+
+        :param comment: string representing the GTK-Doc comment block including it's
+                        start ("``/**``") and end ("``*/``") tokens.
+        :param filename: source file name where the comment block originated from
+        :param lineno: line number in the source file where the comment block starts
+        :returns: a :class:`GtkDocCommentBlock` object or ``None``
+        '''
+
+        code_before = ''
+        code_after = ''
+        comment_block_pos = Position(filename, lineno)
+        comment_lines = re.sub(LINE_BREAK_RE, '\n', comment).split('\n')
+        comment_lines_len = len(comment_lines)
+
+        # Check for the start of the comment block.
+        result = COMMENT_BLOCK_START_RE.match(comment_lines[0])
+        if result:
+            # Skip single line comment blocks
+            if comment_lines_len == 1:
+                position = Position(filename, lineno)
+                marker = ' ' * result.end('code') + '^'
+                error('Skipping invalid GTK-Doc comment block:'
+                      '\n%s\n%s' % (comment_lines[0], marker),
+                     position)
+                return None
+
+            code_before = result.group('code')
+            comment = result.group('comment')
+
+            if code_before:
+                position = Position(filename, lineno)
+                marker = ' ' * result.end('code') + '^'
+                warn('GTK-Doc comment block start token "/**" should '
+                     'not be preceded by code:\n%s\n%s' % (comment_lines[0], marker),
+                     position)
+
+            if comment:
+                position = Position(filename, lineno)
+                marker = ' ' * result.start('comment') + '^'
+                warn('GTK-Doc comment block start token "/**" should '
+                     'not be followed by comment text:\n%s\n%s' % (comment_lines[0], marker),
+                     position)
+
+                comment_lines[0] = comment
+            else:
+                del comment_lines[0]
+        else:
+            # Not a GTK-Doc comment block.
+            return None
+
+        # Check for the end of the comment block.
+        result = COMMENT_BLOCK_END_RE.match(comment_lines[-1])
+        if result:
+            code_after = result.group('code')
+            comment = result.group('comment')
+            if code_after:
+                position = Position(filename, lineno + comment_lines_len - 1)
+                marker = ' ' * result.end('code') + '^'
+                warn('GTK-Doc comment block end token "*/" should '
+                     'not be followed by code:\n%s\n%s' % (comment_lines[-1], marker),
+                     position)
+
+            if comment:
+                position = Position(filename, lineno + comment_lines_len - 1)
+                marker = ' ' * result.end('comment') + '^'
+                warn('GTK-Doc comment block end token "*/" should '
+                     'not be preceded by comment text:\n%s\n%s' % (comment_lines[-1], marker),
+                     position)
+
+                comment_lines[-1] = comment
+            else:
+                del comment_lines[-1]
+        else:
+            # Not a GTK-Doc comment block.
+            return None
+
+        # If we get this far, we must be inside something
+        # that looks like a GTK-Doc comment block.
+        comment_block = None
+        identifier_warned = False
+        block_indent = []
+        line_indent = None
+        part_indent = None
+        in_part = None
+        current_part = None
+        returns_seen = False
+
+        for line in comment_lines:
+            lineno += 1
+            position = Position(filename, lineno)
+
+            # Store the original line (without \n) and column offset
+            # so we can generate meaningful warnings later on.
+            original_line = line
+            column_offset = 0
+
+            # Store indentation level of the comment (before the ' * ')
+            result = INDENTATION_RE.match(line)
+            block_indent.append(result.group('indentation'))
+
+            # Get rid of the ' * ' at the start of the line.
+            result = COMMENT_ASTERISK_RE.match(line)
+            if result:
+                comment = result.group('comment')
+                if comment:
+                    marker = ' ' * result.start('comment') + '^'
+                    error('invalid comment text:\n%s\n%s' %
+                          (original_line, marker),
+                          position)
+
+                column_offset = result.end(0)
+                line = line[result.end(0):]
+
+            # Store indentation level of the line (after the ' * ').
+            result = INDENTATION_RE.match(line)
+            line_indent = len(result.group('indentation').replace('\t', '  '))
+
+            ####################################################################
+            # Check for GTK-Doc comment block identifier.
+            ####################################################################
+            if comment_block is None:
+                result = SECTION_RE.match(line)
+
+                if result:
+                    identifier_name = 'SECTION:%s' % (result.group('section_name'), )
+                    identifier_delimiter = None
+                    identifier_fields = None
+                    identifier_fields_start = None
+                else:
+                    result = PROPERTY_RE.match(line)
+
+                    if result:
+                        identifier_name = '%s:%s' % (result.group('class_name'),
+                                                     result.group('property_name'))
+                        identifier_delimiter = result.group('delimiter')
+                        identifier_fields = result.group('fields')
+                        identifier_fields_start = result.start('fields')
+                    else:
+                        result = SIGNAL_RE.match(line)
+
+                        if result:
+                            identifier_name = '%s::%s' % (result.group('class_name'),
+                                                          result.group('signal_name'))
+                            identifier_delimiter = result.group('delimiter')
+                            identifier_fields = result.group('fields')
+                            identifier_fields_start = result.start('fields')
+                        else:
+                            result = SYMBOL_RE.match(line)
+
+                            if result:
+                                identifier_name = '%s' % (result.group('symbol_name'), )
+                                identifier_delimiter = result.group('delimiter')
+                                identifier_fields = result.group('fields')
+                                identifier_fields_start = result.start('fields')
+
+                if result:
+                    in_part = PART_IDENTIFIER
+                    part_indent = line_indent
+
+                    comment_block = GtkDocCommentBlock(identifier_name, comment_block_pos)
+                    comment_block.code_before = code_before
+                    comment_block.code_after = code_after
+
+                    if identifier_fields:
+                        res = self._parse_annotations(position,
+                                                      column_offset + identifier_fields_start,
+                                                      original_line,
+                                                      identifier_fields)
+
+                        if res.success:
+                            if identifier_fields[res.end_pos:].strip():
+                                # Not an identifier due to invalid trailing description field
+                                result = None
+                                in_part = None
+                                part_indent = None
+                                comment_block = None
+                            else:
+                                comment_block.annotations = res.annotations
+
+                                if not identifier_delimiter and res.annotations:
+                                    marker_position = column_offset + result.start('delimiter')
+                                    marker = ' ' * marker_position + '^'
+                                    warn('missing ":" at column %s:\n%s\n%s' %
+                                         (marker_position + 1, original_line, marker),
+                                         position)
+
+                if not result:
+                    # Emit a single warning when the identifier is not found on the first line
+                    if not identifier_warned:
+                        identifier_warned = True
+                        marker = ' ' * column_offset + '^'
+                        error('identifier not found on the first line:\n%s\n%s' %
+                              (original_line, marker),
+                              position)
+                continue
+
+            ####################################################################
+            # Check for comment block parameters.
+            ####################################################################
+            result = PARAMETER_RE.match(line)
+            if result:
+                part_indent = line_indent
+                param_name = result.group('parameter_name')
+                param_name_lower = param_name.lower()
+                param_fields = result.group('fields')
+                param_fields_start = result.start('fields')
+                marker = ' ' * (result.start('parameter_name') + column_offset) + '^'
+
+                if in_part not in [PART_IDENTIFIER, PART_PARAMETERS]:
+                    warn('"@%s" parameter unexpected at this location:\n%s\n%s' %
+                         (param_name, original_line, marker),
+                         position)
+
+                in_part = PART_PARAMETERS
+
+                if param_name_lower == TAG_RETURNS:
+                    # Deprecated return value as parameter instead of tag
+                    param_name = TAG_RETURNS
+
+                    if not returns_seen:
+                        returns_seen = True
+                    else:
+                        error('encountered multiple "Returns" parameters or tags for "%s".' %
+                              (comment_block.name, ),
+                              position)
+
+                    tag = GtkDocTag(TAG_RETURNS, position)
+
+                    if param_fields:
+                        result = self._parse_fields(position,
+                                                    column_offset + param_fields_start,
+                                                    original_line,
+                                                    param_fields)
+                        if result.success:
+                            tag.annotations = result.annotations
+                            tag.description = result.description
+                    comment_block.tags[TAG_RETURNS] = tag
+                    current_part = tag
+                    continue
+                elif (param_name == 'Varargs'
+                or (param_name.endswith('...') and param_name != '...')):
+                    # Deprecated @Varargs notation or named __VA_ARGS__ instead of @...
+                    warn('"@%s" parameter is deprecated, please use "@..." instead:\n%s\n%s' %
+                         (param_name, original_line, marker),
+                         position)
+                    param_name = '...'
+
+                if param_name in comment_block.params.keys():
+                    error('multiple "@%s" parameters for identifier "%s":\n%s\n%s' %
+                          (param_name, comment_block.name, original_line, marker),
+                          position)
+
+                parameter = GtkDocParameter(param_name, position)
+
+                if param_fields:
+                    result = self._parse_fields(position,
+                                                column_offset + param_fields_start,
+                                                original_line,
+                                                param_fields)
+                    if result.success:
+                        parameter.annotations = result.annotations
+                        parameter.description = result.description
+
+                comment_block.params[param_name] = parameter
+                current_part = parameter
+                continue
+
+            ####################################################################
+            # Check for comment block description.
+            #
+            # When we are parsing parameter parts or the identifier part (when
+            # there are no parameters) and encounter an empty line, we must be
+            # parsing the comment block description.
+            #
+            # Note: it is unclear why GTK-Doc does not allow paragraph breaks
+            #       at this location as those might be handy describing
+            #       parameters from time to time...
+            ####################################################################
+            if (EMPTY_LINE_RE.match(line) and in_part in [PART_IDENTIFIER, PART_PARAMETERS]):
+                in_part = PART_DESCRIPTION
+                part_indent = line_indent
+                continue
+
+            ####################################################################
+            # Check for GTK-Doc comment block tags.
+            ####################################################################
+            result = TAG_RE.match(line)
+            if result and line_indent <= part_indent:
+                part_indent = line_indent
+                tag_name = result.group('tag_name')
+                tag_name_lower = tag_name.lower()
+                tag_fields = result.group('fields')
+                tag_fields_start = result.start('fields')
+                marker = ' ' * (result.start('tag_name') + column_offset) + '^'
+
+                if tag_name_lower in DEPRECATED_GI_ANN_TAGS:
+                    # Deprecated GObject-Introspection specific tags.
+                    # Emit a warning and transform these into annotations on the identifier
+                    # instead, as agreed upon in http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=676133
+                    warn('GObject-Introspection specific GTK-Doc tag "%s" '
+                         'has been deprecated, please use annotations on the identifier '
+                         'instead:\n%s\n%s' % (tag_name, original_line, marker),
+                         position)
+
+                    # Translate deprecated tag name into corresponding annotation name
+                    ann_name = tag_name_lower.replace(' ', '-')
+
+                    if tag_name_lower == TAG_ATTRIBUTES:
+                        transformed = ''
+                        result = self._parse_fields(position,
+                                                    result.start('tag_name') + column_offset,
+                                                    line,
+                                                    tag_fields.strip(),
+                                                    False,
+                                                    False)
+
+                        if result.success:
+                            for annotation in result.annotations:
+                                ann_options = self._parse_annotation_options_list(position, marker,
+                                                                                  line, annotation)
+                                n_options = len(ann_options)
+                                if n_options == 1:
+                                    transformed = '%s %s' % (transformed, ann_options[0], )
+                                elif n_options == 2:
+                                    transformed = '%s %s=%s' % (transformed, ann_options[0],
+                                                                ann_options[1])
+                                else:
+                                    # Malformed Attributes: tag
+                                    error('malformed "Attributes:" tag will be ignored:\n%s\n%s' %
+                                          (original_line, marker),
+                                          position)
+                                    transformed = None
+
+                            if transformed:
+                                transformed = '%s %s' % (ann_name, transformed.strip())
+                                ann_name, docannotation = self._parse_annotation(
+                                    position,
+                                    column_offset + tag_fields_start,
+                                    original_line,
+                                    transformed)
+                                stored_annotation = comment_block.annotations.get('attributes')
+                                if stored_annotation:
+                                    error('Duplicate "Attributes:" annotation will '
+                                          'be ignored:\n%s\n%s' % (original_line, marker),
+                                          position)
+                                else:
+                                    comment_block.annotations[ann_name] = docannotation
+                    else:
+                        ann_name, options = self._parse_annotation(position,
+                                                               column_offset + tag_fields_start,
+                                                               line,
+                                                               '%s %s' % (ann_name, tag_fields))
+                        comment_block.annotations[ann_name] = options
+
+                    continue
+                elif tag_name_lower == TAG_DESCRIPTION:
+                    # Deprecated GTK-Doc Description: tag
+                    warn('GTK-Doc tag "Description:" has been deprecated:\n%s\n%s' %
+                         (original_line, marker),
+                         position)
+
+                    in_part = PART_DESCRIPTION
+
+                    if comment_block.description is None:
+                        comment_block.description = tag_fields
+                    else:
+                        comment_block.description += '\n%s' % (tag_fields, )
+                    continue
+
+                # Now that the deprecated stuff is out of the way, continue parsing real tags
+                if (in_part == PART_DESCRIPTION
+                or (in_part == PART_PARAMETERS and not comment_block.description)
+                or (in_part == PART_IDENTIFIER and not comment_block.params and not
+                comment_block.description)):
+                    in_part = PART_TAGS
+
+                if in_part != PART_TAGS:
+                    in_part = PART_TAGS
+                    warn('"%s:" tag unexpected at this location:\n%s\n%s' %
+                         (tag_name, original_line, marker),
+                         position)
+
+                if tag_name_lower in [TAG_RETURN, TAG_RETURNS,
+                                      TAG_RETURN_VALUE, TAG_RETURNS_VALUE]:
+                    if not returns_seen:
+                        returns_seen = True
+                    else:
+                        error('encountered multiple return value parameters or tags for "%s".' %
+                              (comment_block.name, ),
+                              position)
+
+                    tag = GtkDocTag(TAG_RETURNS, position)
+
+                    if tag_fields:
+                        result = self._parse_fields(position,
+                                                    column_offset + tag_fields_start,
+                                                    original_line,
+                                                    tag_fields)
+                        if result.success:
+                            tag.annotations = result.annotations
+                            tag.description = result.description
+
+                    comment_block.tags[TAG_RETURNS] = tag
+                    current_part = tag
+                    continue
+                else:
+                    if tag_name_lower in comment_block.tags.keys():
+                        error('multiple "%s:" tags for identifier "%s":\n%s\n%s' %
+                              (tag_name, comment_block.name, original_line, marker),
+                              position)
+
+                    tag = GtkDocTag(tag_name_lower, position)
+
+                    if tag_fields:
+                        result = self._parse_fields(position,
+                                                    column_offset + tag_fields_start,
+                                                    original_line,
+                                                    tag_fields)
+                        if result.success:
+                            if result.annotations:
+                                error('annotations not supported for tag "%s:".' % (tag_name, ),
+                                      position)
+
+                            if tag_name_lower in [TAG_DEPRECATED, TAG_SINCE]:
+                                result = TAG_VALUE_VERSION_RE.match(result.description)
+                                tag.value = result.group('value')
+                                tag.description = result.group('description')
+                            elif tag_name_lower == TAG_STABILITY:
+                                result = TAG_VALUE_STABILITY_RE.match(result.description)
+                                tag.value = result.group('value').capitalize()
+                                tag.description = result.group('description')
+
+                    comment_block.tags[tag_name_lower] = tag
+                    current_part = tag
+                    continue
+
+            ####################################################################
+            # If we get here, we must be in the middle of a multiline
+            # comment block, parameter or tag description.
+            ####################################################################
+            if EMPTY_LINE_RE.match(line) is None:
+                line = line.rstrip()
+
+            if in_part in [PART_IDENTIFIER, PART_DESCRIPTION]:
+                if not comment_block.description:
+                    if in_part == PART_IDENTIFIER:
+                        self._validate_multiline_annotation_continuation(line, original_line,
+                                                                         column_offset, position)
+                if comment_block.description is None:
+                    comment_block.description = line
+                else:
+                    comment_block.description += '\n' + line
+                continue
+            elif in_part in [PART_PARAMETERS, PART_TAGS]:
+                if not current_part.description:
+                    self._validate_multiline_annotation_continuation(line, original_line,
+                                                                     column_offset, position)
+                if current_part.description is None:
+                    current_part.description = line
+                else:
+                    current_part.description += '\n' + line
+                continue
+
+        ########################################################################
+        # Finished parsing this comment block.
+        ########################################################################
+        if comment_block:
+            # We have picked up a couple of \n characters that where not
+            # intended. Strip those.
+            if comment_block.description:
+                comment_block.description = comment_block.description.strip()
+
+            for tag in comment_block.tags.values():
+                self._clean_description_field(tag)
+
+            for param in comment_block.params.values():
+                self._clean_description_field(param)
+
+            comment_block.indentation = block_indent
+            comment_block.validate()
+            return comment_block
+        else:
+            return None
+
+    def _clean_description_field(self, part):
+        '''
+        Remove extraneous leading and trailing whitespace from description fields.
+
+        :param part: a GTK-Doc comment block part having a description field
+        '''
+
+        if part.description:
+            if part.description.strip() == '':
+                part.description = None
+            else:
+                if EMPTY_LINE_RE.match(part.description.split('\n', 1)[0]):
+                    part.description = part.description.rstrip()
+                else:
+                    part.description = part.description.strip()
+
+    def _validate_multiline_annotation_continuation(self, line, original_line,
+                                                    column_offset, position):
+        '''
+        Validate annotatable parts' source text ensuring annotations don't span multiple lines.
+        For example, the following comment block would result in a warning being emitted for
+        the forth line::
+
+            /**
+             * shiny_function:
+             * @array_: (out caller-allocates) (array)
+             *          (element-type utf8) (transfer full): A beautiful array
+             */
+
+        :param line: line to validate, stripped from  ("``*/``") at start of the line.
+        :param original_line: original line (including  ("``*/``"))  being validated
+        :param column_offset: number of characters stripped from `line` when   ("``*/``")
+                              was removed
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of `line` in the source file
+        '''
+
+        result = self._parse_annotations(position, column_offset, original_line, line)
+
+        if result.success and result.annotations:
+            marker = ' ' * (result.start_pos + column_offset) + '^'
+            error('ignoring invalid multiline annotation continuation:\n%s\n%s' %
+                  (original_line, marker),
+                  position)
+
+    def _parse_annotation_options_list(self, position, column, line, options):
+        '''
+        Parse annotation options into a list. For example::
+
+            ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
+            │ 'option1 option2 option3'                                    │ ─▷ source
+            ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
+            │ ['option1', 'option2', 'option3']                            │ ◁─ parsed options
+            └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of `line` in the source file
+        :param column: start column of the `options` in the source file
+        :param line: complete source line
+        :param options: annotation options to parse
+        :returns: a list of annotation options
+        '''
+
+        parsed = []
+
+        if options:
+            result = options.find('=')
+            if result >= 0:
+                marker = ' ' * (column + result) + '^'
+                warn('invalid annotation options: expected a "list" but '
+                     'received "key=value pairs":\n%s\n%s' % (line, marker),
+                     position)
+                parsed = self._parse_annotation_options_unknown(position, column, line, options)
+            else:
+                parsed = options.split(' ')
+
+        return parsed
+
+    def _parse_annotation_options_dict(self, position, column, line, options):
+        '''
+        Parse annotation options into a dict. For example::
+
+            ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
+            │ 'option1=value1 option2 option3=value2'                      │ ─▷ source
+            ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
+            │ {'option1': 'value1', 'option2': None, 'option3': 'value2'}  │ ◁─ parsed options
+            └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of `line` in the source file
+        :param column: start column of the `options` in the source file
+        :param line: complete source line
+        :param options: annotation options to parse
+        :returns: an ordered dictionary of annotation options
+        '''
+
+        parsed = OrderedDict()
+
+        if options:
+            for p in options.split(' '):
+                parts = p.split('=', 1)
+                key = parts[0]
+                value = parts[1] if len(parts) == 2 else None
+                parsed[key] = value
+
+        return parsed
+
+    def _parse_annotation_options_unknown(self, position, column, line, options):
+        '''
+        Parse annotation options into a list holding a single item. This is used when the
+        annotation options to parse in not known to be a list nor dict. For example::
+
+            ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
+            │ '   option1 option2   option3=value1   '                     │ ─▷ source
+            ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
+            │ ['option1 option2   option3=value1']                         │ ◁─ parsed options
+            └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of `line` in the source file
+        :param column: start column of the `options` in the source file
+        :param line: complete source line
+        :param options: annotation options to parse
+        :returns: a list of annotation options
+        '''
+
+        if options:
+            return [options.strip()]
+
+    def _parse_annotation(self, position, column, line, annotation):
+        '''
+        Parse an annotation into the annotation name and a list or dict (depending on the
+        name of the annotation) holding the options. For example::
+
+            ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
+            │ 'name opt1=value1 opt2=value2 opt3'                          │ ─▷ source
+            ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
+            │ 'name', {'opt1': 'value1', 'opt2':'value2', 'opt3':None}     │ ◁─ parsed annotation
+            └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
+
+            ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
+            │ 'name   opt1 opt2'                                           │ ─▷ source
+            ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
+            │ 'name', ['opt1', 'opt2']                                     │ ◁─ parsed annotation
+            └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
+
+            ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
+            │ 'unkownname   unknown list of options'                       │ ─▷ source
+            ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
+            │ 'unkownname', ['unknown list of options']                    │ ◁─ parsed annotation
+            └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of `line` in the source file
+        :param column: start column of the `annotation` in the source file
+        :param line: complete source line
+        :param annotation: annotation to parse
+        :returns: a tuple containing the annotation name and options
+        '''
+
+        # Transform deprecated type syntax "tokens"
+        annotation = annotation.replace('<', ANN_LPAR).replace('>', ANN_RPAR)
+
+        parts = annotation.split(' ', 1)
+        ann_name = parts[0].lower()
+        ann_options = parts[1] if len(parts) == 2 else None
+
+        if ann_name == ANN_INOUT_ALT:
+            marker = ' ' * (column) + '^'
+            warn('"%s" annotation has been deprecated, please use "%s" instead:\n%s\n%s' %
+                 (ANN_INOUT_ALT, ANN_INOUT, line, marker),
+                 position)
+
+            ann_name = ANN_INOUT
+        elif ann_name == ANN_ATTRIBUTE:
+            marker = ' ' * (column) + '^'
+            warn('"%s" annotation has been deprecated, please use "%s" instead:\n%s\n%s' %
+                 (ANN_ATTRIBUTE, ANN_ATTRIBUTES, line, marker),
+                 position)
+
+            ann_name = ANN_ATTRIBUTES
+            ann_options = self._parse_annotation_options_list(position, column, line, ann_options)
+            n_options = len(ann_options)
+            if n_options == 1:
+                ann_options = ann_options[0]
+            elif n_options == 2:
+                ann_options = '%s=%s' % (ann_options[0], ann_options[1])
+            else:
+                marker = ' ' * (column) + '^'
+                error('malformed "(attribute)" annotation will be ignored:\n%s\n%s' %
+                      (line, marker),
+                      position)
+                return None, None
+
+        column += len(ann_name) + 2
+
+        if ann_name in LIST_ANNOTATIONS:
+            ann_options = self._parse_annotation_options_list(position, column, line, ann_options)
+        elif ann_name in DICT_ANNOTATIONS:
+            ann_options = self._parse_annotation_options_dict(position, column, line, ann_options)
+        else:
+            ann_options = self._parse_annotation_options_unknown(position, column, line,
+                                                                 ann_options)
+
+        return ann_name, ann_options
+
+    def _parse_annotations(self, position, column, line, fields, parse_options=True):
+        '''
+        Parse annotations into a :class:`GtkDocAnnotations` object.
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of `line` in the source file
+        :param column: start column of the `annotations` in the source file
+        :param line: complete source line
+        :param fields: string containing the fields to parse
+        :param parse_options: whether options will be parsed into a :class:`GtkDocAnnotations`
+                              object or into a :class:`list`
+        :returns: if `parse_options` evaluates to True a :class:`GtkDocAnnotations` object,
+                  a :class:`list` otherwise. If `line` does not contain any annotations,
+                  :const:`None`
+        '''
+
+        if parse_options:
+            parsed_annotations = GtkDocAnnotations(position)
+        else:
+            parsed_annotations = []
+
+        i = 0
+        parens_level = 0
+        prev_char = ''
+        char_buffer = []
+        start_pos = 0
+        end_pos = 0
+
+        for i, cur_char in enumerate(fields):
+            cur_char_is_space = cur_char.isspace()
+
+            if cur_char == ANN_LPAR:
+                parens_level += 1
+
+                if parens_level == 1:
+                    start_pos = i
+
+                if prev_char == ANN_LPAR:
+                    marker = ' ' * (column + i) + '^'
+                    error('unexpected parentheses, annotations will be ignored:\n%s\n%s' %
+                          (line, marker),
+                          position)
+                    return _ParseAnnotationsResult(False, None, None, None)
+                elif parens_level > 1:
+                    char_buffer.append(cur_char)
+            elif cur_char == ANN_RPAR:
+                parens_level -= 1
+
+                if prev_char == ANN_LPAR:
+                    marker = ' ' * (column + i) + '^'
+                    error('unexpected parentheses, annotations will be ignored:\n%s\n%s' %
+                          (line, marker),
+                          position)
+                    return _ParseAnnotationsResult(False, None, None, None)
+                elif parens_level < 0:
+                    marker = ' ' * (column + i) + '^'
+                    error('unbalanced parentheses, annotations will be ignored:\n%s\n%s' %
+                          (line, marker),
+                          position)
+                    return _ParseAnnotationsResult(False, None, None, None)
+                elif parens_level == 0:
+                    end_pos = i + 1
+
+                    if parse_options is True:
+                        name, options = self._parse_annotation(position,
+                                                               column + start_pos,
+                                                               line,
+                                                               ''.join(char_buffer).strip())
+                        if name is not None:
+                            if name in parsed_annotations:
+                                marker = ' ' * (column + i) + '^'
+                                error('multiple "%s" annotations:\n%s\n%s' %
+                                      (name, line, marker), position)
+                            parsed_annotations[name] = options
+                    else:
+                        parsed_annotations.append(''.join(char_buffer).strip())
+
+                    char_buffer = []
+                else:
+                    char_buffer.append(cur_char)
+            elif cur_char_is_space:
+                if parens_level > 0:
+                    char_buffer.append(cur_char)
+            else:
+                if parens_level == 0:
+                    break
+                else:
+                    char_buffer.append(cur_char)
+
+            prev_char = cur_char
+
+        if parens_level > 0:
+            marker = ' ' * (column + i) + '^'
+            error('unbalanced parentheses, annotations will be ignored:\n%s\n%s' %
+                  (line, marker),
+                  position)
+            return _ParseAnnotationsResult(False, None, None, None)
+        else:
+            return _ParseAnnotationsResult(True, parsed_annotations, start_pos, end_pos)
+
+    def _parse_fields(self, position, column, line, fields, parse_options=True,
+                      validate_description_field=True):
+        '''
+        Parse annotations out of field data. For example::
+
+            ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
+            │ '(skip): description of some parameter                       │ ─▷ source
+            ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
+            │ ({'skip': []}, 'description of some parameter')              │ ◁─ annotations and
+            └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘    remaining fields
+
+        :param position: :class:`giscanner.message.Position` of `line` in the source file
+        :param column: start column of `fields` in the source file
+        :param line: complete source line
+        :param fields: string containing the fields to parse
+        :param parse_options: whether options will be parsed into a :class:`GtkDocAnnotations`
+                              object or into a :class:`list`
+        :param validate_description_field: :const:`True` to validate the description field
+        :returns: if `parse_options` evaluates to True a :class:`GtkDocAnnotations` object,
+                  a :class:`list` otherwise. If `line` does not contain any annotations,
+                  :const:`None` and a string holding the remaining fields
+        '''
+        description_field = ''
+        result = self._parse_annotations(position, column, line, fields, parse_options)
+        if result.success:
+            description_field = fields[result.end_pos:].strip()
+
+            if description_field and validate_description_field:
+                if description_field.startswith(':'):
+                    description_field = description_field[1:]
+                else:
+                    if result.end_pos > 0:
+                        marker_position = column + result.end_pos
+                        marker = ' ' * marker_position + '^'
+                        warn('missing ":" at column %s:\n%s\n%s' %
+                             (marker_position + 1, line, marker),
+                             position)
+
+        return _ParseFieldsResult(result.success, result.annotations, description_field)
+
+
+class GtkDocCommentBlockWriter(object):
+    '''
+    Serialized :class:`GtkDocCommentBlock` objects into GTK-Doc comment blocks.
+    '''
+
+    def __init__(self, indent=True):
+        #: :const:`True` if the original indentation preceding the "``*``" needs to be retained,
+        #: :const:`False` otherwise. Default value is :const:`True`.
+        self.indent = indent
+
+    def _serialize_annotations(self, annotations):
+        '''
+        Serialize an annotation field. For example::
+
+            ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
+            │ {'name': {'opt1': 'value1', 'opt2':'value2', 'opt3':None}    │ ◁─ GtkDocAnnotations
+            ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
+            │ '(name opt1=value1 opt2=value2 opt3)'                        │ ─▷ serialized
+            └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
+
+            ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
+            │ {'name': ['opt1', 'opt2']}                                   │ ◁─ GtkDocAnnotations
+            ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
+            │ '(name opt1 opt2)'                                           │ ─▷ serialized
+            └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
+
+            ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
+            │ {'unkownname': ['unknown list of options']}                  │ ◁─ GtkDocAnnotations
+            ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
+            │ '(unkownname unknown list of options)'                       │ ─▷ serialized
+            └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
+
+        :param annotations: :class:`GtkDocAnnotations` to be serialized
+        :returns: a string
+        '''
+
+        serialized = []
+
+        for ann_name, options in annotations.items():
+            if options:
+                if isinstance(options, list):
+                    serialize_options = ' '.join(options)
+                else:
+                    serialize_options = ''
+
+                    for key, value in options.items():
+                        if value:
+                            serialize_options += '%s=%s ' % (key, value)
+                        else:
+                            serialize_options += '%s ' % (key, )
+
+                    serialize_options = serialize_options.strip()
+
+                serialized.append('(%s %s)' % (ann_name, serialize_options))
+            else:
+                serialized.append('(%s)' % (ann_name, ))
+
+        return ' '.join(serialized)
+
+    def _serialize_parameter(self, parameter):
+        '''
+        Serialize a parameter.
+
+        :param parameter: :class:`GtkDocParameter` to be serialized
+        :returns: a string
+        '''
+
+        # parameter_name field
+        serialized = '@%s' % (parameter.name, )
+
+        # annotations field
+        if parameter.annotations:
+            serialized += ': ' + self._serialize_annotations(parameter.annotations)
+
+        # description field
+        if parameter.description:
+            if parameter.description.startswith('\n'):
+                serialized += ':' + parameter.description
+            else:
+                serialized += ': ' + parameter.description
+        else:
+            serialized += ':'
+
+        return serialized.split('\n')
+
+    def _serialize_tag(self, tag):
+        '''
+        Serialize a tag.
+
+        :param tag: :class:`GtkDocTag` to be serialized
+        :returns: a string
+        '''
+
+        # tag_name field
+        serialized = tag.name.capitalize()
+
+        # annotations field
+        if tag.annotations:
+            serialized += ': ' + self._serialize_annotations(tag.annotations)
+
+        # value field
+        if tag.value:
+            serialized += ': ' + tag.value
+
+        # description field
+        if tag.description:
+            if tag.description.startswith('\n'):
+                serialized += ':' + tag.description
+            else:
+                serialized += ': ' + tag.description
+
+        if not tag.value and not tag.description:
+            serialized += ':'
+
+        return serialized.split('\n')
+
+    def write(self, block):
+        '''
+        Serialize a :class:`GtkDocCommentBlock` object.
+
+        :param block: :class:`GtkDocCommentBlock` to be serialized
+        :returns: a string
+        '''
+
+        if block is None:
+            return ''
+        else:
+            lines = []
+
+            # Identifier part
+            if block.name.startswith('SECTION'):
+                lines.append(block.name)
+            else:
+                if block.annotations:
+                    annotations = self._serialize_annotations(block.annotations)
+                    lines.append('%s: %s' % (block.name, annotations))
+                else:
+                    # Note: this delimiter serves no purpose other than most people being used
+                    #       to reading/writing it. It is completely legal to ommit this.
+                    lines.append('%s:' % (block.name, ))
+
+            # Parameter parts
+            for param in block.params.values():
+                lines.extend(self._serialize_parameter(param))
+
+            # Comment block description part
+            if block.description:
+                lines.append('')
+                for l in block.description.split('\n'):
+                    lines.append(l)
+
+            # Tag parts
+            if block.tags:
+                # Note: this empty line servers no purpose other than most people being used
+                #       to reading/writing it. It is completely legal to ommit this.
+                lines.append('')
+                for tag in block.tags.values():
+                    lines.extend(self._serialize_tag(tag))
+
+            # Restore comment block indentation and *
+            if self.indent:
+                indent = Counter(block.indentation).most_common(1)[0][0] or ' '
+                if indent.endswith('\t'):
+                    start_indent = indent
+                    line_indent = indent + ' '
+                else:
+                    start_indent = indent[:-1]
+                    line_indent = indent
+            else:
+                start_indent = ''
+                line_indent = ' '
+
+            i = 0
+            while i < len(lines):
+                line = lines[i]
+                if line:
+                    lines[i] = '%s* %s\n' % (line_indent, line)
+                else:
+                    lines[i] = '%s*\n' % (line_indent, )
+                i += 1
+
+            # Restore comment block start and end tokens
+            lines.insert(0, '%s/**\n' % (start_indent, ))
+            lines.append('%s*/\n' % (line_indent, ))
+
+            # Restore code before and after comment block start and end tokens
+            if block.code_before:
+                lines.insert(0, '%s\n' % (block.code_before, ))
+
+            if block.code_after:
+                lines.append('%s\n' % (block.code_after, ))
+
+            return ''.join(lines)