C++ GUI Programming with Qt4

Jasmin Blanchette is a Trolltech senior software engineer and is writing his M.Sc. thesis in computer science at the University of Oslo. Mark Summerfield works as an independent trainer and consultant specializing in C++, Qt, Python, and PyQt, and is the author of Rapid GUI Programming with Python and Qt. Blanchette and Summerfield coauthored C++ GUI Programming with Qt 3 and the first edition of C++ GUI Programming with Qt 4.

Series Editor's Note xiForeword xiiiPreface xvAcknowledgments xviiA Brief History of Qt xixPart I: Basic Qt 1. Getting Started 3Hello Qt 3

Making Connections 5

Laying Out Widgets 6

Using the Reference Documentation 10

2. Creating Dialogs 13Subclassing QDialog 13

Signals and Slots in Depth 20

Rapid Dialog Design 23

Shape-Changing Dialogs 31

Dynamic Dialogs 38

Built-in Widget and Dialog Classes 39

3. Creating Main Windows 45Subclassing QMain Window 46

Creating Menus and Toolbars 50

Setting Up the Status Bar 55

Implementing the File Menu 57

Using Dialogs 63

Storing Settings 69

Multiple Documents 71

Splash Screens 74

4. Implementing Application Functionality 77The Central Widget 77

Subclassing QTableWidget 78

Loading and Saving 84

Implementing the Edit Menu 87

Implementing the Other Menus 91

Subclassing QTableWidget Item 95

5. Creating Custom Widgets 105Customizing QtWidgets 105

Subclassing QWidget 107

Integrating Custom Widgets with QtDesigner 117

Double Buffering 121

Part II: Intermediate Qt 6. Layout Management 141Laying Out Widgets on a Form 141

Stacked Layouts 147

Splitters 149

Scrolling Areas 152

Dock Windows and Toolbars 154

Multiple Document Interface 157

7. Event Processing 167 Reimplementing Event Handlers 167

Installing Event Filters 172

Staying Responsive during Intensive Processing 175

8. 2D Graphics 179Painting with QPainter 180

Coordinate System Transformations 185

High-Quality Rendering with QImage 193

Item-Based Rendering with Graphics View 195

Printing 217

9. Drag and Drop 227Enabling Drag and Drop 227

Supporting Custom Drag Types 232

Clipboard Handling 237

10. Item View Classes 239Using the Item View Convenience Classes 240

Using Predefined Models 247

Implementing Custom Models 252

Implementing Custom Delegates 266

11. Container Classes 273Sequential Containers 274

Associative Containers 282

Generic Algorithms 285

Strings, Byte Arrays, and Variants 287

12. Input/Output 295Reading and Writing Binary Data 296

Reading and Writing Text 301

Traversing Directories 307

Embedding Resources 308

Inter-Process Communication 309

13. Databases 315Connecting and Querying 316

Viewing Tables 322

Editing Records Using Forms 324

Presenting Data in Tabular Forms 330

14. Multithreading 339Creating Threads 340

Synchronizing Threads 343

Communicating with the Main Thread 349

Using Qt's Classes in Secondary Threads 356

15. Networking 359Writing FTP Clients 359

Writing HTTP Clients 368

Writing TCP Client-Server Applications 371

Sending and Receiving UDP Datagrams 381

16. XML 387Reading XML with QXmlStream Reader 388

Reading XML with DOM 395

Reading XML with SAX 400

Writing XML 404

17. Providing Online Help 407Tooltips, Status Tips, and "What's This?" Help 407

Using a Web Browser to Provide Online Help 409

Using QText Browser as a Simple Help Engine 411

Using QtAssistant for Powerful Online Help 414

Part III: Advanced Qt 18. Internationalization 419Working with Unicode 420

Making Applications Translation-Aware 423

Dynamic Language Switching 429

Translating Applications 435

19. Look and Feel Customization 439Using Qt Style Sheets 439

Subclassing QStyle 454

20. 3D Graphics 471Drawing Using OpenGL 471

Combining OpenGL and QPainter 477

Doing Overlays Using Framebuffer Objects 484

21. Creating Plugins 491Extending Qt with Plugins 492

Making Applications Plugin-Aware 502

Writing Application Plugins 505

22. Application Scripting 509Overview of the ECMA Script Language 510

Extending Qt Applications with Scripts 519

Implementing GUI Extensions Using Scripts 523

Automating Tasks through Scripting 530

23. Platform-Specific Features 543Interfacing with Native APIs 543

Using ActiveX on Windows 547

Handling X11 Session Management 559

24. Embedded Programming 567Getting Started with Qt/Embedded Linux 568

Customizing Qt/Embedded Linux 570

Integrating Qt Applications with Qtopia 571

Using Qtopia APIs 576

Appendixes A. Obtaining and Installing Qt 589B. Building Qt Applications 593C. Introduction to Qt Jambi 605D. Introduction to C++ for Java and C# Programmers 623Index 665