1 | /****************************************************************************
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2 | **
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3 | ** Copyright (C) 2009 Nokia Corporation and/or its subsidiary(-ies).
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4 | ** Contact: Qt Software Information ([email protected])
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5 | **
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6 | ** This file is part of the documentation of the Qt Toolkit.
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7 | **
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8 | ** $QT_BEGIN_LICENSE:LGPL$
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10 | ** Licensees holding valid Qt Commercial licenses may use this file in
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11 | ** accordance with the Qt Commercial License Agreement provided with the
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12 | ** Software or, alternatively, in accordance with the terms contained in
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13 | ** a written agreement between you and Nokia.
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16 | ** Alternatively, this file may be used under the terms of the GNU Lesser
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38 | ** $QT_END_LICENSE$
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39 | **
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40 | ****************************************************************************/
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41 |
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42 | /*!
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43 | \page qt4-intro.html
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44 | \title What's New in Qt 4
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45 |
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46 | \startpage index.html Qt Reference Documentation
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47 | \nextpage The Tulip Container Classes
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48 |
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49 | This document covers the most important differences between Qt 3
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50 | and Qt 4. Although it is not intended to be a comprehensive
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51 | porting guide, it tells you about the most important portability
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52 | issues that you may encounter. It also explains how to turn on Qt
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53 | 3 compatibility support.
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54 |
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55 | \tableofcontents
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56 |
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57 | \section1 New Technologies in Qt 4
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58 |
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59 | Qt 4 introduces the following core technologies:
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60 |
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61 | \list
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62 | \o \l{The Tulip Container Classes}{Tulip}, a new set of template container classes.
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63 |
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64 | \o \l{The Interview Framework}{Interview}, a model/view architecture for item views.
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65 |
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66 | \o \l{The Arthur Paint System}{Arthur}, the Qt 4 painting framework.
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67 |
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68 | \o \l{The Scribe Classes}{Scribe}, the Unicode text renderer with a public API
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69 | for performing low-level text layout.
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70 |
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71 | \o \l{The Qt 4 Main Window Classes}{Mainwindow}, a modern action-based
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72 | mainwindow, toolbar, menu, and docking architecture.
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73 |
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74 | \o The new \l{The New Qt Designer}{\QD} user interface design tool.
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75 | \endlist
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76 |
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77 | \section1 Recent Additions to Qt 4
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78 |
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79 | The following features have been added to Qt since the first release of Qt 4:
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80 |
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81 | In Qt 4.4:
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82 | \list
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83 | \o \l{QtWebkit Module}{Qt WebKit integration}, making it possible for developers
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84 | to use a fully-featured Web browser to display documents and access online
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85 | services.
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86 | \o A multimedia API provided by the \l{Phonon Overview}{Phonon Multimedia Framework}.
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87 | \o \l{QtXmlPatterns Module}{XQuery and XPath} support, providing facilities for
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88 | XML processing beyond that supported by the QtXml module.
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89 | \o Support for embedded widgets in \l{Graphics View} scenes.
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90 | \o The \l{Threading and Concurrent Programming}{QtConcurrent framework} for
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91 | concurrent programming using Qt paradigms and threading features.
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92 | \o An \l{QtHelp Module}{improved help system} that can be used in conjunction
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93 | with Qt Assistant or as an independent help resource manager.
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94 | \o Printing system improvements, including the QPrinterInfo, QPrintPreviewWidget
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95 | and QPrintPreviewDialog classes.
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96 | \o Support for \l{Windows CE - Introduction to using Qt}{Qt for Windows CE} as
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97 | a mainstream Qt platform.
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98 | \o Improvements in performance of Qt for Embedded Linux and extended support for
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99 | display hardware.
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100 | \endlist
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101 |
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102 | In Qt 4.3:
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103 | \list
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104 | \o Support for different \l{The Qt 4 Main Window Classes}{main window paradigms and styles},
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105 | such as those found in Visual Studio or KDevelop.
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106 | \o The \l{QtScript} module, providing support for application scripting with ECMAScript.
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107 | \o Improved graphics features, including an experimental Direct3D paint engine
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108 | and improved provision for hardware accelerated rendering with OpenGL, and
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109 | support for OpenGL ES in Qt for Embedded Linux.
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110 | \o \l{QSvgGenerator}{Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) export}, allowing SVG drawings to
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111 | be created using the standard QPainter API.
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112 | \o Support for arbitrary matrix transformations and set operations on painter paths.
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113 | \o Native look and feel on Windows Vista; improved look and feel on Mac OS X.
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114 | \o An improved \l{QMdiArea}{Multiple Document Interface (MDI)} implementation.
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115 | \o Continuous improvements to \QD, including support for
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116 | \l{Qt Designer's Widget Editing Mode#The Property Editor}{dynamic properties}.
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117 | \o Support for Secure Socket Layer (SSL) communications via the QSslSocket class.
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118 | \o Support for XML Localization Interchange File Format (XLIFF) files in \QL.
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119 | \o A new font subsystem for Qt for Embedded Linux.
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120 | \endlist
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121 |
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122 | In Qt 4.2:
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123 | \list
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124 | \o The \l{Graphics View} framework for producing interactive graphics.
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125 | \o \l{Desktop Integration}{Desktop integration} facilities for applications.
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126 | \o \l{Qt Style Sheets} enable easy, yet powerful customization of
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127 | user interfaces.
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128 | \o Support for the \l{intro-to-dbus.html}{D-Bus} Inter-Process Communication (IPC) and Remote Procedure Calling (RPC) mechanism.
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129 | \o An \l{Undo Framework}{Undo framework} based on the
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130 | \l{Books about GUI Design#Design Patterns}{Command pattern}.
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131 | \o Support for model-based \l{QCompleter}{text completion} in standard and
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132 | custom widgets.
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133 | \o New widgets and GUI features, such as QCalendarWidget and
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134 | QGLFramebufferObject.
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135 | \o Classes to provide higher level application infrastructure, such as
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136 | QFileSystemWatcher and QDataWidgetMapper.
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137 | \endlist
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138 |
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139 | In Qt 4.1:
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140 | \list
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141 | \o Integrated support for rendering
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142 | \l{The Arthur Paint System#SVG Rendering Support}{Scalable Vector Graphics}
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143 | (SVG) drawings and animations.
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144 | \o Support for
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145 | \l{QWidget#Transparency and Double Buffering}{child widget transparency}
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146 | on all platforms.
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147 | \o A Portable Document Format (PDF) backend for Qt's printing system.
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148 | \o A \l{QTestLib Manual}{unit testing framework} for Qt applications and
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149 | libraries.
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150 | \o Modules for \l{QtDesigner}{extending \QD} and
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151 | \l{QtUiTools}{dynamic user interface building}.
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152 | \o New \l{Proxy Models}{proxy models} to enable view-specific sorting and
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153 | filtering of data displayed using item views.
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154 | \o Support for \l{Installing Qt on Mac OS X}{universal binaries} on Mac OS X.
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155 | \o Additional features for developers using \l{QtOpenGL}{OpenGL}, such as
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156 | support for pixel and sample buffers.
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157 | \o A flexible \l{QSyntaxHighlighter}{syntax highlighting class} based on the
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158 | \l{Scribe} rich text framework.
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159 | \o Support for \l{QNetworkProxy}{network proxy} servers using the SOCKS5
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160 | protocol.
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161 | \o Support for OLE verbs and MIME data handling in \l{ActiveQt}.
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162 | \endlist
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163 |
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164 | For more information about improvements in each Qt release, see
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165 | the \l{http://www.qtsoftware.com/developer/changes/}
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166 | {detailed lists of changes}.
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167 |
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168 | \section1 Significant Improvements
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169 |
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170 | The following modules have been significantly improved for Qt 4:
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171 |
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172 | \list
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173 | \o A fully cross-platform \l{accessibility}
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174 | module, with support for the emerging SP-API Unix standard in
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175 | addition to Microsoft and Mac Accessibility.
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176 | \o The \l{qt4-sql.html}{SQL module}, which is now based on the
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177 | Interview model/view framework.
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178 | \o The \l{qt4-network.html}{network module}, with better support
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179 | for UDP and synchronous sockets.
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180 | \o The \l{qt4-styles.html}{style API}, which is now decoupled from
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181 | the widgets, meaning that you can draw any user interface element on
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182 | any device (widget, pixmap, etc.).
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183 | \o Enhanced \l{qt4-threads.html}{thread support}, with signal-slot
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184 | connections across threads and per-thread event loops.
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185 | \o A new \l{resource system} for embedding images
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186 | and other resource files into the application executable.
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187 | \endlist
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188 |
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189 | \section1 Build System
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190 |
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191 | Unlike previous Qt releases, Qt 4 is a collection of smaller
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192 | libraries:
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193 |
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194 | \table
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195 | \header \o Library \o Description
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196 | \row \o \l{QtCore} \o Core non-GUI functionality
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197 | \row \o \l{QtGui} \o Core GUI functionality
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198 | \row \o \l{QtNetwork} \o Network module
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199 | \row \o \l{QtOpenGL} \o OpenGL module
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200 | \row \o \l{QtSql} \o SQL module
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201 | \row \o \l{QtSvg} \o SVG rendering classes
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202 | \row \o \l{QtXml} \o XML module
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203 | \row \o \l{Qt3Support} \o Qt 3 support classes
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204 | \row \o \l{QAxContainer} \o ActiveQt client extension
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205 | \row \o \l{QAxServer} \o ActiveQt server extension
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206 | \row \o \l{QtAssistant} \o Classes for launching Qt Assistant
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207 | \row \o \l{QtDesigner} \o Classes for extending and embedding Qt Designer
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208 | \row \o \l{QtUiTools} \o Classes for dynamic GUI generation
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209 | \row \o \l{QtTest} \o Tool classes for unit testing
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210 | \endtable
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211 |
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212 | QtCore contains tool classes like QString, QList, and QFile, as
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213 | well as kernel classes like QObject and QTimer. The QApplication
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214 | class has been refactored so that it can be used in non-GUI
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215 | applications. It is split into QCoreApplication (in \l QtCore)
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216 | and QApplication (in \l QtGui).
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217 |
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218 | This split makes it possible to develop server applications using Qt
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219 | without linking in any unnecessary GUI-related code and without
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220 | requiring GUI-related system libraries to be present on the target
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221 | machine (e.g. Xlib on X11, Carbon on Mac OS X).
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222 |
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223 | If you use qmake to generate your makefiles, qmake will by default
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224 | link your application against QtCore and QtGui. To remove the
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225 | dependency upon QtGui, add the line
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226 |
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227 | \snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_qt4-intro.qdoc 0
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228 |
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229 | to your .pro file. To enable the other libraries, add the line
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230 |
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231 | \snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_qt4-intro.qdoc 1
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232 |
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233 | Another change to the build system is that moc now understands
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234 | preprocessor directives. qmake automatically passes the defines set
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235 | for your project (using "DEFINES +=") on to moc, which has its own
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236 | built-in C++ preprocessor.
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237 |
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238 | To compile code that uses .ui files, you will also need this line in
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239 | the .pro file:
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240 |
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241 | \snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_qt4-intro.qdoc 2
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242 |
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243 | \section1 Include Syntax
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244 |
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245 | The syntax for including Qt class definitions has become
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246 |
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247 | \snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_qt4-intro.qdoc 3
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248 |
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249 | For example:
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250 |
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251 | \snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_qt4-intro.qdoc 4
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252 |
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253 | This is guaranteed to work for any public Qt class. The old syntax,
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254 |
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255 | \snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_qt4-intro.qdoc 5
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256 |
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257 | still works, but we encourage you to switch to the new syntax.
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258 |
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259 | If you attempt to include a header file from a library that isn't
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260 | linked against the application, this will result in a
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261 | compile-time warning (e.g., "QSqlQuery: No such file or
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262 | directory"). You can remedy to this problem either by removing
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263 | the offending include or by specifying the missing library in the
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264 | QT entry of your \c .pro file (see \l{Build System} above).
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265 |
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266 | To include the definitions for all the classes in a library, simply
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267 | specify the name of that library. For example:
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268 |
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269 | \snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_qt4-intro.qdoc 6
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270 |
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271 | \section1 Namespaces
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272 |
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273 | Qt 2 introduced a class called Qt for global-like constants
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274 | (e.g., \c{Qt::yellow}). The C++ namespace construct was not used
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275 | because not all compilers understood it when it was released.
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276 |
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277 | With Qt 4, the Qt class has become the Qt namespace. If you want
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278 | to access a constant that is part of the Qt namespace, prefix it
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279 | with \c Qt:: (e.g., \c{Qt::yellow}), or add the directive
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280 |
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281 | \snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_qt4-intro.qdoc 7
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282 |
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283 | at the top of your source files, after your \c #include
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284 | directives. If you use the \c{using namespace} syntax you don't
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285 | need the prefix (e.g., \c yellow is sufficient).
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286 |
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287 | When porting Qt 3 applications, you may run into some source
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288 | compatibility problems with some of these symbols. For example,
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289 | in Qt 3, it was legal to write \c QWidget::yellow instead of \c
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290 | Qt::yellow, because QWidget inherited from Qt. This won't work in
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291 | Qt 4; you must write \c Qt::yellow or add the "using namespace"
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292 | directive and drop the \c Qt:: prefix.
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293 |
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294 | The \l{qt3to4 - The Qt 3 to 4 Porting Tool}{qt3to4} porting tool
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295 | automates this conversion.
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296 |
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297 | \section1 QObject/QWidget Constructors
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298 |
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299 | In Qt 4 we have tried to simplify the constructors of QObject/QWidget
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300 | subclasses. This makes subclassing easier, at the same time as it
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301 | helps make the Qt library more efficient.
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302 |
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303 | Constructors no longer take a "const char *name" parameter. If
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304 | you want to specify a name for a QObject, you must call
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305 | QObject::setObjectName() after construction. The object name is
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306 | now a QString. The reasons for this change are:
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307 |
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308 | \list
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309 | \o Code that used it looked confusing, for example:
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310 |
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311 | \snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_qt4-intro.qdoc 8
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312 |
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313 | \c label1 is a QLabel that displays the text "Hello"; \c
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314 | label2 is a QLabel with no text, with the object name
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315 | "Hello".
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316 |
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317 | \o From surveys we did, most users didn't use the name, although
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318 | they blindly followed Qt's convention and provided a "const
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319 | char *name" in their subclasses's constructors. For example:
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320 |
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321 | \snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_qt4-intro.qdoc 9
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322 |
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323 | \o The name parameter was in Qt since version 1, and it always
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324 | was documented as: "It is not very useful in the current
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325 | version of Qt, but it will become increasingly important in
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326 | the future." Ten years later, it still hasn't fulfilled its
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327 | promise.
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328 | \endlist
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329 |
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330 | QWidget's \c WFlags data type has been split in two:
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331 | Qt::WindowFlags specifies low-level window flags (the type of
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332 | window and the frame style), whereas Qt::WidgetAttribute
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333 | specifies various higher-level attributes about the widget (e.g.,
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334 | WA_StaticContents). Widget attributes can be set at any time
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335 | using QWidget::setAttribute(); low-level window flags can be
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336 | passed to the QWidget constructor or set later using
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337 | QWidget::setParent(). As a consequence, the constructors of most
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338 | QWidget subclasses don't need to provide a \c WFlags parameter.
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339 |
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340 | The \e parent parameter of all QObject classes in Qt defaults to
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341 | a 0 pointer, as it used to do in Qt 1. This enables a style of
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342 | programming where widgets are created without parents and then
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343 | inserted in a layout, at which point the layout automatically
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344 | reparents them.
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345 |
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346 | \section1 Dynamic Casts
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347 |
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348 | Qt 4 provides a qobject_cast<>() function that performs a dynamic cast
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349 | based on the meta-information generated by moc for QObject
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350 | subclasses. Unlike the standard C++ dynamic_cast<>() construct,
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351 | qobject_cast<>() works even when RTTI is disabled, and it works correctly
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352 | across DLL boundaries.
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353 |
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354 | Here's the Qt 3 idiom to cast a type to a subtype:
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355 |
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356 | \snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_qt4-intro.qdoc 10
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357 |
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358 | The Qt 4 idiom is both cleaner and safer, because typos will always
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359 | result in compiler errors:
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360 |
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361 | \snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_qt4-intro.qdoc 11
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362 |
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363 | \section1 QPointer<T>
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364 |
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365 | The QPointer<T> class provides a pointer to type T (where T inherits
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366 | from QObject) that is automatically set to 0 when the referenced
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367 | object is destroyed. Guarded pointers are useful whenever you want to
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368 | store a pointer to an object you do not own.
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369 |
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370 | Example:
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371 |
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372 | \snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_qt4-intro.qdoc 12
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373 |
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374 | QPointer<T> is more or less the same as the old QGuardedPtr<T> class,
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375 | except that it is now implemented in a much more lightweight manner
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376 | than before. The cost of one QPointer<T> object is now approximately
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377 | the same as that of a signal--slot connection.
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378 |
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379 | \section1 Paint Events
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380 |
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381 | Qt 4 supports double buffering transparently on all platforms. This
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382 | feature can be turned off on a per-widget basis by calling
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383 | QWidget::setAttribute(Qt::WA_PaintOnScreen).
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384 |
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385 | A consequence of this is that all painting must now be done from the
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386 | paintEvent() function. This is also required by the HIView API on Mac
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387 | OS X. In practice, this is seldom a problem, since you can call
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388 | update() from anywhere in your code to create a paint event, with the
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389 | region to update as the argument.
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390 |
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391 | To help porting, QWidget supports a Qt::WA_PaintOutsidePaintEvent
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392 | attribute that can be set to make it possible to paint outside
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393 | \l{QWidget::paintEvent()}{paintEvent()} on Windows and X11.
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394 |
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395 | \section1 Qt 3 Support Layer
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396 |
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397 | Qt 4 provides an extension library that applications based on Qt 3,
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398 | called Qt3Support, that Qt applications can link against. This allows
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399 | for more compatibility than ever before, without bloating Qt.
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400 |
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401 | \list
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402 | \o Classes that have been replaced by a different class with the
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403 | same name, such as QListView, and classes that no longer exist in Qt 4
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404 | are available with a \c 3 in their name (e.g., Q3ListView, Q3Accel).
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405 |
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406 | \o Other classes provide compatibility functions. Most of these are
|
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407 | implemented inline, so that they don't bloat the Qt libraries.
|
---|
408 | \endlist
|
---|
409 |
|
---|
410 | To enable the Qt 3 support classes and functions, add the line
|
---|
411 |
|
---|
412 | \snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_qt4-intro.qdoc 13
|
---|
413 |
|
---|
414 | to your \c .pro file.
|
---|
415 |
|
---|
416 | On Visual C++ 7 and GCC 3.2+, using compatibility functions often results
|
---|
417 | in a compiler warning (e.g., "'find' is deprecated"). If you want to turn
|
---|
418 | off that warning, add the line
|
---|
419 |
|
---|
420 | \snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_qt4-intro.qdoc 14
|
---|
421 |
|
---|
422 | to your \c .pro file.
|
---|
423 |
|
---|
424 | If you want to use compatibility functions but don't want to link
|
---|
425 | against the Qt3Support library, add the line
|
---|
426 |
|
---|
427 | \snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_qt4-intro.qdoc 15
|
---|
428 |
|
---|
429 | or
|
---|
430 |
|
---|
431 | \snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_qt4-intro.qdoc 16
|
---|
432 |
|
---|
433 | to your \c .pro file, depending on whether you want compatibility
|
---|
434 | function calls to generate compiler warnings or not.
|
---|
435 | */
|
---|
436 |
|
---|
437 | /*!
|
---|
438 | \page qt4-5-intro.html
|
---|
439 | \title What's New in Qt 4.5
|
---|
440 |
|
---|
441 | Qt 4.5 provides many improvements and enhancements over the previous releases
|
---|
442 | in the Qt 4 series. This document covers the most important features in this
|
---|
443 | release, separated by category.
|
---|
444 |
|
---|
445 | A comprehensive list of changes between Qt 4.4 and Qt 4.5 is included
|
---|
446 | in the \c changes-4.5.0 file
|
---|
447 | \l{http://www.qtsoftware.com/developer/changes/changes-4.5.0}{available online}.
|
---|
448 | A \l{Known Issues in 4.5.1}{list of known issues} for this release is also
|
---|
449 | available.
|
---|
450 |
|
---|
451 | Changes between this release and the previous release are provided
|
---|
452 | in the \c{changes-4.5.1} file (also
|
---|
453 | \l{http://www.qtsoftware.com/developer/changes/changes-4.5.1}{available online}).
|
---|
454 |
|
---|
455 | A list of other Qt 4 features can be found on the
|
---|
456 | \bold{\l{What's New in Qt 4}} page.
|
---|
457 |
|
---|
458 | \bold{Highlights}
|
---|
459 |
|
---|
460 | \tableofcontents
|
---|
461 |
|
---|
462 | \section1 Qt WebKit Integration
|
---|
463 |
|
---|
464 | \image webkit-netscape-plugin.png
|
---|
465 |
|
---|
466 | The WebKit browser engine included with Qt has been upgraded to the latest
|
---|
467 | upstream (trunk) version of WebKit, bringing the latest features and
|
---|
468 | improvements to Qt applications. These include:
|
---|
469 |
|
---|
470 | \list
|
---|
471 | \o Support for full page zooming, with appropriate rescaling of images and fonts.
|
---|
472 | \o The CSS-based transformation and animation features provided by a WebKit
|
---|
473 | extension.
|
---|
474 | \o Performance improvements due to faster JavaScript engine and optimized
|
---|
475 | page loading.
|
---|
476 | \endlist
|
---|
477 |
|
---|
478 | Standards compatibility improvements include provision for the Netscape plugin
|
---|
479 | API, allowing most Netscape plugins to be used in-process, support for HTML 5
|
---|
480 | audio and video elements using Qt's Phonon integration, and
|
---|
481 | \l{Web Application Support}{facilities for client-side storage of Web content}.
|
---|
482 |
|
---|
483 | \section1 Performance Improvements
|
---|
484 |
|
---|
485 | The introduction of the QtBenchLib performance benchmarking library enables
|
---|
486 | performance benchmarking and regression testing. Core parts of Qt itself have
|
---|
487 | undergone focused re-engineering for improved graphics performance, including
|
---|
488 | paint engine and text rendering improvements, Graphics View and style sheet
|
---|
489 | performance improvements.
|
---|
490 |
|
---|
491 | The X11 paint engine now uses XSHM (the X shared memory extension), resulting
|
---|
492 | in reduced overhead for painting operations.
|
---|
493 |
|
---|
494 | A new OpenGL ES 2.0-based paint engine complements the existing OpenGL paint
|
---|
495 | engine, but with a focus on embedded devices.
|
---|
496 |
|
---|
497 | Qt now features a pluggable graphics system, making it possible for users
|
---|
498 | and developers to select raster, OpenGL or native graphics systems to take
|
---|
499 | into account the specific needs of their applications and get the best
|
---|
500 | performance out of them.
|
---|
501 |
|
---|
502 | \section1 Mac OS X Cocoa Support
|
---|
503 |
|
---|
504 | \image mac-cocoa.png
|
---|
505 |
|
---|
506 | Qt for Mac OS X has been substantially rewritten to use Apple's Cocoa API,
|
---|
507 | enabling Qt applications to be deployed on 64-bit Macintosh hardware.
|
---|
508 | In addition, the new QMacCocoaViewContainer and QMacNativeWidget classes
|
---|
509 | provide integration with Cocoa's own features and controls.
|
---|
510 |
|
---|
511 | For many applications, a simple recompilation is all that is required
|
---|
512 | to produce an executable for 64-bit systems. Applications that use
|
---|
513 | specific features may require a few changes first.
|
---|
514 |
|
---|
515 | \section1 Windows CE Feature Parity
|
---|
516 |
|
---|
517 | Qt for Windows CE has been updated to bring features of Qt 4.4 and Qt 4.5
|
---|
518 | to the Windows CE platform, including:
|
---|
519 |
|
---|
520 | \list
|
---|
521 | \o Phonon Multimedia Framework, using a Direct-Show based backend for audio
|
---|
522 | and video playback and a Simple WaveOut backend for devices without DirectShow.
|
---|
523 | \o The inclusion of Qt WebKit integration features previously unavailable for
|
---|
524 | Qt 4.4 on Windows CE.
|
---|
525 | \endlist
|
---|
526 |
|
---|
527 | Support on all Windows CE platforms; recommended for WinCE 6 and higher.
|
---|
528 |
|
---|
529 | The inclusion of these features enables developers to easily integrate Web and
|
---|
530 | multimedia content into Qt applications on Windows CE Standard Edition while
|
---|
531 | retaining full cross-platform compatibility with other Qt platforms.
|
---|
532 |
|
---|
533 | \section1 XML Transformations with XSLT
|
---|
534 |
|
---|
535 | The QtXmlPatterns module has been extended to cover XSLT, a transformation language
|
---|
536 | for XML documents. A common application of this is the transformation of XML data
|
---|
537 | into human-readable formats for reporting purposes.
|
---|
538 |
|
---|
539 | XSLT makes it simple to reformat XML content without changing data structures,
|
---|
540 | removes the need for an intermediate DOM layer for presentation, and enables
|
---|
541 | rapid solutions to be created; for example, creating reports as HTML or PDF.
|
---|
542 |
|
---|
543 | \section1 Qt Script Debugger
|
---|
544 |
|
---|
545 | \image qtscript-debugger-small.png
|
---|
546 |
|
---|
547 | Developers using Qt Script in their applications can take advantage of
|
---|
548 | the new \l{Qt Script Debugger Manual}{Qt Script Debugger} to provide
|
---|
549 | error reporting for scripts, and to let users track down bugs in their
|
---|
550 | own scripts.
|
---|
551 |
|
---|
552 | Many standard features of GUI debugging tools are present, allowing the
|
---|
553 | developer to step through running script code, inspect variables,
|
---|
554 | automatically catch exceptions, and set conditional breakpoints.
|
---|
555 |
|
---|
556 | \section1 OpenDocument File Format Support
|
---|
557 |
|
---|
558 | Qt 4.5 includes support for writing rich text documents as OpenDocument files via
|
---|
559 | the newly-introduced QTextDocumentWriter class. This provides an generic mechanism
|
---|
560 | for file export that can be used to introduce support for additional formats in
|
---|
561 | future releases.
|
---|
562 |
|
---|
563 | \section1 Improved Network Proxy Support
|
---|
564 |
|
---|
565 | Qt's networking classes have been updated with
|
---|
566 | \l{QtNetwork Module#Support for Network Proxies}{improved proxy support}.
|
---|
567 | This includes improved integration with system proxy settings and the added
|
---|
568 | ability to handle non-trivial proxy cases.
|
---|
569 |
|
---|
570 | \section1 Qt Designer Improvements
|
---|
571 |
|
---|
572 | \image designer-screenshot-small.png
|
---|
573 |
|
---|
574 | Qt Designer 4.5 boasts some improvements on usability, for example:
|
---|
575 |
|
---|
576 | \list
|
---|
577 | \o \bold{Icon Mode} for the widget box which substantially reduces
|
---|
578 | scrolling.
|
---|
579 | \o \bold{Morphing Widgets} which lets you morph similar widget types,
|
---|
580 | e.g., a QWidget to a QFrame, types via the context menu's
|
---|
581 | \e{Morph into} entry.
|
---|
582 | \o \bold{Filters} for the \gui{Property Editor} that lets you find
|
---|
583 | properties or widgets quickly.
|
---|
584 | \o \bold{Find option} for the \gui{Object Inspector} that performs an
|
---|
585 | incremental search on the form's widgets. Also, the objects' layout
|
---|
586 | state is displayed here with using an icon on the left. Broken
|
---|
587 | layouts are represented with the same icon used for the
|
---|
588 | \e{Break Layout} action.
|
---|
589 | \endlist
|
---|
590 |
|
---|
591 | In addition, Qt Designer now features an \gui{Embedded Design} tab that can
|
---|
592 | be found in the \gui Preferences dialog. Within this tab, you can define
|
---|
593 | embedded device profiles. These profiles contains screen settings, e.g.,
|
---|
594 | display resolution, default font and default style. Qt Designer will use
|
---|
595 | these settings when you edit forms.
|
---|
596 |
|
---|
597 | More information about these improvements can be found in the
|
---|
598 | \l{What's New in Qt Designer 4.5} overview.
|
---|
599 |
|
---|
600 | \section1 Qt Linguist Improvements
|
---|
601 |
|
---|
602 | Qt Linguist can now load and edit multiple translation files simultaneously.
|
---|
603 |
|
---|
604 | Support for XML Localization Interchange File Format (XLIFF) files, previously added
|
---|
605 | to the \c lupdate tool in Qt 4.3, has been improved and extended to the rest of the
|
---|
606 | Qt Linguist toolchain. This enables files stored in Qt's TS translation format to
|
---|
607 | be exported for use with other tools.
|
---|
608 |
|
---|
609 | The GNU Gettext PO format, which is commonly used in Open Source projects,
|
---|
610 | is now supported by Qt Linguist.
|
---|
611 |
|
---|
612 | Support for a new way to annotate messages, using comments in the source code,
|
---|
613 | has been added to the toolchain. See the QObject::tr() documentation for a detailed
|
---|
614 | description and examples.
|
---|
615 |
|
---|
616 | The new \c lconvert filter tool facilitates conversion between file formats and
|
---|
617 | can be used to perform other transformations on collections of translatable strings.
|
---|
618 |
|
---|
619 | \section1 Graphics Enhancements
|
---|
620 |
|
---|
621 | In addition to the performance improvements in this release, a number of graphics
|
---|
622 | enhancements extend support for existing features to more platforms and expand Qt's
|
---|
623 | core set of features with successful add-ons.
|
---|
624 |
|
---|
625 | Widget style sheets can now be used on Mac OS X, making this approach to theming
|
---|
626 | and styling viable for truly cross-platform applications.
|
---|
627 |
|
---|
628 | Support for ARGB top-level widgets, previously available as a separate solution,
|
---|
629 | is now provided as an integral part of Qt. This makes it possible to create windows
|
---|
630 | with translucent regions on systems with the appropriate support from the user's
|
---|
631 | window system. See the \l{QWidget#Creating Translucent Windows}{Creating Translucent
|
---|
632 | Windows} section of the QWidget documentation for details of this feature.
|
---|
633 |
|
---|
634 |
|
---|
635 | \image gtk-style-screenshot.png
|
---|
636 |
|
---|
637 | Improved GTK+ integration provided by the QGtkStyle class improves the look and feel
|
---|
638 | of Qt applications in GNOME and other GTK-based environments. The screenshot above
|
---|
639 | illustrates this clearly.
|
---|
640 | */
|
---|