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Programming with Qt, 2nd Edition

Writing Portable GUI applications on Unix and Win32

By Matthias Dalheimer

Publisher: O'Reilly Media

Release Date: March 2010

Pages: 528

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The popular open source KDE desktop environment for Unix was built with Qt, a C++ class library for writing GUI applications that run on Unix, Linux, Windows 95/98, Windows 2000, and Windows NT platforms. Qt emulates the look and feel of Motif, but is much easier to use. Best of all, after you have written an application with Qt, all you have to do is recompile it to have a version that works on Windows. Qt also emulates the look and feel of Windows, so your users get native-looking interfaces. Platform independence is not the only benefit. Qt is flexible and highly optimized. You'll find that you need to write very little, if any, platform-dependent code because Qt already has what you need. And Qt is free for open source and Linux development. Although programming with Qt is straightforward and feels natural once you get the hang of it, the learning curve can be steep. Qt comes with excellent reference documentation, but beginners often find the included tutorial is not enough to really get started with Qt. That's where Programming with Qt steps in. You'll learn how to program in Qt as the book guides you through the steps of writing a simple paint application. Exercises with fully worked out answers help you deepen your understanding of the topics. The book presents all of the GUI elements in Qt, along with advice about when and how to use them, so you can make full use of the toolkit. For seasoned Qt programmers, there's also lots of information on advanced 2D transformations, drag-and-drop, writing custom image file filters, networking with the new Qt Network Extension, XML processing, Unicode handling, and more. Programming with Qt helps you get the most out of this powerful, easy-to-use, cross-platform toolkit. It's been completely updated for Qt Version 3.0 and includes entirely new information on rich text, Unicode/double byte characters, internationalization, and network programming.

Chapter 1 Introduction
1. Why GUI Toolkits?
2. Why Portability?
3. Why Qt?
4. Implementing Cross-Platform GUI Libraries
5. Acquiring Qt
6. Compiling and Installing Qt
7. C++ as Used by Qt
8. Getting Help
Chapter 2 First Steps in Qt Programming
1. Hello, world!
2. Using the Qt Reference Documentation
3. Adding an Exit Button
4. Introduction to Signals and Slots
5. Event Handling and Simple Drawings with QPainter
Chapter 3 Learning More About Qt
1. Adding Menus
2. Adding a Scrolled View
3. Adding a Context Menu
4. File I/O
Chapter 4 A Guided Tour Through the Simple Widgets
1. General Widget Parameters
2. Widget Styles
3. Buttons
4. Selection Widgets
5. Widgets for Bounded-Range Input
6. Scrollbars
7. Menu-Related Widgets
8. Arrangers
9. Tab-Related Widgets
10. Text-Entry Fields
11. Labels
12. Widgets for the Office
13. Progress Bars
14. Scrolled Views
15. List Views
16. Icon Views
17. Widgets for Tabular Material
18. Widgets for Displaying Rich Text
Chapter 5 A Guided Tour Through the Qt Dialog Boxes
1. Predefined Dialog Boxes
2. Building Blocks for Your Own Dialog Boxes
Chapter 6 Using Layout Managers
1. Layout Manager Basics
2. Laying Out Widgets in Rows and Columns
3. Nested Layout Managers
4. Grid Layout
5. Implicit Geometry Management
Chapter 7 Some Thoughts on GUI Design
Chapter 8 Container Classes
1. Available Container Classes
2. Choosing a Container Class
3. Working with Reference-Based Container Classes
4. Working with Value-Based Container Classes
Chapter 9 Graphics
1. Animations
2. Printing
3. Managing Colors
4. Basic QPainter: Drawing Figures
5. Advanced QPainter
6. Double-Buffering and Other Nifty Techniques
7. Independently Movable Objects with QCanvas
8. Working with Styles
9. Loading and Saving Custom Image Formats
10. Setting a Cursor
Chapter 10 Text Processing
1. Internationalization and Localization of On-Screen Text
2. Validating User Input
3. Working with Regular Expressions
4. Reading and Writing XML Files
5. Rich Text
Chapter 11 Working with Files and Directories
1. Reading a Text File
2. Traversing a Directory
3. File Information
4. Reading and Writing Configuration Data
Chapter 12 Interapplication Communication
1. Using the Clipboard
2. Drag-and-Drop
Chapter 13 Interfacing with the Operating System
1. Working with Date and Time Values
2. Loading Code Libraries Dynamically
3. Spawning Child Processes
4. Playing Sounds
Chapter 14 Writing Your Own Widgets
1. Implementing a Coordinate Selector
2. Implementing a Browse Box
Chapter 15 Focus Handling
Chapter 16 Advanced Event Handling
1. Event Filters
2. Sending Synthetic Events
Chapter 17 Advanced Signals and Slots
1. Signals and Slots Revisited
2. Connecting Several Buttons to One Slot
3. Actions
Chapter 18 Providing Help
Chapter 19 Accessing Databases
1. Installation of the SQL Module
2. Connecting to a Database
3. Simple Data Retrieval
4. Data Retrieval with Cursors
5. Data Display
6. Data Manipulation
7. Anything Else?
Chapter 20 Multithreading
1. Configuring Qt for Multithreading
2. Using Qt’s Multithreading Classes
3. Multithreading Pitfalls
4. Alternatives to Multithreading
Chapter 21 Debugging
Chapter 22 Portability
1. Why Portability Is Desirable
2. How to Write Portable Programs
3. Danger Ahead: When Even Qt Is Not Portable
4. Building Projects Portably with qmake
Chapter 23 Qt Network Programming
1. Low-Level Socket Access
2. Higher-Level Network Access
Chapter 24 Interfacing Qt with Other Languages and Libraries
1. OpenGL Programming with Qt
2. Writing Netscape Plug-ins
3. Integrating Xt Widgets
4. Interfacing Qt with Perl
Chapter 25 Using the Visual C++ IDE for Qt Programs
1. Importing an Existing Makefile
2. Creating Your Own Project from Scratch
3. Using qmake to Create a Project File
4. Using the MS Visual Studio Integration
Chapter 26 Visual Design with Qt Designer
1. Why Do You Need A GUI Designer?
2. Creating a Simple Application with the Help of Qt Designer
3. Adding Functionality to a Dialog Box by Subclassing
4. Using Layout Management
5. Useful Techniques

Appendix Answers to Exercises
1. Answers to Exercises in Chapter 2
2. Answers to Exercises in Chapter 3
Colophon

Books & Videos

Programming with Qt, 2nd Edition

Writing Portable GUI applications on Unix and Win32

Read on Safari with a 10-day trial

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction

Why GUI Toolkits?

Why Portability?

Why Qt?

Implementing Cross-Platform GUI Libraries

Acquiring Qt

Compiling and Installing Qt

C++ as Used by Qt

Getting Help

Chapter 2 First Steps in Qt Programming

Hello, world!

Using the Qt Reference Documentation

Adding an Exit Button

Introduction to Signals and Slots

Event Handling and Simple Drawings with QPainter

Chapter 3 Learning More About Qt

Adding Menus

Adding a Scrolled View

Adding a Context Menu

File I/O

Chapter 4 A Guided Tour Through the Simple Widgets

General Widget Parameters

Widget Styles

Buttons

Selection Widgets

Widgets for Bounded-Range Input

Scrollbars

Menu-Related Widgets

Arrangers

Tab-Related Widgets

Text-Entry Fields

Labels

Widgets for the Office

Progress Bars

Scrolled Views

List Views

Icon Views

Widgets for Tabular Material

Widgets for Displaying Rich Text

Chapter 5 A Guided Tour Through the Qt Dialog Boxes

Predefined Dialog Boxes

Building Blocks for Your Own Dialog Boxes

Chapter 6 Using Layout Managers

Layout Manager Basics

Laying Out Widgets in Rows and Columns

Nested Layout Managers

Grid Layout

Implicit Geometry Management

Chapter 7 Some Thoughts on GUI Design

Chapter 8 Container Classes

Available Container Classes

Choosing a Container Class

Working with Reference-Based Container Classes

Working with Value-Based Container Classes

Chapter 9 Graphics

Animations

Printing

Managing Colors

Basic QPainter: Drawing Figures

Advanced QPainter

Double-Buffering and Other Nifty Techniques

Independently Movable Objects with QCanvas

Working with Styles

Loading and Saving Custom Image Formats

Setting a Cursor

Chapter 10 Text Processing

Internationalization and Localization of On-Screen Text

Validating User Input

Working with Regular Expressions

Reading and Writing XML Files

Rich Text

Chapter 11 Working with Files and Directories

Reading a Text File

Traversing a Directory

File Information