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+/****************************************************************************
+**
+** Copyright (C) 2009 Nokia Corporation and/or its subsidiary(-ies).
+** Contact: Nokia Corporation (qt-info@nokia.com)
+**
+** This file is part of the documentation of the Qt Toolkit.
+**
+** $QT_BEGIN_LICENSE:LGPL$
+** No Commercial Usage
+** This file contains pre-release code and may not be distributed.
+** You may use this file in accordance with the terms and conditions
+** contained in the either Technology Preview License Agreement or the
+** Beta Release License Agreement.
+**
+** GNU Lesser General Public License Usage
+** Alternatively, this file may be used under the terms of the GNU Lesser
+** General Public License version 2.1 as published by the Free Software
+** Foundation and appearing in the file LICENSE.LGPL included in the
+** packaging of this file. Please review the following information to
+** ensure the GNU Lesser General Public License version 2.1 requirements
+** will be met: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/lgpl-2.1.html.
+**
+** In addition, as a special exception, Nokia gives you certain
+** additional rights. These rights are described in the Nokia Qt LGPL
+** Exception version 1.0, included in the file LGPL_EXCEPTION.txt in this
+** package.
+**
+** GNU General Public License Usage
+** Alternatively, this file may be used under the terms of the GNU
+** General Public License version 3.0 as published by the Free Software
+** Foundation and appearing in the file LICENSE.GPL included in the
+** packaging of this file. Please review the following information to
+** ensure the GNU General Public License version 3.0 requirements will be
+** met: http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html.
+**
+** If you are unsure which license is appropriate for your use, please
+** contact the sales department at http://qt.nokia.com/contact.
+** $QT_END_LICENSE$
+**
+****************************************************************************/
+
+/*!
+ \group database
+ \title Database Classes
+
+ \brief Database related classes, e.g. for SQL databases.
+*/
+
+/*!
+ \page sql-programming.html
+ \title SQL Programming
+
+ \brief Database integration for Qt applications.
+
+ This overview assumes that you have at least a basic knowledge of
+ SQL. You should be able to understand simple \c SELECT, \c
+ INSERT, \c UPDATE, and \c DELETE statements. Although the \l
+ QSqlTableModel class provides an interface to database browsing
+ and editing that does not require a knowledge of SQL, a basic
+ understanding of SQL is highly recommended. A standard text
+ covering SQL databases is \e {An Introduction to Database Systems}
+ (7th Ed.) by C. J. Date, ISBN 0201385902.
+
+ \section1 Topics:
+
+ \list
+ \o \l{Database Classes}
+ \o \l{Connecting to Databases}
+ \list
+ \o \l{SQL Database Drivers}
+ \endlist
+ \o \l{Executing SQL Statements}
+ \list
+ \o \l{Recommended Use of Data Types in Databases}
+ \endlist
+ \o \l{Using the SQL Model Classes}
+ \o \l{Presenting Data in a Table View}
+ \o \l{Creating Data-Aware Forms}
+ \endlist
+
+ \section1 Database Classes
+
+ These classes provide access to SQL databases.
+
+ \annotatedlist database
+
+ The SQL classes are divided into three layers:
+
+ \section2 Driver Layer
+
+ This comprises the classes QSqlDriver, QSqlDriverCreator<T>,
+ QSqlDriverCreatorBase, QSqlDriverPlugin, and QSqlResult.
+
+ This layer provides the low-level bridge between the specific databases
+ and the SQL API layer. See \l{SQL Database Drivers} for more information.
+
+ \section2 SQL API Layer
+
+ These classes provide access to databases. Connections
+ are made using the QSqlDatabase class. Database
+ interaction is achieved by using the QSqlQuery class.
+ In addition to QSqlDatabase and QSqlQuery, the SQL API
+ layer is supported by QSqlError, QSqlField, QSqlIndex,
+ and QSqlRecord.
+
+ \section2 User Interface Layer
+
+ These classes link the data from a database to data-aware widgets.
+ They include QSqlQueryModel, QSqlTableModel, and QSqlRelationalTableModel.
+ These classes are designed to work with Qt's
+ \l{Model/View Programming}{model/view framework}.
+
+ Note that to use any of these classes, a QCoreApplication object
+ must have been instantiated first.
+*/
+
+/*!
+ \page sql-connecting.html
+ \title Connecting to Databases
+
+ \contentspage SQL Programming
+ \nextpage Executing SQL Statements
+
+ To access a database with QSqlQuery or QSqlQueryModel, create and
+ open one or more database connections. Database connections are
+ normally identified by connection name, \e{not} by database name.
+ You can have multiple connections to the same database.
+ QSqlDatabase also supports the concept of a \e{default}
+ connection, which is an unnamed connection. When calling QSqlQuery
+ or QSqlQueryModel member functions that take a connection name
+ argument, if you don't pass a connection name, the default
+ connection will be used. Creating a default connection is
+ convenient when your application only requires one database
+ connection.
+
+ Note the difference between creating a connection and opening it.
+ Creating a connection involves creating an instance of class
+ QSqlDatabase. The connection is not usable until it is opened. The
+ following snippet shows how to create a \e{default} connection
+ and then open it:
+
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/sqldatabase/sqldatabase.cpp 26
+
+ The first line creates the connection object, and the last line
+ opens it for use. In between, we initialize some connection
+ information, including the \l{QSqlDatabase::setDatabaseName()}
+ {database name}, the \l{QSqlDatabase::setHostName()} {host name},
+ the \l{QSqlDatabase::setUserName()} {user name}, and the
+ \l{QSqlDatabase::setPassword()} {password}. In this case, we are
+ connecting to the MySQL database \c{flightdb} on the host
+ \c{bigblue}. The \c{"QMYSQL"} argument to
+ \l{QSqlDatabase::addDatabase()} {addDatabase()} specifies the type
+ of database driver to use for the connection. The set of database
+ drivers included with Qt are shown in the table of \l{SQL Database
+ Drivers#Supported Databases} {supported database drivers}.
+
+ The connection in the snippet will be the \e{default} connection,
+ because we don't pass the second argument to
+ \l{QSqlDatabase::addDatabase()} {addDatabase()}, which is the
+ connection name. For example, here we establish two MySQL database
+ connections named \c{"first"} and \c{"second"}:
+
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/sqldatabase/sqldatabase.cpp 27
+
+ After these connections have been initialized, \l{QSqlDatabase::}
+ {open()} for each one to establish the live connections. If the
+ \l{QSqlDatabase::} {open()} fails, it returns false. In that case,
+ call QSqlDatabase::lastError() to get error information.
+
+ Once a connection is established, we can call the static function
+ QSqlDatabase::database() from anywhere with a connection name to
+ get a pointer to that database connection. If we don't pass a
+ connection name, it will return the default connection. For
+ example:
+
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/sqldatabase/sqldatabase.cpp 28
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/sqldatabase/sqldatabase.cpp 29
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/sqldatabase/sqldatabase.cpp 30
+
+ To remove a database connection, first close the database using
+ QSqlDatabase::close(), then remove it using the static method
+ QSqlDatabase::removeDatabase().
+*/
+
+/*!
+ \page sql-sqlstatements.html
+ \title Executing SQL Statements
+
+ \previouspage Connecting to Databases
+ \contentspage SQL Programming
+ \nextpage Using the SQL Model Classes
+
+
+ The QSqlQuery class provides an interface for executing SQL
+ statements and navigating through the result set of a query.
+
+ The QSqlQueryModel and QSqlTableModel classes described in the
+ next section provide a higher-level interface for accessing
+ databases. If you are unfamiliar with SQL, you might want to skip
+ directly to the next section (\l{Using the SQL Model Classes}).
+
+ \section2 Executing a Query
+
+ To execute an SQL statement, simply create a QSqlQuery object and
+ call QSqlQuery::exec() like this:
+
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/sqldatabase/sqldatabase.cpp 31
+
+ The QSqlQuery constructor accepts an optional QSqlDatabase object
+ that specifies which database connection to use. In the example
+ above, we don't specify any connection, so the default connection
+ is used.
+
+ If an error occurs, \l{QSqlQuery::exec()}{exec()} returns false.
+ The error is then available as QSqlQuery::lastError().
+
+ \section2 Navigating the Result Set
+
+ QSqlQuery provides access to the result set one record at a time.
+ After the call to \l{QSqlQuery::exec()}{exec()}, QSqlQuery's
+ internal pointer is located one position \e{before} the first
+ record. We must call QSqlQuery::next() once to advance to the
+ first record, then \l{QSqlQuery::next()}{next()} again repeatedly
+ to access the other records, until it returns false. Here's a
+ typical loop that iterates over all the records in order:
+
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/sqldatabase/sqldatabase.cpp 32
+
+ The QSqlQuery::value() function returns the value of a field in
+ the current record. Fields are specified as zero-based indexes.
+ QSqlQuery::value() returns a QVariant, a type that can hold
+ various C++ and core Qt data types such as \c int, QString, and
+ QByteArray. The different database types are automatically mapped
+ into the closest Qt equivalent. In the code snippet, we call
+ QVariant::toString() and QVariant::toInt() to convert
+ variants to QString and \c int.
+
+ For an overview of the recommended types used with Qt supported
+ Databases, please refer to \l{Recommended Use of Data Types in Databases}{this table}.
+
+ You can iterate back and forth using QSqlQuery::next(),
+ QSqlQuery::previous(), QSqlQuery::first(), QSqlQuery::last(), and
+ QSqlQuery::seek(). The current row index is returned by
+ QSqlQuery::at(), and the total number of rows in the result set
+ is avaliable as QSqlQuery::size() for databases that support it.
+
+ To determine whether a database driver supports a given feature,
+ use QSqlDriver::hasFeature(). In the following example, we call
+ QSqlQuery::size() to determine the size of a result set of
+ the underlying database supports that feature; otherwise, we
+ navigate to the last record and use the query's position to tell
+ us how many records there are.
+
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/sqldatabase/sqldatabase.cpp 33
+
+ If you iterate through a result set only using next() and seek()
+ with positive values, you can call
+ QSqlQuery::setForwardOnly(true) before calling exec(). This is an
+ easy optimization that will speed up the query significantly when
+ operating on large result sets.
+
+ \section2 Inserting, Updating, and Deleting Records
+
+ QSqlQuery can execute arbitrary SQL statements, not just
+ \c{SELECT}s. The following example inserts a record into a table
+ using \c{INSERT}:
+
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/sqldatabase/sqldatabase.cpp 34
+
+ If you want to insert many records at the same time, it is often
+ more efficient to separate the query from the actual values being
+ inserted. This can be done using placeholders. Qt supports two
+ placeholder syntaxes: named binding and positional binding.
+ Here's an example of named binding:
+
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/sqldatabase/sqldatabase.cpp 35
+
+ Here's an example of positional binding:
+
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/sqldatabase/sqldatabase.cpp 36
+
+ Both syntaxes work with all database drivers provided by Qt. If
+ the database supports the syntax natively, Qt simply forwards the
+ query to the DBMS; otherwise, Qt simulates the placeholder syntax
+ by preprocessing the query. The actual query that ends up being
+ executed by the DBMS is available as QSqlQuery::executedQuery().
+
+ When inserting multiple records, you only need to call
+ QSqlQuery::prepare() once. Then you call
+ \l{QSqlQuery::bindValue()}{bindValue()} or
+ \l{QSqlQuery::addBindValue()}{addBindValue()} followed by
+ \l{QSqlQuery::exec()}{exec()} as many times as necessary.
+
+ Besides performance, one advantage of placeholders is that you
+ can easily specify arbitrary values without having to worry about
+ escaping special characters.
+
+ Updating a record is similar to inserting it into a table:
+
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/sqldatabase/sqldatabase.cpp 37
+
+ You can also use named or positional binding to associate
+ parameters to actual values.
+
+ Finally, here's an example of a \c DELETE statement:
+
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/sqldatabase/sqldatabase.cpp 38
+
+ \section2 Transactions
+
+ If the underlying database engine supports transactions,
+ QSqlDriver::hasFeature(QSqlDriver::Transactions) will return
+ true. You can use QSqlDatabase::transaction() to initiate a
+ transaction, followed by the SQL commands you want to execute
+ within the context of the transaction, and then either
+ QSqlDatabase::commit() or QSqlDatabase::rollback(). When
+ using transactions you must start the transaction before you
+ create your query.
+
+ Example:
+
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/sqldatabase/sqldatabase.cpp 39
+
+ Transactions can be used to ensure that a complex operation is
+ atomic (for example, looking up a foreign key and creating a
+ record), or to provide a means of canceling a complex change in
+ the middle.
+
+ \omit
+ It would be useful to mention transactions, and the fact that
+ some databases don't support them.
+ \endomit
+*/
+
+/*!
+ \page sql-model.html
+ \title Using the SQL Model Classes
+
+ \previouspage Executing SQL Statements
+ \contentspage SQL Programming
+ \nextpage Presenting Data in a Table View
+
+ In addition to QSqlQuery, Qt offers three higher-level classes
+ for accessing databases. These classes are QSqlQueryModel,
+ QSqlTableModel, and QSqlRelationalTableModel.
+
+ \table
+ \row \o QSqlQueryModel
+ \o A read-only model based on an arbitrary SQL query.
+ \row \o QSqlTableModel
+ \o A read-write model that works on a single table.
+ \row \o QSqlRelationalTableModel
+ \o A QSqlTableModel subclass with foreign key support.
+ \endtable
+
+ These classes derive from QAbstractTableModel (which in turn
+ inherits from QAbstractItemModel) and make it easy to present
+ data from a database in an item view class such as QListView and
+ QTableView. This is explained in detail in the \l{Presenting Data
+ in a Table View} section.
+
+ Another advantage of using these classes is that it can make your
+ code easier to adapt to other data sources. For example, if you
+ use QSqlTableModel and later decide to use XML files to store
+ data instead of a database, it is essentially just a matter of
+ replacing one data model with another.
+
+ \section2 The SQL Query Model
+
+ QSqlQueryModel offers a read-only model based on an SQL query.
+
+ Example:
+
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/sqldatabase/sqldatabase.cpp 40
+
+ After setting the query using QSqlQueryModel::setQuery(), you can
+ use QSqlQueryModel::record(int) to access the individual records.
+ You can also use QSqlQueryModel::data() and any of the other
+ functions inherited from QAbstractItemModel.
+
+ There's also a \l{QSqlQueryModel::setQuery()}{setQuery()}
+ overload that takes a QSqlQuery object and operates on its result
+ set. This enables you to use any features of QSqlQuery to set up
+ the query (e.g., prepared queries).
+
+ \section2 The SQL Table Model
+
+ QSqlTableModel offers a read-write model that works on a single
+ SQL table at a time.
+
+ Example:
+
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/sqldatabase/sqldatabase.cpp 41
+
+ QSqlTableModel is a high-level alternative to QSqlQuery for
+ navigating and modifying individual SQL tables. It typically
+ results in less code and requires no knowledge of SQL syntax.
+
+ Use QSqlTableModel::record() to retrieve a row in the table, and
+ QSqlTableModel::setRecord() to modify the row. For example, the
+ following code will increase every employee's salary by 10 per
+ cent:
+
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/sqldatabase/sqldatabase.cpp 42
+
+ You can also use QSqlTableModel::data() and
+ QSqlTableModel::setData(), which are inherited from
+ QAbstractItemModel, to access the data. For example, here's how
+ to update a record using
+ \l{QSqlTableModel::setData()}{setData()}:
+
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/sqldatabase/sqldatabase.cpp 43
+
+ Here's how to insert a row and populate it:
+
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/sqldatabase/sqldatabase.cpp 44
+
+ Here's how to delete five consecutive rows:
+
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/sqldatabase/sqldatabase.cpp 45
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/sqldatabase/sqldatabase.cpp 46
+
+ The first argument to QSqlTableModel::removeRows() is the index
+ of the first row to delete.
+
+ When you're finished changing a record, you should always call
+ QSqlTableModel::submitAll() to ensure that the changes are
+ written to the database.
+
+ When and whether you actually \e need to call submitAll() depends
+ on the table's \l{QSqlTableModel::editStrategy()}{edit strategy}.
+ The default strategy is QSqlTableModel::OnRowChange, which
+ specifies that pending changes are applied to the database when
+ the user selects a different row. Other strategies are
+ QSqlTableModel::OnManualSubmit (where all changes are cached in
+ the model until you call submitAll()) and
+ QSqlTableModel::OnFieldChange (where no changes are cached).
+ These are mostly useful when QSqlTableModel is used with a view.
+
+ QSqlTableModel::OnFieldChange seems to deliver the promise that
+ you never need to call submitAll() explicitly. There are two
+ pitfalls, though:
+
+ \list
+ \o Without any caching, performance may drop significantly.
+ \o If you modify a primary key, the record might slip through
+ your fingers while you are trying to populate it.
+ \endlist
+
+ \section2 The SQL Relational Table Model
+
+ QSqlRelationalTableModel extends QSqlTableModel to provide
+ support for foreign keys. A foreign key is a 1-to-1 mapping
+ between a field in one table and the primary key field of another
+ table. For example, if a \c book table has a field called \c
+ authorid that refers to the author table's \c id field, we say
+ that \c authorid is a foreign key.
+
+ \table
+ \row \o \inlineimage noforeignkeys.png
+ \o \inlineimage foreignkeys.png
+ \endtable
+
+ The screenshot on the left shows a plain QSqlTableModel in a
+ QTableView. Foreign keys (\c city and \c country) aren't resolved
+ to human-readable values. The screenshot on the right shows a
+ QSqlRelationalTableModel, with foreign keys resolved into
+ human-readable text strings.
+
+ The following code snippet shows how the QSqlRelationalTableModel
+ was set up:
+
+ \snippet examples/sql/relationaltablemodel/relationaltablemodel.cpp 0
+ \codeline
+ \snippet examples/sql/relationaltablemodel/relationaltablemodel.cpp 1
+ \snippet examples/sql/relationaltablemodel/relationaltablemodel.cpp 2
+
+ See the QSqlRelationalTableModel documentation for details.
+*/
+
+/*!
+ \page sql-presenting.html
+ \title Presenting Data in a Table View
+
+ \previouspage Using the SQL Model Classes
+ \contentspage SQL Programming
+ \nextpage Creating Data-Aware Forms
+
+ The QSqlQueryModel, QSqlTableModel, and QSqlRelationalTableModel
+ classes can be used as a data source for Qt's view classes such
+ as QListView, QTableView, and QTreeView. In practice, QTableView
+ is by far the most common choice, because an SQL result set is
+ essentially a two-dimensional data structure.
+
+ \image relationaltable.png A table view displaying a QSqlTableModel
+
+ The following example creates a view based on an SQL data model:
+
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/sqldatabase/sqldatabase.cpp 17
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/sqldatabase/sqldatabase.cpp 18
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/sqldatabase/sqldatabase.cpp 19
+
+ If the model is a read-write model (e.g., QSqlTableModel), the
+ view lets the user edit the fields. You can disable this by
+ calling
+
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/sqldatabase/sqldatabase.cpp 20
+
+ You can use the same model as a data source for multiple views.
+ If the user edits the model through one of the views, the other
+ views will reflect the changes immediately. The
+ \l{sql/tablemodel}{Table Model} example shows how it works.
+
+ View classes display a header at the top to label the columns. To
+ change the header texts, call
+ \l{QAbstractItemModel::setHeaderData()}{setHeaderData()} on the
+ model. The header's labels default to the table's field names.
+ For example:
+
+ \snippet examples/sql/relationaltablemodel/relationaltablemodel.cpp 3
+
+ QTableView also has a vertical header on the left with numbers
+ identifying the rows. If you insert rows programmatically using
+ QSqlTableModel::insertRows(), the new rows will be marked with an
+ asterisk (*) until they are submitted using
+ \l{QSqlTableModel::submitAll()}{submitAll()} or automatically
+ when the user moves to another record (assuming the
+ \l{QSqlTableModel::EditStrategy}{edit strategy} is
+ QSqlTableModel::OnRowChange).
+
+ \image insertrowinmodelview.png Inserting a row in a model
+
+ Likewise, if you remove rows using
+ \l{QSqlTableModel::removeRows()}{removeRows()}, the rows will be
+ marked with an exclamation mark (!) until the change is
+ submitted.
+
+ The items in the view are rendered using a delegate. The default
+ delegate, QItemDelegate, handles the most common data types (\c
+ int, QString, QImage, etc.). The delegate is also responsible for
+ providing editor widgets (e.g., a combobox) when the user starts
+ editing an item in the view. You can create your own delegates by
+ subclassing QAbstractItemDelegate or QItemDelegate. See
+ \l{Model/View Programming} for more information.
+
+ QSqlTableModel is optimized to operate on a single table at a
+ time. If you need a read-write model that operates on an
+ arbitrary result set, you can subclass QSqlQueryModel and
+ reimplement \l{QAbstractItemModel::flags()}{flags()} and
+ \l{QAbstractItemModel::setData()}{setData()} to make it
+ read-write. The following two functions make fields 1 and 2 of a
+ query model editable:
+
+ \snippet examples/sql/querymodel/editablesqlmodel.cpp 0
+ \codeline
+ \snippet examples/sql/querymodel/editablesqlmodel.cpp 1
+
+ The setFirstName() helper function is defined as follows:
+
+ \snippet examples/sql/querymodel/editablesqlmodel.cpp 2
+
+ The setLastName() function is similar. See the
+ \l{sql/querymodel}{Query Model} example for the complete source code.
+
+ Subclassing a model makes it possible to customize it in many
+ ways: You can provide tooltips for the items, change the
+ background color, provide calculated values, provide different
+ values for viewing and editing, handle null values specially, and
+ more. See \l{Model/View Programming} as well as the \l
+ QAbstractItemView reference documentation for details.
+
+ If all you need is to resolve a foreign key to a more
+ human-friendly string, you can use QSqlRelationalTableModel. For
+ best results, you should also use QSqlRelationalDelegate, a
+ delegate that provides combobox editors for editing foreign keys.
+
+ \image relationaltable.png Editing a foreign key in a relational table
+
+ The \l{sql/relationaltablemodel}{Relational Table Model} example
+ illustrates how to use QSqlRelationalTableModel in conjunction with
+ QSqlRelationalDelegate to provide tables with foreign key
+ support.
+*/
+
+/*!
+ \page sql-forms.html
+ \title Creating Data-Aware Forms
+
+ \previouspage Presenting Data in a Table View
+ \contentspage SQL Programming
+
+ Using the SQL models described above, the contents of a database can
+ be presented to other model/view components. For some applications,
+ it is sufficient to present this data using a standard item view,
+ such as QTableView. However, users of record-based applications often
+ require a form-based user interface in which data from a specific
+ row or column in a database table is used to populate editor widgets
+ on a form.
+
+ Such data-aware forms can be created with the QDataWidgetMapper class,
+ a generic model/view component that is used to map data from a model
+ to specific widgets in a user interface.
+
+ QDataWidgetMapper operates on a specific database table, mapping items
+ in the table on a row-by-row or column-by-column basis. As a result,
+ using QDataWidgetMapper with a SQL model is as simple as using it with
+ any other table model.
+
+ \image qdatawidgetmapper-simple.png
+
+ The \l{demos/books}{Books} demonstration shows how information can
+ be presented for easy access by using QDataWidgetMapper and a set of
+ simple input widgets.
+*/