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In this example we use a custom multi-page widget designed to show the container extension feature. An extension is an object which modifies the behavior of \QD. The QDesignerContainerExtension enables \QD to manage and manipulate a custom multi-page widget, i.e. adding and deleting pages to the widget. There are four available types of extensions in \QD: \list \o QDesignerMemberSheetExtension provides an extension that allows you to manipulate a widget's member functions which is displayed when configuring connections using Qt Designer's mode for editing signals and slots. \o QDesignerPropertySheetExtension provides an extension that allows you to manipulate a widget's properties which is displayed in Qt Designer's property editor. \o QDesignerTaskMenuExtension provides an extension that allows you to add custom menu entries to \QD's task menu. \o QDesignerContainerExtension provides an extension that allows you to add (and delete) pages to a multi-page container plugin in \QD. \endlist You can use all the extensions following the same pattern as in this example, only replacing the respective extension base class. For more information, see the \l {QtDesigner Module}. The Container Extension example consists of four classes: \list \o \c MultiPageWidget is a custom container widget that lets the user manipulate and populate its pages, and navigate among these using a combobox. \o \c MultiPageWidgetPlugin exposes the \c MultiPageWidget class to \QD. \o \c MultiPageWidgetExtensionFactory creates a \c MultiPageWidgetContainerExtension object. \o \c MultiPageWidgetContainerExtension provides the container extension. \endlist The project file for custom widget plugins needs some additional information to ensure that they will work within \QD. For example, custom widget plugins rely on components supplied with \QD, and this must be specified in the project file that we use. We will first take a look at the plugin's project file. Then we will continue by reviewing the \c MultiPageWidgetPlugin class, and take a look at the \c MultiPageWidgetExtensionFactory and \c MultiPageWidgetContainerExtension classes. Finally, we will take a quick look at the \c MultiPageWidget class definition. \section1 The Project File: containerextension.pro The project file must contain some additional information to ensure that the plugin will work as expected: \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/containerextension.pro 0 \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/containerextension.pro 1 The \c TEMPLATE variable's value makes \c qmake create the custom widget as a library. Later, we will ensure that the widget will be recognized as a plugin by Qt by using the Q_EXPORT_PLUGIN2() macro to export the relevant widget information. The \c CONFIG variable contains two values, \c designer and \c plugin: \list \o \c designer: Since custom widgets plugins rely on components supplied with \QD, this value ensures that our plugin links against \QD's library (\c libQtDesigner.so). \o \c plugin: We also need to ensure that \c qmake considers the custom widget a \e plugin library. \endlist When Qt is configured to build in both debug and release modes, \QD will be built in release mode. When this occurs, it is necessary to ensure that plugins are also built in release mode. For that reason we add a \c debug_and_release value to the \c CONFIG variable. Otherwise, if a plugin is built in a mode that is incompatible with \QD, it won't be loaded and installed. The header and source files for the widget are declared in the usual way: \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/containerextension.pro 2 We provide an implementation of the plugin interface so that \QD can use the custom widget. In this particular example we also provide implementations of the container extension interface and the extension factory. It is important to ensure that the plugin is installed in a location that is searched by \QD. We do this by specifying a target path for the project and adding it to the list of items to install: \snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_examples_containerextension.qdoc 0 The container extension is created as a library, and will be installed alongside the other \QD plugins when the project is installed (using \c{make install} or an equivalent installation procedure). Note that if you want the plugins to appear in a Visual Studio integration, the plugins must be built in release mode and their libraries must be copied into the plugin directory in the install path of the integration (for an example, see \c {C:/program files/trolltech as/visual studio integration/plugins}). For more information about plugins, see the \l {How to Create Qt Plugins} documentation. \section1 MultiPageWidgetPlugin Class Definition The \c MultiPageWidgetPlugin class exposes the \c MultiPageWidget class to \QD. Its definition is similar to the \l {designer/customwidgetplugin}{Custom Widget Plugin} example's plugin class which is explained in detail. The parts of the class definition that is specific to this particular custom widget is the class name and a couple of private slots: \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/multipagewidgetplugin.h 0 The plugin class provides \QD with basic information about our plugin, such as its class name and its include file. Furthermore it knows how to create instances of the \c MultiPageWidget widget. \c MultiPageWidgetPlugin also defines the \l {QDesignerCustomWidgetInterface::initialize()}{initialize()} function which is called after the plugin is loaded into \QD. The function's QDesignerFormEditorInterface parameter provides the plugin with a gateway to all of \QD's API's. In the case of a multipage widget such as ours, we must also implement two private slots, currentIndexChanged() and pageTitleChanged(), to be able to update \QD's property editor whenever the user views another page or changes one of the page titles. To be able to give each page their own title, we have chosen to use the QWidget::windowTitle property to store the page title (for more information see the MultiPageWidget class \l {designer/containerextension/multipagewidget.cpp}{implementation}). Note that currently there is no way of adding a custom property (e.g., a page title) to the pages without using a predefined property as placeholder. The \c MultiPageWidgetPlugin class inherits from both QObject and QDesignerCustomWidgetInterface. It is important to remember, when using multiple inheritance, to ensure that all the interfaces (i.e. the classes that doesn't inherit Q_OBJECT) are made known to the meta object system using the Q_INTERFACES() macro. This enables \QD to use \l qobject_cast() to query for supported interfaces using nothing but a QObject pointer. \section1 MultiPageWidgetPlugin Class Implementation The MultiPageWidgetPlugin class implementation is in most parts equivalent to the \l {designer/customwidgetplugin}{Custom Widget Plugin} example's plugin class: \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/multipagewidgetplugin.cpp 0 \codeline \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/multipagewidgetplugin.cpp 3 One of the functions that differ is the isContainer() function which returns true in this example since our custom widget is intended to be used as a container. \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/multipagewidgetplugin.cpp 1 Another function that differ is the function creating our custom widget: \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/multipagewidgetplugin.cpp 2 In addition to create and return the widget, we connect our custom container widget's currentIndexChanged() signal to the plugin's currentIndexChanged() slot to ensure that \QD's property editor is updated whenever the user views another page. We also connect the widget's pageTitleChanged() signal to the plugin's pageTitleChanged() slot. The currentIndexChanged() slot is called whenever our custom widget's currentIndexChanged() \e signal is emitted, i.e. whenever the user views another page: \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/multipagewidgetplugin.cpp 8 First, we retrieve the object emitting the signal using the QObject::sender() and qobject_cast() functions. If it's called in a slot activated by a signal, QObject::sender() returns a pointer to the object that sent the signal; otherwise it returns 0. \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/multipagewidgetplugin.cpp 9 Once we have the widget we can update the property editor. \QD uses the QDesignerPropertySheetExtension class to feed its property editor, and whenever a widget is selected in its workspace, Qt Designer will query for the widget's property sheet extension and update the property editor. So what we want to achieve is to notify \QD that our widget's \e internal selection has changed: First we use the static QDesignerFormWindowInterface::findFormWindow() function to retrieve the QDesignerFormWindowInterface object containing the widget. The QDesignerFormWindowInterface class allows you to query and manipulate form windows appearing in Qt Designer's workspace. Then, all we have to do is to emit its \l {QDesignerFormWindowInterface::emitSelectionChanged()}{emitSelectionChanged()} signal, forcing an update of the property editor. When changing a page title a generic refresh of the property editor is not enough because it is actually the page's property extension that needs to be updated. For that reason we need to access the QDesignerPropertySheetExtension object for the page which title we want to change. The QDesignerPropertySheetExtension class also allows you to manipulate a widget's properties, but to get hold of the extension we must first retrieve access to \QD's extension manager: \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/multipagewidgetplugin.cpp 10 \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/multipagewidgetplugin.cpp 11 Again we first retrieve the widget emitting the signal, using the QObject::sender() and qobject_cast() functions. Then we retrieve the current page from the widget that emitted the signal, and we use the static QDesignerFormWindowInterface::findFormWindow() function to retrieve the form containing our widget. \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/multipagewidgetplugin.cpp 12 Now that we have the form window, the QDesignerFormWindowInterface class provides the \l {QDesignerFormWindowInterface::core()}{core()} function which returns the current QDesignerFormEditorInterface object. The QDesignerFormEditorInterface class allows you to access Qt Designer's various components. In particular, the QDesignerFormEditorInterface::extensionManager() function returns a reference to the current extension manager. \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/multipagewidgetplugin.cpp 13 Once we have the extension manager we can update the extension sheet: First we retrieve the property extension for the page which title we want to change, using the qt_extension() function. Then we retrieve the index for the page title using the QDesignerPropertySheetExtension::indexOf() function. As previously mentioned, we have chosen to use the QWidget::windowTitle property to store the page title (for more information see the MultiPageWidget class \l {designer/containerextension/multipagewidget.cpp}{implementation}). Finally, we implicitly force an update of the page's property sheet by calling the QDesignerPropertySheetExtension::setChanged() function. \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/multipagewidgetplugin.cpp 4 Note also the initialize() function: The \c initialize() function takes a QDesignerFormEditorInterface object as argument. \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/multipagewidgetplugin.cpp 5 When creating extensions associated with custom widget plugins, we need to access \QD's current extension manager which we retrieve from the QDesignerFormEditorInterface parameter. In addition to allowing you to manipulate a widget's properties, the QExtensionManager class provides extension management facilities for \QD. Using \QD's current extension manager you can retrieve the extension for a given object. You can also register and unregister an extension for a given object. Remember that an extension is an object which modifies the behavior of \QD. When registrering an extension, it is actually the associated extension factory that is registered. In \QD, extension factories are used to look up and create named extensions as they are required. So, in this example, the container extension itself is not created until \QD must know whether the associated widget is a container, or not. \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/multipagewidgetplugin.cpp 6 We create a \c MultiPageWidgetExtensionFactory object that we register using \QD's current \l {QExtensionManager}{extension manager} retrieved from the QDesignerFormEditorInterface parameter. The first argument is the newly created factory and the second argument is an extension identifier which is a string. The \c Q_TYPEID() macro simply convert the string into a QLatin1String. The \c MultiPageWidgetExtensionFactory class is a subclass of QExtensionFactory. When \QD must know whether a widget is a container, or not, \QD's extension manager will run through all its registered factories invoking the first one which is able to create a container extension for that widget. This factory will in turn create a \c MultiPageWidgetExtension object. \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/multipagewidgetplugin.cpp 7 Finally, take a look at the \c domXml() function. This function includes default settings for the widget in the standard XML format used by \QD. In this case, we specify the container's first page; any inital pages of a multi-page widget must be specified within this function. \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/multipagewidgetplugin.cpp 14 Remember to use the Q_EXPORT_PLUGIN2() macro to export the MultiPageWidgetPlugin class for use with Qt's plugin handling classes: This macro ensures that \QD can access and construct the custom widget. Without this macro, there is no way for \QD to use the widget. \section1 MultiPageWidgetExtensionFactory Class Definition The \c MultiPageWidgetExtensionFactory class inherits QExtensionFactory which provides a standard extension factory for \QD. \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/multipagewidgetextensionfactory.h 0 The subclass's purpose is to reimplement the QExtensionFactory::createExtension() function, making it able to create a \c MultiPageWidget container extension. \section1 MultiPageWidgetExtensionFactory Class Implementation The class constructor simply calls the QExtensionFactory base class constructor: \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/multipagewidgetextensionfactory.cpp 0 As described above, the factory is invoked when \QD must know whether the associated widget is a container, or not. \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/multipagewidgetextensionfactory.cpp 1 \QD's behavior is the same whether the requested extension is associated with a container, a member sheet, a property sheet or a task menu: Its extension manager runs through all its registered extension factories calling \c createExtension() for each until one responds by creating the requested extension. So the first thing we do in \c MultiPageWidgetExtensionFactory::createExtension() is to check if the QObject, for which the extension is requested, is in fact a \c MultiPageWidget object. Then we check if the requested extension is a container extension. If the object is a MultiPageWidget requesting a container extension, we create and return a \c MultiPageWidgetExtension object. Otherwise, we simply return a null pointer, allowing \QD's extension manager to continue its search through the registered factories. \section1 MultiPageWidgetContainerExtension Class Definition The \c MultiPageWidgetContainerExtension class inherits QDesignerContainerExtension which allows you to add (and delete) pages to a multi-page container plugin in \QD. \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/multipagewidgetcontainerextension.h 0 It is important to recognize that the QDesignerContainerExtension class only is intended to provide \QD access to your custom multi-page widget's functionality; your custom multi-page widget must implement functionality corresponding to the extension's functions. Note also that we implement a constructor that takes \e two arguments: the parent widget, and the \c MultiPageWidget object for which the task menu is requested. QDesignerContainerExtension provides a couple of menu entries in \QD's task menu by default, enabling the user to add or delete pages to the associated custom multi-page widget in \QD's workspace. \section1 MultiPageWidgetContainerExtension Class Implementation In the constructor we save the reference to the \c MultiPageWidget object sent as parameter, i.e the widget associated with the extension. We will need this later to access the custom multi-page widget performing the requested actions. \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/multipagewidgetcontainerextension.cpp 0 To fully enable \QD to manage and manipulate your custom multi-page widget, you must reimplement all the functions of QDesignerContainerExtension: \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/multipagewidgetcontainerextension.cpp 1 \codeline \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/multipagewidgetcontainerextension.cpp 2 \codeline \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/multipagewidgetcontainerextension.cpp 3 You must reimplement \l {QDesignerContainerExtension::addWidget()}{addWidget()} adding a given page to the container, \l {QDesignerContainerExtension::count()}{count()} returning the number of pages in the container, and \l {QDesignerContainerExtension::currentIndex()}{currentIndex()} returning the index of the currently selected page. \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/multipagewidgetcontainerextension.cpp 4 \codeline \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/multipagewidgetcontainerextension.cpp 5 \codeline \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/multipagewidgetcontainerextension.cpp 6 \codeline \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/multipagewidgetcontainerextension.cpp 7 You must reimplement \l {QDesignerContainerExtension::insertWidget()}{insertWidget()} adding a given page to the container at a given index, \l {QDesignerContainerExtension::remove()}{remove()} deleting the page at a given index, \l {QDesignerContainerExtension::setCurrentIndex()}{setCurrentIndex()} setting the index of the currently selected page, and finally \l {QDesignerContainerExtension::widget()}{widget()} returning the page at a given index. \section1 MultiPageWidget Class Definition The MultiPageWidget class is a custom container widget that lets the user manipulate and populate its pages, and navigate among these using a combobox. \snippet examples/designer/containerextension/multipagewidget.h 0 The main detail to observe is that your custom multi-page widget must implement functionality corresponding to the QDesignerContainerExtension's member functions since the QDesignerContainerExtension class only is intended to provide Qt Designer access to your custom multi-page widget's functionality. In addition, we declare the \c currentIndex and \c pageTitle properties, and their associated set and get functions. By declaring these attributes as properties, we allow \QD to manage them in the same way it manages the properties the MultiPageWidget widget inherits from QWidget and QObject, for example featuring the property editor. Note the \c STORED attribute in the declaration of the \c pageTitle property: The \c STORED attribute indicates persistence, i.e. it declares whether the property's value must be remembered when storing an object's state. As mentioned above, we have chosen to store the page title using the QWidget::windowTitle property to be able to give each page their own title. For that reason the \c pageTitle property is a "fake" property, provided for editing purposes, and doesn't need to be stored. We must also implement and emit the currentIndexChanged() and pageTitleChanged() signals to ensure that \QD's property editor is updated whenever the user views another page or changes one of the page titles. See the MultiPageWidget class \l {designer/containerextension/multipagewidget.cpp}{implementation} for more details. */