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/****************************************************************************
**
** Copyright (C) 2010 Nokia Corporation and/or its subsidiary(-ies).
** All rights reserved.
** Contact: Nokia Corporation (qt-info@nokia.com)
**
** This file is part of the documentation of the Qt Toolkit.
**
** $QT_BEGIN_LICENSE:FDL$
** 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 Technology Preview License Agreement accompanying
** this package.
**
** GNU Free Documentation License
** Alternatively, this file may be used under the terms of the GNU Free
** Documentation License version 1.3 as published by the Free Software
** Foundation and appearing in the file included in the packaging of this
** file.
**
** If you have questions regarding the use of this file, please contact
** Nokia at qt-info@nokia.com.
** $QT_END_LICENSE$
**
****************************************************************************/
/*!
\group plugins
\title Plugin Classes
\ingroup groups
\brief Plugin related classes.
These classes deal with shared libraries, (e.g. .so and DLL files),
and with Qt plugins.
See the \link plugins-howto.html plugins documentation\endlink.
See also the \l{ActiveQt framework} for Windows.
*/
/*!
\page plugins-howto.html
\title How to Create Qt Plugins
\brief A guide to creating plugins to extend Qt applications and
functionality provided by Qt.
\ingroup frameworks-technologies
\ingroup qt-basic-concepts
\keyword QT_DEBUG_PLUGINS
\keyword QT_NO_PLUGIN_CHECK
Qt provides two APIs for creating plugins:
\list
\o A higher-level API for writing extensions to Qt itself: custom database
drivers, image formats, text codecs, custom styles, etc.
\o A lower-level API for extending Qt applications.
\endlist
For example, if you want to write a custom QStyle subclass and
have Qt applications load it dynamically, you would use the
higher-level API.
Since the higher-level API is built on top of the lower-level API,
some issues are common to both.
If you want to provide plugins for use with \QD, see the QtDesigner
module documentation.
Topics:
\tableofcontents
\section1 The Higher-Level API: Writing Qt Extensions
Writing a plugin that extends Qt itself is achieved by
subclassing the appropriate plugin base class, implementing a few
functions, and adding a macro.
There are several plugin base classes. Derived plugins are stored
by default in sub-directories of the standard plugin directory. Qt
will not find plugins if they are not stored in the right
directory.
\table
\header \o Base Class \o Directory Name \o Key Case Sensitivity
\row \o QAccessibleBridgePlugin \o \c accessiblebridge \o Case Sensitive
\row \o QAccessiblePlugin \o \c accessible \o Case Sensitive
\row \o QDecorationPlugin \o \c decorations \o Case Insensitive
\row \o QFontEnginePlugin \o \c fontengines \o Case Insensitive
\row \o QIconEnginePlugin \o \c iconengines \o Case Insensitive
\row \o QImageIOPlugin \o \c imageformats \o Case Sensitive
\row \o QInputContextPlugin \o \c inputmethods \o Case Sensitive
\row \o QKbdDriverPlugin \o \c kbddrivers \o Case Insensitive
\row \o QMouseDriverPlugin \o \c mousedrivers \o Case Insensitive
\row \o QScreenDriverPlugin \o \c gfxdrivers \o Case Insensitive
\row \o QScriptExtensionPlugin \o \c script \o Case Sensitive
\row \o QSqlDriverPlugin \o \c sqldrivers \o Case Sensitive
\row \o QStylePlugin \o \c styles \o Case Insensitive
\row \o QTextCodecPlugin \o \c codecs \o Case Sensitive
\endtable
Suppose that you have a new style class called \c MyStyle that you
want to make available as a plugin. The required code is
straightforward, here is the class definition (\c
mystyleplugin.h):
\snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_plugins-howto.qdoc 0
Ensure that the class implementation is located in a \c .cpp file
(including the class definition):
\snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_plugins-howto.qdoc 1
(Note that QStylePlugin is case insensitive, and the lower-case
version of the key is used in our
\l{QStylePlugin::create()}{create()} implementation; most other
plugins are case sensitive.)
For database drivers, image formats, text codecs, and most other
plugin types, no explicit object creation is required. Qt will
find and create them as required. Styles are an exception, since
you might want to set a style explicitly in code. To apply a
style, use code like this:
\snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_plugins-howto.qdoc 2
Some plugin classes require additional functions to be
implemented. See the class documentation for details of the
virtual functions that must be reimplemented for each type of
plugin.
The \l{Style Plugin Example} shows how to implement a plugin
that extends the QStylePlugin base class.
\section1 The Lower-Level API: Extending Qt Applications
Not only Qt itself but also Qt application can be extended
through plugins. This requires the application to detect and load
plugins using QPluginLoader. In that context, plugins may provide
arbitrary functionality and are not limited to database drivers,
image formats, text codecs, styles, and the other types of plugin
that extend Qt's functionality.
Making an application extensible through plugins involves the
following steps:
\list 1
\o Define a set of interfaces (classes with only pure virtual
functions) used to talk to the plugins.
\o Use the Q_DECLARE_INTERFACE() macro to tell Qt's
\l{meta-object system} about the interface.
\o Use QPluginLoader in the application to load the plugins.
\o Use qobject_cast() to test whether a plugin implements a given
interface.
\endlist
Writing a plugin involves these steps:
\list 1
\o Declare a plugin class that inherits from QObject and from the
interfaces that the plugin wants to provide.
\o Use the Q_INTERFACES() macro to tell Qt's \l{meta-object
system} about the interfaces.
\o Export the plugin using the Q_EXPORT_PLUGIN2() macro.
\o Build the plugin using a suitable \c .pro file.
\endlist
For example, here's the definition of an interface class:
\snippet examples/tools/plugandpaint/interfaces.h 2
Here's the definition of a plugin class that implements that
interface:
\snippet examples/tools/plugandpaintplugins/extrafilters/extrafiltersplugin.h 0
The \l{tools/plugandpaint}{Plug & Paint} example documentation
explains this process in detail. See also \l{Creating Custom
Widgets for Qt Designer} for information about issues that are
specific to \QD. You can also take a look at the \l{Echo Plugin
Example} is a more trivial example on how to implement a plugin
that extends Qt applications. Please note that a QCoreApplication
must have been initialized before plugins can be loaded.
\section1 Locating Plugins
Qt applications automatically know which plugins are available,
because plugins are stored in the standard plugin subdirectories.
Because of this applications don't require any code to find and load
plugins, since Qt handles them automatically.
During development, the directory for plugins is \c{QTDIR/plugins}
(where \c QTDIR is the directory where Qt is installed), with each
type of plugin in a subdirectory for that type, e.g. \c styles. If
you want your applications to use plugins and you don't want to use
the standard plugins path, have your installation process
determine the path you want to use for the plugins, and save the
path, e.g. using QSettings, for the application to read when it
runs. The application can then call
QCoreApplication::addLibraryPath() with this path and your
plugins will be available to the application. Note that the final
part of the path (e.g., \c styles) cannot be changed.
If you want the plugin to be loadable then one approach is to
create a subdirectory under the application and place the plugin
in that directory. If you distribute any of the plugins that come
with Qt (the ones located in the \c plugins directory), you must
copy the sub-directory under \c plugins where the plugin is
located to your applications root folder (i.e., do not include the
\c plugins directory).
\note In Symbian all binaries must be located in the directory \\sys\\bin,
so each Qt plugin has a stub with the same basename as the plugin dll
and suffix ".qtplugin" to make Qt extension plugins work similarly to
other platforms.
When trying to locate the plugin, Qt actually looks for the stub
instead of the plugin binary. While plugin stub files have the
suffix ".qtplugin", they can still be loaded also by specifying a filename
with the normal library suffix ".dll" for QPluginLoader, so normally application
developer doesn't need to care about the different suffix of the stub.
Because of the way applications can be installed
on ROM or various other drives in Symbian, Qt looks for the stub from
the same directory on all available drives if it is not located in the given
directory when loading a plugin.
For more information about deployment,
see the \l {Deploying Qt Applications} and \l {Deploying Plugins}
documentation.
\section1 Static Plugins
The normal and most flexible way to include a plugin with an
application is to compile it into a dynamic library that is shipped
separately, and detected and loaded at runtime.
Plugins can be linked statically against your application. If you
build the static version of Qt, this is the only option for
including Qt's predefined plugins. Using static plugins makes the
deployment less error-prone, but has the disadvantage that no
functionality from plugins can be added without a complete rebuild
and redistribution of the application.
When compiled as a static library, Qt provides the following
static plugins:
\table
\header \o Plugin name \o Type \o Description
\row \o \c qtaccessiblecompatwidgets \o Accessibility \o Accessibility for Qt 3 support widgets
\row \o \c qtaccessiblewidgets \o Accessibility \o Accessibility for Qt widgets
\row \o \c qdecorationdefault \o Decorations (Qt Extended) \o Default style
\row \o \c qdecorationwindows \o Decorations (Qt Extended) \o Windows style
\row \o \c qgif \o Image formats \o GIF
\row \o \c qjpeg \o Image formats \o JPEG
\row \o \c qmng \o Image formats \o MNG
\row \o \c qico \o Image formats \o ICO
\row \o \c qsvg \o Image formats \o SVG
\row \o \c qtiff \o Image formats \o TIFF
\row \o \c qimsw_multi \o Input methods (Qt Extended) \o Input Method Switcher
\row \o \c qwstslibmousehandler \o Mouse drivers (Qt Extended) \o \c tslib mouse
\row \o \c qgfxtransformed \o Graphic drivers (Qt Extended) \o Transformed screen
\row \o \c qgfxvnc \o Graphic drivers (Qt Extended) \o VNC
\row \o \c qscreenvfb \o Graphic drivers (Qt Extended) \o Virtual frame buffer
\row \o \c qsqldb2 \o SQL driver \o IBM DB2 \row \o \c qsqlibase \o SQL driver \o Borland InterBase
\row \o \c qsqlite \o SQL driver \o SQLite version 3
\row \o \c qsqlite2 \o SQL driver \o SQLite version 2
\row \o \c qsqlmysql \o SQL driver \o MySQL
\row \o \c qsqloci \o SQL driver \o Oracle (OCI)
\row \o \c qsqlodbc \o SQL driver \o Open Database Connectivity (ODBC)
\row \o \c qsqlpsql \o SQL driver \o PostgreSQL
\row \o \c qsqltds \o SQL driver \o Sybase Adaptive Server (TDS)
\row \o \c qcncodecs \o Text codecs \o Simplified Chinese (People's Republic of China)
\row \o \c qjpcodecs \o Text codecs \o Japanese
\row \o \c qkrcodecs \o Text codecs \o Korean
\row \o \c qtwcodecs \o Text codecs \o Traditional Chinese (Taiwan)
\endtable
To link statically against those plugins, you need to use the
Q_IMPORT_PLUGIN() macro in your application and you need to add
the required plugins to your build using \c QTPLUGIN.
For example, in your \c main.cpp:
\snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_plugins-howto.qdoc 4
In the \c .pro file for your application, you need the following
entry:
\snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_plugins-howto.qdoc 5
It is also possible to create your own static plugins, by
following these steps:
\list 1
\o Add \c{CONFIG += static} to your plugin's \c .pro file.
\o Use the Q_IMPORT_PLUGIN() macro in your application.
\o Link your application with your plugin library using \c LIBS
in the \c .pro file.
\endlist
See the \l{tools/plugandpaint}{Plug & Paint} example and the
associated \l{tools/plugandpaintplugins/basictools}{Basic Tools}
plugin for details on how to do this.
\note If you are not using qmake to build your application you need
to make sure that the \c{QT_STATICPLUGIN} preprocessor macro is
defined.
\sa QPluginLoader, QLibrary, {Plug & Paint Example}
*/
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