Table of Contents

Foreword ix

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xiii

A Brief History of Qt xv

Part I: Basic Qt

1. Getting Started 3

Hello Qt 3

Making Connections 5

Laying Out Widgets 6

Using the Reference Documentation 9

Subclassing QDialog 13

Signals and Slots in Depth 20

Rapid Dialog Design 23

Shape-Changing Dialogs 29

Dynamic Dialogs 36

Built-in Widget and Dialog Classes 37

Subclassing QMainWindow 44

Creating Menus and Toolbars 48

Setting Up the Status Bar 52

Implementing the File Menu 54

Using Dialogs 61

Storing Settings 67

Multiple Documents 68

Splash Screens 71

The Central Widget 73

Subclassing QTableWidget 74

Loading and Saving 80

Implementing the Edit Menu 83

Implementing the Other Menus 87

Subclassing QTableWidgetItem 91

Customizing Qt Widgets 101

Subclassing QWidget 103

Integrating Custom Widgets with Qt Designer 113

Double Buffering 116

Laying Out Widgets on a Form 137

Stacked Layouts 143

Splitters 145

Scrolling Areas 148

Dock Widgets and Toolbars 150

Multiple Document Interface 152

Reimplementing Event Handlers 163

Installing Event Filters 168

Staying Responsive During Intensive Processing 171

Painting with QPainter 175

Painter Transformations 180

High-Quality Rendering with QImage 188

Printing 190

Graphics with OpenGL 198

Enabling Drag and Drop 205

Supporting Custom Drag Types 210

Clipboard Handling 215

Using the Item View Convenience Classes 218

Using Predefined Models 225

Implementing Custom Models 230

Implementing Custom Delegates 244

Sequential Containers 252

Associative Containers 260

Generic Algorithms 263

Strings, Byte Arrays, and Variants 265

Reading and Writing Binary Data 274

Reading and Writing Text 279

Traversing Directories 285

Embedding Resources 286

Inter-Process Communication 287

Connecting and Querying 294

Presenting Data in Tabular Form 299

Implementing Master-Detail Forms 304

Writing FTP Clients 311

Writing HTTP Clients 320

Writing TCP Client-Server Applications 323

Sending and Receiving UDP Datagrams 333

Reading XML with SAX 339

Reading XML with DOM 344

Writing XML 348

Tooltips, Status Tips, and "What's This?" Help 351

Using QTextBrowser as a Simple Help Engine 353

Using Qt Assistant for Powerful Online Help 356

Working with Unicode 362

Making Applications Translation-Aware 365

Dynamic Language Switching 371

Translating Applications 376

Creating Threads 381

Synchronizing Threads 385

Communicating with the Main Thread 391

Using Qt's Classes in Secondary Threads 396

Extending Qt with Plugins 400

Making Applications Plugin-Aware 408

Writing Application Plugins 412

Interfacing with Native APIs 415

Using ActiveX on Windows 419

Handling X11 Session Management 431

Getting Started with Qtopia 440

Customizing Qtopia Core 441

Appendix A. Installing Qt 447

Appendix B. Introduction to C++ for Java and C# Programmers 451

Index 493

Courses

User Interface Design  [PTG: PRENTICE HALL PROFESSIONAL]   (Computer Science)

Author Bios

Jasmin Blanchette, Trolltech's documentation manager and a senior developer, has worked at Trolltech since 2001. He is editor of Qt Quarterly, Trolltech's technical newsletter, and coauthored C++ GUI Programming with Qt 3.

Mark Summerfield works as an independent trainer and consultant specializing in C++, Qt, and Python. He was Trolltech's documentation manager for almost three years and coauthored C++ GUI Programming with Qt 3.

Backcover Copy

The Only Official Best-Practice Guide to Qt 4.1 Programming

Using Trolltech's Qt you can build industrial-strength C++ applications that run natively on Windows, Linux/Unix, Mac OS X, and embedded Linux--without making source code changes. With this book Trolltech insiders have written a start-to-finish guide to getting great results with the most powerful version of Qt ever created: Qt 4.1.

Using C++ GUI Programming with Qt 4 you'll discover the most effective Qt 4 programming patterns and techniques as you master key technologies ranging from Qt's model/view architecture to Qt's powerful new 2D paint engine. The authors provide readers with unparalleled insight into Qt's event model and layout system. Then, using realistic examples, they introduce superior techniques for everything from basic GUI development to advanced database and XML integration.

• Includes new chapters on Qt 4's model/view architecture and Qt's new plugin support, along with a brief introduction to Qtopia embedded programming

• Covers all Qt fundamentals, from dialogs and windows to implementing application functionality

• Introduces best practices for layout management and event processing

• Shows how to make the most of Qt 4's new APIs, including the powerful new 2D paint engine and the new easy-to-use container classes

• Contains completely updated material in every chapter

• Presents advanced Qt 4 techniques covered in no other book, from creating both Qt and application plugins to interfacing with native APIs

• Contains an in-depth appendix on C++/Qt programming for experienced Java developers

The accompanying CD-ROM includes the open source edition of Qt 4.1.1 for Windows, Mac, Linux, and many Unixes, as well as MinGW, a set of freely available development tools that can be used to build Qt applications on Windows, and also the source code for the book's examples.

Pearson Higher Education offers special pricing when you choose to package your text with other student resources. If you're interested in creating a cost-saving package for your students contact your Pearson Higher Education representative.