Programming with Qt
Writing Portable GUI applications on Unix and Win32
2nd Edition
Published on 26. February 2002
Book
520 pages
978-0-596-00064-6 (ISBN)
Description
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 whereProgramming 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.
Reviews / Votes
"This is a very well-written book, and a worthwhile read for all but the most advanced Qt programmers. It requires knowledge of C++, but QT concepts are brought up from a basic level and are easy to get to grips with." Verdict: Considering the freely available reference material this is probably the only Qt book you will ever need to buy. 9/10 Linux Format, August 2002More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Sebastopol
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Graphics programmers using C++.
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 179 mm
Thickness: 30 mm
Weight
747 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-596-00064-6 (9780596000646)
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
01/2002
1st Edition
O'Reilly
€29.49
Available for download
E-Book
01/2002
1st Edition
O'Reilly
€37.49
Available for download
Previous edition
Book
05/1999
O'Reilly
€27.00
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Person
Matthias Kalle Dalheimer is the President & CEO of Klar?lvdalens Datakonsult AB, a virtual company with employees spread out over Northern and Central Europe. They specialize in platform-independent software development, often using Qt, of course. Kalle is a core team member of the KDE Project, where he has held lots of voluntary positions, including library maintainer and evangelist. He currently maintains the KLyX and KChart applications. In his spare time, Kalle continuously rebuilds his old farm in the middle of the Swedish forests where he lives with his wife, his son, and his soon-to-be-expected second child; helps his son build up wooden miniature railways; and enjoys hikes in the forest, gardening and carpentry. Kalle has written and translated a number of books for O'Reilly & Associates, among others a (German) book about KDE and (together with Matt Welsh and Lar Kaufman) Running Linux.
Content
Preface 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\(slO 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 Reading and Writing Configuration Data Chapter 12. Interapplication Communication Using the Clipboard Drag-and-Drop Chapter 13. Interfacing with the Operating System Working with Date and Time Values Loading Code Libraries Dynamically Spawning Child Processes Playing Sounds Chapter 14. Writing Your Own Widgets Implementing a Coordinate Selector Implementing a Browse Box Chapter 15. Focus Handling Chapter 16. Advanced Event Handling Event Filters Sending Synthetic Events Chapter 17. Advanced Signals and Slots Signals and Slots Revisited Connecting Several Buttons to One Slot Actions Chapter 18. Providing Help Chapter 19. Accessing Databases Installation of the SQL module Connecting to a Database Simple Data Retrieval Data Retrieval with Cursors Data Display Data Manipulation Anything Else? Chapter 20. Multithreading Configuring Qt for Multithreading Using Qt's Multithreading Classes Multithreading Pitfalls Alternatives to Multithreading Chapter 21. Debugging Chapter 22. Portability Why Portability Is Desirable How to Write Portable Programs Danger Ahead: When Even Qt Is Not Portable Building Projects Portably with qmake Chapter 23. Qt Network Programming Low-Level Socket Access Higher-Level Network Access Chapter 24. Interfacing Qt with Other Languages and\ Libraries OpenGL Programming with Qt Writing Netscape Plug-ins Integrating Xt Widgets Interfacing Qt with Perl Chapter 25. Using the Visual C++ IDE for Qt Programs Importing an Existing Makefile Creating Your Own Project from Scratch Using qmake to Create a Project File Using the MS Visual Studio Integration Chapter 26. Visual Design with Qt Designer Why Do You Need A GUI Designer? Creating a Simple Application with the Help of Qt Designer Adding Functionality to a Dialog Box by Subclassing Using Layout Management Useful Techniques Appendix A. Answers to Exercises Glossary Index