![]() |
Home · Examples |
A tour of the standard layout managers and an introduction to custom layouts. The Qt layout system provides a simple and powerful way of automatically arranging child widgets within a widget to ensure that they make good use of the available space.
All QWidget subclasses can use layouts to manage their children. The QWidget::setLayout() function applies a layout to a widget. When a layout is set on a widget in this way, it takes charge of the following tasks:
QWidget window = new QWidget(); QPushButton button1 = new QPushButton("One"); QPushButton button2 = new QPushButton("Two"); QPushButton button3 = new QPushButton("Three"); QPushButton button4 = new QPushButton("Four"); QPushButton button5 = new QPushButton("Five");The code for QVBoxLayout is identical, except the line where the layout is created. The code for QGridLayout is a bit different, because we need to specify the row and column position of the child widget:
QHBoxLayout layout = new QHBoxLayout(); layout.addWidget(button1); layout.addWidget(button2); layout.addWidget(button3); layout.addWidget(button4); layout.addWidget(button5); window.setLayout(layout); window.show();
QWidget window = new QWidget(); QPushButton button1 = new QPushButton("One"); QPushButton button2 = new QPushButton("Two"); QPushButton button3 = new QPushButton("Three"); QPushButton button4 = new QPushButton("Four"); QPushButton button5 = new QPushButton("Five");The third QPushButton spans 2 columns. This is possible by specifying 2 as the fifth argument to QGridLayout::addWidget().
QGridLayout layout = new QGridLayout(); layout.addWidget(button1, 0, 0); layout.addWidget(button2, 0, 1); layout.addWidget(button3, 1, 0, 1, 2); layout.addWidget(button4, 2, 0); layout.addWidget(button5, 2, 1); window.setLayout(layout); window.show();
When you use a layout, you don't need to pass a parent when constructing the child widgets. The layout will automatically reparent the widgets (using QWidget::setParent()) so that they are children of the widget on which the layout is installed.
Important: Widgets in a layout are children of the widget on which the layout is installed, not of the layout itself. Widgets can only have other widgets as parent, not layouts.
You can nest layouts using addLayout() on a layout; the inner layout then becomes a child of the layout it is inserted into. The Basic Layouts example uses this feature to create a complex dialog.Adding Widgets to a Layout
When you add widgets to a layout, the layout process works as follows: Stretch Factors
Widgets are normally created without any stretch factor set. When they are laid out in a layout the widgets are given a share of space in accordance with their QWidget::sizePolicy() or their minimum size hint whichever is the greater. Stretch factors are used to change how much space widgets are given in proportion to one another.
If we have three widgets laid out using a QHBoxLayout with no stretch factors set we will get a layout like this:
If the preferred height of your widget depends on its actual width (e.g., a label with automatic word-breaking), set the height-for-width flag in the widget's size policy and reimplement QWidget::heightForWidth().
Even if you implement QWidget::heightForWidth(), it is still a good idea to provide a reasonable sizeHint().
For further guidance when implementing these functions, see the Trading Height for Width article in Qt Quarterly. In certain cases the parent layout is put into QLayout::FreeResize mode, meaning that it will not adapt the layout of its contents to fit inside small sized windows, or even prevent the user from making the window too small to be usable. This can be overcome by subclassing the problematic widgets, and implementing suitable sizeHint() and minimumSizeHint() functions. In some cases, it is relevant when a layout is added to a widget. When you set the widget of a QDockWidget or a QScrollArea (with QDockWidget::setWidget() and QScrollArea::setWidget()), the layout must already have been set on the widget. If not, the widget will not be visible. The widget will get an event of type QEvent::LayoutRequest when the layout needs to be recalculated. Reimplement QWidget::event() to handle QEvent::LayoutRequest events. Here we present an example in detail. The class CardLayout is inspired by the Java layout manager of the same name. It lays out the items (widgets or nested layouts) on top of each other, each item offset by QLayout::spacing(). To write your own layout class, you must define the following: ItemAt() returns the item at the given index. takeAt() removes the item at the given index, and returns it. In this case we use the list index as the layout index. In other cases where we have a more complex data structure, we may have to spend more effort defining a linear order for the items. Layout Issues
The use of rich text in a label widget can introduce some problems to the layout of its parent widget. Problems occur due to the way rich text is handled by Qt's layout managers when the label is word wrapped. Manual Layout
If you are making a one-of-a-kind special layout, you can also make a custom widget as described above. Reimplement QWidget::resizeEvent() to calculate the required distribution of sizes and call setGeometry() on each child. Writing Custom Layout Managers
An alternative to manual layout is to write your own layout manager by subclassing QLayout. The Border Layout and Flow Layout examples show how to do this.
In most cases, you will also implement minimumSize().The Header File (card.h)
card.h
#ifndef CARD_H
#define CARD_H
#include <QLayout>
#include <QList>
class CardLayout : public QLayout
{
public:
CardLayout(QWidget *parent, int dist)
: QLayout(parent, 0, dist) {}
CardLayout(QLayout *parent, int dist)
: QLayout(parent, dist) {}
CardLayout(int dist)
: QLayout(dist) {}
~CardLayout();
void addItem(QLayoutItem *item);
QSize sizeHint() const;
QSize minimumSize() const;
QLayoutItem *itemAt(int) const;
QLayoutItem *takeAt(int);
void setGeometry(const QRect &rect);
private:
QList<QLayoutItem*> list;
};
#endif
The Implementation File (card.cpp)
card.cpp
#include "card.h"
First we define two functions that iterate over the layout: itemAt() and takeAt(). These functions are used internally by the layout system to handle deletion of widgets. They are also available for application programmers.
QLayoutItem *CardLayout::itemAt(int idx) const
{
// QList::value() performs index checking, and returns 0 if we are
// outside the valid range
return list.value(idx);
}
QLayoutItem *CardLayout::takeAt(int idx)
{
// QList::take does not do index checking
return idx >= 0 && idx < list.size() ? list.takeAt(idx) : 0;
}
addItem() implements the default placement strategy for layout items. It must be implemented. It is used by QLayout::add(), by the QLayout constructor that takes a layout as parent. If your layout has advanced placement options that require parameters, you must provide extra access functions such as the row and column spanning overloads of QGridLayout::addItem(), addWidget(), and addLayout().
void CardLayout::addItem(QLayoutItem *item) { list.append(item); }The layout takes over responsibility of the items added. Since QLayoutItem does not inherit QObject, we must delete the items manually. The function QLayout::deleteAllItems() uses takeAt() defined above to delete all the items in the layout.
CardLayout::~CardLayout() { deleteAllItems(); }The setGeometry() function actually performs the layout. The rectangle supplied as an argument does not include margin(). If relevant, use spacing() as the distance between items.
void CardLayout::setGeometry(const QRect &r) { QLayout::setGeometry(r); if (list.size() == 0) return; int w = r.width() - (list.count() - 1) * spacing(); int h = r.height() - (list.count() - 1) * spacing(); int i = 0; while (i < list.size()) { QLayoutItem *o = list.at(i); QRect geom(r.x() + i * spacing(), r.y() + i * spacing(), w, h); o->setGeometry(geom); ++i; } }sizeHint() and minimumSize() are normally very similar in implementation. The sizes returned by both functions should include spacing(), but not margin().
QSize CardLayout::sizeHint() const { QSize s(0,0); int n = list.count(); if (n > 0) s = QSize(100,70); //start with a nice default size int i = 0; while (i < n) { QLayoutItem *o = list.at(i); s = s.expandedTo(o->sizeHint()); ++i; } return s + n*QSize(spacing(), spacing()); } QSize CardLayout::minimumSize() const { QSize s(0,0); int n = list.count(); int i = 0; while (i < n) { QLayoutItem *o = list.at(i); s = s.expandedTo(o->minimumSize()); ++i; } return s + n*QSize(spacing(), spacing()); }
We ignore QLayoutItem::isEmpty(), this means that the layout will treat hidden widgets as visible.
For complex layouts, speed can be greatly increased by caching calculated values. In that case, implement QLayoutItem::invalidate() to mark the cached data as dirty.
Calling QLayoutItem::sizeHint(), etc. may be expensive, so you should store the value in a local variable if you need it again later in the same function.
You should not call QLayoutItem::setGeometry() twice on the same item in the same function. That can be very expensive if the item has several child widgets, because it must do a complete layout every time. Instead, calculate the geometry and then set it. (This doesn't only apply to layouts, you should do the same if you implement your own resizeEvent().)
Copyright © 2008 Trolltech | Trademarks | Qt Jambi 4.4.2_01 |