Qt 5.9 | QDoc Manual | Miscellaneous

Qt 5.9.2 Reference Documentation

Special Content ◦ Creating DITA Maps

# Miscellaneous

These commands provide miscellaneous functions connected to the visual appearance of the documentation, and to the process of generating the documentation.

## \annotatedlist

The \annotatedlist command expands to a list of the members of a group, each member listed with its brief text. Below is an example from the Qt Reference Documentation:

      / *!
          ...
          \section1 Drag and Drop Classes

          These classes deal with drag and drop and the necessary mime type
          encoding and decoding.

          \annotatedlist draganddrop

      * /

This generates a list of all the C++ classes and/or QML types in the draganddrop group. A C++ class or QML type in the draganddrop group will have \ingroup draganddrop in its \class or \qmltype comment.

## \generatelist

The \generatelist command expands to a list of links to the documentation entities in a group. Below is an example from the Qt Reference Documentation:

      / *!
          \page classes.html
          \title All Classes

          For a shorter list that only includes the most
          frequently used classes, see \l{Qt's Main Classes}.

          \generatelist classes Q
      * /

This generates the All Classes page. The command accepts the following arguments:

### `annotatedclasses`

The `annotatedclasses` argument provides a table containing the names of all the classes, and a description of each class. Each class name is a link to the class's reference documentation. For example:

QDial | Rounded range control (like a speedometer or potentiometer)
QDialog | The base class of dialog windows
QDir | Access to directory structures and their contents

A C++ class is documented with the \class command. The annotation for the class is taken from the argument of the class comment's \brief command.

### `annotatedexamples`

The `annotatedexamples` argument provides a complete list of all examples as a set of tables containing the titles of all the examples, and a description of each example. Each title is a link to the example's documentation.

A separate table for each module (that has documented examples) is generated, provided that the module has defined a navigation.landingpage configuration variable. The landingpage variable is used as a title for a header that precedes each table.

### `annotatedattributions`

The `annotatedattributions` argument provides a complete list of all attributions as a set of tables containing the titles of all the attributions, and a description of each attribution. Each title is a link to the attribution's page.

A separate table for each module (that has attributions) is generated, provided that the module has defined a navigation.landingpage configuration variable. The landingpage variable is used as a title for a header that precedes each table.

### `classes <prefix>`

The `classes` argument provides a complete alphabetical list of the classes. The second argument, `<prefix>`, is the common prefix for the class names. The class names will be sorted on the character that follows the common prefix. e.g. The common prefix for the Qt classes is `Q`. The common prefix argument is optional. If no common prefix is provided, the class names will be sorted on their first character.

Each class name becomes a link to the class's reference documentation. This command is used to generate the All Classes page this way:

      / *!
          \page classes.html
          \title All Classes
          \ingroup classlists

          \brief Alphabetical list of classes.

          This is a list of all Qt classes. For a list of the classes
          provided for compatibility with Qt3, see \l{Qt3 Support
          Classes}. For classes that have been deprecated, see the
          \l{Obsolete Classes} list.

          \generatelist classes Q
      * /

A C++ class is documented with the \class command.

### `classesbymodule`

When this argument is used, a second argument is required, which specifies the module whose classes are to be listed. QDoc generates a table containing those classes. Each class is listed with the text of its \brief command.

For example, this command can be used on a module page as follows:

      / *!
          \page phonon-module.html
          \module Phonon
          \title Phonon Module
          \ingroup modules

          \brief Contains namespaces and classes for multimedia functionality.

          \generatelist{classesbymodule Phonon}

      ...

      * /

Each class that is a member of the specified module must be marked with the \inmodule command in its \class comment.

### `qmltypesbymodule`

Similar to `classesbymodule` argument, but used for listing the QML types from the QML module specified with the second argument.

Note: Support for this argument was introduced in QDoc 5.6.

### `jstypesbymodule`

Similar to `classesbymodule` argument, but used for listing the JavaScript types from the module specified with the second argument.

Note: Support for this argument was introduced in QDoc 5.6.

### `compatclasses`

The `compatclasses` argument generates a list in alphabetical order of the support classes. It is normally used only to generate the Qt3 Support Classes page this way:

      / *!
          \page compatclasses.html
          \title Qt3 Support Classes
          \ingroup classlists

          \brief Enable porting of code from Qt 3 to Qt 4.

          These are the classes that Qt provides for compatibility with Qt
          3. Most of these are provided by the Qt3Support module.

          \generatelist compatclasses
      * /

A support class is identified in the \class comment with the \compat command.

### `functionindex`

The `functionindex` argument provides a complete alphabetical list of all the documented member functions. It is normally used only to generate the Qt function index page this way:

      / *!
          \page functions.html
          \title All Functions
          \ingroup funclists

          \brief All documented Qt functions listed alphabetically with a
          link to where each one is declared.

          This is the list of all documented member functions and global
          functions in the Qt API. Each function has a link to the
          class or header file where it is declared and documented.

          \generatelist functionindex
      * /

### `legalese`

The `legalese` argument tells QDoc to generate a list of licenses in the current documentation project. Each license is identified using the \legalese command.

### `overviews`

The `overviews` argument is used to tell QDoc to generate a list by concatenating the contents of all the \group pages. Qt uses it to generate the overviews page this way:

      / *!
          \page overviews.html

          \title All Overviews and HOWTOs

          \generatelist overviews
      * /

### `attributions`

The `attributions` argument is used to tell QDoc to generate a list of attributions in the documentation.

### `related`

The `related` argument is used in combination with the \group and \ingroup commands to list all the overviews related to a specified group. For example, the page for the Programming with Qt page is generated this way:

      / *!
          \group qt-basic-concepts
          \title Programming with Qt

          \brief The basic architecture of the Qt cross-platform application and UI framework.

          Qt is a cross-platform application and UI framework for
          writing web-enabled applications for desktop, mobile, and
          embedded operating systems. This page contains links to
          articles and overviews explaining key components and
          techniuqes used in Qt development.

          \generatelist {related}
      * /

Each page listed on this group page contains the command:

      \ingroup qt-basic-concepts

## \if

The \if command and the corresponding \endif command enclose parts of a QDoc comment that only will be included if the condition specified by the command's argument is true.

The command reads the rest of the line and parses it as an C++ #if statement.

      / *!
          \if defined(opensourceedition)

          \note This edition is for the development of
          \l{Qt Open Source Edition} {Free and Open Source}
          software only; see \l{Qt Commercial Editions}.

          \endif
      * /

This QDoc comment will only be rendered if the `opensourceedition` preprocessor symbol is defined, and specified in the defines variable in the configuration file to make QDoc process the code within #ifdef and #endif:

      defines = opensourceedition

You can also define the preprocessor symbol manually on the command line. For more information see the documentation of the defines variable.

See also \endif, \else, defines and falsehoods.

## \endif

The \endif command and the corresponding \if command enclose parts of a QDoc comment that will be included if the condition specified by the \if command's argument is true.

For more information, see the documentation of the \if command.

See also \if, \else, defines and falsehoods.

## \else

The \else command specifies an alternative if the condition in the \if command is false.

The \else command can only be used within \if...\endif commands, but is useful when there is only two alternatives.

      / *!
          The Qt 3 support library is provided to keep old
          source code working.

          In addition to the \c Qt3Support classes, Qt 4 provides
          compatibility functions when it's possible for an old
          API to cohabit with the new one.

          \if !defined(QT3_SUPPORT)
              \if defined(QT3_SUPPORTWARNINGS)
                  The compiler emits a warning when a
                  compatibility function is called. (This works
                  only with GCC 3.2+ and MSVC 7.)
              \else
                  To use the Qt 3 support library, you need to
                  have the line QT += qt3support in your .pro
                  file (qmake automatically define the
                  QT3_SUPPORT symbol, turning on compatibility
                  function support).

                  You can also define the symbol manually (for example,
                  if you don't want to link against the \c
                  Qt3Support library), or you can define \c
                  QT3_SUPPORT_WARNINGS instead, telling the
                  compiler to emit a warning when a compatibility
                  function is called. (This works only with GCC
                  3.2+ and MSVC 7.)
              \endif
          \endif
      * /

If the `QT3_SUPPORT` is defined, the comment will be rendered like this:

> The Qt 3 support library is provided to keep old source code working.

> In addition to the Qt3Support classes, Qt 4 provides compatibility functions when it's possible for an old API to cohabit with the new one.

If `QT3_SUPPORT` is not defined but `QT3_SUPPORT_WARNINGS` is defined, the comment will be rendered like this:

> The Qt 3 support library is provided to keep old source code working.

> In addition to the Qt3Support classes, Qt 4 provides compatibility functions when it's possible for an old API to cohabit with the new one.

> The compiler emits a warning when a compatibility function is called. (This works only with GCC 3.2+ and MSVC 7.)

If none of the symbols are defined, the comment will be rendered as

> The Qt 3 support library is provided to keep old source code working.

> In addition to the `Qt3Support` classes, Qt 4 provides compatibility functions when it's possible for an old API to cohabit with the new one.

> To use the Qt 3 support library, you need to have the line QT += qt3support in your .pro file (qmake automatically define the QT3_SUPPORT symbol, turning on compatibility function support).

> You can also define the symbol manually (e.g., if you don't want to link against the `Qt3Support` library), or you can define `QT3_SUPPORT_WARNINGS` instead, telling the compiler to emit a warning when a compatibility function is called. (This works only with GCC 3.2+ and MSVC 7.)

See also \if, \endif, defines and falsehoods.

## \include

The \include command sends all or part of the file specified by its first argument to the QDoc input stream to be processed as a QDoc comment snippet.

The command is useful when some snippet of commands or text is to be used in multiple places in the documentation. Use the \include command wherever you want to insert a snippet into the documentation. The file containing the snippet to include must be located under the path(s) listed in the sourcedirs QDoc configuration variable. It can be either any source file parsed by QDoc (or even the same one where \include command is used), or any other text file. To store snippets in a separate file that is not meant to be parsed by QDoc, use a file extension that is not listed in sources.fileextensions; for example, `.qdocinc`.

The command can have either one or two arguments. The first argument is always a file name. The contents of the file must be QDoc input, in other words, a sequence of QDoc commands and text, but without the enclosing QDoc comment `/``*!` ... `*``/` delimiters. If you want to include the entire named file, don't use the second argument. If you want to include only part of the file, see the two argument form below. Here is an example of the one argument form:

      / *!
          \page corefeatures.html
          \title Core Features

          \include examples/signalandslots.qdocinc
          \include examples/objectmodel.qdocinc
          \include examples/layoutmanagement.qdocinc
      * /

QDoc renders this page as shown here.

### \include filename snippet-identifier

It is a waste of time to make a separate `.qdocinc` file for every QDoc include snippet you want to use in multiple places in the documentation, especially given that you probably have to put the copyright/license notice in every one of these files. So if you have a large number of snippets to be included, you can put them all in a single file if you want, and surround each one with:

          //! [snippet-id1]

             QDoc commands and text...

      //! [snippet-id1]

          //! [snippet-id2]

             More QDoc commands and text...

      //! [snippet-id2]

Then you can use the two-argument form of the command:

      \input examples/signalandslots.qdocinc snippet-id2
      \input examples/objectmodel.qdocinc another-snippet-id

It works as expected. The sequence of QDoc commands and text found between the two tags with the same name as the second argument is sent to the QDoc input stream. You can even have nested snippets.

Note: Snippet identifiers work also within documentation comment (/*! .. */) blocks, so it's not necessary to use a separate `.qdocinc` file. When processing a comment block, QDoc removes any `//!` comment lines from the generated output.

## \meta

The \meta command is mainly used for including metadata in DITA XML files. It is also used when generating HTML output for specifying the maintainer(s) of a C++ class.

The command has two arguments: the first argument is the name of the metadata attribute, and the second argument is the value for the attribute. Each argument should be enclosed in curly brackets, as shown in this example:

      / *!
          \class QWidget
          \brief The QWidget class is the base class of all user interface objects.

          \ingroup basicwidgets

          \meta {technology} {User Interface}
          \meta {platform} {macOS 10.6}
          \meta {platform} {MeeGo}
          \meta {audience} {user}
          \meta {audience} {programmer}
          \meta {audience} {designer}
      * /

When running QDoc to generate HTML, the example above will have no effect on the generated output, but if you run QDoc to generate DITA XML, the example will generate the following:

      <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
      <!DOCTYPE cxxClass PUBLIC "-//NOKIA//DTD DITA C++ API Class Reference Type v0.6.0//EN" "dtd/cxxClass.dtd">
      <!--qwidget.cpp-->
      <cxxClass id="id-9a14268e-6b09-4eee-b940-21a00a0961df">
         <apiName>QWidget</apiName>
         <shortdesc>the QWidget class is the base class of all user interface objects.</shortdesc>
         <prolog>
             <author>Qt Development Frameworks</author>
             <publisher>Qt Project</publisher>
             <copyright>
                 <copyryear year="2017"/>
                 <copyrholder>Qt Project</copyrholder>
             </copyright>
             <permissions view="all"/>
             <metadata>
                 <audience type="designer"/>
                 <audience type="programmer"/>
                 <audience type="user"/>
                 <category>Class reference</category>
                 <prodinfo>
                     <prodname>Qt Reference Documentation</prodname>
                     <vrmlist>
                         <vrm version="4" release="7" modification="3"/>
                     </vrmlist>
                     <component>QtGui</component>
                 </prodinfo>
                 <othermeta name="platform" content="MeeGo"/>
                 <othermeta name="platform" content="macOS 10.6"/>
                 <othermeta name="technology" content="User Interface"/>
             </metadata>
         </prolog>

In the example output, several values have been set using default values obtained from the QDoc configuration file. See Generating DITA XML Output for details.

## \noautolist

The \noautolist command indicates that the annotated list of C++ classes or QML types, which is automatically generated at the bottom of the C++ or QML module page should be omitted, because the classes or types have been listed manually. This command can also be used with the \group command to omit the list of group members, when they are listed manually.

The command must stand on its own line. See Qt Sensors QML Types for an example. The page is generated from `qtsensors5.qdoc`. There you will find a qdoc comment containing the `\qmlmodule` command for the QtSensors module. The same qdoc comment contains two `\annotated-list` commands to list the QML types in two separate groups. The QML types have been divided into these two groups because it makes more sense to list them this way than it does to list them in a single alphabetical list. At the bottom of the comment, `\noautolist` has been used to tell qdoc not to generate the automatic annotated list.

This command was introduced in QDoc 5.6.

## \omit

The \omit command and the corresponding \endomit command delimit parts of the documentation that you want QDoc to skip. For example:

      / *!
          \table
          \row
              \li Basic Widgets
              \li Basic GUI widgets such as buttons, comboboxes
                 and scrollbars.

          \omit
          \row
              \li Component Model
              \li Interfaces and helper classes for the Qt
                 Component Model.
          \endomit

          \row
              \li Database Classes
              \li Database related classes, e.g. for SQL databases.
          \endtable
      * /

QDoc renders this as:

Basic Widgets | Basic GUI widgets such as buttons, comboboxes and scrollbars.
Database Classes | Database related classes, e.g. for SQL databases.

## \raw (avoid)

The \raw command and the corresponding \endraw command delimit a block of raw mark-up language code.

Note: Avoid using this command if possible, because it generates DITA XML code that causes problems. If you are trying to generate special table or list behavior, try to get the behavior you want using the \span and \div commands in your \table or \list.

The command takes an argument specifying the code's format. Currently, the only supported format is HTML.

The \raw command is useful if you want some special HTML effects in your documentation.

      / *!
          Qt has some predefined QColor objects.

          \raw HTML
          <style type="text/css" id="colorstyles">
          #color-blue { background-color: #0000ff; color: #ffffff }
          #color-darkBlue { background-color: #000080; color: #ffffff }
          #color-cyan { background-color: #00ffff; color: #000000 }
          </style>

          <p>
          <tt id="color-blue">Blue(#0000ff)</tt>,
          <tt id="color-darkBlue">dark blue(#000080)</tt> and
          <tt id="color-cyan">cyan(#00ffff)</tt>.
      </p>
          \endraw
      * /

QDoc renders this as:

> Qt has some predefined QColor objects.

> `Blue(#0000ff)`, `dark blue(#000080)` and `cyan(#00ffff)`.

Note: But you can achieve the exact same thing using qdoc commands. In this case, all you have to do is include the color styles in your style.css file. Then you can write:

      \tt {\span {id="color-blue"} {Blue(#0000ff)}},
      \tt {\span {id="color-darkBlue"} {dark blue(#000080)}} and
      \tt {\span {id="color-cyan"} {cyan(#00ffff)}}.

...which is rendered as:

`Blue(#0000ff)`, `dark blue(#000080)` and `cyan(#00ffff)`.

## \unicode

The \unicode command allows you to insert an arbitrary Unicode character in the document.

The command takes an argument specifying the character as an integer. By default, base 10 is assumed, unless a '0x' or '0' prefix is specified (for base 16 and 8, respectively). For example:

      O G\unicode{0xEA}nio e as Rosas

      \unicode 0xC0 table en famille avec 15 \unicode 0x20AC par jour

      \unicode 0x3A3 \e{a}\sub{\e{i}}

QDoc renders this as:

> O Gênio e as Rosas

> À table en famille avec 15 € par jour

> Σ ai

Special Content ◦ Creating DITA Maps