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• Qt5 Signals And Slots Syntax

Signals and Slots in Qt5 Qt5 alpha has been released. One of the features which I have been working on is a new syntax for signals and slot. This blog entry will present it. Qt/C - Tutorial 073. Signals and slots. Connecting Slots to Overloaded Signals in the Qt5 Syntax. Quite a frequent problem when working with signals with slots in Qt5, according to my observations on the forum, is the connection of slots in the syntax on the pointers to signals having an over.

From Qt 5.0 onwards, Qt offers two different ways to write signal-slot connections in C++: The string-based connection syntax and the functor-based connection syntax. There are pros and cons to both syntaxes. The table below summarizes their differences.

The following sections explain these differences in detail and demonstrate how to use the features unique to each connection syntax.

Type Checking and Implicit Type Conversions

String-based connections type-check by comparing strings at run-time. There are three limitations with this approach:

1. Connection errors can only be detected after the program has started running.
2. Implicit conversions cannot be done between signals and slots.
3. Typedefs and namespaces cannot be resolved.

Limitations 2 and 3 exist because the string comparator does not have access to C++ type information, so it relies on exact string matching.

In contrast, functor-based connections are checked by the compiler. The compiler catches errors at compile-time, enables implicit conversions between compatible types, and recognizes different names of the same type.

For example, only the functor-based syntax can be used to connect a signal that carries an int to a slot that accepts a double. A QSlider holds an int value while a QDoubleSpinBox holds a double value. The following snippet shows how to keep them in sync:

The following example illustrates the lack of name resolution. QAudioInput::stateChanged() is declared with an argument of type 'QAudio::State'. Thus, string-based connections must also specify 'QAudio::State', even if 'State' is already visible. This issue does not apply to functor-based connections because argument types are not part of the connection.

Making Connections to Lambda Expressions

The functor-based connection syntax can connect signals to C++11 lambda expressions, which are effectively inline slots. This feature is not available with the string-based syntax.

In the following example, the TextSender class emits a textCompleted() signal which carries a QString parameter. Here is the class declaration:

Here is the connection which emits TextSender::textCompleted() when the user clicks the button:

In this example, the lambda function made the connection simple even though QPushButton::clicked() and TextSender::textCompleted() have incompatible parameters. In contrast, a string-based implementation would require extra boilerplate code.

Note: The functor-based connection syntax accepts pointers to all functions, including standalone functions and regular member functions. However, for the sake of readability, signals should only be connected to slots, lambda expressions, and other signals.

Connecting C++ Objects to QML Objects

The string-based syntax can connect C++ objects to QML objects, but the functor-based syntax cannot. This is because QML types are resolved at run-time, so they are not available to the C++ compiler.

In the following example, clicking on the QML object makes the C++ object print a message, and vice-versa. Here is the QML type (in QmlGui.qml):

Here is the C++ class:

Here is the code that makes the signal-slot connections:

Note: All JavaScript functions in QML take parameters of var type, which maps to the QVariant type in C++.

Qt5 Signals And Slots

When the QPushButton is clicked, the console prints, 'QML received: 'Hello from C++!'. Likewise, when the Rectangle is clicked, the console prints, 'C++ received: 'Hello from QML!'.

See Interacting with QML Objects from C++ for other ways to let C++ objects interact with QML objects.

Using Default Parameters in Slots to Connect to Signals with Fewer Parameters

Usually, a connection can only be made if the slot has the same number of arguments as the signal (or less), and if all the argument types are compatible.

The string-based connection syntax provides a workaround for this rule: If the slot has default parameters, those parameters can be omitted from the signal. When the signal is emitted with fewer arguments than the slot, Qt runs the slot using default parameter values.

Functor-based connections do not support this feature.

Suppose there is a class called DemoWidget with a slot printNumber() that has a default argument:

Using a string-based connection, DemoWidget::printNumber() can be connected to QApplication::aboutToQuit(), even though the latter has no arguments. The functor-based connection will produce a compile-time error:

To work around this limitation with the functor-based syntax, connect the signal to a lambda function that calls the slot. See the section above, Making Connections to Lambda Expressions.

Selecting Overloaded Signals and Slots

Qt5 Signals Slots Emit

With the string-based syntax, parameter types are explicitly specified. As a result, the desired instance of an overloaded signal or slot is unambiguous.

In contrast, with the functor-based syntax, an overloaded signal or slot must be casted to tell the compiler which instance to use.

For example, QLCDNumber has three versions of the display() slot:

Signal Slots Qt5

1. QLCDNumber::display(int)
2. QLCDNumber::display(double)
3. QLCDNumber::display(QString)

To connect the int version to QSlider::valueChanged(), the two syntaxes are:

Qt5 Signals Slots Threads

See also qOverload().

Qt5 Signals And Slots Syntax

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