Qt5: Though connected, Signal emmited but Slot not being called - c++

So I have a Qt class MyQtClass, and a QOject inherited class Sender. I want to access the Ui from the Senderclass (Which by the way only consists static members), so I set up the static Sender& instance(), static void emitSignal()functions and the QSignal Q_SIGNAL void mySignal()in the Sender class (See the code below). In the Qt-class-header MyQtClass.h I've set up the QSlot Q_SLOT void mySlot(). I connect those two slots in the main.cpp
(const bool connected = QObject::connect(&Sender::instance(), &Sender::mySignal, &w, &MyQtClass::mySlot);)
Via qDebug();I found out that the connect is successful, and once I invoke the method emitSignal()the Signal is being emitted. The Slot though is never being called.
I gues that my mistake is in the main at the connection.
Code:
Sender.h:
#pragma once
#include <QtWidgets/QMainWindow>
#include <qdebug.h>
class Sender : public QObject
{
Q_OBJECT
using QObject::QObject;
public:
/*----------------------------*/
/*---Lots of static Members---*/
/*----------------------------*/
static Sender& instance(){
static Sender m_instance;
return m_instance;
}
static void emitSignal() {
emit instance().mySignal();
}
Q_SIGNAL void mySignal() {
qDebug() << "Signal emitted!";
}
};
MyQtClass.h
#pragma once
#include <qdebug.h>
#include <QtWidgets/QMainWindow>
#include "ui_MyQtClass.h"
class MyQtClass : public QMainWindow
{
Q_OBJECT
public:
MyQtClass(QWidget *parent = Q_NULLPTR);
Q_SLOT void mySlot() {
qDebug() << "Slot invoked";
}
private:
Ui::MyQtClassClass ui;
};
MyQtClass.cpp
#include "MyQtClass.h"
#include "Sender.h";
#include <qdebug.h>
MyQtClass::MyQtClass(QWidget *parent)
: QMainWindow(parent)
{
ui.setupUi(this);
qDebug() << "Ui has been setup!";
}
main.cpp
#include "MyQtClass.h"
#include "Sender.h"
#include <qdebug.h>
#include <QtWidgets/QApplication>
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
QApplication a(argc, argv);
MyQtClass w;
w.show();
const bool connected = QObject::connect(&Sender::instance(), &Sender::mySignal, &w, &MyQtClass::mySlot);
qDebug() << "Connection established: " << connected;
Sender::emitSignal();
return a.exec();
}
Thank you very much for your time!

I would check your build system. You should not be able to compile the Q_SIGNAL with a function body without getting a redefinition error. If you can build it you are likely not involving any of the Qt machinery that you want to use. I do not have any experience with your Visual Studio/mingw environment but I was able to get the following to build on an Linux platform.
main.cpp
#include <QDebug>
#include <QtWidgets/QApplication>
#include <QtWidgets/QMainWindow>
#include "Sender.h"
#include "MyQtClass.h"
//#include "ui_MyQtClass.h"
MyQtClass::MyQtClass(QWidget *parent)
: QMainWindow(parent)
{
qDebug() << "Ui has been setup!";
}
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
QApplication a(argc, argv);
MyQtClass w;
w.show();
const bool connected = QObject::connect(&Sender::instance(), &Sender::mySignal, &w, &MyQtClass::mySlot);
qDebug() << "Connection established: " << connected;
Sender::emitSignal();
return a.exec();
}
Sender.h
#pragma once
#include <QtWidgets/QMainWindow>
class Sender : public QObject
{
Q_OBJECT
using QObject::QObject;
public:
/*----------------------------*/
/*---Lots of static Members---*/
/*----------------------------*/
static Sender& instance(){
static Sender m_instance;
return m_instance;
}
static void emitSignal() {
emit instance().mySignal();
}
Q_SIGNAL void mySignal();
};
MyQtClass.h
#pragma once
#include <QtWidgets/QMainWindow>
#include <QDebug>
class MyQtClass : public QMainWindow
{
Q_OBJECT
public:
MyQtClass(QWidget *parent = Q_NULLPTR);
Q_SLOT void mySlot() {
qDebug() << "Slot invoked";
}
private:
//Ui::MyQtClassClass ui;
};
I then built it manually invoking the Meta-Object Compiler
moc Sender.h > moc_Sender.cpp
moc MyQtClass.h > moc_MyQtClass.cpp
g++ main.cpp moc_Sender.cpp moc_MyQtClass.cpp -I /usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu/qt5/QtCore/ -I /usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu/qt5 -fPIC -std=c++11 -I /usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu/qt5/QtWidgets/ -lQt5Core -lQt5Widgets
which produced the expected output
user#mintvm ~ $ ./a.out
Ui has been setup!
Connection established: true
Slot invoked
Have you tried to use the qmake build system so that you do not need to worry about all of the details related to the compilation of the meta object system?

Related

How to run it on another Qt thread?

With Qthread in mind I tried the following but it seems everything is still running in the same thread.
main.cpp
#include "widget.h"
#include <QApplication>
#include "core.h"
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
QApplication a(argc, argv);
qDebug() << Q_FUNC_INFO << QThread::currentThreadId();
Core core;
Widget w(core);
w.show();
return a.exec();
}
func.h
#ifndef FUNC_H
#define FUNC_H
#include <QDebug>
#include <QThread>
class Func : public QObject
{
Q_OBJECT
public:
explicit Func()
{
qDebug() << Q_FUNC_INFO << QThread::currentThreadId();
}
void compute()
{
qDebug() << Q_FUNC_INFO << QThread::currentThreadId();
}
};
#endif // FUNC_H
core.h
#ifndef CORE_H
#define CORE_H
#include <QObject>
#include "func.h"
class Core : public QObject
{
Q_OBJECT
QThread thread;
Func* func = nullptr;
public:
explicit Core(QObject *parent = nullptr)
{
func = new Func();
func->moveToThread(&thread);
connect(&thread, &QThread::finished, func, &QObject::deleteLater);
thread.start();
}
~Core() {
thread.quit();
thread.wait();
}
public slots:
void compute(){func->compute();}
signals:
};
#endif // CORE_H
widget.h
#ifndef WIDGET_H
#define WIDGET_H
#include <QWidget>
#include "core.h"
class Widget : public QWidget
{
Q_OBJECT
public:
Widget(Core& core)
{
qDebug() << Q_FUNC_INFO << QThread::currentThreadId();
core.compute(); // This should run on a different thread ?
}
};
#endif // WIDGET_H
Running I get the output:
int main(int, char **) 0x107567e00
Func::Func() 0x107567e00
Widget::Widget(Core &) 0x107567e00
void Func::compute() 0x107567e00
Above output was from macOS but in Windows I got similar result.
So what am I doing wrong?
You cannot call the slot compute() directly, it will call it in the same thread as runs the code which called it (as you can see in the output).
You need to run the slot via signals/slots mechanism (or with invokeMethod(), but let's ignore this one).
Typically this is done by connecting thread's started() signal to the slot and then calling QThread::start() from the main thread. It will result in slot being called in the secondary thread just after the thread gets started.

Thread and GUI handling

In my App I have some problems with threads and GUI messages like QMessageBox or a new dialog. To reproduce I made a small app to show the problem:
mainwindow.cpp
#include <QDebug>
#include "mainwindow.h"
#include "ui_mainwindow.h"
void ThreadAddTree::run() {
//mClass->addTreeEx();
bool b = false;
emit addTree(&b);
}
MainWindow::MainWindow(QWidget *parent)
: QMainWindow(parent)
, ui(new Ui::MainWindow)
{
ui->setupUi(this);
}
MainWindow::~MainWindow()
{
delete ui;
}
void MainWindow::on_pushButton_clicked()
{
QString path = "";
mThreadAddTree = new ThreadAddTree(this, path);
connect(mThreadAddTree, SIGNAL(addTree(bool*)), this, SLOT(on_add_tree(bool*)), Qt::BlockingQueuedConnection);
//,Qt::DirectConnection
mThreadAddTree->start();
}
void MainWindow::on_add_tree(bool* newData) {
QMessageBox::information(this, tr("Information"),
tr("Button click!"));
*newData = true;
}
void MainWindow::addTreeEx()
{
QMessageBox::information(this, tr("Information"),
tr("Button click!"));
}
Mainwindow.h
#ifndef MAINWINDOW_H
#define MAINWINDOW_H
#include <QMainWindow>
#include <QtWidgets>
#include <QThread>
QT_BEGIN_NAMESPACE
namespace Ui { class MainWindow; }
QT_END_NAMESPACE
class ThreadAddTree : public QThread
{
Q_OBJECT
public:
ThreadAddTree(class MainWindow *nClass, const QString &path) {
mPath = path;
mClass = nClass;
}
signals:
void addTree(bool*);
protected:
void run();
QString mPath;
class MainWindow *mClass;
};
class MainWindow : public QMainWindow
{
Q_OBJECT
friend class ThreadAddTree;
public:
MainWindow(QWidget *parent = nullptr);
~MainWindow();
void addTreeEx();
private slots:
void on_pushButton_clicked();
private:
Ui::MainWindow *ui;
protected:
ThreadAddTree *mThreadAddTree;
protected Q_SLOTS:
void on_add_tree(bool* newData);
};
#endif // MAINWINDOW_H
main.cpp
#include "mainwindow.h"
#include <QApplication>
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
QApplication a(argc, argv);
MainWindow w;
w.show();
return a.exec();
}
If I use in Thread the call: mClass->addTreeEx(); the app will crash, in case of non main GUI thread. Understood.
So I uncouple the call with emit a message emit addTree(&b); works well. Messagebox is shown and no crash.
But now it becomes complicated for me. I need to call mClass->addTreeEx(); in my app because it will do a couple of operations. The same function is also used outside an additional thread.
But in one case, the mClass->addTreeEx(); that is running inside the thread need to call the Messagebox.
So my question is here, how to manage, that I can emit the emit addTree(&b); from the function mClass->addTreeEx(); if it was called from the thread and the app will not crash in case of no GUI thread?
Interpreting the code author's intent (to degree) and open to be corrected.
The signal parameter of type bool* in void addTree(bool*); makes not much sense especially for the case with signal sender having the boolean variable on the stack. Either make it void addTree(bool) and send immediate value or just void addTree() and handle the boolean atomic flag on the slot side as std::atomic_bool thread_safe_flag; so checking on that flag will be as actual as possible if (thread_safe_flag). But such handling requires even more to ensure the signal delivered at the right time in sync with the value. This is irrelevant to Qt, though: Why do I need to acquire a lock to modify a shared "atomic" variable before notifying condition_variable and can be done either with or without Qt.
The problem of message box on UI thread preventing the other message box from appearing (this is again an interpretation of the author's problem with the code). We obviously need to have a handle operate the message box, say, dismiss it, in case if it is open already:
QMessageBox* m_msgBoxPtr{nullptr};
std::atomic_bool m_threadSafeFlag;
void UI_Class::mySlotToHandleMsgBox()
{
if (m_msgBoxPtr != nullptr) {
m_msgBoxPtr->close();
m_msgBoxPtr->deleteLater();
m_msgBoxPtr = nullptr;
mySlotToHandleMsgBox();
}
else {
m_msgBoxPtr = new QMessageBox(QMessageBox::Information, title, message);
m_msgBoxPtr->exec(); // assuming we want modal dialog as QMessageBox::information()
// otherwise do m_msgBoxPtr->show()
// if this is set on UI thread only then and no
// "waits" for it on other threads then it being atomic is enough;
// then don't bother with any sync "complications"
m_threadSafeFlag = true;
}
}
mainworker.h
#ifndef MAINWORKER_H
#define MAINWORKER_H
#include <QObject>
class MainWorker : public QObject
{
Q_OBJECT
signals:
void completed(void);
public slots:
void run(void);
};
#endif // MAINWORKER_H
mainworker.cpp
#include "mainworker.h"
#include <QThread>
void MainWorker::run(void)
{
QThread::sleep(1);
emit completed();
}
mainthread.h
#ifndef MAINTHREAD_H
#define MAINTHREAD_H
#include <QThread>
class MainThread : public QThread
{
Q_OBJECT
public:
MainThread(void);
};
#endif // MAINTHREAD_H
mainthread.cpp
#include "mainthread.h"
MainThread::MainThread(void)
: QThread(nullptr)
{
}
mainwindow.h
#ifndef MAINWINDOW_H
#define MAINWINDOW_H
#include <QMainWindow>
#include <QPushButton>
class MainWindow : public QMainWindow
{
Q_OBJECT
public:
MainWindow(void);
signals:
void runJob(void);
public slots:
void jobCompleted(void);
private:
QPushButton m_runButton;
};
#endif // MAINWINDOW_H
mainwindow.cpp
#include "mainwindow.h"
#include <QMessageBox>
MainWindow::MainWindow(void)
: QMainWindow(nullptr),
m_runButton(this)
{
connect(&m_runButton, SIGNAL(released()), this, SIGNAL(runJob()));
m_runButton.setText("RUN!");
setCentralWidget(&m_runButton);
}
void MainWindow::jobCompleted(void)
{
QMessageBox::information(this, tr("Info"), tr("Job completed!"));
}
main.cpp
#include <QApplication>
#include "mainwindow.h"
#include "mainthread.h"
#include "mainworker.h"
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
QApplication a(argc, argv);
MainWindow window;
MainThread thread;
MainWorker worker;
worker.connect(&window, SIGNAL(runJob()), &worker, SLOT(run()));
window.connect(&worker, SIGNAL(completed()), &window, SLOT(jobCompleted()));
worker.moveToThread(&thread);
thread.start();
window.show();
int exitCode = a.exec();
thread.quit();
thread.wait();
return exitCode;
}
Of course you can add args to signals and slots and call jobCompleted() slot any time from GUI thread.

Qt Slot is not called when it lives on a thread created via std::async

I wanted to create a Qt widget which communicates with other classes on different threads via the signal / slot system. The recieving Objects are created in a Function wich is run via std::async.
The problem is: If the widget emits a signal the slot on the other thread is not called.
My Example:
I created the Class MainWindow which derives from QMainWindow and will live on the main thread. The class Reciever is created in a function which is called via std::async, and has a thread which should print something to the console.
I tested if the signal is emitted by connecting it to another slot on the same thread which works fine.
MainWindow.hpp
#pragma once
#include <QMainWindow>
class MainWindow : public QMainWindow
{
Q_OBJECT
public:
explicit MainWindow(QWidget *parent = 0);
signals:
void send();
private slots:
void buttonClicked();
void recieve();
};
MainWindow.cpp
#include "MainWindow.hpp"
#include <iostream>
#include <QPushButton>
MainWindow::MainWindow(QWidget *parent) :
QMainWindow(parent)
{
QPushButton* start = new QPushButton("Start");
setCentralWidget(start);
start->show();
connect(start, SIGNAL(clicked(bool)), this, SLOT(buttonClicked()));
connect(this, SIGNAL(send()), this, SLOT(recieve()));
}
void MainWindow::buttonClicked()
{
std::cout << "MainWindow::buttonClicked()\n";
emit send();
}
void MainWindow::recieve()
{
std::cout << "MainWindow::recieve()\n";
}
Reciever.hpp
#include <QObject>
class Reciever : public QObject
{
Q_OBJECT
public:
Reciever(QObject *parent = 0);
public slots:
void recieve();
};
Reciever.cpp
#include "Reciever.hpp"
#include <iostream>
Reciever::Reciever(QObject *parent) : QObject(parent)
{
std::cout << "Reciever()" << std::endl;
}
void Reciever::recieve()
{
std::cout << "Reciever::recieve()" << std::endl;
}
main.cpp
#include "MainWindow.hpp"
#include "Reciever.hpp"
#include <QApplication>
#include <future>
void StartAndConnect(MainWindow &widget)
{
Reciever* rec = new Reciever();
QObject::connect(&widget, SIGNAL(send()), rec, SLOT(recieve()));
}
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
QApplication app(argc, argv);
MainWindow myWidget;
myWidget.show();
auto future = std::async(std::launch::async, [&myWidget](){
StartAndConnect(myWidget);
});
app.exec();
future.wait();
}
After some research my strongest guess was, that the thread launched by std::async does not has a Qt event-loop and thus will not come to a point where the posted event (emit) is processed. I changed the main to use QtConcurrent::run but it also did not work.
EDIT
Here my try with QtConcurrent:
main2.cpp
#include "MainWindow.hpp"
#include "Reciever.hpp"
#include <QApplication>
#include <future>
#include <QtConcurrent>
void StartAndConnect(MainWindow &widget)
{
Reciever* rec = new Reciever();
QObject::connect(&widget, SIGNAL(send()), rec, SLOT(recieve()));
}
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
QApplication app(argc, argv);
MainWindow myWidget;
myWidget.show();
auto future = QtConcurrent::run( [&myWidget](){
StartAndConnect(myWidget);
});
app.exec();
future.waitForFinished();
}
You need a running event loop in your thread, if you want to process cross-thread slot calls.
auto future = QtConcurrent::run( [&myWidget](){
StartAndConnect(myWidget);
QEventLoop e;
e.exec();
});
But I recomend to use QThread, because in your case it is obvious. Qt has a very good documentation, that describes your case.

Share data between two QWidget instances

I would like share a string between two instances of QWidget.
In main.cpp, two objects are instantiated and shown like this:
#include "dialog.h"
#include <QApplication>
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
QApplication a(argc, argv);
Dialog w1,w2; //Derived from QWidget
w1.show();
w2.show();
return a.exec();
}
I would introduce SharedState class:
// shared_state.h
#ifndef SHARED_STATE_HPP
#define SHARED_STATE_HPP
#include <QObject>
class SharedState : public QObject
{
Q_OBJECT
public:
SharedState(QString initialValue = "")
: currentValue(initialValue)
{}
QString getCurrentValue()
{
return currentValue;
}
public slots:
void setValue(QString newValue)
{
if(currentValue != newValue)
{
currentValue = newValue;
emit valueChanged(currentValue);
}
}
signals:
void valueChanged(QString);
private:
QString currentValue;
};
#endif // SHARED_STATE_HPP
Now I would provide reference to SharedState in Dialog's constructor,
// dialog.h
#ifndef DIALOG_H
#define DIALOG_H
#include <QWidget>
#include "shared_state.h"
namespace Ui {
class Dialog;
}
class Dialog : public QWidget
{
Q_OBJECT
public:
explicit Dialog(SharedState& state, QWidget *parent = 0);
~Dialog();
private slots:
void handleTextEdited(const QString&);
public slots:
void handleInternalStateChanged(QString);
private:
Ui::Dialog *ui;
SharedState& state;
};
#endif // DIALOG_H
You may have noticed that I have added two slots, one to handle the case when the text is manually edited and one when shared state will inform us that we are out of date.
Now in Dialog's constructor I had to set initial value to textEdit, and connect signals to slots.
// dialog.cpp
#include "dialog.h"
#include "ui_dialog.h"
Dialog::Dialog(SharedState& state, QWidget *parent) :
QWidget(parent),
ui(new Ui::Dialog),
state(state)
{
ui->setupUi(this);
ui->textEdit->setText(state.getCurrentValue());
QObject::connect(ui->textEdit, SIGNAL(textEdited(QString)),
this, SLOT(handleTextEdited(QString)));
QObject::connect(&state, SIGNAL(valueChanged(QString)),
this, SLOT(handleInternalStateChanged(QString)));
}
Dialog::~Dialog()
{
delete ui;
}
void Dialog::handleTextEdited(const QString& newText)
{
state.setValue(newText);
}
void Dialog::handleInternalStateChanged(QString newState)
{
ui->textEdit->setText(newState);
}
Now the change in the main function:
// main.cpp
#include "dialog.h"
#include "shared_state.h"
#include <QApplication>
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
QApplication a(argc, argv);
SharedState state("Initial Value");
Dialog w1(state), w2(state);
w1.show();
w2.show();
return a.exec();
}

custom class with its own QTimer and QThread

I would like to create a class that has its own QTimer and QThread for some projects for Robot's sensors. After some searching, this is what I came up with
#include <QCoreApplication>
#include <QTimer>
#include <QThread>
#include <QObject>
#include <QDebug>
//#####################( Robot Class )#########################3
class Robot : public QObject
{
public:
Robot(QObject *parent = 0);
~Robot();
private:
QTimer *mQTimer;
QThread *mQThread;
public slots:
void update();
};
Robot::Robot(QObject *parent)
: QObject(parent)
{
mQTimer = new QTimer(0);
mQThread = new QThread(this);
mQTimer->setInterval(1);
mQTimer->moveToThread(mQThread);
connect(mQTimer, SIGNAL(timeout()), this, SLOT(update()));
connect(mQThread, SIGNAL(started()), mQTimer, SLOT(start()));
mQThread->start();
//mQTimer->start();
}
Robot::~Robot()
{
delete mQTimer;
delete mQThread;
}
void Robot::update()
{
qDebug() << "Robot is updating ...";
}
//##################( Main )###########################
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
QCoreApplication a(argc, argv);
Robot *myRobot = new Robot(0);
return a.exec();
}
I'm getting this error
QObject::connect: No such slot QObject::update() in ..\untitled1\main.cpp:34
QObject::connect: No such slot QObject::update() in ..\untitled1\main.cpp:34
You are missing the Q_OBJECT macro in your class also try to avoid naming the methods like that because you can mix it with Qt methods names. Also make additional header and cpp file for each class you create in this case make robtot.h and robot.cpp.
class Robot : public QObject
{
Q_OBJECT
public:
Robot(QObject *parent = 0);
~Robot();
...
The below works for me. You forgot the Q_OBJECT macro and to include the moc output that defines the static metadata for Robot.
There's of course no point to this code, since the Robot::update slot will execute in the main thread.
Your code has two threads: the main thread, where the Robot object lives, and the robot.mThread, where the timer lives. The timer will time out in the mThread, and will queue a slot call on the main thread. That slot call will end up invoking robot.update with a.exec on the stack.
Note that there's no need to explicitly have the timer and the thread allocated on the heap using new. They should be direct members of Robot, or of its PIMPL.
main.cpp
#include <QCoreApplication>
#include <QTimer>
#include <QThread>
#include <QDebug>
class Robot : public QObject
{
Q_OBJECT
QTimer mTimer;
QThread mThread;
public:
Robot(QObject *parent = 0) : QObject(parent) {
connect(&mTimer, &QTimer::timeout, this, &Robot::update);;
mTimer.start(1000);
mTimer.moveToThread(&mThread);
mThread.start();
}
Q_SLOT void update() {
qDebug() << "updating";
}
};
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
QCoreApplication a(argc, argv);
Robot robot;
return a.exec();
}
#include "main.moc"
It would make more sense to move the entire robot to its own thread. Note that when you do that, you need to set parentage on all objects owned by robot, so that they all switch threads along with the Robot object.
The Thread class fixes the long standing usability bug of QThread - it turns it into a truly RAII class that can be safely destructed at any time.
main.cpp
#include <QCoreApplication>
#include <QTimer>
#include <QThread>
#include <QDebug>
class Thread : public QThread {
using QThread::run;
public:
~Thread() { quit(); wait(); }
};
class Robot : public QObject
{
Q_OBJECT
QTimer mTimer;
int mCounter;
public:
Robot(QObject *parent = 0) : QObject(parent), mTimer(this), mCounter(0) {
connect(&mTimer, &QTimer::timeout, this, &Robot::update);;
mTimer.start(1000);
}
Q_SLOT void update() {
qDebug() << "updating";
if (++mCounter > 5) qApp->exit();
}
};
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
QCoreApplication a(argc, argv);
Robot robot;
Thread thread;
robot.moveToThread(&thread);
thread.start();
return a.exec();
}
#include "main.moc"