Creating and freeing a temporary dummy variable in C++ - c++

Question

I'm using the Qt framework to create a ui for my business logic.
The class responsible for building the ui provides several methods which, step by step, initialize the ui elements, layout them, group them and, finally, format (i.e. void MyUi::init3_formatUiElements()) them.
Naturally, some ui elements need numerous layout settings set, so this method might look like
void MyUi::init3_formatUiElements() {
_spinBox_distance->setMinimum(0.0);
_spinBox_distance->setMaximum(10.0);
_spinBox_distance->setSingleStep(0.5);
_spinBox_distance->setSuffix(" meters");
//...
//same for other widgets
return;
}
Objects like QDoubleSpinBox* _spinBox_distance are member fields of the MyUi class.
I would like to have a "temporary alias" for _spinBox_distance, in that the above method body simplifies to
void MyUi::init3_formatUiElements() {
//create alias x for _spinBox_distance here
x->setMinimum(0.0);
x->setMaximum(10.0);
x->setSingleStep(0.5);
x->setSuffix(" meters");
//...
//free alias x here
//same for other widgets: create alias x for next widget
//...
//free alias x here
return;
}
This would speed up the typing process and would make code fragments more copy/paste-able, especially for ui elements of a similar type.
Apart from scoping each block in curly braces
{ QDoubleSpinBox*& x = _spinBox_distance;
x->setMinimum(0.0);
//...
}
{ QLabel*& x = _label_someOtherWidget;
//...
}
is there an elegant way to achieve this?
I tried the above syntax without scoping, but destructing x then of course leads to destruction of the underlying widget.
Maybe
QDoubleSpinBox** x = new QDoubleSpinBox*;
x = &_spinBox_distance;
(*x)->setMinimum(0.0);
//...
delete x;
but that doesn't make things much more type-easy (three extra lines, pointers to pointers, (*x))... :D
EDIT: This one does not work as after delete x, can't be redeclared another type.

Answer 1

What about using a macro ?
#define Set(argument) _spinBox_distance->set##argument
and
Set(Minimum(0.0));
Set(Maximum(10.0));
Set(SingleStep(0.5));
Set(Suffix(" meters"));
Or
#define Set(Argument, Value) _spinBox_distance->set##argument(Value)
Set(Minimum, 0.0);
Set(Maximum, 10.0);
Set(SingleStep, 0.5);
Set(Suffix, " meters");

Answer 2

Collecting the fundamental conceptual thoughts about the problem in question from the comments section, I may post the syntactical/technical answer to the question. This approach, without a doubt, should not be chosen in any kind of "complex" situation (or rather not at all).
bad coding style:
same name for different things
name which doesn't tell you anything about the object
move repeated code to dedicated functions, which...
may specialize on several ui types
are template functions
...
in case of Qt: Use Qt Designer.
...
{ auto x = _spinBox_distance;
x->setMinimum(0.0);
//...
}
{ auto x = _label_someOtherWidget;
//...
}
will do the trick.

Answer 3

I think your code looks fine as it is, I find it much more useful to have the code be easy to read/understand than it is to have the code be easy to write. Remember that you write the code once, then have to read it many times afterwards.
In cases like this I make it easier to write with good old (and oft blamed for mistakes) copy and paste. Grab _spinBox_distance->set and just paste, finish the line, paste, finish the line, etc...
If, however, you find yourself writing those 4 setters in a row over and over again, then put them in 1 function that takes in the 4 parameters.
void SetParameters(QDoubleSpinBox* spinBox_distance, double min, double max, double step, std::string suffix)
{
//the setters
}