How to put system icons in menus? - c++

I have run the menu example from Qt and there are no icons on menus, only text. Most apps (like pcmanfm and caja from Ubuntu) have similar icons, so I suppose they are system-wide and not application specific. How could I put icons in menu items? A code sample would be interesting.

To obtain the icons of the systems you must use the method QIcon::fromTheme()
Example:
newAct = new QAction(tr("&New"), this);
newAct->setIcon(QIcon::fromTheme("document-new"));
Qt uses as a backend to freedesktop icon, it has a rule in the names, the updated list of them can be found in the following link

The QIcon::fromTheme() function found in the other answer is unfortunately not portable to Mac or windows. You may have better luck using QStyle::standardIcon().

Related

Taskbar extension (like contacts)

In Windows 10, you can activate different buttons (e.g. task view button, windows ink workspace button, contacts button) by opening the context menu of the taskbar.
This is something different than the classic tray icons, and similar to deskbands (which has been deprecated?).
An example of the contacts button:
How can one achieve this? Is there a API for this? Are there documents available?
I think that you might be interested in Shell Extensions/ Taskbar Extensions - Deskbands, please refer to following web-sides for more informations:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/shell/taskbar-extensions#deskbands
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ff468984(v=vs.85).aspx
How to write a shell extension in C++?
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dd942846.aspx
Perhaps the Taskbar API of Windows should be helpful in your case. Please note that the explorer.exe would be responsible for loading your extension, so that writing it in C# might have some limitations due to different CLR runtimes loaded.
It's commonly called a tray icon or NotifyIcon.
The official class is still in Windows Forms, if you want to be more modern have a look here on what your options are in WPF.

How to create an Evernote kind of widget for global menu of a MacOS/X desktop using QT?

How to create an application which stays in top of MacOS, something similar to below image. You can see the Evernote elephant icon.
I don't want to use xcode - because my application already built in QT, it has nice GUI, now I wanted to add extended feature something similar to Evernote. If I click on an elephant it will open a dialog box to write notes. In my case- it's a simple event like on/off buttons.
I have tried and created GUI widget apps but how to make one which resides like Evernote app ?
A custom pop up menu like the one pictured can be done several ways in Qt.
QML is the most modern way of making the menu with the customized styling you are looking for.
Apply the appropriate flags to the window/widget so it appears as a popup.
The same effects can also be done in QWidgets, but takes more code and probably will take longer to make. The flags you are looking for will be found under Qt Window Flags and/or under Qt Widget Attributes.
The stock stylings for Qt for different OS's deal mostly with title bars, status bars, buttons, drop downs, etc.
The base styles for Mac can be found here:
http://doc.qt.io/qt-5/gallery-macintosh.html
Once you go to a customized popup, you have to draw all of it yourself... but the native drawing elements in Qt are friendly enough and get you that look you are trying to do.
There are even some tools for exporting from Photoshop or Gimp directly to QML.
http://doc.qt.io/qtcreator/quick-export-to-qml.html
Hope that helps.
You are looking for a tray icon. Qt implements it in QSystemTrayIcon.
Further information
You may take a look at the System Tray Icon Example.
Many StackOverflow posts exist on this topic.
If you already have a program written for Qt, then you can compile and run it under MacOS/X much the same way you could compile it under (whatever OS you're using now). You'll need to install Xcode because Xcode includes the C++ compiler (clang) you'll need in order to compile your Qt program, but you don't have to use the Xcode IDE if you don't want to. Rather, you can either use the QtCreator IDE under MacOS/X, or you can simply open up a Terminal window and do a "qmake ; make" in the directory where your Qt-based program's .pro file is, and build it from the command line that way.
If, on the other hand, your question is actually about how to add an icon to the global menu of a MacOS/X desktop, then I don't think Qt has an API for that, so you'll need to drop down to using one of MacOS/X's native APIs. That will probably involve learning some Objective-C (or Objective-C++, if you prefer), but integrating a bit of Objective-C/C++ into your Qt app is doable with a bit of work.

QT How to embed an application into QT widget

In our project we have three independent applications, and we have to develop a QT control application that controls these three applications. The main window will be seperated to three sub windows - each one display another one application.
I thought to use QX11EmbedWidget and QX11EmbedContainer widgets, but two problems with that:
The QX11Embed* is based on X11 protocol and I dont know if it's supported on non-x11 systems like Windows OS.
Since QT 5 these classes are not existing, and the QT documentation doesn't mention why.
So that I dont know whether to use it or not - I'll be happy to get an answers.
In addition, I see that the QT 5.1 contains QWidget::createWindowContainer(); function that in some posts it looks like this should be the replacement to the X11Embed. Can anyone please explian me more how can I use this function to create a QT widget that will run another application (a Calculator for example) inside its?
I have searched a lot in Google, and didn't find answers to my Qs.
Can anyone please help me? Am I on the right way?
Thanks!
If all three independent applications are written with Qt, and you have their source, you should be able to unify them just through the parenting of GUI objects in Qt.
http://qt-project.org/doc/qt-4.8/objecttrees.html
http://qt-project.org/doc/qt-4.8/widgets-and-layouts.html
http://qt-project.org/doc/qt-4.8/mainwindows-mdi.html
If you don't have access to them in that way, what you are talking about is like 3rd party window management. It is kind of like writing a shell, like Windows Explorer, that manipulates the state and the size of other window applications.
Use a program like Spy++ or AutoIt Spy for Windows and the similar ones for other OS's, and learn the identifying markings of your windows you want to control, like the class, the window title, etc. Or you can launch the exe yourself in a QProcess::startDetached() sort of thing.
http://qt-project.org/doc/qt-5.1/qtcore/qprocess.html#startDetached
Then using the OS dependent calls control the windows. The Qt library doesn't have this stuff built in for third party windows, only for ones under the QApplication that you launched. There are a lot of examples of doing things like this by AutoHotKey, or AHK. It is a scripting language that is made for automating a lot of things in the windows environment, and there is port for Mac as well (though I haven't tried the mac port myself).
So in the end you are looking at finding your window probably with a call like this:
#include <windows.h>
HWND hwnd_1 = ::FindWindow("Window_Class", "Window Name");
LONG retVal = GetWindowLongA(hwnd_1, GWL_STYLE); // to query the state of the window
Then manipulate the position and state of the window like so:
::MoveWindow(hwnd_1, x, y, width, height, TRUE);
::ShowWindow(hwnd_1, SW_SHOWMAXIMIZED);
You can even draw widgets on top of the windows you are controlling if you set your window flags correctly for the windows you are manipulating.
transparent QLabel with a pixmap
Cannot get QSystemTrayIcon to work correctly with activation reason
Some gotchas that come up in Windows when doing all of this, is finding out the quirks of the Windows UI when they set the Display scaling different from what you expect, and if you want to play nice with the Task bar, and handling all the modal windows of your programs you are manipulating.
So overall, it is do-able. Qt will make a nice interface for performing these commands, but in the end you are looking at a lot of work and debugging to get it in a beautiful, reliable, window manager.
Hope that helps.
I never tried it myself, but from the docs in Qt 5.1 I would try QWindow::fromId(WId id), which gives you a QWindow, which should be embeddable with createWindowContainer:
QWindow * QWindow::fromWinId(WId id) [static] Creates a local
representation of a window created by another process or by using
native libraries below Qt.
Given the handle id to a native window, this method creates a QWindow
object which can be used to represent the window when invoking methods
like setParent() and setTransientParent(). This can be used, on
platforms which support it, to embed a window inside a container or to
make a window stick on top of a window created by another process.
But no guarantee. :-)

How to create TitleAreaDialog using WTL or Windows SDK (no MFC)?

I am trying to create a TitleAreaDialog using WTL or Windows SDK (please no MFC).
From the google I am able to find these two links:
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/dialog/dialogheader.aspx (MFC article)
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/dialog/taskdialogs.aspx (doubtful.. how to use it)
The desired output is like the eclipse JFace TitleAreaDialog (see the below image).
Kindly suggest a way to do this using sing WTL or Windows SDK (with c++).
Thanks
Finally able to solve it using the Dialog Header link. Just went through the code twice or may be thrice :) and then ported it for WTL.
There is another very good example in pure c++/win sdk:
xmessagebox. Its about replacing default windows messagebox with something good (although there is a mode which uses title area + icon).
If working for vista or greater and just want to grab very basic information via checkboxes, radio buttons etc then have a look at this: Vista_TaskDialog_Wrapper and VGTaskDialog

Carbide / Symbian C++ - Change Application Icon

I am using Carbide (just upgraded to 2.0) to develop an S60 3rd Edition application.
I would like to know the easiest way to change the icon (both the application icon on the device menu and the icon at the top left of the main view) because I have the need to skin my application in many different ways as easily as possible.
All my efforts with messing around with .mif files have so far failed. I have a 44x44 .svg icon I made with Illustrator, could someone please help me in the right direction?
Thanks!
To change the app icon when you run your app use (in the status bar):
CEikStatusPane* sp=iEikonEnv->AppUiFactory()->StatusPane();
CAknContextPane* cp=(CAknContextPane *)sp->ControlL(TUid::Uid(EEikStatusPaneUidContext));
_LIT(KContextBitMapFile, "my_bitmap_file.mbm");
CFbsBitmap* bitmap = iEikonEnv->CreateBitmapL(KContextBitMapFile, EMbmBitmap);
CleanupStack::PushL(bitmap);
CFbsBitmap* bitmapmask = iEikonEnv->CreateBitmapL(KContextBitMapFile, EMbmBitmapMask);
CleanupStack::PushL(bitmapmask);
cp->SetPicture(bitmap, bitmapmask);
CleanupStack::Pop(); // bitmapmask
CleanupStack::Pop(); // bitmap
DrawNow();
I'm not aware of any possibility of changing the app icon in the menu list programmatically, other than reinstalling the app with different mif file.
If you want to change the icon in your SIS file and then overinstall it on device then you may have to reboot your device after installation - the application icon is in the Symbian cache and is not updated.
http://wiki.forum.nokia.com/index.php/CS000808_-_Creating_and_adding_an_icon_to_an_S60_3rd_Edition_application
With latest QMake and Qt SDK (4.6.2) you don't need to create any .mif file yourself. An SVG file will do.
For more detailed instructions see: How to Set Qt Application Icon and Title in Symbian S60.
Although the article uses Qt Creator, as long as you use QMake then it's the same thing.