Qt Multiple-inheritance goes wrong - c++

I a project of mine, written in Qt, I have a QWidget Widget that should display either a MyTreeWidget (inheriting from QTreeWidget) or a MyTableWidget (inheriting from QTableWidget)
Constraints
Widget shouldn't know who it is talking to. Therefore it must (??) own a class inherited by the My(Tree|Table)Widget
MyTreeWidget and MyTableWidget share a lot of code and I don't want to copy paste this code. So I thought of making them inherit from a MyGenericView which inherit from QAbstractItemView
The Interfaces
#include <QAbstractItemView>
#include <QTreeWidget>
#include <QTableWidget>
class MyGenericView : public QAbstractItemView
{
Q_OBJECT
public:
MyGenericView();
};
class MyTreeWidget : virtual public QTreeWidget,
virtual public MyGenericView
{
Q_OBJECT
public:
explicit MyTreeWidget(QWidget *parent = 0);
};
class MyTableWidget : public MyGenericView, public QTableWidget { ... };
class Widget : public QWidget
{
Q_OBJECT
public:
explicit Widget(QWidget *parent = 0) :
QWidget(parent)
{
m_genericView = new MyTreeWidget();
}
private:
MyGenericView *m_genericView;
};
The Error
erreur : invalid new-expression of abstract class type 'MyTableWidget'
m_genericView = new MyTableWidget();
note: because the following virtual functions are pure within 'MyTableWidget':
class MyTableWidget : public QTableWidget, public MyGenericView
And the same for MyTreeWidget.
So how would you correct this?

It seems that what you're trying to do is ill-advised. Both views that you derive from are convenience views. They hopelessly mix up the view with the model. It's OK to use them if the needs are simple and convenience is all you're after, but in your case I presume most of the shared code is related to the model side of things, not to the view. You could probably achieve what you wish by simply showing a QStandardItemModel on either a stock QTableView or a stock QTreeView, and having a class that uses the QStandardItemModel to build up your data structure.
For more details of how you could do it, if it turned out to be the right thing to do, see this answer.

Edit : As suggested below in comments, this answer is based on faulty assumptions. Please see the better answer below.
First, you have an issue of diamond inheritance. Your error is because MyTableWidget has an undefined pure virtual member function.
Frankly though, I'm not sure why you want to use multiple inheritance at all here. If it's to save on code duplication, why can't MyTreeWidget and MyTableWidget share behavioural elements via composition instead of inheritence? Is this definitely a case of is-a vs has-a? If it's code specific to widgets that is shared but don't overlap in any way with the QTableWidget/QTreeWidget approach, just write an adaptor class that will be filled with either a Tree or Table widget.

Related

How to set `sf::Drawable` positions sfml

I'm trying to declare a sf::Drawable * property inside my class body.
the code i already wrote:
#include <SFML/Graphics.hpp>
#include <SFML/Window.hpp>
class View{
protected:
sf::Drawable *view;
};
and inside the class constructor, I want to use the view properties:
class View{
public:
View(){ view->...}
protected:
sf::Drawable *view;
}
but I cannot access any of the sf::Drawable methods.
I get the No member named 'setPosition' in 'sf::Drawable' warning from IDE.
the only code suggestion i get from code completer is:
draw(RenderTarget& target, RenderStates states)
Indeed, sf::Drawable doesn't have a setPosition method. You could instead use sf::Transformable*, which does have setPosition.
If you need to have drawable properties, then...
If all your items are either shapes/sprites/texts, consider walking down the inheritance chain and use sf::Shape, sf::Sprite, or sf::Text.
Make a separate class for each (ShapeView, SpriteView, TextView).
Use dynamic_cast, as suggested by TheMedicineSeller. But this will incur a small runtime cost.
You cannot set the positions of view inside the constructor of View() as sf::Drawable is a purely Abstract class that is meant only for inheritance.
One way to overcome this is by casting between the derived times at runtime but this method is definitely not recommended and can get ugly.
Another is to have the setPosition() function as virtual and consider a separate class say RectangleView which inherits the Base View class which implements the position setting
class View {
protected:
sf::Drawable* view;
virtual void SetPosition() = 0;
};
class RectangleView : public View {
public:
SetPosition();
};
If u ask me, id consider whatever you are trying to do as a bit of overengineering and would advise to not using abstact classes and virtual functions at all for this purpose. Just have specific classes and functions for your sprites and rects.

Qt: inheritance cause ambiguous

I have the following case:
class A: public QObject
class B: public A, public QThread
Then the inheritance ambiguous happens because the QObject is inherited twice...
Is there a solution to this?
QThread inherits non-virtually from QObject. Therefore, there is no way of inheriting down an hierarchy from both QThread and QObject without creating an ambiguity. Virtual inheritance won't help here, since you are not dealing with any diamond inheritance pattern.
A fix is to alter your design, as #Gabor Angyal mentioned.
Related question: how can i inherit from both QWidget and QThread?
Multiple inheritance of QObject base classes does not work.
You can do something like this to solve this:
class A: public QObject
class B: public A
{
Q_OBJECT
public:
//...
QThread *threadController() { return &mThreadController; }
private:
//...
QThread mThreadController;
}
You could also write delegates for the signals and slots you need instead of exposing the whole QThread object, or just write higher level API for class B and leave its internal QThread completely hidden. Depends on what you are trying to do, really.
If you really need to subclass QThread, then just use that as member variable type instead.
A little tricky, but might work for you:
template<class T>
class A: public T
class B: public A<QThread>
And if you need to use A just by itself then:
A<QObject> *a = new A<QObject>;
This pattern is called Mixin.
UPDATE
Ok, I realised that the moc system would obviously not work with this solution. I support hyde's answer instead.

Can't access C++ QObject subclass methods from QML

Yesterday I was asked to recreate a regular QT form using QML (which was my first attempt ever using QLM). Everything was going well until I tried using c++ methods in the QML. This is obviously not the original code, but the scenario looks something like this:
I have a super class deriving from QObject, with some properties, methods and even virtual methods:
class SuperClass : public QObject {
Q_OBJECT
Q_PROPERTY(QString someProperty READ someProperty WRITE setSomeProperty)
protected:
QString m_someProperty;
public:
QString someProperty(void){return m_someProperty;} //get method
void setSomeProperty(QString newValue){m_someProperty = newValue;} //set method
Q_INVOKABLE virtual QString printSomething(void) = 0;
}
And then I have a class deriving from the SuperClass (like a specialization) with some more specific properties and methods and of course the virtual methods implementations and stuff:
class DerivedClass : public SuperClass {
Q_PROPERTY(QString someSpecificProperty READ someSpecificProperty WRITE setSomeSpecificProperty)
private:
QString m_someSpecificProperty;
public:
QString specificProperty(void){return m_someSpecificProperty;} //get method
void someSpecificProperty(QString newValue){m_someSpecificProperty = newValue;} //set method
QString printSomething(void){return QString("Something!");} //SuperClass virtual method
Q_INVOKABLE QString printSomethingSpecific(void){return QString("Something Specific!");}
}
OK, this is it! Now assuming that DerivedClass is instantiated and added to the QML context properly under the name of "DrvClass" for example and that I have some QML control like a TextField which has a 'text:' property:
text: DrvClass.someProperty
using MasterClass' properties, it works just fine.
text: DrvClass.printSomething()
even using virtual methods from MasterClass' which are implemented in the derived class works fine. but...
text: DrvClass.someSpecificProperty
doesn't work and I get something like "Unable to assign [undefined] to QString"
text: DrvClass.printSomethingSpecific()
also doesn't work! "TypeError: Property 'printSomethingSpecific' of object SuperClass() is not a function" And the weird part is that it says that it's not a function from the SuperClass, being the instantiated class the Derived one!
I've looked for similar errors, but most of the time is from people who just forgot to include the Q_OBJECT macro... Mine's there for sure!
It seems that QML doesn't like much classes deriving from other classes that derive from QObjects :-/ Probably something to do with the meta-object compiler who only looks for invokable methods where it finds the Q_OBJECT macro and not on it's subclasses!
So what you guys think the solution for this might be?
I could just add the Q_OBJECT macro to the DerivedClasses instead of the SuperClass, but I really need the SuperClass to be a QObject because of signals and stuff! So is there some other macro I have to add to the DerivedClass for the moc to 'see' it?
Or is this just the fruit of inexperience and I'm doing a dumb mistake somewhere?
DerivedClass is missing Q_OBJECT macro (it is not inherited!).
Then simply run qmake again on your project & compile: it should work.

Initialize uncopyable third-party base class, with pointer to object

I'm fighting with Qt. Cannot find out reliable solution for my specific problem.
We have custom class MyWidget that must:
be derived from QWidget to override closeEvent method
have fields that must be initialzed in constructor
Problems:
QWidget's guts initialized with QUiLoader from .ui file. So I have only QWidget* pointer
QWidget is non-copyable.
QWidget has no move constructor
The code (error checking and memory management are omitted for simplicity):
class MyWidget : public QWidget
{
bool m_Closed;
public:
MyWidget(QWidget* qw) :
QWidget(*qw), // error: copy constructor is private
m_Closed(false)
{}
bool IsClosed() const { return m_Closed; }
virtual void closeEvent(QCloseEvent *) override { m_Closed = true; }
};
QFile file("main.ui");
QUiLoader uiLoader;
MyWidget* uiMain = new MyWidget(uiLoader.load(&file));
uiMain->show();
Questions:
How can I workaround this? I feel that solution is very simple.
Can I use move semantics here somehow?
Note that:
I cannot make QWidget member, as I need to override its method.
Probably, I can make some MyWidget::Init() method, to init those bool flag, which must be called after each instantiation. But I find this solution unreliable.
In the end, I must just have QWidget, that I can check if it was closed or not (maybe you know another, simple way)
I use MSVC 2013 RC and GCC 4.8.1, so C++11 solution would be great
Do not hesitate, I appreciate any suggestions and criticism.
.ui files can use custom classes that derive from QWidget, so you can use your class in the Designer - even without writing any Designer plugins (it won't be shown). Right-click on a widget and select "Promote".
You need to create your own derived version of QUiLoader, and provide an implementation of the factory method QUiLoader::createWidget that can create your widgets. See this answer for a complete example.
Then you put your initialization code in the derived widget.

C++ inheritance, and hiding unwanted inherited functions

I am trying to implement a QToolBar subclass, which has its items specified by a model, instead of added individually. This means a selection of functions to add/remove items (toolbar buttons), such as addAction shouldn't be publicly accessible.
What is the best way to inherit from this object, but make a selection of functions private?
My current best idea is to do like this:
class ToolbarView : public QToolBar
{
Q_OBJECT
public:
explicit ToolbarView(QWidget *parent = 0);
signals:
public slots:
private:
void addAction (QAction *action) {Q_UNUSED(action)};
QAction* addAction (const QString &text) {return QToolBar::addAction(text) ;}
...
QAction* addSeparator() {QToolBar::addSeparator();}
... [list of about 10 of these]
};
So, redefining all the functions that should not be public, as private.
Is this a good idea, or are there better methods?
As long as you inherit publicly from QToolBar, you make it possible for a client code to treat your object as such and call for example the addAction member function. If you want to ensure that these functions are inaccessible, you'll have do this the other way :
Inherit privately from QToolBar
Publicly expose the functions you wish to expose (for example with using declarations)
If you want to stick with your initial solutions and inherit publicly from QToolbar :
Be aware that it doesn't guarantee base class functions won't be called
You should consider using using declarations to change the accessibility of the base class functions instead of hiding them
Maybe you could think of this
class ToolbarView : private QToolBar
{
//...
}
In such case, all of accessible QToolBar will be with private access in your ToolbarView .
You are publically inheriting from QToolbar. How about changing that to private inheritance. That, is the class definition should begin as
class ToolbarView : private QToolBar
{
// good only if you want to
// make "most" of the public members of QToolBar private in ToolbarView
}