QPushButton Class Reference

The QPushButton widget provides a command button. More...

#include <qpushbutton.h>

Inherits QButton.

List of all member functions.

Public Members

• QPushButton ( QWidget * parent, const char * name=0 ) 
• QPushButton ( const QString & text, QWidget * parent, const char * name=0 ) 
• QPushButton ( const QIconSet & icon, const QString & text, QWidget * parent, const char * name=0 ) 
• ~QPushButton () 
• virtual void setToggleButton ( bool ) 
• bool autoDefault () const
• virtual void setAutoDefault ( bool autoDef ) 
• bool isDefault () const
• virtual void setDefault ( bool def ) 
• virtual void setIsMenuButton ( bool ) (obsolete)
• bool isMenuButton () const (obsolete)
• void setPopup ( QPopupMenu * popup ) 
• QPopupMenu* popup () const
• void setIconSet ( const QIconSet & ) 
• QIconSet* iconSet () const
• void setFlat ( bool ) 
• bool isFlat () const

Public Slots

• virtual void setOn ( bool ) 
• void toggle () 

Important Inherited Members

• QString text () const
• virtual void setText ( const QString & text ) 
• QString text () const
• const QPixmap* pixmap () const
• virtual void setPixmap ( const QPixmap & pixmap ) 
• int accel () const
• virtual void setAccel ( int key ) 
• bool isToggleButton () const
• virtual void setDown ( bool enable ) 
• bool isDown () const
• bool isOn () const
• bool autoRepeat () const
• bool isExclusiveToggle () const
• QButtonGroup* group () const
• virtual void setAutoRepeat ( bool enable ) 
• void toggle () 
• void pressed () 
• void released () 
• void clicked () 
• void toggled ( bool on ) 
• void stateChanged ( int state ) 

Properties

Detailed Description

The push button, also referred to as command button, is perhaps the most central widget in any graphical user interface: Push it to command the computer to perform some action. Typical actions are Ok, Apply, Cancel, Close or Help.

A command button is rectangular (ca. 80x22 pixel) and typically displays a text label describing its action. An underscored character in the label, marked with an ampersand in the text, signals an accelerator key.

This code creates a push button labelled "Rock & Roll". Due to the first ampersand, the c displays underscored and the button gets the automatic accelerator key, Alt-C:

    QPushButton *p = new QPushButton( "Ro&ck && Roll", this );

The text can be changed anytime later with setText(). You can also define a pixmap with setPixmap(). The text/pixmap is manipulated as necessary to create "disabled" appearance according to the respective GUI style when the button is disabled. A command button can, in addition to the text or pixmap label, also display a little icon. Use the extended constructor or setIconSet() to define this icon.

A push button emits the signal clicked() when it is activated, either with the mouse, the spacebar or a keyboard accelerator. Connect to this signal to perform the button's action. Other signals of less importance are pressed() when the button is pressed down and released() when it is released, respectively.

Command buttons in dialogs are by default auto-default buttons, i.e. they become the default push button automatically when they receive the keyboard input focus. A default button is a command button that is activated when the users hits the Enter or Return key in a dialog. Adjust this behaviour with setAutoDefault(). Note that auto-default buttons reserve a little extra space necessary to draw a default-button indicator. If you do not want this space around your buttons, call setAutoDefault( FALSE ).

Being so central, the widget has grown to accomodate a great many variations in the past decade, and by now the Microsoft style guide shows about ten different states of Windows push buttons, and the text implies that there are dozens more when all the combinations of features are taken into consideration.

The most important modes or states are, sorted roughly by importance:

• Available or not ("grayed out", disabled).
• Standard push button, toggling push button or menu button.
• On or off (only for toggling push buttons).
• Default or normal. The default button in a dialog can generally be "clicked" using the Enter or Return key.
• Auto-repeat or not.
• Pressed down or not.

As a general rule, use a push button when the application or dialog window performs an action when the user clicks on it (like Apply, Cancel, Close, Help, ...) and when the widget is supposed to have a wide, rectangular shape with a text label. Small, typically square buttons that change the state of the window rather than performing an action (like for example the buttons in the top/right corner of the QFileDialog), are not command buttons, but tool buttons. Qt provides a special class QToolButton for these.

Also, if you need toggle behaviour (see setToggleButton()) or a button that auto-repeats the activation signal when being pushed down like the arrows in a scrollbar (see setAutoRepeat()), a command button is probably not what you want. In case of doubt, go with a tool button.

A variation of a command button is a menu button. It provides not just one command, but several. Use the method setPopup() to associate a popup menu with a push button.

Other classes of buttons are option buttons (see QRadioButton) and check boxes (see QCheckBox).

In Qt, the QButton class provides most of the modes and other API, and QPushButton provides GUI logic. See QButton for more information about the API.

See also QToolButton, QRadioButton, QCheckBox and GUI Design Handbook: Push Button

Examples: layout/layout.cpp customlayout/main.cpp rot13/rot13.cpp popup/popup.cpp xform/xform.cpp i18n/main.cpp qmag/qmag.cpp scrollview/scrollview.cpp drawdemo/drawdemo.cpp

Member Function Documentation

QPushButton::QPushButton ( QWidget * parent, const char * name=0 )

Constructs a push button with no text.

The parent and name arguments are sent to the QWidget constructor.

QPushButton::QPushButton ( const QIconSet & icon, const QString & text, QWidget * parent, const char * name=0 )

Constructs a push button with an icon and a text.

Note that you can also pass a QPixmap object as icon (thanks to C++' implicit type conversion).

The parent and name arguments are sent to the QWidget constructor.

QPushButton::QPushButton ( const QString & text, QWidget * parent, const char * name=0 )

Constructs a push button with a text.

The parent and name arguments are sent to the QWidget constructor.

QPushButton::~QPushButton ()

Destructs the push button.

bool QPushButton::autoDefault () const

Returns TRUE if the button is an auto-default button.

See also setAutoDefault().

void QPushButton::drawButton ( QPainter * paint ) [virtual protected]

Reimplemented for internal reasons; the API is not affected.

Reimplemented from QButton.

void QPushButton::drawButtonLabel ( QPainter * paint ) [virtual protected]

Reimplemented for internal reasons; the API is not affected.

Reimplemented from QButton.

void QPushButton::focusInEvent ( QFocusEvent * e ) [virtual protected]

Reimplemented for internal reasons; the API is not affected.

Reimplemented from QWidget.

void QPushButton::focusOutEvent ( QFocusEvent * e ) [virtual protected]

Reimplemented for internal reasons; the API is not affected.

Reimplemented from QWidget.

QIconSet* QPushButton::iconSet () const

Returns the button's icon or 0 if no icon has been defined.

See also setIconSet().

bool QPushButton::isDefault () const

Returns TRUE if the button is currently default.

See also setDefault().

bool QPushButton::isFlat () const

Returns whether the border is disabled.

See also setFlat().

bool QPushButton::isMenuButton () const

This function is obsolete. It is provided to keep old source working, and will probably be removed in a future version of Qt. We strongly advise against using it in new code.

Returns TRUE if this button indicates to the user that pressing it will pop up a menu, and FALSE otherwise. The default is FALSE.

See also setIsMenuButton().

void QPushButton::move ( const QPoint & p )

Reimplemented for internal reasons; the API is not affected.

void QPushButton::move ( int x, int y )

Reimplemented for internal reasons; the API is not affected.

Examples: drawdemo/drawdemo.cpp

QPopupMenu* QPushButton::popup () const

Returns the associated popup menu or 0 if no popup menu has been defined.

See also setPopup().

void QPushButton::resize ( const QSize & s )

Reimplemented for internal reasons; the API is not affected.

Examples: drawdemo/drawdemo.cpp

void QPushButton::resize ( int w, int h )

Reimplemented for internal reasons; the API is not affected.

void QPushButton::resizeEvent ( QResizeEvent * ) [virtual protected]

Reimplemented for internal reasons; the API is not affected.

Reimplemented from QWidget.

void QPushButton::setAutoDefault ( bool enable ) [virtual]

Sets the push buttons to an auto-default button if enable is TRUE, or to a normal button if enable is FALSE.

An auto-default button becomes automatically the default push button in a dialog when it receives the keyboard input focus.

In some GUI styles, a default button is drawn with an extra frame around it, up to 3 pixels or more. Qt automatically keeps this space free around auto-default buttons, i.e. auto-default buttons may have a slightly larger size hint.

See also autoDefault() and setDefault().

void QPushButton::setDefault ( bool enable ) [virtual]

Sets this button to be the current default button of a dialog if enable is TRUE, or to be a normal button if enable is FALSE.

The current default button gets clicked when the user presses the "Enter" key, independently of which widget in the dialog currently has the keyboard input focus. Only one push button can at any time be the default button. This button is then displayed with an additional frame ( depending on the GUI style ).

The default button behaviour is only provided in dialogs. Buttons can always be clicked from the keyboard by pressing return or the spacebar when the button has focus.

See also isDefault(), setAutoDefault() and QDialog.

void QPushButton::setFlat ( bool f )

Disable the border.

See also flat().

void QPushButton::setGeometry ( const QRect & r ) [virtual]

Reimplemented for internal reasons; the API is not affected.

void QPushButton::setGeometry ( int x, int y, int w, int h ) [virtual]

Reimplemented for internal reasons; the API is not affected.

Examples: popup/popup.cpp qmag/qmag.cpp

void QPushButton::setIconSet ( const QIconSet & icon )

Sets the button to display the icon icon in addition to its text or pixmap

See also iconSet().

void QPushButton::setIsMenuButton ( bool enable ) [virtual]

This function is obsolete. It is provided to keep old source working, and will probably be removed in a future version of Qt. We strongly advise against using it in new code.

Tells this button to draw a menu indication triangle if enable is TRUE, and to not draw one if enable is FALSE (the default).

setIsMenuButton() does not cause the button to do anything other than draw the menu indication.

See also isMenuButton().

void QPushButton::setOn ( bool enable ) [virtual slot]

Switches a toggle button on if enable is TRUE or off if enable is FALSE.

See also isOn(), toggle(), toggled() and isToggleButton().

Examples: qmag/qmag.cpp

void QPushButton::setPopup ( QPopupMenu * popup )

Associates the popup menu popup with this push button and thus turns it into a menu button.

Ownership of the popup menu is not transferred.

See also popup().

void QPushButton::setToggleButton ( bool enable ) [virtual]

Makes the push button a toggle button if enable is TRUE, or a normal push button if enable is FALSE.

Toggle buttons have an on/off state similar to check boxes. A push button is initially not a toggle button.

See also setOn(), toggle(), isToggleButton() and toggled().

Examples: qmag/qmag.cpp

QSize QPushButton::sizeHint () const [virtual]

Reimplemented for internal reasons; the API is not affected.

Reimplemented from QWidget.

QSizePolicy QPushButton::sizePolicy () const [virtual]

Reimplemented for internal reasons; the API is not affected.

Reimplemented from QWidget.

void QPushButton::toggle () [important inherited]

Toggles the state of a toggle button.

See also isOn(), setOn(), toggled() and isToggleButton().

void QPushButton::updateMask () [virtual protected]

Reimplemented for internal reasons; the API is not affected.

Reimplemented from QWidget.

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