QAxBase Class Reference
[QAxContainer module]

Detailed Description

This class is defined in the Qt ActiveQt Extension, which can be found in the qt/extensions directory. It is not included in the main Qt API.

The QAxBase class is an abstract class that provides an API to initalize and access a COM object.

QAxBase is an abstract class that cannot be used directly, and is instantiated through the subclasses QAxObject and QAxWidget. This class provides the API to access the COM object directly through its IUnknown implementation. If the COM object implements the IDispatch interface, the properties and methods of that object become available as Qt properties and slots.

    connect( buttonBack, SIGNAL(clicked()), webBrowser, SLOT(GoBack()) );
    

Properties exposed by the object's IDispatch implementation can be read and written through the property system provided by the Qt Object Model (both subclasses are QObjects, so you can use setProperty() and property() as with QObject). Properties with multiple parameters are not supported.

    activeX->setProperty( "text", "some text" );
    int value = activeX->property( "value" );
    

Write-functions for properties and other methods exposed by the object's IDispatch implementation can be called directly using dynamicCall(), or indirectly as slots connected to a signal.

    webBrowser->dynamicCall( "GoHome()" );
    

Outgoing events supported by the COM object are emitted as standard Qt signals.

    connect( webBrowser, SIGNAL(TitleChanged(const QString&)),
             this, SLOT(setCaption(const QString&)) );
    

QAxBase transparently converts between COM data types and the equivalent Qt data types. Some COM types have no equivalent Qt data structure.

Supported COM datatypes are listed in the first column of following table. The second column is the Qt type that can be used with the QObject property functions. The third column is the Qt type that is used in the prototype of generated signals and slots for in-parameters, and the last column is the Qt type that is used in the prototype of signals and slots for out-parameters.

Supported are also enumerations, and typedefs to supported types.

To call the methods of a COM interface described by the following IDL

    dispinterface IControl
    {
    properties:
        [id(1)] BSTR text;
        [id(2)] IFontDisp *font;

    methods:
        [id(6)] void showColumn( [in] int i );
        [id(3)] bool addColumn( [in] BSTR t );
        [id(4)] int fillList( [in, out] SAFEARRAY(VARIANT) *list );
        [id(5)] IDispatch *item( [in] int i );
    };
    

    QAxObject object( "<CLSID>" );

    QString text = object.property( "text" ).toString();
    object.setProperty( "font", QFont( "Times New Roman", 12 ) );

    connect( this, SIGNAL(clicked(int)), &object, SLOT(showColumn(int)) );
    bool ok = object.dynamicCall( "addColumn(const QString&)", "Column 1" ).toBool();

    QValueList<QVariant> varlist;
    QValueList<QVariant> parameters;
    parameters << QVariant( varlist );
    int n = object.dynamicCall( "fillList(QValueList<QVariant>&)", parameters ).toInt();

    QAxObject *item = object.querySubItem( "item(int)", 5 );
    

Note that the QValueList the object should fill has to be provided as an element in the parameter list of QVariants.

If you need to access properties or pass parameters of unsupported datatypes you must access the COM object directly through its IDispatch implementation or other interfaces. Those interfaces can be retrieved through queryInterface().

    IUnknown *iface = 0;
    activeX->queryInterface( IID_IUnknown, (void**)&iface );
    if ( iface ) {
        // use the interface
        iface->Release();
    }
    

To get the definition of the COM interfaces you will have to use the header files provided with the component you want to use. Some compilers can also import type libraries using the #import compiler directive. See the component documentation to find out which type libraries you have to import, and how to use them.

If you need to react to events that pass parameters of unsupported datatypes you can use the generic signal that delivers the event data as provided by the COM event.

Member Type Documentation

QAxBase::PropertyBag

A QMap that can store properties as name:value pairs.

Member Function Documentation

QAxBase::QAxBase ( IUnknown * iface = 0 )

QAxBase::~QAxBase () [virtual]

See also clear().

QVariant QAxBase::asVariant () const

void QAxBase::clear () [virtual]

If you reimplement this function you must also reimplement the destructor to call clear(), and call this implementation at the end of your clear() function.

QString QAxBase::control () const

Returns the name of the COM object wrapped by this QAxBase object. See the "control" property for details.

void QAxBase::disableClassInfo ()

Note that this function must be called immediately after construction of the object (without passing an object identifier), and before calling QAxWidget->setControl().

void QAxBase::disableEventSink ()

Some ActiveX controls might be unstable when connected to an event sink. To get OLE events you must use standard COM methods to register your own event sink. Use queryInterface() to get access to the raw COM object.

Note that this function should be called immediately after construction of the object (without passing an object identifier), and before calling QAxWidget->setControl().

void QAxBase::disableMetaObject ()

Some ActiveX controls might be unstable when used with OLE automation. Use standard COM methods to use those controls through the COM interfaces provided by queryInterface().

Note that this function must be called immediately after construction of the object (without passing an object identifier), and before calling QAxWidget->setControl().

QVariant QAxBase::dynamicCall ( const QCString & function, const QVariant & var1 = QVariant ( ), const QVariant & var2 = QVariant ( ), const QVariant & var3 = QVariant ( ), const QVariant & var4 = QVariant ( ), const QVariant & var5 = QVariant ( ), const QVariant & var6 = QVariant ( ), const QVariant & var7 = QVariant ( ), const QVariant & var8 = QVariant ( ) )

If function is a method of the object the string must be provided as the full prototype, for example as it would be written in a QObject::connect() call.

    activeX->dynamicCall( "Navigate(const QString&)", "www.trolltech.com" );
    

If function is a property the string has to be the name of the property. The property setter is called when var1 is a valid QVariant, otherwise the getter is called.

    activeX->dynamicCall( "Value", 5 );
    QString text = activeX->dynamicCall( "Text" ).toString();
    

It is only possible to call functions through dynamicCall() that have parameters or return values of datatypes supported by QVariant. See the QAxBase class documentation for a list of supported and unsupported datatypes. If you want to call functions that have unsupported datatypes in the parameter list, use queryInterface() to retrieve the appropriate COM interface, and use the function directly.

    IWebBrowser2 *webBrowser = 0;
    activeX->queryInterface( IID_IWebBrowser2, (void**)&webBrowser );
    if ( webBrowser ) {
        webBrowser->Navigate2( pvarURL );
        webBrowser->Release();
    }
    

This is also more efficient.

Example: qutlook/centralwidget.cpp.

QVariant QAxBase::dynamicCall ( const QCString & function, QValueList<QVariant> & vars )

Calls the COM object's method function, passing the parameters in vars, and returns the value returned by the method. If the method does not return a value or when the function call failed this function returns an invalid QVariant object.

The QVariant objects in vars are updated when the method has out-parameters.

void QAxBase::exception ( int code, const QString & source, const QString & desc, const QString & help ) [signal]

This signal is emitted when the COM object throws an exception while called using the OLE automation interface IDispatch. code, source, desc and help provide information about the exception as provided by the COM server and can be used to provide useful feedback to the end user. help includes the help file, and the help context ID in brackets, e.g. "filename [id]".

QString QAxBase::generateDocumentation ()

bool QAxBase::initialize ( IUnknown ** ptr ) [pure virtual protected]

This virtual function is called by setControl(). Reimplement this function to return the COM object's IUnknown pointer in ptr, and return TRUE if the object initialization succeeded; otherwise return FALSE.

The interface returned in ptr should be referenced exactly once when this function returns. The interface provided by e.g. CoCreateInstance is already referenced, and there is no need to reference it again.

bool QAxBase::isNull () const

See also control.

PropertyBag QAxBase::propertyBag () const

This is more efficient than getting multiple properties individually if the COM object supports property bags.

Warning: It is not guaranteed that the property bag implementation of the COM object returns all properties, or that the properties returned are the same as those available through the IDispatch interface.

void QAxBase::propertyChanged ( const QString & name ) [signal]

If the COM object supports property notification, this signal gets emitted when the property called name is changed.

bool QAxBase::propertyWritable ( const char * prop ) const [virtual]

Warning: Depending on the control implementation this setting might be ignored for some properties.

See also setPropertyWritable() and propertyChanged().

long QAxBase::queryInterface ( const QUuid & uuid, void ** iface ) const

Returns the result of the QueryInterface implementation of the COM object.

See also control.

QAxObject * QAxBase::querySubObject ( const QCString & name, const QVariant & var1 = QVariant ( ), const QVariant & var2 = QVariant ( ), const QVariant & var3 = QVariant ( ), const QVariant & var4 = QVariant ( ), const QVariant & var5 = QVariant ( ), const QVariant & var6 = QVariant ( ), const QVariant & var7 = QVariant ( ), const QVariant & var8 = QVariant ( ) )

If name is provided by a method the string must include the full function prototype.

If name is a property the string must be the name of the property, and var1, ... var8 are ignored.

The returned QAxObject is a child of this object (which is either of type QAxObject or QAxWidget), and is deleted when this object is deleted. It is however safe to delete the returned object yourself, and you should do so when you iterate over lists of subobjects.

COM enabled applications usually have an object model publishing certain elements of the application as dispatch interfaces. Use this method to navigate the hierarchy of the object model, e.g.

    QAxWidget outlook( "Outlook.Application" );
    QAxObject *session = outlook.querySubObject( "Session" );
    if ( session ) {
        QAxObject *defFolder = session->querySubObject(
                                "GetDefaultFolder(OlDefaultFolders)",
                                "olFolderContacts" );
        //...
    }
    

Example: qutlook/centralwidget.cpp.

bool QAxBase::setControl ( const QString & )

Sets the name of the COM object wrapped by this QAxBase object. See the "control" property for details.

void QAxBase::setPropertyBag ( const PropertyBag & bag )

Warning: You should only set property bags that have been returned by the propertyBag function, as it cannot be guaranteed that the property bag implementation of the COM object supports the same properties that are available through the IDispatch interface.

See also propertyBag().

void QAxBase::setPropertyWritable ( const char * prop, bool ok ) [virtual]

Warning: Depending on the control implementation this setting might be ignored for some properties.

See also propertyWritable() and propertyChanged().

void QAxBase::signal ( const QString & name, int argc, void * argv ) [signal]

This generic signal gets emitted when the COM object issues the event name. argc is the number of parameters provided by the event (DISPPARAMS.cArgs), and argv is the pointer to the parameter values (DISPPARAMS.rgvarg). Note that the order of parameter values is turned around, ie. the last element of the array is the first parameter in the function.

    void Receiver::slot( const QString &name, int argc, void *argv )
    {
        VARIANTARG *params = (VARIANTARG*)argv;
        if ( name.startsWith( "BeforeNavigate2(" ) ) {
            IDispatch *pDisp = params[argc-1].pdispVal;
            VARIANTARG URL = *params[argc-2].pvarVal;
            VARIANTARG Flags = *params[argc-3].pvarVal;
            VARIANTARG TargetFrameName = *params[argc-4].pvarVal;
            VARIANTARG PostData = *params[argc-5].pvarVal;
            VARIANTARG Headers = *params[argc-6].pvarVal;
            bool *Cancel = params[argc-7].pboolVal;
        }
    }
    

Use this signal if the event has parameters of unsupported data types. Otherwise, connect directly to the signal name.

Property Documentation

QString control

This property holds the name of the COM object wrapped by this QAxBase object.

Setting this property initilializes the COM object. Any COM object previously set is shut down.

The most efficient way to set this property is by using the registered component's UUID, e.g.

    ctrl->setControl( "{8E27C92B-1264-101C-8A2F-040224009C02}" );
    

    ctrl->setControl( "MSCal.Calendar" );
    

    ctrl->setControl( "Calendar Control 9.0" );
    

The control's read function always returns the control's UUID.

Set this property's value with setControl() and get this property's value with control().

This file is part of the Qt toolkit. Copyright © 1995-2003 Trolltech. All Rights Reserved.