QToolButton Class Reference

Detailed Description

A tool button is a special button that provides quick-access to specific commands or options. As opposed to a normal command button, a tool button usually doesn't show a text label, but shows an icon instead. Its classic usage is to select tools, for example the "pen" tool in a drawing program. This would be implemented with a QToolButton as toggle button (see setToggleButton() ).

QToolButton supports auto-raising. In auto-raise mode, the button draws a 3D frame only when the mouse points at it. The feature is automatically turned on when a button is used inside a QToolBar. Change it with setAutoRaise().

A tool button's icon is set as QIconSet. This makes it possible to specify different pixmaps for the disabled and active state. The disabled pixmap is used when the button's functionality is not available. The active pixmap is displayed when the button is auto-raised because the mouse pointer is hovering over it.

The button's look and dimension is adjustable with setUsesBigPixmap() and setUsesTextLabel(). When used inside a QToolBar in a QMainWindow, the button automatically adjusts to QMainWindow's settings (see QMainWindow::setUsesTextLabel() and QMainWindow::setUsesBigPixmaps()). The pixmap set on a QToolButton will be set to 22x22 if it is bigger than this size. If usesBigPixmap() is TRUE, then the pixmap will be set to 32x32.

A tool button can offer additional choices in a popup menu. The feature is sometimes used with the "Back" button in a web browser. After pressing and holding the button down for a while, a menu pops up showing a list of possible pages to jump to. With QToolButton you can set a popup menu using setPopup(). The default delay is 600ms; you can adjust it with setPopupDelay().

See also QPushButton, QToolBar, QMainWindow, GUI Design Handbook: Push Button, and Basic Widgets.

Member Type Documentation

QToolButton::TextPosition

The position of the tool button's textLabel in relation to the tool button's icon.

• QToolButton::BesideIcon - The text appears beside the icon.
• QToolButton::BelowIcon - The text appears below the icon.

Member Function Documentation

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

QToolButton::QToolButton ( const QIconSet & iconSet, const QString & textLabel, const QString & grouptext, QObject * receiver, const char * slot, QToolBar * parent, const char * name = 0 )

The tool button will display iconSet, with its text label and tool tip set to textLabel and its status bar message set to grouptext. It will be connected to the slot in object receiver.

QToolButton::QToolButton ( ArrowType type, QWidget * parent, const char * name = 0 )

An arrow button has auto-repeat turned on by default.

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

QToolButton::~QToolButton ()

bool QToolButton::autoRaise () const

Returns TRUE if auto-raising is enabled; otherwise returns FALSE. See the "autoRaise" property for details.

QIconSet QToolButton::iconSet () const

Returns the icon set providing the icon shown on the button. See the "iconSet" property for details.

QIconSet QToolButton::iconSet ( bool on ) const

This function is obsolete. It is provided to keep old source working. We strongly advise against using it in new code.

Since Qt 3.0, QIconSet contains both the On and Off icons.

For ease of porting, this function ignores the on parameter and returns the iconSet property. If you relied on the on parameter, you probably want to update your code to use the QIconSet On/Off mechanism.

QIconSet QToolButton::offIconSet () const

Returns the icon set that is used when the button is in an "off" state. See the "offIconSet" property for details.

QIconSet QToolButton::onIconSet () const

Returns the icon set that is used when the button is in an "on" state. See the "onIconSet" property for details.

void QToolButton::openPopup ()

QPopupMenu * QToolButton::popup () const

See also setPopup().

int QToolButton::popupDelay () const

Returns the time delay between pressing the button and the appearance of the associated popup menu in milliseconds. See the "popupDelay" property for details.

void QToolButton::setAutoRaise ( bool enable )

Sets whether auto-raising is enabled to enable. See the "autoRaise" property for details.

void QToolButton::setIconSet ( const QIconSet & ) [virtual]

Sets the icon set providing the icon shown on the button. See the "iconSet" property for details.

void QToolButton::setIconSet ( const QIconSet & set, bool on )

This function is obsolete. It is provided to keep old source working. We strongly advise against using it in new code.

Since Qt 3.0, QIconSet contains both the On and Off icons.

For ease of porting, this function ignores the on parameter and sets the iconSet property. If you relied on the on parameter, you probably want to update your code to use the QIconSet On/Off mechanism.

See also iconSet and QIconSet::State.

void QToolButton::setOffIconSet ( const QIconSet & )

Sets the icon set that is used when the button is in an "off" state. See the "offIconSet" property for details.

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

Sets whether this tool button is on to enable. See the "on" property for details.

void QToolButton::setOnIconSet ( const QIconSet & )

Sets the icon set that is used when the button is in an "on" state. See the "onIconSet" property for details.

void QToolButton::setPopup ( QPopupMenu * popup )

The popup will be shown each time the tool button has been pressed down for a certain amount of time. A typical application example is the "back" button in some web browsers's tool bars. If the user clicks it, the browser simply browses back to the previous page. If the user presses and holds the button down for a while, the tool button shows a menu containing the current history list.

Ownership of the popup menu is not transferred to the tool button.

See also popup().

void QToolButton::setPopupDelay ( int delay )

Sets the time delay between pressing the button and the appearance of the associated popup menu in milliseconds to delay. See the "popupDelay" property for details.

void QToolButton::setTextLabel ( const QString & ) [slot]

Sets the label of this button. See the "textLabel" property for details.

void QToolButton::setTextLabel ( const QString & newLabel, bool tipToo ) [virtual slot]

Sets the label of this button to newLabel and automatically sets it as a tool tip if tipToo is TRUE.

void QToolButton::setTextPosition ( TextPosition pos ) [slot]

Sets the position of the text label of this button to pos. See the "textPosition" property for details.

void QToolButton::setToggleButton ( bool enable ) [virtual slot]

Sets whether this tool button is a toggle button to enable. See the "toggleButton" property for details.

void QToolButton::setUsesBigPixmap ( bool enable ) [virtual slot]

Sets whether this toolbutton uses big pixmaps to enable. See the "usesBigPixmap" property for details.

void QToolButton::setUsesTextLabel ( bool enable ) [virtual slot]

Sets whether the toolbutton displays a text label below the button pixmap to enable. See the "usesTextLabel" property for details.

QString QToolButton::textLabel () const

Returns the label of this button. See the "textLabel" property for details.

TextPosition QToolButton::textPosition () const

Returns the position of the text label of this button. See the "textPosition" property for details.

void QToolButton::toggle () [slot]

This function has no effect on non-toggling buttons.

See also toggleButton and toggled().

bool QToolButton::uses3D () const [protected]

See also drawButton().

bool QToolButton::usesBigPixmap () const

Returns TRUE if this toolbutton uses big pixmaps; otherwise returns FALSE. See the "usesBigPixmap" property for details.

bool QToolButton::usesTextLabel () const

Returns TRUE if the toolbutton displays a text label below the button pixmap; otherwise returns FALSE. See the "usesTextLabel" property for details.

Property Documentation

bool autoRaise

This property holds whether auto-raising is enabled.

The default is disabled (i.e. FALSE).

Set this property's value with setAutoRaise() and get this property's value with autoRaise().

BackgroundMode backgroundMode

This property holds the toolbutton's background mode.

Get this property with backgroundMode().

See also QWidget::backgroundMode.

QIconSet iconSet

This property holds the icon set providing the icon shown on the button.

Setting this property sets QToolButton::pixmap to a null pixmap. There is no default iconset.

See also pixmap, toggleButton, and on.

Set this property's value with setIconSet() and get this property's value with iconSet().

QIconSet offIconSet

This property holds the icon set that is used when the button is in an "off" state.

This property is obsolete. It is provided to keep old source working. We strongly advise against using it in new code.

Since Qt 3.0, QIconSet contains both the On and Off icons. There is now an QToolButton::iconSet property that replaces both QToolButton::onIconSet and QToolButton::offIconSet.

For ease of porting, this property is a synonym for QToolButton::iconSet. You probably want to go over your application code and use the QIconSet On/Off mechanism.

See also iconSet and QIconSet::State.

Set this property's value with setOffIconSet() and get this property's value with offIconSet().

bool on

This property holds whether this tool button is on.

This property has no effect on non-toggling buttons. The default is FALSE (i.e. off).

See also toggleButton and toggle().

Set this property's value with setOn().

QIconSet onIconSet

This property holds the icon set that is used when the button is in an "on" state.

This property is obsolete. It is provided to keep old source working. We strongly advise against using it in new code.

Since Qt 3.0, QIconSet contains both the On and Off icons. There is now an QToolButton::iconSet property that replaces both QToolButton::onIconSet and QToolButton::offIconSet.

For ease of porting, this property is a synonym for QToolButton::iconSet. You probably want to go over your application code and use the QIconSet On/Off mechanism.

See also iconSet and QIconSet::State.

Set this property's value with setOnIconSet() and get this property's value with onIconSet().

QPixmap pixmap

This property holds the pixmap of the button.

The pixmap property has no meaning for tool buttons. Use the iconSet property instead.

int popupDelay

This property holds the time delay between pressing the button and the appearance of the associated popup menu in milliseconds.

Usually this is around half a second. A value of 0 draws the down arrow button to the side of the button which can be used to open up the popup menu.

See also setPopup().

Set this property's value with setPopupDelay() and get this property's value with popupDelay().

QString textLabel

This property holds the label of this button.

Setting this property automatically sets the text as a tool tip too. There is no default text.

Set this property's value with setTextLabel() and get this property's value with textLabel().

TextPosition textPosition

This property holds the position of the text label of this button.

Set this property's value with setTextPosition() and get this property's value with textPosition().

bool toggleButton

This property holds whether this tool button is a toggle button.

Toggle buttons have an on/off state similar to check boxes. A tool button is not a toggle button by default.

See also on and toggle().

Set this property's value with setToggleButton().

bool usesBigPixmap

This property holds whether this toolbutton uses big pixmaps.

QToolButton automatically connects this property to the relevant signal in the QMainWindow in which it resides. We strongly recommend that you use QMainWindow::setUsesBigPixmaps() instead.

This property's default is TRUE.

Warning: If you set some buttons (in a QMainWindow) to have big pixmaps and others to have small pixmaps, QMainWindow may not get the geometry right.

Set this property's value with setUsesBigPixmap() and get this property's value with usesBigPixmap().

bool usesTextLabel

This property holds whether the toolbutton displays a text label below the button pixmap.

The default is FALSE.

QToolButton automatically connects this slot to the relevant signal in the QMainWindow in which is resides.

Set this property's value with setUsesTextLabel() and get this property's value with usesTextLabel().

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