QFileDialog Class Reference
^{[QtGui module]}

Detailed Description

The QFileDialog class provides a dialog that allow users to select files or directories.

The QFileDialog class enables a user to traverse the file system in order to select one or many files or a directory.

The easiest way to create a QFileDialog is to use the static functions. On Windows, these static functions will call the native Windows file dialog, and on Mac OS X these static function will call the native Mac OS X file dialog.

 fileName = QFileDialog::getOpenFileName(this,
     tr("Open Image"), "/home/jana", tr("Image Files (*.png *.jpg *.bmp)"));

In the above example, a modal QFileDialog is created using a static function. The dialog initially displays the contents of the "/home/jana" directory, and displays files matching the patterns given in the string "Image Files (*.png *.jpg *.bmp)". The parent of the file dialog is set to this, and the window title is set to "Open Image".

If you want to use multiple filters, separate each one with two semicolons. For example:

 "Images (*.png *.xpm *.jpg);;Text files (*.txt);;XML files (*.xml)"

You can create your own QFileDialog without using the static functions. By calling setFileMode(), you can specify what the user must select in the dialog:

 QFileDialog dialog(this);
 dialog.setFileMode(QFileDialog::AnyFile);

In the above example, the mode of the file dialog is set to AnyFile, meaning that the user can select any file, or even specify a file that doesn't exist. This mode is useful for creating a "Save As" file dialog. Use ExistingFile if the user must select an existing file, or Directory if only a directory may be selected. See the QFileDialog::FileMode enum for the complete list of modes.

The fileMode property contains the mode of operation for the dialog; this indicates what types of objects the user is expected to select. Use setFilter() to set the dialog's file filter. For example:

 dialog.setFilter(tr("Images (*.png *.xpm *.jpg)"));

In the above example, the filter is set to "Images (*.png *.xpm *.jpg)", this means that only files with the extension png, xpm, or jpg will be shown in the QFileDialog. You can apply several filters by using setFilters(). Use selectFilter() to select one of the filters you've given as the file dialog's default filter.

The file dialog has two view modes: List and Detail. List presents the contents of the current directory as a list of file and directory names. Detail also displays a list of file and directory names, but provides additional information alongside each name, such as the file size and modification date. Set the mode with setViewMode():

 dialog.setViewMode(QFileDialog::Detail);

The last important function you will need to use when creating your own file dialog is selectedFiles().

 QStringList fileNames;
 if (dialog.exec())
     fileNames = dialog.selectedFiles();

In the above example, a modal file dialog is created and shown. If the user clicked OK, the file they selected is put in fileName.

The dialog's working directory can be set with setDirectory(). Each file in the current directory can be selected using the selectFile() function.

The Standard Dialogs example shows how to use QFileDialog as well as other built-in Qt dialogs.

See also QDir, QFileInfo, QFile, QPrintDialog, QColorDialog, QFontDialog, Standard Dialogs Example, and Application Example.

Member Type Documentation

enum QFileDialog::AcceptMode

enum QFileDialog::DialogLabel

enum QFileDialog::FileMode

This enum is used to indicate what the user may select in the file dialog; i.e. what the dialog will return if the user clicks OK.

See also setFileMode().

typedef QFileDialog::Mode

Use QFileDialog::FileMode instead.

enum QFileDialog::Option
flags QFileDialog::Options

The Options type is a typedef for QFlags<Option>. It stores an OR combination of Option values.

enum QFileDialog::ViewMode

This enum describes the view mode of the file dialog; i.e. what information about each file will be displayed.

See also setViewMode().

Property Documentation

acceptMode : AcceptMode

This property holds the accept mode of the dialog.

The action mode defines whether the dialog is for opening or saving files.

Access functions:

• AcceptMode acceptMode () const
• void setAcceptMode ( AcceptMode mode )

See also AcceptMode.

confirmOverwrite : bool

This property holds whether the filedialog should ask before accepting a selected file, when the accept mode is AcceptSave.

If this property is set to true and the accept mode is AcceptSave, the filedialog will ask whether the user wants to overwrite the file before accepting the file.

Access functions:

• bool confirmOverwrite () const
• void setConfirmOverwrite ( bool enabled )

defaultSuffix : QString

This property holds suffix added to the filename if no other suffix was specified.

This property specifies a string that will be added to the filename if it has no suffix already. The suffix is typically used to indicate the file type (e.g. "txt" indicates a text file).

Access functions:

• QString defaultSuffix () const
• void setDefaultSuffix ( const QString & suffix )

fileMode : FileMode

This property holds the file mode of the dialog.

The file mode defines the number and type of items that the user is expected to select in the dialog.

Access functions:

• FileMode fileMode () const
• void setFileMode ( FileMode mode )

See also FileMode.

readOnly : bool

This property holds whether the filedialog is readonly.

If this property is set to false, the filedialog will allow renaming, and deleting of files and directories and creating directories.

The default value is false.

Access functions:

• bool isReadOnly () const
• void setReadOnly ( bool enabled )

resolveSymlinks : bool

This property holds whether the filedialog should resolve shortcuts.

If this property is set to true, the file dialog will resolve shortcuts.

Access functions:

• bool resolveSymlinks () const
• void setResolveSymlinks ( bool enabled )

viewMode : ViewMode

This property holds the way files and directories are displayed in the dialog.

By default, the Detail mode is used to display information about files and directories.

Access functions:

• ViewMode viewMode () const
• void setViewMode ( ViewMode mode )

See also ViewMode.

Member Function Documentation

QFileDialog::QFileDialog ( QWidget * parent, Qt::WindowFlags flags )

Constructs a file dialog with the given parent and widget flags.

QFileDialog::QFileDialog ( QWidget * parent = 0, const QString & caption = QString(), const QString & directory = QString(), const QString & filter = QString() )

Constructs a file dialog with the given parent and caption that initially displays the contents of the specified directory. The contents of the directory are filtered before being shown in the dialog, using a semicolon-separated list of filters specified by filter.

QFileDialog::~QFileDialog ()

Destroys the file dialog.

void QFileDialog::currentChanged ( const QString & path )   [signal]

When the current file changes, this signal is emitted with the new file name as the path parameter.

See also filesSelected().

QDir QFileDialog::directory () const

Returns the directory currently being displayed in the dialog.

See also setDirectory().

void QFileDialog::directoryEntered ( const QString & directory )   [signal]

This signal is emitted when the user enters a directory.

This function was introduced in Qt 4.3.

void QFileDialog::filesSelected ( const QStringList & selected )   [signal]

When the selection changes, this signal is emitted with the (possibly empty) list of selected files.

See also currentChanged().

void QFileDialog::filterSelected ( const QString & filter )   [signal]

This signal is emitted when the user selects a filter.

This function was introduced in Qt 4.3.

QStringList QFileDialog::filters () const

Returns the file type filters that are in operation on this file dialog.

See also setFilters().

QString QFileDialog::getExistingDirectory ( QWidget * parent = 0, const QString & caption = QString(), const QString & dir = QString(), Options options = ShowDirsOnly )   [static]

This is a convenience static function that will return an existing directory selected by the user.

 QString dir = QFileDialog::getExistingDirectory(this, tr("Open Directory"),
                                                 "/home",
                                                 QFileDialog::ShowDirsOnly
                                                 | QFileDialog::DontResolveSymlinks);

This function creates a modal file dialog with the given parent widget. If the parent is not 0, the dialog will be shown centered over the parent widget.

The dialog's working directory is set to dir, and the caption is set to caption. Either of these may be an empty string in which case the current directory and a default caption will be used respectively. The options argument holds various options about how to run the dialog, see the QFileDialog::Option enum for more information on the flags you can pass.

Under Windows and Mac OS X, this static function will use the native file dialog and not a QFileDialog. On Mac OS X, the dir argument is ignored, the native dialog always displays the last visited directory.

Under Unix/X11, the normal behavior of the file dialog is to resolve and follow symlinks. For example, if /usr/tmp is a symlink to /var/tmp, the file dialog will change to /var/tmp after entering /usr/tmp. If options includes DontResolveSymlinks, the file dialog will treat symlinks as regular directories.

Note that on Windows the dialog will spin a blocking modal event loop that will not dispatch any QTimers, and if parent is not 0 then it will position the dialog just under the parent's title bar.

See also getOpenFileName(), getOpenFileNames(), and getSaveFileName().

QString QFileDialog::getOpenFileName ( QWidget * parent = 0, const QString & caption = QString(), const QString & dir = QString(), const QString & filter = QString(), QString * selectedFilter = 0, Options options = 0 )   [static]

This is a convenience static function that returns an existing file selected by the user. If the user presses Cancel, it returns a null string.

 QString fileName = QFileDialog::getOpenFileName(this, tr("Open File"),
                                                 "/home",
                                                 tr("Images (*.png *.xpm *.jpg)"));

The function creates a modal file dialog with the given parent widget. If the parent is not 0, the dialog will be shown centered over the parent widget.

The file dialog's working directory will be set to dir. If dir includes a file name, the file will be selected. Only files that match the given filter are shown. The filter selected is set to selectedFilter. The parameters dir, selectedFilter, and filter may be empty strings. The options argument holds various options about how to run the dialog, see the QFileDialog::Option enum for more information on the flags you can pass.

The dialog's caption is set to caption. If caption is not specified then a default caption will be used.

Under Windows and Mac OS X, this static function will use the native file dialog and not a QFileDialog. On Mac OS X, the dir argument is ignored, the native dialog always displays the last visited directory.

Note that on Windows the dialog will spin a blocking modal event loop that will not dispatch any QTimers, and if parent is not 0 then it will position the dialog just under the parent's title bar.

Under Unix/X11, the normal behavior of the file dialog is to resolve and follow symlinks. For example, if /usr/tmp is a symlink to /var/tmp, the file dialog will change to /var/tmp after entering /usr/tmp. If options includes DontResolveSymlinks, the file dialog will treat symlinks as regular directories.

See also getOpenFileNames(), getSaveFileName(), and getExistingDirectory().

QStringList QFileDialog::getOpenFileNames ( QWidget * parent = 0, const QString & caption = QString(), const QString & dir = QString(), const QString & filter = QString(), QString * selectedFilter = 0, Options options = 0 )   [static]

This is a convenience static function that will return one or more existing files selected by the user.

 QStringList files = QFileDialog::getOpenFileNames(
                         this,
                         "Select one or more files to open",
                         "/home",
                         "Images (*.png *.xpm *.jpg)");

This function creates a modal file dialog with the given parent widget. If the parent is not 0, the dialog will be shown centered over the parent widget.

The file dialog's working directory will be set to dir. If dir includes a file name, the file will be selected. The filter is set to filter so that only those files which match the filter are shown. The filter selected is set to selectedFilter. The parameters dir, selectedFilter and filter may be empty strings.

The dialog's caption is set to caption. If caption is not specified then a default caption will be used.

Under Windows and Mac OS X, this static function will use the native file dialog and not a QFileDialog. On Mac OS X, the dir argument is ignored, the native dialog always displays the last visited directory.

Note that on Windows the dialog will spin a blocking modal event loop that will not dispatch any QTimers, and if parent is not 0 then it will position the dialog just under the parent's title bar.

Under Unix/X11, the normal behavior of the file dialog is to resolve and follow symlinks. For example, if /usr/tmp is a symlink to /var/tmp, the file dialog will change to /var/tmp after entering /usr/tmp. The options argument holds various options about how to run the dialog, see the QFileDialog::Option enum for more information on the flags you can pass.

Note that if you want to iterate over the list of files, you should iterate over a copy. For example:

 QStringList list = files;
 QStringList::Iterator it = list.begin();
 while(it != list.end()) {
     myProcessing(*it);
     ++it;
 }

See also getOpenFileName(), getSaveFileName(), and getExistingDirectory().

QString QFileDialog::getSaveFileName ( QWidget * parent = 0, const QString & caption = QString(), const QString & dir = QString(), const QString & filter = QString(), QString * selectedFilter = 0, Options options = 0 )   [static]

This is a convenience static function that will return a file name selected by the user. The file does not have to exist.

It creates a modal file dialog with the given parent widget. If the parent is not 0, the dialog will be shown centered over the parent widget.

 QString fileName = QFileDialog::getSaveFileName(this, tr("Save File"),
                            "/home/jana/untitled.png",
                            tr("Images (*.png *.xpm *.jpg)"));

The file dialog's working directory will be set to dir. If dir includes a file name, the file will be selected. Only files that match the filter are shown. The filter selected is set to selectedFilter. The parameters dir, selectedFilter, and filter may be empty strings. The options argument holds various options about how to run the dialog, see the QFileDialog::Option enum for more information on the flags you can pass.

The default filter can be chosen by setting selectedFilter to the desired value.

The dialog's caption is set to caption. If caption is not specified then a default caption will be used.

Under Windows and Mac OS X, this static function will use the native file dialog and not a QFileDialog.

Note that on Windows the dialog will spin a blocking modal event loop that will not dispatch any QTimers, and if parent is not 0 then it will position the dialog just under the parent's title bar. On Mac OS X, the filter argument is ignored.

Under Unix/X11, the normal behavior of the file dialog is to resolve and follow symlinks. For example, if /usr/tmp is a symlink to /var/tmp, the file dialog will change to /var/tmp after entering /usr/tmp. If options includes DontResolveSymlinks, the file dialog will treat symlinks as regular directories.

See also getOpenFileName(), getOpenFileNames(), and getExistingDirectory().

QStringList QFileDialog::history () const

returns the browsing history of the filedialog as a list of paths.

See also setHistory().

QFileIconProvider * QFileDialog::iconProvider () const

returns the icon provider used by the filedialog.

See also setIconProvider().

QAbstractItemDelegate * QFileDialog::itemDelegate () const

returns the item delegate used to render the items in the views in the filedialog

See also setItemDelegate().

QString QFileDialog::labelText ( DialogLabel label ) const

returns the text shown in the filedialog in the specified label

See also setLabelText().

QAbstractProxyModel * QFileDialog::proxyModel () const

Returns the proxy model used by the file dialog. By default no proxy is set.

See also setProxyModel().

bool QFileDialog::restoreState ( const QByteArray & state )

Restores the dialogs's layout, history and current directory to the state specified.

Typically this is used in conjunction with QSettings to restore the size from a past session.

Returns false if there are errors

This function was introduced in Qt 4.3.

QByteArray QFileDialog::saveState () const

Saves the state of the dialog's layout, history and current directory.

Typically this is used in conjunction with QSettings to remember the size for a future session. A version number is stored as part of the data.

This function was introduced in Qt 4.3.

void QFileDialog::selectFile ( const QString & filename )

Selects the given filename in the file dialog.

See also selectedFiles().

void QFileDialog::selectFilter ( const QString & filter )

Sets the current file type filter. Multiple filters can be passed in filter by separating them with semicolons or spaces.

See also setFilter(), setFilters(), and selectedFilter().

QStringList QFileDialog::selectedFiles () const

Returns a list of strings containing the absolute paths of the selected files in the dialog. If no files are selected, or the mode is not ExistingFiles, selectedFiles() is an empty string list.

See also selectedFilter() and selectFile().

QString QFileDialog::selectedFilter () const

Returns the filter that the user selected in the file dialog.

See also selectedFiles().

void QFileDialog::setDirectory ( const QString & directory )

Sets the file dialog's current directory.

See also directory().

void QFileDialog::setDirectory ( const QDir & directory )

This is an overloaded member function, provided for convenience.

void QFileDialog::setFilter ( const QString & filter )

Sets the filter used in the file dialog to the given filter.

If filter contains a pair of parentheses containing one or more of anything*something, separated by semicolons, then only the text contained in the parentheses is used as the filter. This means that these calls are all equivalent:

 dialog.setFilter("All C++ files (*.cpp;*.cc;*.C;*.cxx;*.c++)");
 dialog.setFilter("*.cpp;*.cc;*.C;*.cxx;*.c++");

See also setFilters().

void QFileDialog::setFilters ( const QStringList & filters )

Sets the filters used in the file dialog.

 QStringList filters;
 filters << "Image files (*.png *.xpm *.jpg)"
         << "Text files (*.txt)"
         << "Any files (*)";

 QFileDialog dialog(this);
 dialog.setFilters(filters);
 dialog.exec();

See also filters().

void QFileDialog::setHistory ( const QStringList & paths )

Sets the browsing history of the filedialog to contain the given paths.

See also history().

void QFileDialog::setIconProvider ( QFileIconProvider * provider )

set the icon provider used by the filedialog to the specified provider

See also iconProvider().

void QFileDialog::setItemDelegate ( QAbstractItemDelegate * delegate )

Sets the item delegate used to render items in the views in the file dialog to the given delegate.

Warning: You should not share the same instance of a delegate between views. Doing so can cause incorrect or unintuitive editing behavior since each view connected to a given delegate may receive the closeEditor() signal, and attempt to access, modify or close an editor that has already been closed.

See also itemDelegate().

void QFileDialog::setLabelText ( DialogLabel label, const QString & text )

set the text shown in the filedialog in the specified label

See also labelText().

void QFileDialog::setProxyModel ( QAbstractProxyModel * proxyModel )

Sets the model for the views to the given proxyModel. This is useful if you want to modify the underlying model; for example, to add columns, filter data or add drives.

Any existing proxy model will be removed, but not deleted. The file dialog will take ownership of the proxyModel.

This function was introduced in Qt 4.3.

See also proxyModel().

void QFileDialog::setSidebarUrls ( const QList<QUrl> & urls )

Sets the urls that are located in the sidebar

This function was introduced in Qt 4.3.

See also sidebarUrls().

QList<QUrl> QFileDialog::sidebarUrls () const

Returns a list of urls that are currently in the sidebar

This function was introduced in Qt 4.3.

See also setSidebarUrls().