QPlainTextEdit Class Reference
[QtGui module]

Differences to QTextEdit

QPlainTextEdit is a thin class, implemented by using most of the technology that is behind QTextEdit and QTextDocument. Its performance benefits over QTextEdit stem mostly from using a different and simplified text layout called QPlainTextDocumentLayout on the text document (see QTextDocument::setDocumentLayout()). The plain text document layout does not support tables nor embedded frames, and replaces a pixel-exact height calculation with a line-by-line respectively paragraph-by-paragraph scrolling approach. This makes it possible to handle significantly larger documents, and still resize the editor with line wrap enabled in real time. It also makes for a fast log viewer (see setMaximumBlockCount()).

See also QTextDocument, QTextCursor, Application Example, Syntax Highlighter Example, and Rich Text Processing.

Member Type Documentation

enum QPlainTextEdit::LineWrapMode

Property Documentation

backgroundVisible : bool

This property holds whether the palette background is visible outside the document area.

If set to true, the plain text edit paints the palette background on the viewport area not covered by the text document. Otherwise, if set to false, it won't. The feature makes it possible for the user to visually distinguish between the area of the document, painted with the base color of the palette, and the empty area not covered by any document.

The default is false.

Access functions:

• bool backgroundVisible () const
• void setBackgroundVisible ( bool visible )

blockCount : const int

This property holds the number of text blocks in the document.

By default, in an empty document, this property contains a value of 1.

Access functions:

• int blockCount () const

centerOnScroll : bool

This property holds whether the cursor should be centered on screen.

If set to true, the plain text edit scrolls the document vertically to make the cursor visible at the center of the viewport. This also allows the text edit to scroll below the end of the document. Otherwise, if set to false, the plain text edit scrolls the smallest amount possible to ensure the cursor is visible. The same algorithm is applied to any new line appended through appendPlainText().

The default is false.

Access functions:

• bool centerOnScroll () const
• void setCenterOnScroll ( bool enabled )

See also centerCursor() and ensureCursorVisible().

cursorWidth : int

This property specifies the width of the cursor in pixels. The default value is 1.

Access functions:

• int cursorWidth () const
• void setCursorWidth ( int width )

documentTitle : QString

This property holds the title of the document parsed from the text.

By default, this property contains an empty string.

Access functions:

• QString documentTitle () const
• void setDocumentTitle ( const QString & title )

lineWrapMode : LineWrapMode

This property holds the line wrap mode.

The default mode is WidgetWidth which causes words to be wrapped at the right edge of the text edit. Wrapping occurs at whitespace, keeping whole words intact. If you want wrapping to occur within words use setWrapPolicy(). If you set a wrap mode of FixedPixelWidth or FixedColumnWidth you should also call setWrapColumnOrWidth() with the width you want.

Access functions:

• LineWrapMode lineWrapMode () const
• void setLineWrapMode ( LineWrapMode mode )

maximumBlockCount : int

This property holds the limit for blocks in the document.

Specifies the maximum number of blocks the document may have. If there are more blocks in the document that specified with this property blocks are removed from the beginning of the document.

A negative or zero value specifies that the document may contain an unlimited amount of blocks.

The default value is 0.

Note that setting this property will apply the limit immediately to the document contents. Setting this property also disables the undo redo history.

Access functions:

• int maximumBlockCount () const
• void setMaximumBlockCount ( int maximum )

overwriteMode : bool

This property holds whether text entered by the user will overwrite existing text.

As with many text editors, the plain text editor widget can be configured to insert or overwrite existing text with new text entered by the user.

If this property is true, existing text is overwritten, character-for-character by new text; otherwise, text is inserted at the cursor position, displacing existing text.

By default, this property is false (new text does not overwrite existing text).

Access functions:

• bool overwriteMode () const
• void setOverwriteMode ( bool overwrite )

plainText : QString

This property gets and sets the plain text editor's contents. The previous contents are removed and undo/redo history is reset when this property is set.

By default, for an editor with no contents, this property contains an empty string.

Access functions:

• QString toPlainText () const
• void setPlainText ( const QString & text )

readOnly : bool

This property holds whether the text edit is read-only.

In a read-only text edit the user can only navigate through the text and select text; modifying the text is not possible.

This property's default is false.

Access functions:

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

tabChangesFocus : bool

This property holds whether Tab changes focus or is accepted as input.

In some occasions text edits should not allow the user to input tabulators or change indentation using the Tab key, as this breaks the focus chain. The default is false.

Access functions:

• bool tabChangesFocus () const
• void setTabChangesFocus ( bool b )

tabStopWidth : int

This property holds the tab stop width in pixels.

By default, this property contains a value of 80.

Access functions:

• int tabStopWidth () const
• void setTabStopWidth ( int width )

textInteractionFlags : Qt::TextInteractionFlags

Specifies how the label should interact with user input if it displays text.

If the flags contain either Qt::LinksAccessibleByKeyboard or Qt::TextSelectableByKeyboard then the focus policy is also automatically set to Qt::ClickFocus.

The default value depends on whether the QPlainTextEdit is read-only or editable, and whether it is a QTextBrowser or not.

Access functions:

• Qt::TextInteractionFlags textInteractionFlags () const
• void setTextInteractionFlags ( Qt::TextInteractionFlags flags )

undoRedoEnabled : bool

This property holds whether undo and redo are enabled.

Users are only able to undo or redo actions if this property is true, and if there is an action that can be undone (or redone).

By default, this property is true.

Access functions:

• bool isUndoRedoEnabled () const
• void setUndoRedoEnabled ( bool enable )

wordWrapMode : QTextOption::WrapMode

This property holds the mode QPlainTextEdit will use when wrapping text by words.

By default, this property is set to QTextOption::WrapAtWordBoundaryOrAnywhere.

Access functions:

• QTextOption::WrapMode wordWrapMode () const
• void setWordWrapMode ( QTextOption::WrapMode policy )

See also QTextOption::WrapMode.

Member Function Documentation

QPlainTextEdit::QPlainTextEdit ( QWidget * parent = 0 )

Constructs an empty QPlainTextEdit with parent parent.

QPlainTextEdit::QPlainTextEdit ( const QString & text, QWidget * parent = 0 )

Constructs a QPlainTextEdit with parent parent. The text edit will display the plain text text.

QPlainTextEdit::~QPlainTextEdit ()   [virtual]

Destructor.

void QPlainTextEdit::appendHtml ( const QString & html )   [slot]

Appends a new paragraph with html to the end of the text edit.

appendPlainText()

void QPlainTextEdit::appendPlainText ( const QString & text )   [slot]

Appends a new paragraph with text to the end of the text edit.

See also appendHtml().

QRectF QPlainTextEdit::blockBoundingGeometry ( const QTextBlock & block ) const   [protected]

Returns the bounding rectangle of the text block in content coordinates. Translate the rectangle with the contentOffset() to get visual coordinates on the viewport.

See also firstVisibleBlock() and blockBoundingRect().

QRectF QPlainTextEdit::blockBoundingRect ( const QTextBlock & block ) const   [protected]

Returns the bounding rectangle of the text block in the block's own coordinates.

See also blockBoundingGeometry().

void QPlainTextEdit::blockCountChanged ( int newBlockCount )   [signal]

This signal is emitted whenever the block count changes. The new block count is passed in newBlockCount.

bool QPlainTextEdit::canInsertFromMimeData ( const QMimeData * source ) const   [virtual protected]

This function returns true if the contents of the MIME data object, specified by source, can be decoded and inserted into the document. It is called for example when during a drag operation the mouse enters this widget and it is necessary to determine whether it is possible to accept the drag.

bool QPlainTextEdit::canPaste () const

Returns whether text can be pasted from the clipboard into the textedit.

void QPlainTextEdit::centerCursor ()   [slot]

Scrolls the document in order to center the cursor vertically.

See also ensureCursorVisible() and centerOnScroll.

void QPlainTextEdit::clear ()   [slot]

Deletes all the text in the text edit.

Note that the undo/redo history is cleared by this function.

See also cut() and setPlainText().

QPointF QPlainTextEdit::contentOffset () const   [protected]

Returns the content's origin in viewport coordinates.

The origin of the content of a plain text edit is always the top left corner of the first visible text block. The content offset is different from (0,0) when the text has been scrolled horizontally, or when the first visible block has been scrolled partially off the screen, i.e. the visible text does not start with the first line of the first visible block, or when the first visible block is the very first block and the editor displays a margin.

See also firstVisibleBlock(), horizontalScrollBar(), and verticalScrollBar().

void QPlainTextEdit::contextMenuEvent ( QContextMenuEvent * event )   [virtual protected]

Shows the standard context menu created with createStandardContextMenu().

If you do not want the text edit to have a context menu, you can set its contextMenuPolicy to Qt::NoContextMenu. If you want to customize the context menu, reimplement this function. If you want to extend the standard context menu, reimplement this function, call createStandardContextMenu() and extend the menu returned.

Information about the event is passed in the event object.

 void MyQPlainTextEdit::contextMenuEvent(QContextMenuEvent *event)
 {
     QMenu *menu = createStandardContextMenu();
     menu->addAction(tr("My Menu Item"));
     //...
     menu->exec(event->globalPos());
     delete menu;
 }

Reimplemented from QWidget.

void QPlainTextEdit::copy ()   [slot]

Copies any selected text to the clipboard.

See also copyAvailable().

void QPlainTextEdit::copyAvailable ( bool yes )   [signal]

This signal is emitted when text is selected or de-selected in the text edit.

When text is selected this signal will be emitted with yes set to true. If no text has been selected or if the selected text is de-selected this signal is emitted with yes set to false.

If yes is true then copy() can be used to copy the selection to the clipboard. If yes is false then copy() does nothing.

See also selectionChanged().

QMimeData * QPlainTextEdit::createMimeDataFromSelection () const   [virtual protected]

This function returns a new MIME data object to represent the contents of the text edit's current selection. It is called when the selection needs to be encapsulated into a new QMimeData object; for example, when a drag and drop operation is started, or when data is copied to the clipboard.

If you reimplement this function, note that the ownership of the returned QMimeData object is passed to the caller. The selection can be retrieved by using the textCursor() function.

QMenu * QPlainTextEdit::createStandardContextMenu ()

This function creates the standard context menu which is shown when the user clicks on the line edit with the right mouse button. It is called from the default contextMenuEvent() handler. The popup menu's ownership is transferred to the caller.

QTextCharFormat QPlainTextEdit::currentCharFormat () const

Returns the char format that is used when inserting new text.

See also setCurrentCharFormat().

QTextCursor QPlainTextEdit::cursorForPosition ( const QPoint & pos ) const

returns a QTextCursor at position pos (in viewport coordinates).

void QPlainTextEdit::cursorPositionChanged ()   [signal]

This signal is emitted whenever the position of the cursor changed.

QRect QPlainTextEdit::cursorRect ( const QTextCursor & cursor ) const

returns a rectangle (in viewport coordinates) that includes the cursor.

QRect QPlainTextEdit::cursorRect () const

This is an overloaded member function, provided for convenience.

returns a rectangle (in viewport coordinates) that includes the cursor of the text edit.

void QPlainTextEdit::cut ()   [slot]

Copies the selected text to the clipboard and deletes it from the text edit.

If there is no selected text nothing happens.

See also copy() and paste().

QTextDocument * QPlainTextEdit::document () const

Returns a pointer to the underlying document.

See also setDocument().

void QPlainTextEdit::ensureCursorVisible ()

Ensures that the cursor is visible by scrolling the text edit if necessary.

See also centerCursor() and centerOnScroll.

QList<QTextEdit::ExtraSelection> QPlainTextEdit::extraSelections () const

Returns previously set extra selections.

See also setExtraSelections().

bool QPlainTextEdit::find ( const QString & exp, QTextDocument::FindFlags options = 0 )

Finds the next occurrence of the string, exp, using the given options. Returns true if exp was found and changes the cursor to select the match; otherwise returns false.

QTextBlock QPlainTextEdit::firstVisibleBlock () const   [protected]

Returns the first visible block.

See also blockBoundingRect().

QAbstractTextDocumentLayout::PaintContext QPlainTextEdit::getPaintContext () const   [protected]

Returns the paint context for the viewport(), useful only when reimplementing paintEvent().

void QPlainTextEdit::insertFromMimeData ( const QMimeData * source )   [virtual protected]

This function inserts the contents of the MIME data object, specified by source, into the text edit at the current cursor position. It is called whenever text is inserted as the result of a clipboard paste operation, or when the text edit accepts data from a drag and drop operation.

void QPlainTextEdit::insertPlainText ( const QString & text )   [slot]

Convenience slot that inserts text at the current cursor position.

It is equivalent to

 edit->textCursor().insertText(text);

QVariant QPlainTextEdit::loadResource ( int type, const QUrl & name )   [virtual]

Loads the resource specified by the given type and name.

This function is an extension of QTextDocument::loadResource().

See also QTextDocument::loadResource().

void QPlainTextEdit::mergeCurrentCharFormat ( const QTextCharFormat & modifier )

Merges the properties specified in modifier into the current character format by calling QTextCursor::mergeCharFormat on the editor's cursor. If the editor has a selection then the properties of modifier are directly applied to the selection.

See also QTextCursor::mergeCharFormat().

void QPlainTextEdit::modificationChanged ( bool changed )   [signal]

This signal is emitted whenever the content of the document changes in a way that affects the modification state. If changed is true, the document has been modified; otherwise it is false.

For example, calling setModified(false) on a document and then inserting text causes the signal to get emitted. If you undo that operation, causing the document to return to its original unmodified state, the signal will get emitted again.

void QPlainTextEdit::moveCursor ( QTextCursor::MoveOperation operation, QTextCursor::MoveMode mode = QTextCursor::MoveAnchor )

Moves the cursor by performing the given operation.

If mode is QTextCursor::KeepAnchor, the cursor selects the text it moves over. This is the same effect that the user achieves when they hold down the Shift key and move the cursor with the cursor keys.

See also QTextCursor::movePosition().

void QPlainTextEdit::paste ()   [slot]

Pastes the text from the clipboard into the text edit at the current cursor position.

If there is no text in the clipboard nothing happens.

To change the behavior of this function, i.e. to modify what QPlainTextEdit can paste and how it is being pasted, reimplement the virtual canInsertFromMimeData() and insertFromMimeData() functions.

See also cut() and copy().

void QPlainTextEdit::print ( QPrinter * printer ) const

Convenience function to print the text edit's document to the given printer. This is equivalent to calling the print method on the document directly except that this function also supports QPrinter::Selection as print range.

See also QTextDocument::print().

void QPlainTextEdit::redo ()   [slot]

Redoes the last operation.

If there is no operation to redo, i.e. there is no redo step in the undo/redo history, nothing happens.

See also undo().

void QPlainTextEdit::redoAvailable ( bool available )   [signal]

This signal is emitted whenever redo operations become available (available is true) or unavailable (available is false).

void QPlainTextEdit::selectAll ()   [slot]

Selects all text.

See also copy(), cut(), and textCursor().

void QPlainTextEdit::selectionChanged ()   [signal]

This signal is emitted whenever the selection changes.

See also copyAvailable().

void QPlainTextEdit::setCurrentCharFormat ( const QTextCharFormat & format )

Sets the char format that is be used when inserting new text to format by calling QTextCursor::setCharFormat() on the editor's cursor. If the editor has a selection then the char format is directly applied to the selection.

See also currentCharFormat().

void QPlainTextEdit::setDocument ( QTextDocument * document )

Makes document the new document of the text editor.

The parent QObject of the provided document remains the owner of the object. If the current document is a child of the text editor, then it is deleted.

The document must have a document layout that inherits QPlainTextDocumentLayout (see QTextDocument::setDocumentLayout()).

See also document().

void QPlainTextEdit::setExtraSelections ( const QList<QTextEdit::ExtraSelection> & selections )

This function allows temporarily marking certain regions in the document with a given color, specified as selections. This can be useful for example in a programming editor to mark a whole line of text with a given background color to indicate the existence of a breakpoint.

See also QTextEdit::ExtraSelection and extraSelections().

void QPlainTextEdit::setTextCursor ( const QTextCursor & cursor )

Sets the visible cursor.

See also textCursor().

void QPlainTextEdit::textChanged ()   [signal]

This signal is emitted whenever the document's content changes; for example, when text is inserted or deleted, or when formatting is applied.

QTextCursor QPlainTextEdit::textCursor () const

Returns a copy of the QTextCursor that represents the currently visible cursor. Note that changes on the returned cursor do not affect QPlainTextEdit's cursor; use setTextCursor() to update the visible cursor.

See also setTextCursor().

void QPlainTextEdit::undo ()   [slot]

Undoes the last operation.

If there is no operation to undo, i.e. there is no undo step in the undo/redo history, nothing happens.

See also redo().

void QPlainTextEdit::undoAvailable ( bool available )   [signal]

This signal is emitted whenever undo operations become available (available is true) or unavailable (available is false).

void QPlainTextEdit::updateRequest ( const QRect & rect, int dy )   [signal]

This signal is emitted when the text document needs an update of the specified rect. If the text is scrolled, rect will cover the entire viewport area. If the text is scrolled vertically, dy carries the amount of pixels the viewport was scrolled.

The purpose of the signal is to support extra widgets in plain text edit subclasses that e.g. show line numbers, breakpoints, or other extra information.