Order Form Example

MainWindow Implementation

The MainWindow constructor sets up the fileMenu and the required actions, newAction and printAction. These actions' triggered() signals are connected to the additionally implemented openDialog() slot and the default close() slot. The QTabWidget, letters, is instantiated and set as the window's central widget.

 MainWindow::MainWindow()
 {
     QMenu *fileMenu = new QMenu(tr("&File"), this);
     QAction *newAction = fileMenu->addAction(tr("&New..."));
     newAction->setShortcut(tr("Ctrl+N"));
     printAction = fileMenu->addAction(tr("&Print..."), this, SLOT(printFile()));
     printAction->setShortcut(tr("Ctrl+P"));
     printAction->setEnabled(false);
     QAction *quitAction = fileMenu->addAction(tr("E&xit"));
     quitAction->setShortcut(tr("Ctrl+Q"));
     menuBar()->addMenu(fileMenu);

     letters = new QTabWidget;

     connect(newAction, SIGNAL(triggered()), this, SLOT(openDialog()));
     connect(quitAction, SIGNAL(triggered()), this, SLOT(close()));

     setCentralWidget(letters);
     setWindowTitle(tr("Order Form"));
 }

The createLetter() function creates a new QTabWidget with a QTextEdit, editor, as the parent. This function accepts four parameters that correspond to we obtained through DetailsDialog, in order to "fill" the editor.

 void MainWindow::createLetter(const QString &name, const QString &address,
                               QList<QPair<QString,int> > orderItems,
                               bool sendOffers)
 {
     QTextEdit *editor = new QTextEdit;
     int tabIndex = letters->addTab(editor, name);
     letters->setCurrentIndex(tabIndex);

We then obtain the cursor for the editor using QTextEdit::textCursor(). The cursor is then moved to the start of the document using QTextCursor::Start.

     QTextCursor cursor(editor->textCursor());
     cursor.movePosition(QTextCursor::Start);

Recall the structure of a Rich Text Document, where sequences of frames and tables are always separated by text blocks, some of which may contain no information.

In the case of the Order Form Example, the document structure for this portion is described by the table below:

This is accomplished with the following code:

     QTextFrame *topFrame = cursor.currentFrame();
     QTextFrameFormat topFrameFormat = topFrame->frameFormat();
     topFrameFormat.setPadding(16);
     topFrame->setFrameFormat(topFrameFormat);

     QTextCharFormat textFormat;
     QTextCharFormat boldFormat;
     boldFormat.setFontWeight(QFont::Bold);

     QTextFrameFormat referenceFrameFormat;
     referenceFrameFormat.setBorder(1);
     referenceFrameFormat.setPadding(8);
     referenceFrameFormat.setPosition(QTextFrameFormat::FloatRight);
     referenceFrameFormat.setWidth(QTextLength(QTextLength::PercentageLength, 40));
     cursor.insertFrame(referenceFrameFormat);

     cursor.insertText("A company", boldFormat);
     cursor.insertBlock();
     cursor.insertText("321 City Street");
     cursor.insertBlock();
     cursor.insertText("Industry Park");
     cursor.insertBlock();
     cursor.insertText("Another country");

Note that topFrame is the editor's top-level frame and is not shown in the document structure.

We then set the cursor's position back to its last position in topFrame and fill in the customer's name (provided by the constructor) and address - using a foreach loop to traverse the QString, address.

     cursor.setPosition(topFrame->lastPosition());

     cursor.insertText(name, textFormat);
     QString line;
     foreach (line, address.split("\n")) {
         cursor.insertBlock();
         cursor.insertText(line);
     }

The cursor is now back in topFrame and the document structure for the above portion of code is:

For spacing purposes, we invoke insertBlock() twice. The currentDate() is obtained and displayed. We use setWidth() to increase the width of bodyFrameFormat and we insert a new frame with that width.

     cursor.insertBlock();
     cursor.insertBlock();

     QDate date = QDate::currentDate();
     cursor.insertText(tr("Date: %1").arg(date.toString("d MMMM yyyy")),
                       textFormat);
     cursor.insertBlock();

     QTextFrameFormat bodyFrameFormat;
     bodyFrameFormat.setWidth(QTextLength(QTextLength::PercentageLength, 100));
     cursor.insertFrame(bodyFrameFormat);

The following code inserts standard text into the order form.

     cursor.insertText(tr("I would like to place an order for the following "
                          "items:"), textFormat);
     cursor.insertBlock();
     cursor.insertBlock();

This part of the document structure now contains the date, a frame with bodyFrameFormat, as well as the standard text.

A QTextTableFormat object, orderTableFormat, is used to hold the type of item and the quantity ordered.

     QTextTableFormat orderTableFormat;
     orderTableFormat.setAlignment(Qt::AlignHCenter);
     QTextTable *orderTable = cursor.insertTable(1, 2, orderTableFormat);

     QTextFrameFormat orderFrameFormat = cursor.currentFrame()->frameFormat();
     orderFrameFormat.setBorder(1);
     cursor.currentFrame()->setFrameFormat(orderFrameFormat);

We use cellAt() to set the headers for the orderTable.

     cursor = orderTable->cellAt(0, 0).firstCursorPosition();
     cursor.insertText(tr("Product"), boldFormat);
     cursor = orderTable->cellAt(0, 1).firstCursorPosition();
     cursor.insertText(tr("Quantity"), boldFormat);

Then, we iterate through the QList of QPair objects to populate orderTable.

     for (int i = 0; i < orderItems.count(); ++i) {
         QPair<QString,int> item = orderItems[i];
         int row = orderTable->rows();

         orderTable->insertRows(row, 1);
         cursor = orderTable->cellAt(row, 0).firstCursorPosition();
         cursor.insertText(item.first, textFormat);
         cursor = orderTable->cellAt(row, 1).firstCursorPosition();
         cursor.insertText(QString("%1").arg(item.second), textFormat);
     }

The resulting document structure for this section is:

The cursor is then moved back to topFrame's lastPosition() and more standard text is inserted.

     cursor.setPosition(topFrame->lastPosition());

     cursor.insertBlock();
     cursor.insertText(tr("Please update my records to take account of the "
                          "following privacy information:"));
     cursor.insertBlock();

Another QTextTable is inserted, to display the customer's preference regarding offers.

     QTextTable *offersTable = cursor.insertTable(2, 2);

     cursor = offersTable->cellAt(0, 1).firstCursorPosition();
     cursor.insertText(tr("I want to receive more information about your "
                          "company's products and special offers."), textFormat);
     cursor = offersTable->cellAt(1, 1).firstCursorPosition();
     cursor.insertText(tr("I do not want to receive any promotional information "
                          "from your company."), textFormat);

     if (sendOffers)
         cursor = offersTable->cellAt(0, 0).firstCursorPosition();
     else
         cursor = offersTable->cellAt(1, 0).firstCursorPosition();

     cursor.insertText("X", boldFormat);

The document structure for this portion is:

The cursor is moved to insert "Sincerely" along with the customer's name. More blocks are inserted for spacing purposes. The printAction is enabled to indicate that an order form can now be printed.

     cursor.setPosition(topFrame->lastPosition());
     cursor.insertBlock();
     cursor.insertText(tr("Sincerely,"), textFormat);
     cursor.insertBlock();
     cursor.insertBlock();
     cursor.insertBlock();
     cursor.insertText(name);

     printAction->setEnabled(true);
 }

The bottom portion of the document structure is:

The createSample() function is used for illustration purposes, to create a sample order form.

 void MainWindow::createSample()
 {
     DetailsDialog dialog("Dialog with default values", this);
     createLetter("Mr. Smith", "12 High Street\nSmall Town\nThis country",
                  dialog.orderItems(), true);
 }

The openDialog() function opens a DetailsDialog object. If the details in dialog are accepted, the createLetter() function is invoked using the parameters extracted from dialog.

 void MainWindow::openDialog()
 {
     DetailsDialog dialog(tr("Enter Customer Details"), this);

     if (dialog.exec() == QDialog::Accepted)
         createLetter(dialog.senderName(), dialog.senderAddress(),
                      dialog.orderItems(), dialog.sendOffers());
 }

In order to print out the order form, a printFile() function is included, as shown below:

 void MainWindow::printFile()
 {
 #ifndef QT_NO_PRINTER
     QTextEdit *editor = static_cast<QTextEdit*>(letters->currentWidget());
     QPrinter printer;

     QPrintDialog *dialog = new QPrintDialog(&printer, this);
     dialog->setWindowTitle(tr("Print Document"));
     if (editor->textCursor().hasSelection())
         dialog->addEnabledOption(QAbstractPrintDialog::PrintSelection);
     if (dialog->exec() != QDialog::Accepted)
         return;

     editor->print(&printer);
 #endif
 }

This function also allows the user to print a selected area with QTextCursor::hasSelection(), instead of printing the entire document.

 int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
     QApplication app(argc, argv);
     MainWindow window;
     window.resize(640, 480);
     window.show();
     window.createSample();
     return app.exec();
 }