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Some internals have undergone major redesign and new classes +and methods have been added. +<p> We have tried to keep the API of TQt 3.0 as compatible as possible with +the TQt 2.x series. For most applications only minor changes will be +needed to compile and run them successfully using TQt 3.0. +<p> One of the major new features that has been added in the 3.0 release +is a module allowing you to easily work with databases. The API is +platform independent and database neutral. This module is seamlessly +integrated into TQt Designer, greatly simplifying the process of +building database applications and using data aware widgets. +<p> +Other major new features include a plugin architecture. You can use +your own and third party plugins your own applications. +The Unicode support of TQt 2.x has been greatly enhanced, it now +includes full support for scripts written from right to left (e.g. +Arabic and Hebrew) and also provides improved support for Asian +languages. +<p> Many new classes have been added to the TQt Library. Amongst them are +classes that provide a docking architecture +(<a href="qdockarea.html">TQDockArea</a>/<a href="qdockwindow.html">TQDockWindow</a>), a powerful rich text editor +(<a href="qtextedit.html">TQTextEdit</a>), a class to store and access application settings +(<a href="qsettings.html">TQSettings</a>) and a class to create and communicate with processes +(<a href="qprocess.html">TQProcess</a>). +<p> Apart from the changes in the library itself a lot has been done to +make the development of TQt applications with TQt 3.0 even easier than +before. Two new applications have been added: TQt Linguist is a tool to +help you translate your application into different languages; TQt +Assistant is an easy to use help browser for the TQt documentation that +supports bookmarks and can search by keyword. +<p> Another change concerns the TQt build system, which has been reworked +to make it a lot easier to port TQt to new platforms. You can use this +platform independent build system for your own applications. +<p> <h2> The TQt Library +</h2> +<a name="1"></a><p> A large number of new features has been added to TQt 3.0. The following +list gives an overview of the most important new and changed aspects +of the TQt library. A full list of every new method follows the +overview. +<p> <h3> Database support +</h3> +<a name="1-1"></a><p> One of the major new features in TQt 3.0 is the <a href="sql.html">SQL +module</a> that provides multiplatform access to SQL databases, +making database application programming with TQt seamless and portable. +The API, built with standard SQL, is database-neutral and software +development is independent of the underlying database. +<p> A collection of tightly focused C++ classes are provided to give the +programmer direct access to SQL databases. Developers can send raw SQL +to the database server or have the TQt SQL classes generate SQL queries +automatically. Drivers for Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL and ODBC are +available and writing new drivers is straightforward. +<p> Tying the results of SQL queries to GUI components is fully supported +by TQt's SQL widgets. These classes include a tabular data widget +(for spreadsheet-like data presentation with in-place editing), a +form-based data browser (which provides data navigation and edit +functions) and a form-based data viewer (which provides read-only +forms). This framework can be extended by using custom field editors, +allowing for example, a data table to use custom widgets for in-place +editing. The SQL module fully supports TQt's signal/slots mechanism, +making it easy for developers to include their own data validation and +auditing code. +<p> TQt Designer fully supports TQt's SQL module. All SQL widgets can be +laid out within TQt Designer, and relationships can be established +between controls visually. Many interactions can be defined purely in +terms of TQt's signals/slots mechanism directly in TQt Designer. +<p> +<h3> Plugins +</h3> +<a name="1-2"></a><p> The <a href="qlibrary.html">TQLibrary</a> class provides a platform independent wrapper for runtime +loading of shared libraries. TQPluginManager makes it trivial to implement +plugin support in applications. The TQt library is able to load +additional styles, database drivers and text codecs from plugins. +<p> TQt Designer supports custom widgets in plugins, and will use the +widgets both when designing and previewing forms. +<p> See the <a href="plugins-howto.html">plugins documentation</a>. +<p> <h3> Rich text engine and editor +</h3> +<a name="1-3"></a><p> The rich text engine originally introduced in TQt 2.0 has been further +optimized and extended to support editing. It allows editing formatted +text with different fonts, colors, paragraph styles, tables and +images. The editor supports different word wrap modes, command-based +undo/redo, multiple selections, drag and drop, and many other +features. The new <a href="qtextedit.html">TQTextEdit</a> engine is highly optimized for proccesing +and displaying large documents tquickly and efficiently. +<p> <h3> Unicode +</h3> +<a name="1-4"></a><p> Apart from the rich text engine, another new feature of TQt 3.0 that +relates to text handling is the greatly improved Unicode support. TQt +3.0 includes an implementation of the bidirectional algorithm (BiDi) +as defined in the Unicode standard and a shaping engine for Arabic, +which gives full native language support to Arabic and Hebrew speaking +people. At the same time the support for Asian languages has been +greatly enhanced. +<p> The support is almost transparent for the developer using TQt to +develop their applications. This means that developers who developed +applications using TQt 2.x will automatically gain the full support for +these languages when switching to TQt 3.0. Developers can rely on their +application to work for people using writing systems different from +Latin1, without having to worry about the complexities involved with +these scripts, as TQt takes care of this automatically. +<p> <h3> Docked and Floating Windows +</h3> +<a name="1-5"></a><p> TQt 3.0 introduces the concept of Dock Windows and Dock Areas. Dock +windows are widgets, that can be attached to, and detached from, dock +areas. The commonest kind of dock window is a tool bar. Any number of +dock windows may be placed in a dock area. A main window can have dock +areas, for example, <a href="qmainwindow.html">TQMainWindow</a> provides four dock areas (top, left, +bottom, right) by default. The user can freely move dock windows and +place them at a convenient place in a dock area, or drag them out of +the application and have them float freely as top level windows in +their own right. Dock windows can also be minimized or hidden. +<p> For developers, dock windows behave just like ordinary widgets. TQToolbar +for example is now a specialized subclass of a dock window. The API +of TQMainWindow and <a href="qtoolbar.html">TQToolBar</a> is source compatible with TQt 2.x, so +existing code which uses these classes will continue to work. +<p> <h3> Regular Expressions +</h3> +<a name="1-6"></a><p> TQt has always provided <a href="qregexp.html#regular-expression">regular expression</a> support, but that support +was pretty much limited to what was retquired in common GUI control +elements such as file dialogs. TQt 3.0 introduces a new regular +expression engine, <a href="qregexp.html">TQRegExp</a>, that supports most of Perl's regex +features and is Unicode based. The most useful additions are support +for parentheses (capturing and non-capturing) and backreferences. +<p> <h3> Storing application settings +</h3> +<a name="1-7"></a><p> Most programs will need to store some settings between runs, for +example, user selected fonts, colors and other preferences, or a list +of recently used files. The new <a href="qsettings.html">TQSettings</a> class provides a platform +independent way to achieve this goal. The API makes it easy to store +and retrieve most of the basic data types used in TQt (such as basic +C++ types, strings, lists, colors, etc). The class uses the registry +on the Windows platform and traditional resource files on Unix. +<p> <h3> Creating and controlling other processes +</h3> +<a name="1-8"></a><p> <a href="qprocess.html">TQProcess</a> is a class that allows you to start other programs from +within a TQt application in a platform independent manner. It gives you +full control over the started program, for example you can redirect +the input and output of console applications. +<p> <h3> Accessibility +</h3> +<a name="1-9"></a><p> Accessibility means making software usable and accessible to a wide +range of users, including those with disabilities. In TQt 3.0, most +widgets provide accessibility information for assistive tools that can +be used by a wide range of disabled users. TQt standard widgets like +buttons or range controls are fully supported. Support for complex +widgets, like e.g. <a href="qlistview.html">TQListView</a>, is in development. Existing applications +that make use of standard widgets will become accessible just by using +TQt 3.0. +<p> TQt uses the Active Accessibility infrastructure on Windows, and needs +the MSAA SDK, which is part of most platform SDKs. With improving +standardization of accessibility on other platforms, TQt will support +assistive technologies on other systems, too. +<p> <h3> XML Improvements +</h3> +<a name="1-10"></a><p> The XML framework introduced in TQt 2.2 has been vastly improved. TQt +2.2 already supported level 1 of the Document Object Model (DOM), a +W3C standard for accessing and modifying XML documents. TQt 3.0 has +added support for DOM Level 2 and XML namespaces. +<p> The XML parser has been extended to allow incremental parsing of XML +documents. This allows you to start parsing the document directly +after the first parts of the data have arrived, and to continue +whenever new data is available. This is especially useful if the XML +document is read from a slow source, e.g. over the network, as it +allows the application to start working on the data at a very early +stage. +<p> <h3> SVG support +</h3> +<a name="1-11"></a><p> SVG is a W3C standard for "Scalable Vector Graphics". TQt 3.0's XML +support means that <a href="qpicture.html">TQPicture</a> can optionally generate and import static +SVG documents. All the SVG features that have an equivalent in +<a href="qpainter.html">TQPainter</a> are supported. +<p> <h3> Multihead support +</h3> +<a name="1-12"></a><p> Many professional applications, such as DTP and CAD software, are able +to display data on two or more monitors. In TQt 3.0 the <a href="qdesktopwidget.html">TQDesktopWidget</a> +class provides the application with runtime information about the +number and geometry of the desktops on the different monitors and such +allows applications to efficiently use a multi-monitor setup. +<p> The virtual desktop of Mac OS X, Windows 98, and 2000 is supported, as well +as the traditional multi-screen and the newer Xinerama multihead setups on +X11. +<p> <h3> X11 specific enhancements +</h3> +<a name="1-13"></a><p> TQt 3.0 now complies with the NET WM Specification, recently adopted +by KDE 2.0. This allows easy integration and proper execution with +desktop environments that support the NET WM specification. +<p> The font handling on X11 has undergone major changes. <a href="qfont.html">TQFont</a> no longer +has a one-to-one relation with window system fonts. TQFont is now a +logical font that can load multiple window system fonts to simplify +Unicode text display. This completely removes the burden of +changing/setting fonts for a specific locale/language from the +programmer. For end-users, any font can be used in any locale. For +example, a user in Norway will be able to see Korean text without +having to set their locale to Korean. +<p> TQt 3.0 also supports the new render extension recently added to +XFree86. This adds support for anti aliased text and pixmaps with +alpha channel (semi transparency) on the systems that support the +rendering extension (at the moment XFree 4.0.3 and later). +<p> <h3> Printing +</h3> +<a name="1-14"></a><p> Printing support has been enhanced on all platforms. The <a href="qprinter.html">TQPrinter</a> +class now supports setting a virtual resolution for the painting +process. This makes WYSIWYG printing trivial, and also allows you to +take full advantage of the high resolution of a printer when painting +on it. +<p> The postscript driver built into TQt and used on Unix has been greatly +enhanced. It supports the embedding of true/open type and type1 fonts +into the document, and can correctly handle and display Unicode. +Support for fonts built into the printer has been enhanced and TQt now +knows about the most common printer fonts used for Asian languages. +<p> <h3> <a href="qhttp.html">TQHttp</a> +</h3> +<a name="1-15"></a><p> This class provides a simple interface for HTTP downloads and uploads. +<p> <h3> Compatibility with the Standard Template Library (STL) +</h3> +<a name="1-16"></a><p> Support for the C++ Standard Template Library has been added to the +<a href="qt-template-lib.html">TQt Template Library (TQTL)</a>. The TQTL +classes now contain appropriate copy constructors and typedefs so that +they can be freely mixed with other STL containers and algorithms. In +addition, new member functions have been added to TQTL template classes +which correspond to STL-style naming conventions (e.g., push_back()). +<p> <h2> TQt Designer +</h2> +<a name="2"></a><p> <a href="designer-manual.html">TQt Designer</a> was a pure dialog +editor in TQt 2.2 but has now been extended to provide the full +functionality of a GUI design tool. +<p> This includes the ability to lay out main windows with menus and +toolbars. Actions can be edited within TQt Designer and then plugged +into toolbars and menu bars via drag and drop. Splitters can now be +used in a way similar to layouts to group widgets horizontally or +vertically. +<p> In TQt 2.2, many of the dialogs created by TQt Designer had to be +subclassed to implement functionality beyond the predefined signal and +slot connections. Whilst the subclassing approach is still fully supported, +TQt Designer now offers an alternative: a plugin for editing +slots. The editor offers features such as syntax highlighting, +completion, parentheses matching and incremental search. +<p> The functionality of TQt Designer can now be extended via plugins. +Using TQt Designer's interface or by implementing one of the provided +interfaces in a plugin, a two way communication between plugin and TQt +Designer can be established. This functionality is used to implement +plugins for custom widgets, so that they can be used as real widgets +inside the designer. +<p> Basic support for project management has been added. This allows you +to read and edit *.pro files, add and remove files to/from the project +and do some global operations on the project. You can now open the +project file and have one-click access to all the *.ui forms in the +project. +<p> In addition to generating code via uic, TQt Designer now supports the +dynamic creation of widgets directly from XML user interface +description files (*.ui files) at runtime. This eliminates the need of +recompiling your application when the GUI changes, and could be used +to enable your customers to do their own customizations. Technically, +the feature is provided by a new class, <a href="qwidgetfactory.html">TQWidgetFactory</a> in the +TQResource library. +<p> <h2> TQt Linguist +</h2> +<a name="3"></a><p> <a href="linguist-manual.html">TQt Linguist</a> is a GUI utility to +support translating the user-visible text in applications written with +TQt. It comes with two command-line tools: lupdate and lrelease. +<p> Translation of a TQt application is a three-step process: +<p> <ul> +<li> Run lupdate to extract user-visible text from the C++ source +code of the TQt application, resulting in a translation source file +(a *.ts file). +<li> Provide translations for the source texts in the *.ts file using +TQt Linguist. +<li> Run lrelease to obtain a light-weight message file (a *.qm file) +from the *.ts file, which provides very fast lookup for released +applications. +</ul> +<p> TQt Linguist is a tool suitable for use by translators. Each +user-visible (source) text is characterized by the text itself, a +context (usually the name of the C++ class containing the text), and +an optional comment to help the translator. The C++ class name will +usually be the name of the relevant dialog, and the comment will often +contain instructions that describe how to navigate to the relevant +dialog. +<p> You can create phrase books for TQt Linguist to provide common +translations to help ensure consistency and to speed up the +translation process. Whenever a translator navigates to a new text to +translate, TQt Linguist uses an intelligent algorithm to provide a list +of possible translations: the list is composed of relevant text from +any open phrase books and also from identical or similar text that has +already been translated. +<p> Once a translation is complete it can be marked as "done"; such +translations are included in the *.qm file. Text that has not been +"done" is included in the *.qm file in its original form. Although TQt +Linguist is a GUI application with dock windows and mouse control, +toolbars, etc., it has a full set of keyboard shortcuts to make +translation as fast and efficient as possible. +<p> When the TQt application that you're developing evolves (e.g. from +version 1.0 to version 1.1), the utility lupdate merges the source +texts from the new version with the previous translation source file, +reusing existing translations. In some typical cases, lupdate may +suggest translations. These translations are marked as unfinished, so +you can easily find and check them. +<p> <h2> TQt Assistant +</h2> +<a name="4"></a><p> Thanks to the positive feedback we received about the <a href="helpsystem.html#help-system">help system</a> +built into <a href="designer-manual.html">TQt Designer</a>, we decided +to offer this part as a separate application called <a href="assistant.html">TQt Assistant</a>. TQt Assistant can be used to +browse the TQt class documentation as well as the manuals for TQt +Designer and TQt Linguist. It offers index searching, a contents +overview, bookmarks history and incremental search. TQt Assistant is +used by both TQt Designer and TQt Linguist for browsing their help +documentation. +<p> <h2> qmake +</h2> +<a name="5"></a><p> To ease portability we now provide the <a href="qmake-manual.html">qmake</a> utility to replace tmake. TQMake is a C++ version of +tmake which offers additional functionallity that is difficult to +reproduce in tmake. Trolltech uses qmake in its build system for TQt +and related products and we have released it as free software. +<p> +<!-- eof --> +<p><address><hr><div align=center> +<table width=100% cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> +<td>Copyright © 2007 +<a href="troll.html">Trolltech</a><td align=center><a href="trademarks.html">Trademarks</a> +<td align=right><div align=right>TQt 3.3.8</div> +</table></div></address></body> +</html> |