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Public Types | Static Public Member Functions

# MQtUtil Class Reference
OpenMayaUI - API module for user interface

This reference page is linked to from the following overview topics: Overview of Maya's Qt UI, Using Qt in Plug-ins.

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## Detailed Description

Qt Utility Methods.

This class provides some basic methods for accessing the Qt controls which underlie Maya's UI.

The safest way to use the Qt API from within Maya is to create your own Qt window and populate it with your own controls.

While it is possible to use the Qt API to modify existing Maya UI elements, such as those created using Maya commands from MEL or Python, such modifications are not supported by Autodesk and could lead to Maya becoming unstable or inoperable.

In practice, you will likely find a number of modifications which appear safe, such as changing a control's text or reorganizing the items on a menu. However, Autodesk provides no guarantees that the underlying implementations of those UI elements won't change from one release of Maya to another, potentially in ways that may make formerly safe usage become unsafe. So if you choose to incorporate such actions into your plug-in be aware that you may have to modify your code in future versions of Maya.

Layouts In Maya Vs. Qt

In Qt a layout (i.e. a QLayout or something derived from it) is not a widget. It is attached to a widget to control the positioning of that widget's children but is not itself a child of the widget and does not appear in the widget hierarchy.

In Maya, layouts are also widgets which are part of the hierarchy. For example, if you have a window named "myWin" which contains a layout named "myLayout" which in turn holds a button named "myButton", then the button's full hierarchical name would be "myWin|myLayout|myButton".

To bridge this difference, each Maya layout is given its own placeholder QWidget to which the corresponding QLayout is applied and bearing the same name as the layout. The children of the layout are then parented beneath the placeholder widget. When you call the findLayout() method, it is the placeholder widget which is returned.

The one exception to this use of placeholders is the top-level layout of a window. Rather than introduce a superfluous placeholder widget, the top-level QLayout is attached directly to the window. So a call to findLayout() for a top-level layout will return the window. Note, however, that the top-level layout's hierarchical name is still structured as if it had its own dedicated widget in the hierarchy. E.g. "myWin|myLayout". This can lead to the somewhat incongruous result that calling fullName() on the result of a findLayout() call for a top-level layout will return the name of the window rather than the layout. E.g:

      QWidget* layoutWidget = MQtUtil::findLayout("myWin|myLayout");
      MString  layoutName = MQtUtil::fullName(layoutWidget);

In the example above, `layoutName` will contain "myWin" rather than the string we started out with, "myWin|myLayout". To get around this problem pass the widget's QLayout to fullName() instead:

      MString layoutName = MQtUtil::fullName(layoutWidget->layout());

Now `layoutName` will contain "myWin|myLayout" as expected.

Not all Maya layouts are implemented by a single QLayout attached to a single placeholder widget (or window). In some cases the layout is implemented by a small sub-tree of widgets and QLayouts. Despite this added complexity behind the scenes, Maya still treats the entire sub-tree as a single element in the hierarchy for which the findLayout() method will return the top-level widget of the sub-tree.

To simplify the traversal of these complex layouts, the getLayoutChildren() and getParent() methods treat complex layouts as if they are a single layout widget with their children parented directly beneath, skipping over any internal widgets which the layout's sub-tree may contain. In this way, getLayoutChildren() returns the same set of children as the `layout` command's `-query -childArray` flags, while getParent() returns the same layout as a control's `-query -parent` flags.

Order of Include Files

Some Qt header files redefine certain standard C++ library symbols. As such it is important that the Qt headers be included before any other header files which might reference those symbols.

To ensure proper compilation, your source files should always include any Qt header files they use (QWidget, QEvent, etc) before all other header files. If the source includes MQtUtil.h then it should come after the Qt headers but before any others.

Qt Licensing

Qt is made available under both open source and commercial licenses. The type of license required depends upon your intended use of Qt. For more information, see the Qt Licensing page at http://qt.nokia.com/about/licensing/frequently-asked-questions

`#include <MQtUtil.h>`

List of all members.

## Public Types
typedef QWidget *(* | UITypeCreatorFn )(QWidget *parent, const QString &name)
| Pointer to a widget creator function.
## Static Public Member Functions
static QWidget * | findControl (MString controlName, const QWidget *ancestor=NULL)
| Returns the QWidget for the named Maya control.
static QWidget * | findLayout (MString layoutName, const QWidget *ancestor=NULL)
| Returns the QWidget for the named Maya layout.
static QAction * | findMenuItem (MString itemName)
| Returns the QAction for the named Maya menuItem.
static QWidget * | findWindow (MString windowName)
| Returns the QWidget for the named Maya window.
static MString | fullName (const QObject *uiElement)
| Returns the full, hierarchical name of a UI element.
static QWidget * | getCurrentParent ()
| Returns the placeholder widget for the current layout if there is one.
static QList< QObject * > | getLayoutChildren (const QWidget *layout)
| Returns a list of all the Maya UI elements parented directly beneath the specified Maya layout.
static QObject * | getParent (const QObject *uiElement)
| Returns a pointer to a UI element's parent element within Maya's UI hierarchy.
static MString | addWidgetToMayaLayout (QWidget *control, QWidget *layout, const MString &uiType=MString())
| Adds a QWidget to an existing Maya layout, such as that returned by getCurrentParent() or getLayout().
static bool | registerUIType (const MString &className, UITypeCreatorFn, const MString &command)
| Registers a class name (UI-type) with a function to create the QWidget of that type, and a command to edit it with.
static bool | deregisterUIType (const MString &className)
| De-registers a widget class (UI-type) which has been previously registered with registerUIType().
static QWidget * | mainWindow ()
| Returns Maya's main window.
static MNativeWindowHdl | nativeWindow (const QWidget *control)
| Returns a platform-specific native window handle for the specified control.
static MString | toMString (const QString &qstr)
| Convenience utility to convert a QString to an MString.
static QString | toQString (const MString &mstr)
| Convenience utility to convert an MString to a QString.
static const char * | className ()
| Returns the name of this class.

## Member Typedef Documentation

typedef QWidget*(* UITypeCreatorFn)(QWidget *parent, const QString &name)

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Pointer to a widget creator function.

Parameters:

  [in] | parent | The function should use this parameter to set the parent of the created object.
  [in] | name | The function should use this parameter to set the objectName of the created object.

Returns:
  A pointer to the created object. The type of the object should match the class name passed to ::registerUIType.

## Member Function Documentation

QWidget * findControl | ( | MString | controlName,
|  | const QWidget * | ancestor = `NULL`
| ) |  | `[static]`

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Returns the QWidget for the named Maya control.

Parameters:

  [in] | controlName | Name of the control within Maya. May be a plain name ("myButton") or a hierarchical name ("myWin|myLayout|myButton"). If a hierarchical name is supplied then the search will begin with the UI element at the start of the hierarchy and descend from there.
  [in] | ancestor | Pointer to an ancestor UI element which appears somewhere in the UI hierarchy above the control. If not NULL then the search will begin at the specified ancestor and descend from there.

Returns:
  Pointer to the control's underlying QWidget. Returns NULL if the control is not found.

QWidget * findLayout | ( | MString | layoutName,
|  | const QWidget * | ancestor = `NULL`
| ) |  | `[static]`

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Returns the QWidget for the named Maya layout.

In Maya a layout is part of the widget tree and is represented by a QWidget to which the actual QLayout has been applied. This method returns a pointer to that QWidget.

There are some important exceptions to this rule. See the "Layouts In Maya Vs. Qt" discussion in the class documentation for further details.

Parameters:

  [in] | layoutName | Name of the layout within Maya. May be a plain name ("myLayout") or a hierarchical name ("myWin|myLayout"). If a hierarchical name is supplied then the search will begin with the UI element at the start of the hierarchy and then descend from there.
  [in] | ancestor | Pointer to an ancestor UI element which appears somewhere in the UI hierarchy above the layout. If not NULL then the search will begin at the specified ancestor and descend from there.

Returns:
  Pointer to the layout's underlying QWidget. Returns NULL if the layout is not found.

QAction * findMenuItem | ( | MString | itemName | ) | `[static]`

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Returns the QAction for the named Maya menuItem.

Parameters:

  [in] | itemName | Name of the menuItem within Maya. May be a plain name ("myItem") or a hierarchical name ("myMenu|myItem"). If a hierarchical name is supplied then the search will begin with the UI element at the start of the hierarchy and then descend from there.

Returns:
  Pointer to the menuItem's underlying QAction. Returns NULL if the menuItem is not found.

QWidget * findWindow | ( | MString | windowName | ) | `[static]`

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Returns the QWidget for the named Maya window.

Parameters:

  [in] | windowName | Name of the window within Maya.

Returns:
  Pointer to the window's underlying QWidget. Returns NULL if the window is not found.

MString fullName | ( | const QObject * | uiElement | ) | `[static]`

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Returns the full, hierarchical name of a UI element.

This is the name which uniquely identifies the element within Maya and can be passed to Maya's UI commands.

For example, if a window was created as follows using MEL:

window myWin; columnLayout myLayout; button -l "Press Me" myButton;

then passing a pointer to 'myButton's QObject would return the string "myWin|myLayout|myButton".

Parameters:

  [in] | uiElement | pointer to a UI element's QObject

Returns:
  String containing the full hierarchical name of the UI element, or an empty string if the element does not exist.

QWidget * getCurrentParent | ( |  | ) | `[static]`

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Returns the placeholder widget for the current layout if there is one.

The current layout is set when a layout is created using a Maya layout command. In MEL, this layout can be queried using `"setParent -q"`. When adding a QWidget to a Maya layout, the new QWidget should be parented to this widget. For example, in the following MEL code the plug-in command 'myControl' should create a custom QWidget-derived control and parent it to the columnLayout's placeholder QWidget, and then add it using addWidgetToMayaLayout().

window myWin; columnLayout; myControl; showWindow;

Returns:
  Pointer to the placeholder QWidget for the current Maya layout or NULL on failure.

QList< QObject * > getLayoutChildren | ( | const QWidget * | layout | ) | `[static]`

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Returns a list of all the Maya UI elements parented directly beneath the specified Maya layout.

There may not always be a one-to-one correspondence between a Maya layout and a QLayout. For example, some of Maya's layouts are implemented by a small sub-tree of widgets which handle different aspects of the layout.

This method will treat that entire sub-tree as a single layout element and return all of the Maya controls and sub-layouts which it handles as a flattened list, with all of Maya's internal objects removed.

This method can be used in conjunction with getParent() to navigate up and down through such complex layouts as if they were single UI elements.

Parameters:

  [in] | layout | Pointer to a Maya layout's QWidget. See findLayout() for a description of the relationship between Maya layouts and QWidgets.

Returns:
  A list of QObjects for all of the Maya controls and layouts parented beneath the specified layout.

QObject * getParent | ( | const QObject * | uiElement | ) | `[static]`

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Returns a pointer to a UI element's parent element within Maya's UI hierarchy.

There may not always be a one-to-one correspondence between an element in Maya's UI hierarchy and a Qt object. For example, some of Maya's layouts are implemented by a small sub-tree of widgets. This method will treat that entire sub-tree as a single element by stepping to its head object.

This method can be used in conjunction with getLayoutChildren() to navigate up and down through such complex layouts as if they were single UI elements.

Parameters:

  [in] | uiElement | A pointer to a UI element's QObject

Returns:
  A pointer to the element's parent element, or NULL is the element has no parent or is a window.

MString addWidgetToMayaLayout | ( | QWidget * | control,
|  | QWidget * | layout,
|  | const MString & | uiType = `MString()`
| ) |  | `[static]`

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Adds a QWidget to an existing Maya layout, such as that returned by getCurrentParent() or getLayout().

Once the QWidget has been added, it can be used in MEL or Python scripts like native Maya controls. In order to integrate the control into Maya's UI, several modifications are made:

- An event filter is installed to handle `popupMenu` interaction.
- The `objectName` may be modified to ensure uniqueness.
- dynamic properties `isControl` and `objectTypeUI` are added.
- the destroyed signal is connected to a function which will clean up any dynamic properties that Maya may have added.

Parameters:

  [in] | control | The QWidget to be added. If the control is named (with QObject::setObjectName), the name may be modified to make it unique, this will be done by adding a numeric suffix. Otherwise a default name, based on the class name will be used.
  [in] | layout | The placeholder widget for the Maya layout
  [in] | uiType | A Maya ui-type name for the QWidget being added. Defaults to the name of its class. This name can be used by the Maya commands `lsUI` and `objectTypeUI`.

Returns:
  String containing the full hierarchical name of the added control, or an empty string on failure. Commands which create custom Maya controls must return this name so that it can be used in scripts to find the added control.

bool registerUIType | ( | const MString & | className,
|  | UITypeCreatorFn | fn,
|  | const MString & | command
| ) |  | `[static]`

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Registers a class name (UI-type) with a function to create the QWidget of that type, and a command to edit it with.

The `loadUI` command looks at each widget element of the Qt Designer XML document, and if the class attribute matches a registered class name, it calls the associated function to create the object.

If there are any dynamic string properties with a '-' (MEL) or '+' (Python) prefix, the associated command is called in edit mode with the property name as the flag and the value as the flag value.

For example, with the following registration:

      MQtUil::registerUIType("QCustom", createCustom, "custom")

The following XML fragment will delegate creation of the object to `createCustom` and then call `custom -edit -setValue 33 "custom1"`.

`<widget class="QCustom" name="custom1"> <property name="-setValue"> <string>33</string> </property> </widget>`

Some Qt types are associated by default with internal Maya commands, such as QPushButton -> button etc. This can be queried with `loadUI -listTypes`.

Parameters:

  [in] | className | The name of the QWidget-derived class created by the function.
  [in] | fn | The creator function.
  [in] | command | The command to be used to edit the created QWidget.

Returns:
  true if successful, false if the class name is already registered.

bool deregisterUIType | ( | const MString & | className | ) | `[static]`

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De-registers a widget class (UI-type) which has been previously registered with registerUIType().

Parameters:

  [in] | className | The name of the class to be de-registered.

Returns:
  true if successful, false if the class name is not registered.

QWidget * mainWindow | ( |  | ) | `[static]`

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Returns Maya's main window.

Returns:
  A QWidget pointer to Maya's main window, or NULL if the main window does not yet exist.

MNativeWindowHdl nativeWindow | ( | const QWidget * | control | ) | `[static]`

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Returns a platform-specific native window handle for the specified control.

If the control is native then its native handle will be returned, otherwise a native window will be created for it. This may reduce performance so native should only be requested when necessary.

Parameters:

  [in] | control | Control whose native window handle is to be returned.

Returns:
  The native window handle of the specified control. On Linux this will be an Xlib 'Window'. On 32-bit OS X it will be an 'HIViewRef'. On 64-bit OS X it will be an 'NSView' pointer. On Microsoft Windows it will be an 'HWND'.

MString toMString | ( | const QString & | qstr | ) | `[static]`

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Convenience utility to convert a QString to an MString.

Parameters:

  [in] | qstr | QString to be converted.

Returns:
  An MString containing the same text as 'qstr'.

QString toQString | ( | const MString & | mstr | ) | `[static]`

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Convenience utility to convert an MString to a QString.

Parameters:

  [in] | mstr | MString to be converted.

Returns:
  A QString containing the same text as 'mstr'.

const char * className | ( |  | ) | `[static]`

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Returns the name of this class.

Returns:
  The name of this class.

MQtUtil MQtUtil MQtUtil MQtUtil MQtUtil MQtUtil MQtUtil MQtUtil MQtUtil MQtUtil
MQtUtil MQtUtil MQtUtil MQtUtil MQtUtil MQtUtil MQtUtil MQtUtil MQtUtil MQtUtil