Characteristics of QtJambi

Initializing Qt

Initializing Qt in C++ is done by creating an instance of QCoreApplication (or QGuiApplication/QApplication):

// main method in C++
int main(int argc, char* argv[]){
    QApplication app(argc, argv);
    return app.exec();
    // finally, app is deleted when leaving scope
}

However, in Java you simply call the static methods initialize(args) at the beginning of the main method and shutdown() when leaving the main method. Also exec() is static.

// main method in Java
public static void main(String[] args) {
    QApplication.initialize(args); // creating an instance of QApplication
    QApplication.exec();
    QApplication.shutdown(); // deleting instance of QApplication
}

If you want to use your custom subclass of QCoreApplication (or QGuiApplication/QApplication) call initialize(...) with constructor handle:

import io.qt.widgets.*;
public class MyApplication extends QApplication{
    private MyApplication(String[] args){
        super(args);
    }
    
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        QApplication.initialize(args, MyApplication::new); // creating an instance of MyApplication
        QApplication.exec();
        QApplication.shutdown(); // deleting instance of MyApplication
    }
}

Make sure to remove all top-level widgets of your application prior to QApplication.shutdown(); either by removing all references (widget = null;) or by disposing the object (widget.dispose();).

Qt Types and Java Types

Almost all Qt C++ object and value types have counterparts in Java. The Java classes provide all methods of the native Qt classes. In these methods, C++ primitive types are mapped to the corresponding Java primitive types. Since Java does not support unsigned integers all unsigned types are used as signed Java types.

Strings

The Qt classes QString, QLatin1String, QStringView, QUtf8StringView, QAnyStringView and QStringRef are mapped to java.lang.String. Also in many cases const char* is used as Java String.

The class io.qt.core.QString provides static methods corresponding to QString C++ methods not vailable in Java strings, e.g. QString.split(String string, QRegularExpression sep) splitting a string according to a regular expression.

Enums and Flags

Enums declared by Qt are also available as Java enum. Java enums cannot convert from or to integer values. Instead, all Qt enum Java classes provide a value() providing the enum value and a resolve(int) method for converting an int to the corrensponding enum entry. In case of 64 Bit enums, the corresponding methods point to long.

Extensible Enums

Certain enum types in Qt are expected to be extensible, i.e. the predefined set of enum entries can be extended by custom entries. This is also supported by QtJambi. The resolve(int value) method of an extensible enum provides a new enum entry if the requested value is not yet available. Alternatively, you can specify resolve(int value, String name) to request a new entry with a specific enum name. If you want to develop custom extensible enums use the annotation @QtExtensibleEnum.

Flags

There are enums in Qt used as flags. This is also availale in Java by providing a QFlags type for the enum. For instance, the class Qt.Edges is available as flags type for enum Qt.Edge.

In C++ you combine different enum entries to a flag value by inclusive or operator (Qt::TopEdge | Qt::RightEdge). In Java, there are multiple ways available to create flags:

// three equivalent ways to create a flag
Qt.Edges flags1 = Qt.Edge.TopEdge.combined(Qt.Edge.RightEdge);
Qt.Edges flags2 = Qt.Edge.flags(Qt.Edge.TopEdge, Qt.Edge.RightEdge);
Qt.Edges flags3 = new Qt.Edges(Qt.Edge.TopEdge, Qt.Edge.RightEdge);

In most cases where methods take flags as argument, an overloaded method is provided taking the corresponding enum type as variadic argument, for instance:

QWindow.startSystemResize(io.qt.core.Qt.Edge ... edges) for

QWindow.startSystemResize(io.qt.core.Qt.Edges edges)

Pointers and References

Java does not support constant types (const), C-pointers (*) or C-references (&). All constant reference types are used as value copies and all pointer types are used as Java reference types: const QSize& size is QSize size and QGraphicsItem* item as well as const QGraphicsItem* item is QGraphicsItem item in Java.

All occurences of call-by-reference or call-by-value-pointer in Qt are represented in QtJambi as wrapped return values.

For example, the QClipboard C++-method QString text(QString &subtype, QClipboard::Mode) const where subtype is method input as well as possible method output, is represented in Java by public final QClipboard.Text text(String subtype, QClipboard.Mode mode) whereas QClipboard.Text provides text and subtype as public member fields.

Array Pointers

In some cases, array pointer of primitive type are mapped to Java NIO buffers. For instance, QSharedMemory.data(), QImage.bits() and QUdpSocket.readDatagram(ByteBuffer,HostInfo). If the native Qt API specifies constant pointers, the given Java buffer is read only.

Function Pointers

Function pointers are made available as functional interfaces and can be used with lambda expressions.

Examples:

QEasingCurve ec = new QEasingCurve();
ec.setCustomType(value -> value < 0.5 ? 0.2 : 0.8);

Containers

Qt provides following container types:

QList
QQueue
QStack
QSet
QHash
QMap
QMultiHash
QMultiMap
QVector (Qt5 only)
QLinkedList (Qt5 only)

These types are all available as Java class in QtJambi. However, when instantiating such a container class, you need to specify the element type in the constructor. Example:

// using containers in C++
QSet<int> intSet;
intSet << 1 << 2 << 3;

QList<double> doubleList{1.0, 2.0, 3.0};

QMap<QString,QList<int>> mapOfIntegers;
mapOfIntegers["first"] = QList<int>{1, 2, 3};

// using containers in Java
QSet<Integer> intSet = new QSet<>(int.class);
intSet.append(1);
intSet.append(2);
intSet.append(3);

QList<Double> doubleList = QList.of(1.0, 2.0, 3.0);

QMap<String,QList<Integer>> mapOfIntegers = new QMap<>(String.class, 
                                                        QMetaType.fromType(
                                                                  QList.class, 
                                                                  QMetaType.fromType(int.class)));
mapOfIntegers.insert("first", QList.of(1, 2, 3));

QtJambi container wrapper classes are fully compatible with Java containers, for instance, QList implements java.util.List and QMap implements java.util.Map.

All Qt functions with container parameters accept lightweight Java containers as well, for instance, QWidget::addActions(QList<QAction*>) maps to QWidget.addActions(java.util.Collection<QAction>).

QVariant

The generic Qt type QVariant is directly mapped to java.lang.Object. However, the Java class QVariant provides static conversion methods from Object to primitives and typical Qt value types.

Operator Overloads

Since Java does not allow overloading operators, operator overloads in Qt are made available as methods with corresponding names in Java. For instance:

QMatrix4x4::operator+=(const QMatrix4x4&) → QMatrix4x4.add(QMatrix4x4)
QPainterPath::operator&=(const QPainterPath&) → QPainterPath.intersect(QPainterPath)
QPolygon::operator=(const QPolygon&) → QPolygon.set(QPolygon)
QBitArray::operator~() → QBitArray.inverted()
QVector4D::operator/=(float) → QVector4D.divide(float)

Object Life Cycle

A Java object of any Qt type is actually a wrapper for an underlying C++ object. The native C++ object is created immediately when the Java object is created. The C++ object exists as long as the Java object exists unless it is deleted by Qt internal mechanisms.

If the C++ object is deleted proir to the Java object, the Java object is disposed, i.e. it does no longer provide a native resource. Calling any method on the object will throw a QNoNativeResourcesException. You can check if an object is disposed by isDisposed().

You can actively delete the native C++ object by calling dispose(). Usually, you don't have to care about object deletion because the Java garbage collection cares for it.

QObject parenthood avoids the garbage collection to delete the child objects of a parent even if no more references to a child exist in Java.

Intelligent Pointer Types

QPointer is a strong reference to any Qt object whereas QPointer.get() returns null as soon as the referenced object is disposed.
QWeakPointer is a weak reference to any Qt object whereas QWeakPointer.get() returns null as soon as the referenced object is disposed.
QScopedPointer and QScopedArrayPointer can be used in try-with-resource blocks to dispose an object or array of objects when leaving the scope:

int dialogCode;
try(QScopedPointer<QDialog> dialogPtr = QScopedPointer.disposing(new QDialog())){
    dialogCode = dialogPtr.get().exec();
}

alternative implementation with lambda expression:

int dialogCode = QScopedPointer.performAndDispose(dialog->{
        return dialog.exec();
    }, new QDialog());

or simpler:

int dialogCode = QScopedPointer.performAndDispose(QDialog::exec, new QDialog());

Signal On Dispose

In the very rare case where it is necessary to perform an operation when a Qt object is about to be disposed you can request the on-dispose signal and connect to it:

QColor color = ...
QtUtilities.getSignalOnDispose(color).connect( ()->{ System.out.println("Color is disposed."); } );

Be aware that disposed is not identical to QObject's deleted signal. The deleted signal is emitted during an object's destructor, i.e. when the native component is deleted. The disposed signal (by QtUtilities.getSignalOnDispose()) is emitted when the Java component is detached from its native component. This can be by deleting the native component or by other reasons where the native object survives the Java wrapper.

QObject and QMetaObject

By subclassing a QObject type QtJambi automatically creates the corresponding QMetaObject describing the object's properties, signals, slots and invokable methods.

Methods

Basically, all non-static methods in the new class are considered to be invokable by Qt. You can avoid this by annotating the method with @QtUninvokable. On the other hand, static methods and constructors can be made invokable with annotation @QtInvokable.

@QtUninvokable
private void analyze() {
}

Signals

The signal-slot mechanism in Java has a different appearance as in C++ as faced below:

Declaring

Signals in C++ are methods prefixed by the key word signals.

// defining signals in C++
signals:
    void stateChanged();
    void textChanged(const QString& text);
    void lengthChanged(int length, QPrivateSignal);

// defining slots
public slots:
    void onStatechanged();
    void onTextChanged(const QString& text);
    void onLengthChanged(int length);

In Java, a signal is a final member variable of type SignalN with N=number of arguments (0-9). For private signals use the type PrivateSignalN. The arguments of the signal are given as generic type arguments. Java does not allow primitive types (i.e. byte, short, int, long, char, float, double and boolean) as generic type arguments. If you want to specify a primitive type as signal argument use the boxed Java type (one of Byte, Short, Integer, Long, Character, Float, Double and Boolean) annotated with @QtPrimitiveType. @QtPrimitiveType denies emmitting the signal with null parameter.

// defining signals in Java
public final Signal0 stateChanged = new Signal0();
public final Signal1<String> textChanged = new Signal1<>();
public final PrivateSignal1<@QtPrimitiveType Integer> lengthChanged = new PrivateSignal1<>();

// defining slots
void onStatechanged(){}
void onTextChanged(String text){}
void onLengthChanged(int length){}

If a signal is not declared final QSignalDeclarationException is thrown at runtime.

Connecting

Creating signal-slot connections in C++ is done with QObject::connect(...):

// connecting signals in C++
QObject::connect(this, SIGNAL(statechanged()), this, SLOT(onStatechanged()));
QObject::connect(this, SIGNAL(textChanged(QString)), this, SLOT(onTextChanged(QString)));
QObject::connect(this, SIGNAL(lengthChanged(int)), this, SLOT(onLengthChanged(int)));

// connecting signals in C++ with function pointers
QObject::connect(this, &ObjectType::statechanged, this, &ObjectType::onStatechanged);
QObject::connect(this, &ObjectType::textChanged, this, &ObjectType::onTextChanged);
QObject::connect(this, &ObjectType::lengthChanged, this, &ObjectType::onLengthChanged);

In Java, you can use the static connect(...) method of QObject or alternatively the connect(...) method of the signal directly:

// connecting signals in Java textual
QObject.connect(this, "statechanged()", this, "onStatechanged()");
QObject.connect(this, "textChanged(String)", this, "onTextChanged(String)");
QObject.connect(this, "lengthChanged(int)", this, "onLengthChanged(int)");

// alternatively
this.statechanged.connect(this, "onStatechanged()");
this.textChanged.connect(this, "onTextChanged(String)");
this.lengthChanged.connect(this, "onLengthChanged(int)");

// connecting signals in Java with method references
QObject.connect(this.statechanged, this::onStatechanged);
QObject.connect(this.textChanged, this::onTextChanged);
QObject.connect(this.lengthChanged, this::onLengthChanged);

// alternatively
this.statechanged.connect(this::onStatechanged);
this.textChanged.connect(this::onTextChanged);
this.lengthChanged.connect(this::onLengthChanged);

QNoSuchSignalException is thrown if textually specified signal can not be found.
QNoSuchSlotException is thrown if textually specified slot can not be found.
QUninvokableSlotException is thrown if specified slot is not invokable.
QMisfittingSignatureException is thrown if signal and slot have incompatible arguments.
- In rare cases, it might be necessary to define value type arguments as pointer or reference to make signal and slot signatures compatible. Therfore, use the annotations @QtPointerType and @QtReferenceType. Examples: Java method void whatSize(@QtPointerType QSize size) has the following C++ signature: void whatSize(QSize* size).

Disconnecting signals and slots works analogous with disconnect().

Emmitting

Emitting a signal in Java is done by the signal's emit() method. Private methods can only be emitted within their declaring classes:

this.statechanged.emit();
this.textChanged.emit("new text");
emit(this.lengthChanged, 5);

Overloaded Signals

There are a couple of Qt classes providing overloaded signals, for instance, QSpinBox provides two "valueChanged" signals:

signals:
    void valueChanged(int);
    void valueChanged(const QString &);

In the Java type QSpinBox there is only one signal valueChanged. When connecting, it determines the correct signal depending on the slot's arguments:

// given:
// void onValueChanged(int value)

QSpinBox spinBox = new QSpinBox();
spinBox.valueChanged.connect(this::onValueChanged);

Also, the signal provides overloaded emit methods:

spinBox.valueChanged.emit(1);
spinBox.valueChanged.emit("item");

In rare cases where connections are ambiguous or you need the individual signal object of a certain signal method use overload(...):

spinBox.valueChanged.overload(int.class); // returns Signal1<Integer> for valueChanged(int)

Signals in other Contexts

In contrast to native Qt, QtJambi allows to use the signal-slot mechanism also in any other class not being subclass of QObject. Therefore, the custom class needs to implement the interfaces QtSignalEmitterInterface and QInstanceMemberSignals:

public class NotifyingList<T> extends ArrayList<T> 
                              implements QtSignalEmitterInterface, QInstanceMemberSignals{
    public final Signal1<T> added = new Signal1<>(this);

    public boolean add(T t){
        if(super.add(t)){
            added.emit(t);
            return true;
        }
        return false;
    }
}

If you want to define a static signal use the signal classes from QStaticMemberSignals:

public final static QStaticMemberSignals.Signal1<String> textChanged = new QStaticMemberSignals.Signal1<>();

public static void changeText(String text){
    textChanged.emit(text);
}

If you want to use signals in a local context use the signal classes from QDeclarableSignals:

public void signalInsideMethod(){
    QDeclarableSignals.Signal1<Integer, String> localSignal = new QDeclarableSignals.Signal1<>(String.class);
    localSignal.connect(...);
    localSignal.emit("test");
}

Non-QObject member signals as well as static and local signals do not use the underlying meta-object system but are based on lightweight Java implementation.

Properties

QtJambi automatically detects properties by looking for typical getters and setters. For instance, if the class has two methods int getFoo() and void setFoo(int) the class is considered to have a property called "foo".

All features supported by Qt properties are also available in QtJambi:

@QtPropertyNotify(name="text")
public final Signal1<String> textChanged = new Signal1<>();

@QtPropertyReader(name="text")
public final String text(){...}

@QtPropertyWriter(name="text")
public final void setText(String text){...}

@QtPropertyResetter(name="text")
public final void clearText(){...}

...creates a property "text" with reader, writer, resetter and notify signal.

Further annotations reflect the corresponding features of Qt properties:

@QtPropertyMember
@QtPropertyRequired
@QtPropertyScriptable
@QtPropertyStored
@QtPropertyUser
@QtPropertyConstant
@QtPropertyDesignable
@QtPropertyBindable (Qt6 only)

Qt6 provides QProperty as bindable property member.

Dynamic Member Access

The classes defined in Java are fully compatible with Qt's meta-object system. All Java defined subclasses of QObject provide corresponding QMetaObjects giving access to signals, invokable methods and properties. QMetaObject.forType(type) provides meta-objects for any Java class even for non-QObject types.

By using meta-objects, it is also possible to access native objects whose classes are not public API.

QObject internalObject = ...
QMetaObject internalType = internalObject.metaObject();

// dynamically connecting to signal
internalType.findSignal(internalObject, "orientationChanged", Qt.Orientation.class)
            .connect(this::onOrientationChanged);

// dynamically calling method
QMetaMethod changeOrientation = internalType.method("changeOrientation", Qt.Orientation.class);
changeOrientation.invoke(internalObject, Qt.Orientation.Horizontal);

// dynamically casting to interface type
if(internalObject.inherits(QPaintDevice.class)){
    QPaintDevice paintDevice = internalType.cast(internalObject, QPaintDevice.class);
    // this is even possible if (internalObject instanceof QPaintDevice)==false
    // and (QPaintDevice)internalObject leads to ClassCastException
}

Threads

Like Java, Qt provides extensive thread support. In QtJambi, both perspectives on threads run in parallel. While originally in Java, every thread is represented by an instance of java.lang.Thread. You can start a new thread by creating a new Thread instance and call start(). Qt provides the QThread class for thread management, thus, by using Qtjambi you have basically the choice:

// creating a thread with Java originals:
Thread javaThread = new Thread(()->{ ... });
javaThread.start();

// creating a thread with Qt:
QThread qtThread = QThread.create(()->{ ... });
qtThread.start();

// get the corresponding QThread for a Java thread:
QThread javaThreadAsQt = QThread.thread(javaThread);

// get the corresponding Java thread for a QThread:
Thread qtThreadAsJava = qtThread.javaThread();

Remarks:

The native method QThread::wait(...) has been renamed in Java to QThread.join(...).
The Java thread features uncaught exception handler, context class loader, thread group and thread name are made available in QThread.

Thread Synchronization

For thread synchronization, Qt provides a number of classes for different scenarios all avaliable in Java:

QMutex,
QReadWriteLock,
QSemaphore and
QWaitCondition

However, Qtjambi does not provide the convenience classes QMutexLocker, QReadLocker, QWriteLocker and QSemaphoreReleaser. Use try-finally blocks instead:

QReadWriteLock lock = new QReadWriteLock();

try{
    lock.lockForRead();
}finally{
    lock.unlock();
}

Atomic Memory Operations

QtJambi does not provide the Qt classes for atomic operations like QAtomicInteger and QAtomicPointer. Please, use Java built-in atomic classes.

Thread Affinity

QObjects are thread-affine, i.e every QObject is associated to the QThread it was created in (or moved to). Signals and events of such an object can only run by the associated thread. Thus, using a QObject from outside its own thread may cause a QThreadAffinityException to be thrown.

If you need to use a method of a QObject from another thread, use the meta-object system instead:

QComboBox comboBox = ...
if(comboBox.thread() != QThread.currentThread())
    QMetaObject.invokeMethod(comboBox::clear, Qt.ConnectionType.BlockingQueuedConnection);

You can switch of thread affinity checks with the Java start parameter -Dqt.disable.thread.affinity.check=true. This increases performance but leads to hard crashes in case of thread affinity breaches. It is recommended to test your application with enabled thread affinity checks and to disable these checks in release/productive mode.

Interfaces

The Qt type system provides many interfaces, i.e. C++ classes with pure virtual functions that are intended to be implemented in a multi-inheritance context. For instance, the type QPaintDevice is implemented by the QObject subclass QWidget as well as by the value type QPixmap. QtJambi provides these Qt interface classes as Java interfaces. You can use these interfaces in the same degree of freedom as any other Java interface:

QRunnable runnable;

// creating annonymous class
runnable = new QRunnable(){
    @Override
    public void run() {}
};

// using lambda expression
runnable = ()->{};

// creating a custom class
class MyRunnable implements QRunnable{
    @Override
    public void run() {}
}
runnable = new MyRunnable();

// implementing the interface as subtype
class MyRunnableWidget extends QWidget implements QRunnable{
    @Override
    public void run() {}
}
runnable = new MyRunnableWidget();

In the example code above, the class MyRunnableWidget combines a QObject subtype with an interface type. It is completely equivalent to a custom C++ class:

class MyRunnableWidget : public QWidget, public QRunnable{
    Q_OBJECT
public: 
    void run() override {}
};

Interface Constructor Call

Some Qt interfaces provide non-trivial constructors. Since Java interfaces cannot provide constructors, there is a workaround for constructing these interface instances:

public class MyLayoutItem implements QLayoutItem {
    public MyLayoutItem(Qt.Alignment alignment){
        QtUtilities.initializeNativeObject(this, 
                QtArgument.begin(QLayoutItem.class)
                      .add(alignment));
    }
    // implemented interface methods
    // ...
}

Here, QtArgument creates a stream of arguments subdivided by the implemented interface types.

public class MyLayoutItemObject extends QObject implements QLayoutItem {
    public MyLayoutItemObject(QObject parent, Qt.Alignment alignment){
        QtUtilities.initializeNativeObject(this, 
                QtArgument.begin(QObject.class)
                      .add(parent)
                      .begin(QLayoutItem.class)
                      .add(alignment));
    }
    // implemented interface methods
    // ...
}

Protected Interface Methods

In contrast to Qt, Java interfaces do not support protected methods in interfaces. There are some Qt interfaces providing protected methods to be used within subtypes. The Javadoc pages of these interfaces provide suitable code snippets to access the missing protected members.

class MyGraphicsLayoutItem implements QGraphicsLayoutItem{
    @QtUninvokable
    protected void setGraphicsItem(QGraphicsItem item){
        QGraphicsLayoutItem.MemberAccess.of(this).setGraphicsItem(item);
    }

    @QtUninvokable
    protected void setOwnedByLayout(boolean ownedByLayout){
        QGraphicsLayoutItem.MemberAccess.of(this).setOwnedByLayout(ownedByLayout);
    }

    @QtUninvokable
    protected QSizeF sizeHint(Qt.SizeHint which) {
        return sizeHint(which, new QSizeF());
    }

    @QtUninvokable
    protected QSizeF sizeHint(Qt.SizeHint which, QSizeF constraint){
        return new QSizeF();
    }

    //...
}

In case, a protected (or even private) interface method is pure virtual in C++, QMissingVirtualOverridingException is thrown at runtime when the method is missing in the custom implementation.

Non-Virtual Interface Methods

In contrast to Qt, methods in Java interfaces are never final and, thus, can always be implemented by subclasses. Some Qt interfaces provide non-virtual functions that are represented in the corresponding Java interface by non-final default methods. If a custom implementation of the interface overrides such a non-virtual functions, QNonVirtualOverridingException is thrown at runtime.

Internal-Only Interfaces

Some interfaces are not intended to be subclassed in Java at all, e.g. the interface QSurface. If you implement such an interface, QInterfaceCannotBeSubclassedException is thrown at runtime.

Pre-Implementations

All interface types provide a nested default implementor class called Impl. Instead of implementing the Java interface, you can extend the nested implementor class:

// creating a custom class from pre-implementation
class MyRunnable extends QRunnable.Impl{
    @Override
    public void run() {}
}
QRunnable runnable = new MyRunnable();

Resource System

Qt has a resource system for storing icons and other resources in the application's executable or in libraries. You can use this mechanism also in Java, however, using resources in compiled-in manner is not possible. You should deliver your rcc resource files along with your Java program or pack it into your jar files.

Alternatively, you can store your icons (and other resources) directly in a Java package and access it from classpath:

QAction newFileAction = new QAction(new QIcon("classpath:com/myapplication/icons/newFile.png"), "New File");
QFile cpResourceFile = new QFile("classpath:com/myapplication/icons/data.dat");
QUrl url = QUrl.fromClassPath("com/myapplication/icons/data.dat");

Internationalization

Qt's internationalization mechanism is completely supported by QtJambi. Simply embed all UI texts by tr(...) as introduced here.

QAction newFileAction = new QAction(new QIcon("classpath:com/myapplication/icons/newFile.png"), tr("New File"));

Use Qt's lupdate tool to extract all UI text from source code. Therfore, create a *.pro file listing all Java source code paths as it is exemplified below:

files.pro containing

SOURCES = com/myapplication/MyApplication.java \
          com/myapplication/MainWindow.java \
          com/myapplication/UserDialog.java

Then, call lupdate:

lupdate files.pro -ts com/myapplication/translations/app_de.ts

The next step is to open the file com/myapplication/translations/app_de.ts in Qt Linguist and translate the UI texts entry by entry. Thereafter, use lrelease to create the binary file containing the translations:

lrelease com/myapplication/translations/app_de.ts -qm com/myapplication/translations/app_de.qm

Install the required translation at runtime by loading the corresponding qm file from classpath:

QTranslator translator = new QTranslator();
translator.load("classpath:com/myapplication/translations/app_de.qm");
QCoreApplication.installTranslator(translator);

Generating User Interfaces

Qt allows to create sophisticated user interfaces in graphical manner by using Designer. Designer produces a *.ui file containing all components and properties of the designed user interface. There are two ways to use these designed UIs in your QtJambi java application.

...by dynamically loading at runtime. Therefore, use the class io.qt.widgets.tools.QUiLoader from module qtjambi.uitools:

QUiLoader loader = new QUiLoader();
QFile device = new QFile("classpath:com/myapplication/widgets/mainwindow.ui");
device.open(QIODevice.OpenModeFlag.ReadOnly);
QWidget widget = loader.load(device);
device.close();

...by generating source code. Therefore, use the tool UIC available in module qtjambi.uic. Download qtjambi-uic.jar from the release of your choice along with the correponding platform-dependent qtjambi-uic-native-X.jar and call:

java -Djava.library.path=<path to Qt libraries>
     -p qtjambi-6.2.3.jar:qtjambi-uic-6.2.3.jar
     -m qtjambi.uic --output=src --package=com.myapplication.widgets com/myapplication/widgets/mainwindow.ui

Alternative way to call it:

java -Djava.library.path=<path to Qt libraries>
     -cp qtjambi-6.2.3.jar:qtjambi-uic-6.2.3.jar
     io.qt.uic.Main --output=src --package=com.myapplication.widgets com/myapplication/widgets/mainwindow.ui

QtJambi UIC produces the widget class in output directory (-o) and target package (-p) as java source code file.

Platform Specific API

Qt provides a number of classes and functions only available on specific platforms and/or for specific configurations. QtJambi provides these specific API components on all platforms and for all configurations. Thus, QtJambi is source and binary compatible for all cases.

For instance, QtJambi provides the class QSslConfiguration and the function QNetworkAccessManager.connectToHostEncrypted(...) wether ssl is available at compile time or not. However, if ssl is not available at runtime, QNetworkAccessManager.connectToHostEncrypted(...) and likwise new QSslConfiguration(...) throw a QNoImplementationException.

Java and QML

QtJambi makes Java and QML fully interoperable. You can use Java-defined classes in QML and vice versa.

Initialization

If your Java program uses QML for creating extended UI objects, it is recommended to first initialize all Qt modules you intend to use in Qt, e.g.:

QtUtilities.initializePackage("io.qt.network");
QtUtilities.initializePackage("io.qt.quick");

Also, it is necessary to load all Qt libraries not available as QtJambi module if you intend to use them in QML, e.g.:

QtUtilities.loadQtLibrary("QuickShapes");
QtUtilities.loadQtLibrary("QuickTemplates2");
QtUtilities.loadQtLibrary("QuickControls2");
QtUtilities.loadQtLibrary("QuickParticles");

Now, you can load qml code, for instance, by using QQuickView:

QQuickView view = new QQuickView();
view.setSource(QUrl.fromClassPath("com/myapplication/qml/Main.qml"));
view.show();

Integrating QML and Java

In analogy to C++ you can make Java classes available to QML. Therefore, register the Java class as QML type:

QtQml.qmlRegisterType(Message.class, "com.mycompany.messaging", 1, 5, "Message");

There are two requirements for Java classes to run with QML:

The Java class has to subclass QObject or a subclass of QObject.
The Java class has to provide a declarative constructor as exemplified below:

public class Message extends QObject{
    private final String author;
    private final QDateTime creationDate;

    private Message(QDeclarativeConstructor dc) throws IllegalAccessException {
        super(dc);
    }
    
    public String author() { return author; }
    public void setAuthor(String author) { this.author = author; }
    public QDateTime creationDate() { return creationDate; }
    public void setCreationDate(QDateTime creationDate) { this.creationDate = creationDate; }
}

The QDeclarativeConstructor parameter is an internal constructor marker and needs to be passed through to the super constructor. It is not allowed to call the declarative constructor of any QObject class from inside Java.

This allows you to use the Java-defined type in QML:

import com.mycompany.messaging 1.5

Message {
    author: "Amelie"
    creationDate: new Date()
}

The QtQml class also provides methods for registering singleton types or instances, uncreatable types, interface types, extended types, attached properties and so on. Refer to QML C++ integration to read more about how to use custom types in QML.

Since Java does not support preprocessor macros, there is no automatic type registration as it is enabled for C++ projects by CONFIG += qmltypes. You need to register all Java classes you want to use in QML manual via QtQml.qmlRegister.... Alternatively, you can use the class QmlTypes in the Qtjambi QML utilities and prepare entire packages to be exported to QML.

QmlTypes.registerPackage("com.mycompany.messaging", 1);

You could also specify the package's version by annotating the package-info.java with QmlImportMajorVersion:

@io.qt.qml.util.QmlImportMajorVersion(1)
package com.mycompany.messaging;

In this case, register the package without specifying a version:

QmlTypes.registerPackage("com.mycompany.messaging");

By registering an entire package, all Java classes annotated as QML type are registered. Additionally, all *.qml files located in the registered package are registered as QML type. Annotating as QML type works similar to C++ but instead of preprocessor macros use corresponding annotations:

QML_ELEMENT → @QmlElement
QML_NAMED_ELEMENT → @QmlNamedElement(name)
QML_ANONYMOUS → @QmlAnonymous
QML_INTERFACE → @QmlInterface
QML_UNCREATABLE → @QmlUncreatable(reason)
QML_SINGLETON → @QmlSingleton
QML_ADDED_IN_MINOR_VERSION → @QmlAddedInMinorVersion(N)

Example:

package com.mycompany.messaging;

import io.qt.*;
import io.qt.core.*;
import io.qt.qml.*;
import io.qt.qml.util.*;

@QmlElement
@QmlAddedInMinorVersion(5)
public class Message extends QObject{
    // constructor, properties, getters and setters see above
}

Java QML Modules

Finally, you can bundle your custom Java QML classes into a JAR file and provide it as QML module. Therfore, QtJambi provides the jarimport plugin to be found in the utilities folder of the platform binaries.

Create a jar file containing the Java package to be provided for QML import, e.g. com.mycompany.messaging. Then, create a directory path in the qml import location that matches your package subdirectories, e.g. <QTPREFIX>/qml/com/mycompany/messaging and place the jar file in it. Additionally, copy the jarimport plugin library to the package directory.

Now, create a file called qmldir with following content:

module com.mycompany.messaging
plugin jarimport

The directory substructure should look like this:

qml
 |  com
     |  mycompany
         |  messaging
             |  com-mycompany-messaging.jar
             |  jarimport.dll
             |  qtdir

Qt Plugins

You can implement custom Qt plugins in Java. These plugins can be either realized as application internal implementations or as jar library to be loaded automatically on demand.

Registering Custom Plugins

Use the method QPluginLoader.registerStaticPluginFunction(...) to register a plugin class or instance. The class inherits QObject and needs to implement an interface (or class) known as Qt plugin, for instance:

public class CustomImageIOPlugin extends QImageIOPlugin {
    @io.qt.QtUninvokable
    public QImageIOHandler create(QIODevice device, QByteArray format){
        return new CustomImageIOHandler(device, format);
    }
}

Finally, register the plugin implementation anywhere in your application:

QPluginLoader.registerStaticPluginFunction(CustomImageIOPlugin.class, Map.of("Keys", List.of("custom")));

Custom Plugin Libraries

If you want to provide a custom plugin as jar library you need to provide a platform-dependent loader library along with the jar file. Therefore, use the QtJambi plugin deployer tool to prepare the loader library. Download qtjambi-deployer.jar from the release of your choice along with the correponding platform-dependent qtjambi-deployer-native-X.jar. Call the plugin deployer as shown below. Make sure the library path points to the Qt and QtJambi libraries:

java -Djava.library.path=<path to Qt libraries>
     -p qtjambi-6.2.3.jar:qtjambi-deployer-6.2.3.jar
     -m qtjambi.deployer plugin
     --class-name=my.company.CustomImageIOPlugin
     --class-path=my-company-library.jar
     --dir=<output directory>
     --meta-data=metadata.json

Alternative way to call it:

java -Djava.library.path=<path to Qt libraries>
     -cp qtjambi-6.2.3.jar:qtjambi-deployer-6.2.3.jar
     io.qt.qtjambi.deployer.Main plugin
     --class-name=my.company.CustomImageIOPlugin
     --class-path=my-company-library.jar
     --dir=<output directory>
     --meta-data=metadata.json

The metadata.json file contains the keys of the plugin and additional meta data. Example:

{
    "Keys": ["custom"]
}

QtJambi plugin deployer tool saves the prepared library and the jar file in the specified output directory.

Generating Source Code

Alternatively, deployer can generate source code for compiling the plugin library. This is especially necessary on macOS (arm64).

java -Djava.library.path=<path to Qt libraries>
     -p qtjambi-6.2.3.jar:qtjambi-deployer-6.2.3.jar
     -m qtjambi.deployer plugin
     --class-name=my.company.CustomImageIOPlugin
     --class-path=my-company-library.jar
     --dir=<output directory>
     --meta-data=metadata.json
     --source

Now, output directory contains a source code project for the plugin library. Call qmake and make to build the library.

JDBC Plugin

QtJambi provides a JDBC plugin for using Java SQL capabilities in Qt.

QSqlDatabase db = QSqlDatabase.addDatabase("QJDBC");
db.setDatabaseName("jdbc:sqltech:192.168.178.155:4444");
QSqlQuery query = new QSqlQuery(db);
query.prepare("SELECT * FROM qtjambi");
query.exec();

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Characteristics of QtJambi

Initializing Qt

Qt Types and Java Types

Strings

Enums and Flags

Extensible Enums

Flags

Pointers and References

Array Pointers

Function Pointers

Containers

QVariant

Operator Overloads

Object Life Cycle

Intelligent Pointer Types

Signal On Dispose

QObject and QMetaObject

Methods

Signals

Declaring

Connecting

Emmitting

Overloaded Signals

Signals in other Contexts

Properties

Dynamic Member Access

Threads

Thread Synchronization

Atomic Memory Operations

Thread Affinity

Interfaces

Interface Constructor Call

Protected Interface Methods

Non-Virtual Interface Methods

Internal-Only Interfaces

Pre-Implementations

Resource System

Internationalization

Generating User Interfaces

Platform Specific API

Java and QML

Initialization

Integrating QML and Java

Java QML Modules

Qt Plugins

Registering Custom Plugins

Custom Plugin Libraries

Generating Source Code

JDBC Plugin