- Qt 6.9
- Qt Quick
- Qt Quick for Android
- Qt Quick for Android Studio Projects
- Qt 6.9.1 Reference Documentation

Qt Quick Android Classes ◦ Using QtAbstractItemModel in Android Studio Projects

# Qt Quick for Android Studio Projects

The Qt Quick for Android API examples are provided as Android Studio projects. The project folders are found in your Qt install location.

For example, under the default Windows install path, they are found here:

     C:\Qt\Examples\Qt-/1\platforms\android

## Overview

This example contains a QML project that you can import into Android Studio with the Qt Tools for Android Studio plugin and Java and Kotlin projects that use the QML project as a View by utilizing the QtQuickView API.

For more information on how QML works, see the Qt Qml. This documentation will focus on how a QML component is embedded into Java- and Kotlin-based Android applications.

First, we look at the `MainActivity`'s onCreate() method of the Java and Kotlin projects.

For a Java-based project:

     @Override
     protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
         super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
         setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

         m_qmlViewBackgroundText = findViewById(R.id.qmlViewBackgroundText);
         m_qmlStatus = findViewById(R.id.qmlStatusText);
         m_androidControlsLayout = findViewById(R.id.javaRelative);
         m_colorBox = findViewById(R.id.qmlColorBox);
         m_switch = findViewById(R.id.disconnectQmlListenerSwitch);
         m_switch.setOnClickListener(view -> switchListener());
         QtQuickView m_firstQuickView = new QtQuickView(this);
         QtQuickView m_secondQuickView = new QtQuickView(this);

         // Set status change listener for m_qmlView
         // listener implemented below in OnStatusChanged
         m_firstQmlContent.setStatusChangeListener(this);
         m_secondQmlContent.setStatusChangeListener(this);
         final ViewGroup.LayoutParams params = new FrameLayout.LayoutParams(
                 ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT, ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT);
         FrameLayout m_firstQmlFrameLayout = findViewById(R.id.firstQmlFrame);
         m_firstQmlFrameLayout.addView(m_firstQuickView, params);
         FrameLayout m_secondQmlFrameLayout = findViewById(R.id.secondQmlFrame);
         m_secondQmlFrameLayout.addView(m_secondQuickView, params);
         m_firstQuickView.loadContent(m_firstQmlContent);
         m_secondQuickView.loadContent(m_secondQmlContent);

         Button m_changeColorButton = findViewById(R.id.changeQmlColorButton);
         m_changeColorButton.setOnClickListener(view -> onClickListener());
         Button m_rotateQmlGridButton = findViewById(R.id.rotateQmlGridButton);
         m_rotateQmlGridButton.setOnClickListener(view -> rotateQmlGrid());
     }

For a Kotlin-based project:

     override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
         super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
         m_binding = ActivityMainBinding.inflate(layoutInflater)
         val view = m_binding.root
         setContentView(view)

         m_binding.disconnectQmlListenerSwitch.setOnCheckedChangeListener { button, checked ->
             switchListener(
                 button,
                 checked
             )
         }

         val firstQtQuickView = QtQuickView(this)
         val secondQtQuickView = QtQuickView(this)

         // Set status change listener for m_qmlView
         // listener implemented below in OnStatusChanged
         m_firstQmlContent.setStatusChangeListener(this)
         m_secondQmlContent.setStatusChangeListener(this)

         val params: ViewGroup.LayoutParams = FrameLayout.LayoutParams(
             ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT, ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT
         )
         m_binding.firstQmlFrame.addView(firstQtQuickView, params)
         m_binding.secondQmlFrame.addView(secondQtQuickView, params)
         firstQtQuickView.loadContent(m_firstQmlContent)
         secondQtQuickView.loadContent(m_secondQmlContent)

         m_binding.changeQmlColorButton.setOnClickListener { onClickListener() }
         m_binding.rotateQmlGridButton.setOnClickListener { rotateQmlGrid() }
     }

Note: in the Kotlin project we use View binding to access the UI components of the application:

     m_binding = ActivityMainBinding.inflate(layoutInflater)
     val view = m_binding.root
     setContentView(view)

Inside the `onCreate()` method, previously declared variables are initialized with new QtQuickViews. These new instances of QtQuickView are created by giving them the Context of the Java/Kotlin Activity as arguments.

For a Java-based project:

     QtQuickView m_firstQuickView = new QtQuickView(this);
     QtQuickView m_secondQuickView = new QtQuickView(this);

For a Kotlin-based project:

     val firstQtQuickView = QtQuickView(this)
     val secondQtQuickView = QtQuickView(this)

The QtQuickViews are added to the Android layout with appropriate layout parameters.

For a Java-based project:

     final ViewGroup.LayoutParams params = new FrameLayout.LayoutParams(
             ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT, ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT);
     FrameLayout m_firstQmlFrameLayout = findViewById(R.id.firstQmlFrame);
     m_firstQmlFrameLayout.addView(m_firstQuickView, params);
     FrameLayout m_secondQmlFrameLayout = findViewById(R.id.secondQmlFrame);
     m_secondQmlFrameLayout.addView(m_secondQuickView, params);

For a Kotlin-based project:

     val params: ViewGroup.LayoutParams = FrameLayout.LayoutParams(
         ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT, ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT
     )
     m_binding.firstQmlFrame.addView(firstQtQuickView, params)
     m_binding.secondQmlFrame.addView(secondQtQuickView, params)

The `Main` and `Second` Java classes inherit from the `QtQuickViewContent` class. These classes are generated from the QML project that we've imported.

For a Java-based project:

     private final Main m_firstQmlContent = new Main();
     private final Second m_secondQmlContent = new Second();

For a Kotlin-based project:

     private val m_firstQmlContent: Main = Main()
     private val m_secondQmlContent: Second = Second()

The Qt Quick content is loaded through the `QtQuickView.loadContent()` method, which takes a `QtQuickViewContent` as an argument.

For a Java-based project:

     m_firstQuickView.loadContent(m_firstQmlContent);
     m_secondQuickView.loadContent(m_secondQmlContent);

For a Kotlin-based project:

     firstQtQuickView.loadContent(m_firstQmlContent)
     secondQtQuickView.loadContent(m_secondQmlContent)

## Interacting with the QML components

To interact with the embedded QML components we implement the `QtQmlStatusChangeListener` interface and override the onStatusChanged method to get the loading status of the QtQuickViewContent currently being loaded into the QtQuickViews.

For a Java-based project:

     public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity implements
     QtQmlStatusChangeListener {
         ...
     }

For a Kotlin-based project:

     class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity(), QtQmlStatusChangeListener {
         ...
     }

The `onStatusChanged` implementation:

For a Java-based project:

     @Override
     public void onStatusChanged(QtQmlStatus qtQmlStatus, QtQuickViewContent content) {
         Log.i(TAG, "Status of QtQuickView: " + qtQmlStatus);

         // Show current QML View status in a textview
         m_qmlStatus.setText(getString(R.string.qml_view_status, m_statusNames.get(qtQmlStatus)));
         updateColorDisplay();

         if (content == m_firstQmlContent) {
             // Connect signal listener to "onClicked" signal from main.qml
             // addSignalListener returns int which can be used later to identify the listener
             if (qtQmlStatus == QtQmlStatus.READY && m_switch.isChecked()) {
                 m_qmlButtonSignalListenerId = m_firstQmlContent.connectOnClickedListener(
                         (String name, Void v) -> {
                             Log.i(TAG, "QML button clicked");
                             m_androidControlsLayout.setBackgroundColor(Color.parseColor(
                                     m_colors.getColor()
                             ));
                         });
             }
         }
     }

For a Kotlin-based project:

     override fun onStatusChanged(status: QtQmlStatus?, content: QtQuickViewContent?) {
         Log.v(TAG, "Status of QtQuickView: $status")

         // Show current QML View status in a textview
         m_binding.qmlStatusText.text = getString(R.string.qml_view_status, m_statusNames[status])

         updateColorDisplay()

         if (content == m_firstQmlContent) {
             // Connect signal listener to "onClicked" signal from main.qml
             // addSignalListener returns int which can be used later to identify the listener
             if (status == QtQmlStatus.READY && m_binding.disconnectQmlListenerSwitch.isChecked) {
                 m_qmlButtonSignalListenerId =
                     m_firstQmlContent.connectOnClickedListener { _: String, _: Void? ->
                         Log.i(TAG, "QML button clicked")
                         m_binding.kotlinRelative.setBackgroundColor(
                             Color.parseColor(
                                 m_colors.getColor()
                             )
                         )
                     }
             }
         }
     }

The `MainActivity` is set as the `statusChangeListener` of the `m_mainQmlContent` and `m_secondQmlContent` with the `QtQuickViewContent.setStatusChangeListener` method.

For a Java-based project:

     m_firstQmlContent.setStatusChangeListener(this);
     m_secondQmlContent.setStatusChangeListener(this);

For a Kotlin-based project:

     m_firstQmlContent.setStatusChangeListener(this)
     m_secondQmlContent.setStatusChangeListener(this)

The overridden callback function `onStatusChanged()` receives `StatusChanged()` signal containing the current status (public Enum QtQmlStatus) of the loading of the current `QtQuickViewContent` into the QtQuickView. If this `QtQmlStatus` is confirmed to be `QtQmlStatus.READY`, we can start interacting with the QML view.

## Getting and setting QML component property values

Getting and setting QML component property values happens through the methods described in the `Main.java` class. In this case we use the `m_mainQmlContent.setColorStringProperty()` and `m_mainQmlContent.getColorStringProperty()` methods. These methods are generated according to what properties the QML component includes.

For a Java-based project:

     public void onClickListener() {
         // Set the QML view root object property "colorStringFormat" value to
         // color from Colors.getColor()
         m_firstQmlContent.setColorStringFormat(m_colors.getColor());
         updateColorDisplay();
     }
     private void updateColorDisplay() {
         String qmlBackgroundColor = m_firstQmlContent.getColorStringFormat();
         // Display the QML View background color code
         m_qmlViewBackgroundText.setText(qmlBackgroundColor);

         // Display the QML View background color in a view
         // if qmlBackGroundColor is not null
         if (qmlBackgroundColor != null) {
             m_colorBox.setBackgroundColor(Color.parseColor(qmlBackgroundColor));
         }
     }

For a Kotlin-based project:

     private fun onClickListener() {
         // Set the QML view root object property "colorStringFormat" value to
         // color from Colors.getColor()
         m_firstQmlContent.colorStringFormat = m_colors.getColor()
         updateColorDisplay()
     }

     private fun updateColorDisplay() {
         val qmlBackgroundColor = m_firstQmlContent.colorStringFormat
         // Display the QML View background color code
         m_binding.qmlViewBackgroundText.text = qmlBackgroundColor
         // Display the QML View background color in a view
         // if qmlBackgroundColor is not null
         if (qmlBackgroundColor != null) {
             m_binding.qmlColorBox.setBackgroundColor(Color.parseColor(qmlBackgroundColor))
         }
     }

With the `m_mainQmlContent.setColorStringProperty()` method we set the `colorStringFormat` property value of the `m_mainQmlContent` a random color value that is fetched from the `Colors.java` (or `Colors.kt`) class.

The `m_mainQmlContent.getColorStringProperty()` method is used here to fetch the current background color of the root object of the m_mainQmlContent and then show it to the user on the Java/Kotlin Android side of the application.

`m_secondQmlContent` has a Grid QML component which we can rotate from the Java side with the generated `m_secondQmlContent.setGridRotation()` method.

For a Java-based project:

     private void rotateQmlGrid() {
         Integer previousGridRotation = m_secondQmlContent.getGridRotation();
         if (previousGridRotation != null) {
             m_secondQmlContent.setGridRotation(previousGridRotation + 45);
         }
     }

For a Kotlin-based project:

     private fun rotateQmlGrid() {
         val previousGridRotation = m_secondQmlContent.gridRotation
         if (previousGridRotation != null) {
             m_secondQmlContent.gridRotation = previousGridRotation + 45
         }
     }

## Signal listeners

The `QtQuickViewContent` class offers a `connectSignalListener()` and `disconnectSignalListener()` methods which are used to connect and disconnect signal listener between signals that are declared in the QML component root object. The `QtQuickViewContent.connectSignalListener()` returns a unique signal listener id which we store and use later to identify and disconnect the listener.

Here we connect a signal listener to the `onClicked()` signal of the QML component.

For a Java-based project:

     if (qtQmlStatus == QtQmlStatus.READY && m_switch.isChecked()) {
         m_qmlButtonSignalListenerId = m_firstQmlContent.connectOnClickedListener(
                 (String name, Void v) -> {
                     Log.i(TAG, "QML button clicked");
                     m_androidControlsLayout.setBackgroundColor(Color.parseColor(
                             m_colors.getColor()
                     ));
                 });
     }

For a Kotlin-based project:

     if (status == QtQmlStatus.READY && m_binding.disconnectQmlListenerSwitch.isChecked) {
         m_qmlButtonSignalListenerId =
             m_firstQmlContent.connectOnClickedListener { _: String, _: Void? ->
                 Log.i(TAG, "QML button clicked")
                 m_binding.kotlinRelative.setBackgroundColor(
                     Color.parseColor(
                         m_colors.getColor()
                     )
                 )
             }
     }

The `onClicked()` signal is emitted every time the button on the QML component is clicked. That signal is then received by this listener and the background color of the layout holding the Android side of the application is set to a random color value fetched from the `Colors.java` class.

Next, the signal listener is disconnected using the `QtQuickViewContent.disconnectSignalListener()` method by giving it the unique signal listener id.

For a Java-based project:

     m_firstQmlContent.disconnectSignalListener(m_qmlButtonSignalListenerId);

For a Kotlin-based project:

     m_firstQmlContent.disconnectSignalListener(m_qmlButtonSignalListenerId)

Qt Quick Android Classes ◦ Using QtAbstractItemModel in Android Studio Projects