- Qt 6.9
- Qt Widgets - Text Viewer Plugin Example
- Qt 6.9.2 Reference Documentation

# Qt Widgets - Text Viewer Plugin Example

A widget example with menus, toolbars and a status bar.

The Text Viewer example is a text editor built around QPlainTextEdit, in the form of a plugin for a general-purpose Document Viewer.

All of the code for the Text Viewer example is in the `TxtViewer` class, which inherits `AbstractViewer`. `AbstractViewer` provides the framework for interaction between a viewer and the main window. The application provides File, Edit, and Help entries in the menu bar.

The status bar at the bottom of the main window shows a message provided by the application to its user.

Recently opened files are shown in the File menu. The example can only load one file at a time.

#### Class Definition

     class TxtViewer : public ViewerInterface
     {
         Q_OBJECT
         Q_PLUGIN_METADATA(IID "org.qt-project.Qt.Examples.DocumentViewer.ViewerInterface" FILE "txtviewer.json")
         Q_INTERFACES(ViewerInterface)

The class definition starts with the `Q_OBJECT` macro, which handles signals and slots. It is followed by the `Q_PLUGIN_METADATA` and `Q_INTERFACES` macros which are necessary to register the plugin.

The class inherits from `ViewerInterface`, which inherits from `AbstractViewer`. The `ViewerInterface` class is used to provide an interface between the main window application and the plugin.

`QPluginLoader` also requires the file txtviewer.json, which has to contain the plugin's key:

     { "Keys": [ "txtviewer" ] }
     public:
         TxtViewer();
         ~TxtViewer() override;
         void init(QFile *file, QWidget *parent, QMainWindow *mainWindow) override;
         QString viewerName() const override { return QLatin1StringView(staticMetaObject.className()); };
         QStringList supportedMimeTypes() const override;
         bool saveDocument() override { return saveFile(m_file.get()); };
         bool saveDocumentAs() override;
         bool hasContent() const override;
         QByteArray saveState() const override { return {}; }
         bool restoreState(QByteArray &) override { return true; }
         bool supportsOverview() const override { return false; }

     #ifdef QT_DOCUMENTVIEWER_PRINTSUPPORT
     protected:
         void printDocument(QPrinter *printer) const override;
     #endif // QT_DOCUMENTVIEWER_PRINTSUPPORT

     private slots:
         void setupTxtUi();

     private:
         void openFile();
         bool saveFile (QFile *file);

         QPlainTextEdit *m_textEdit;
     };

The class defines no constructor, which means that only a standard constructor without arguments is available. All other functions, including the destructor, re-implement virtual functions of `ViewerInterface`. They are used to exchange data, information, and instructions with the main application.

No functionality is implemented to save and restore settings. The `supportsOverview` function always returns `false`, which tells the main application that no window for thumbnail navigation has to be displayed.

#### TxtViewer Class Implementation

     #include "txtviewer.h"

     #include <QFileDialog>
     #include <QMainWindow>
     #include <QMenu>
     #include <QMenuBar>
     #include <QPlainTextEdit>
     #include <QScrollBar>
     #include <QToolBar>

     #include <QGuiApplication>
     #include <QPainter>
     #include <QTextDocument>

     #include <QDir>

     #ifdef QT_DOCUMENTVIEWER_PRINTSUPPORT
     #include <QPrinter>
     #include <QPrintDialog>
     #endif

     using namespace Qt::StringLiterals;

     TxtViewer::TxtViewer()
     {
         connect(this, &AbstractViewer::uiInitialized, this, &TxtViewer::setupTxtUi);
     }

     TxtViewer::~TxtViewer() = default;

     void TxtViewer::init(QFile *file, QWidget *parent, QMainWindow *mainWindow)
     {
         AbstractViewer::init(file, new QPlainTextEdit(parent), mainWindow);
         m_textEdit = qobject_cast<QPlainTextEdit *>(widget());
     }

     QStringList TxtViewer::supportedMimeTypes() const
     {
         return {"text/plain"_L1};
     }

     void TxtViewer::setupTxtUi()
     {
         QMenu *editMenu = addMenu(tr("&Edit"));
         QToolBar *editToolBar = addToolBar(tr("Edit"));
     #if QT_CONFIG(clipboard)
         const QIcon cutIcon = QIcon::fromTheme(QIcon::ThemeIcon::EditCut,
                                                QIcon(":/demos/documentviewer/images/cut.png"_L1));
         QAction *cutAct = new QAction(cutIcon, tr("Cu&t"), this);
         cutAct->setShortcuts(QKeySequence::Cut);
         cutAct->setStatusTip(tr("Cut the current selection's contents to the "
                                 "clipboard"));
         connect(cutAct, &QAction::triggered, m_textEdit, &QPlainTextEdit::cut);
         editMenu->addAction(cutAct);
         editToolBar->addAction(cutAct);

         const QIcon copyIcon = QIcon::fromTheme(QIcon::ThemeIcon::EditCopy,
                                                 QIcon(":/demos/documentviewer/images/copy.png"_L1));
         QAction *copyAct = new QAction(copyIcon, tr("&Copy"), this);
         copyAct->setShortcuts(QKeySequence::Copy);
         copyAct->setStatusTip(tr("Copy the current selection's contents to the "
                                  "clipboard"));
         connect(copyAct, &QAction::triggered, m_textEdit, &QPlainTextEdit::copy);
         editMenu->addAction(copyAct);
         editToolBar->addAction(copyAct);

         const QIcon pasteIcon = QIcon::fromTheme(QIcon::ThemeIcon::EditPaste,
                                                  QIcon(":/demos/documentviewer/images/paste.png"_L1));
         QAction *pasteAct = new QAction(pasteIcon, tr("&Paste"), this);
         pasteAct->setShortcuts(QKeySequence::Paste);
         pasteAct->setStatusTip(tr("Paste the clipboard's contents into the current "
                                   "selection"));
         connect(pasteAct, &QAction::triggered, m_textEdit, &QPlainTextEdit::paste);
         editMenu->addAction(pasteAct);
         editToolBar->addAction(pasteAct);

         menuBar()->addSeparator();

         cutAct->setEnabled(false);
         copyAct->setEnabled(false);
         connect(m_textEdit, &QPlainTextEdit::copyAvailable, cutAct, &QAction::setEnabled);
         connect(m_textEdit, &QPlainTextEdit::copyAvailable, copyAct, &QAction::setEnabled);
     #endif // QT_CONFIG(clipboard)

         openFile();

         connect(m_textEdit, &QPlainTextEdit::textChanged, this, [&](){
             maybeSetPrintingEnabled(hasContent());
         });

         connect(m_uiAssets.back, &QAction::triggered, m_textEdit, [&](){
             auto *bar = m_textEdit->verticalScrollBar();
             if (bar->value() > bar->minimum())
                 bar->setValue(bar->value() - 1);
         });

         connect(m_uiAssets.forward, &QAction::triggered, m_textEdit, [&](){
             auto *bar = m_textEdit->verticalScrollBar();
             if (bar->value() < bar->maximum())
                 bar->setValue(bar->value() + 1);
         });
     }

We start by including the header files necessary to access all classes used by `TxtViewer`. We also include `txtviewer.h`.

`QPrinter` and `QPrintDialog` are only included if print support is enabled on the compilation system.

You might wonder why we don't include these headers in `mainwindow.h` and be done with it. The reason is that including multiple large headers from another header file can rapidly degrade performance. Here, it wouldn't do any harm, but it's still generally a good idea to include only the header files that are strictly necessary from another header file.

The implementation starts with an empty destructor. It could be completely omitted. It's good practice to implement it empty in order to point out to code readers that nothing needs to be done in the destructor.

The destructor is followed by an initialization function, taking three arguments:

- `file`, the pointer to the file to be opened and displayed.
- `parent`, pointing to the `QWidget` inside which the editor shall be placed.
- `mainWindow`, pointing to the application's main window, where menus and menu bars are handled.

The function calls the base init function of `AbstractViwer`. A new QPlainTextEdit widget is created, which will display the file's contents. Then, `TxtViewer`'s setup function is connected to the base class' uiInitialized signal.

The next function returns the list of mime types, which the text viewer supports. Only plain text is supported.

The last initialization function adds viewer specific UI components like menus, icons, buttons, and tooltips. It uses functionality provided by `AbstractViewer` to make sure that these components are removed from the application's main window, once another file is displayed with another viewer plugin.

     void TxtViewer::openFile()
     {
         const QString type = tr("open");
         if (!m_file->open(QFile::ReadOnly | QFile::Text)) {
             statusMessage(tr("Cannot read file %1:\n%2.")
                           .arg(QDir::toNativeSeparators(m_file->fileName()),
                                m_file->errorString()), type);
             return;
         }

         QTextStream in(m_file.get());
     #ifndef QT_NO_CURSOR
         QGuiApplication::setOverrideCursor(Qt::WaitCursor);
     #endif
         if (!m_textEdit->toPlainText().isEmpty()) {
             m_textEdit->clear();
             disablePrinting();
         }
         m_textEdit->setPlainText(in.readAll());
     #ifndef QT_NO_CURSOR
         QGuiApplication::restoreOverrideCursor();
     #endif

         statusMessage(tr("File %1 loaded.")
                       .arg(QDir::toNativeSeparators(m_file->fileName())), type);
         maybeEnablePrinting();
     }

`openFile` opens a file, transfers its contents into the QPlainTextEdit, and prints a status message for the user, depending on whether or not the opening was successful.

     bool TxtViewer::hasContent() const
     {
         return (!m_textEdit->toPlainText().isEmpty());
     }

     #ifdef QT_DOCUMENTVIEWER_PRINTSUPPORT
     void TxtViewer::printDocument(QPrinter *printer) const
     {
         if (!hasContent())
             return;

         m_textEdit->print(printer);
     }
     #endif // QT_DOCUMENTVIEWER_PRINTSUPPORT

     bool TxtViewer::saveFile(QFile *file)
     {
         QString errorMessage;

         QGuiApplication::setOverrideCursor(Qt::WaitCursor);
         if (file->open(QFile::WriteOnly | QFile::Text)) {
             QTextStream out(file);
             out << m_textEdit->toPlainText();
         } else {
             errorMessage = tr("Cannot open file %1 for writing:\n%2.")
                            .arg(QDir::toNativeSeparators(file->fileName())),
                                 file->errorString();
         }
         QGuiApplication::restoreOverrideCursor();

         if (!errorMessage.isEmpty()) {
             statusMessage(errorMessage);
             return false;
         }

         statusMessage(tr("File %1 saved")
                       .arg(QDir::toNativeSeparators(file->fileName())));
         return true;
     }

     bool TxtViewer::saveDocumentAs()
     {
         QFileDialog dialog(mainWindow());
         dialog.setWindowModality(Qt::WindowModal);
         dialog.setAcceptMode(QFileDialog::AcceptSave);
         if (dialog.exec() != QDialog::Accepted)
             return false;

         const QStringList &files = dialog.selectedFiles();
         if (files.isEmpty())
             return false;

         //newFile();
         m_file->setFileName(files.first());
         return saveDocument();
     }

The next re-implemented function tells the main application whether or not the viewer plugin is actually displaying content.

If printing is supported on the compiling system, the next section implements it.

The last two re-implementations provide functionality to save the current file or to save it under a new name.

Example project @ code.qt.io