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QGLWidget Class Reference
[QtOpenGL module]

The QGLWidget class is a widget for rendering OpenGL graphics. More...

 #include <QGLWidget>

This class is not part of the Qt GUI Framework Edition.

Inherits QWidget.

• List of all members, including inherited members
• Obsolete members
• Qt 3 support members

Public Functions

• 216 public functions inherited from QWidget
• 29 public functions inherited from QObject
• 12 public functions inherited from QPaintDevice

Public Slots

• 19 public slots inherited from QWidget
• 1 public slot inherited from QObject

Static Public Members

• 4 static public members inherited from QWidget
• 5 static public members inherited from QObject

Protected Functions

Reimplemented Protected Functions

• 37 protected functions inherited from QWidget
• 7 protected functions inherited from QObject
• 1 protected function inherited from QPaintDevice

Additional Inherited Members

• 58 properties inherited from QWidget
• 1 property inherited from QObject
• 1 signal inherited from QWidget
• 1 signal inherited from QObject
• 1 protected slot inherited from QWidget

Detailed Description

The QGLWidget class is a widget for rendering OpenGL graphics.

QGLWidget provides functionality for displaying OpenGL graphics integrated into a Qt application. It is very simple to use. You inherit from it and use the subclass like any other QWidget, except that you have the choice between using QPainter and standard OpenGL rendering commands.

QGLWidget provides three convenient virtual functions that you can reimplement in your subclass to perform the typical OpenGL tasks:

• paintGL() - Renders the OpenGL scene. Gets called whenever the widget needs to be updated.
• resizeGL() - Sets up the OpenGL viewport, projection, etc. Gets called whenever the widget has been resized (and also when it is shown for the first time because all newly created widgets get a resize event automatically).
• initializeGL() - Sets up the OpenGL rendering context, defines display lists, etc. Gets called once before the first time resizeGL() or paintGL() is called.

Here is a rough outline of how a QGLWidget subclass might look:

 class MyGLDrawer : public QGLWidget
 {
     Q_OBJECT        // must include this if you use Qt signals/slots

 public:
     MyGLDrawer(QWidget *parent)
         : QGLWidget(parent) {}

 protected:

     void initializeGL()
     {
         // Set up the rendering context, define display lists etc.:
         ...
         glClearColor(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0);
         glEnable(GL_DEPTH_TEST);
         ...
     }

     void resizeGL(int w, int h)
     {
         // setup viewport, projection etc.:
         glViewport(0, 0, (GLint)w, (GLint)h);
         ...
         glFrustum(...);
         ...
     }

     void paintGL()
     {
         // draw the scene:
         ...
         glRotatef(...);
         glMaterialfv(...);
         glBegin(GL_QUADS);
         glVertex3f(...);
         glVertex3f(...);
         ...
         glEnd();
         ...
     }

 };

If you need to trigger a repaint from places other than paintGL() (a typical example is when using timers to animate scenes), you should call the widget's updateGL() function.

Your widget's OpenGL rendering context is made current when paintGL(), resizeGL(), or initializeGL() is called. If you need to call the standard OpenGL API functions from other places (e.g. in your widget's constructor or in your own paint functions), you must call makeCurrent() first.

QGLWidget provides functions for requesting a new display format and you can also create widgets with customized rendering contexts.

You can also share OpenGL display lists between QGLWidget objects (see the documentation of the QGLWidget constructors for details).

Note that under Windows, the QGLContext belonging to a QGLWidget has to be recreated when the QGLWidget is reparented. This is necessary due to limitations on the Windows platform. This will most likely cause problems for users that have subclassed and installed their own QGLContext on a QGLWidget. It is possible to work around this issue by putting the QGLWidget inside a dummy widget and then reparenting the dummy widget, instead of the QGLWidget. This will side-step the issue altogether, and is what we recommend for users that need this kind of functionality.

On Mac OS X, when Qt is built with Cocoa support, a QGLWidget can't have any sibling widgets placed ontop of itself. This is due to limitations in the Cocoa API and is not supported by Apple.

Overlays

The QGLWidget creates a GL overlay context in addition to the normal context if overlays are supported by the underlying system.

If you want to use overlays, you specify it in the format. (Note: Overlay must be requested in the format passed to the QGLWidget constructor.) Your GL widget should also implement some or all of these virtual methods:

• paintOverlayGL()
• resizeOverlayGL()
• initializeOverlayGL()

These methods work in the same way as the normal paintGL() etc. functions, except that they will be called when the overlay context is made current. You can explicitly make the overlay context current by using makeOverlayCurrent(), and you can access the overlay context directly (e.g. to ask for its transparent color) by calling overlayContext().

On X servers in which the default visual is in an overlay plane, non-GL Qt windows can also be used for overlays.

Painting Techniques

As described above, subclass QGLWidget to render pure 3D content in the following way:

• Reimplement the QGLWidget::initializeGL() and QGLWidget::resizeGL() to set up the OpenGL state and provide a perspective transformation.
• Reimplement QGLWidget::paintGL() to paint the 3D scene, calling only OpenGL functions to draw on the widget.

It is also possible to draw 2D graphics onto a QGLWidget subclass, it is necessary to reimplement QGLWidget::paintEvent() and do the following:

• Construct a QPainter object.
• Initialize it for use on the widget with the QPainter::begin() function.
• Draw primitives using QPainter's member functions.
• Call QPainter::end() to finish painting.

Overpainting 2D content on top of 3D content takes a little more effort. One approach to doing this is shown in the Overpainting example.

OpenGL is a trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc. in the United States and other countries.

See also QGLPixelBuffer, Hello GL Example, 2D Painting Example, Overpainting Example, and Grabber Example.

Member Function Documentation

QGLWidget::QGLWidget ( QWidget * parent = 0, const QGLWidget * shareWidget = 0, Qt::WindowFlags f = 0 )

Constructs an OpenGL widget with a parent widget.

The default format is used. The widget will be invalid if the system has no OpenGL support.

The parent and widget flag, f, arguments are passed to the QWidget constructor.

If shareWidget is a valid QGLWidget, this widget will share OpenGL display lists and texture objects with shareWidget. But if shareWidget and this widget have different formats, sharing might not be possible. You can check whether sharing is in effect by calling isSharing().

The initialization of OpenGL rendering state, etc. should be done by overriding the initializeGL() function, rather than in the constructor of your QGLWidget subclass.

See also QGLFormat::defaultFormat() and Textures Example.

QGLWidget::QGLWidget ( QGLContext * context, QWidget * parent = 0, const QGLWidget * shareWidget = 0, Qt::WindowFlags f = 0 )

Constructs an OpenGL widget with parent parent.

The context argument is a pointer to the QGLContext that you wish to be bound to this widget. This allows you to pass in your own QGLContext sub-classes.

The widget will be invalid if the system has no OpenGL support.

The parent and widget flag, f, arguments are passed to the QWidget constructor.

If shareWidget is a valid QGLWidget, this widget will share OpenGL display lists and texture objects with shareWidget. But if shareWidget and this widget have different formats, sharing might not be possible. You can check whether sharing is in effect by calling isSharing().

The initialization of OpenGL rendering state, etc. should be done by overriding the initializeGL() function, rather than in the constructor of your QGLWidget subclass.

See also QGLFormat::defaultFormat() and isValid().

QGLWidget::QGLWidget ( const QGLFormat & format, QWidget * parent = 0, const QGLWidget * shareWidget = 0, Qt::WindowFlags f = 0 )

Constructs an OpenGL widget with parent parent.

The format argument specifies the desired rendering options. If the underlying OpenGL/Window system cannot satisfy all the features requested in format, the nearest subset of features will be used. After creation, the format() method will return the actual format obtained.

The widget will be invalid if the system has no OpenGL support.

The parent and widget flag, f, arguments are passed to the QWidget constructor.

If shareWidget is a valid QGLWidget, this widget will share OpenGL display lists and texture objects with shareWidget. But if shareWidget and this widget have different formats, sharing might not be possible. You can check whether sharing is in effect by calling isSharing().

The initialization of OpenGL rendering state, etc. should be done by overriding the initializeGL() function, rather than in the constructor of your QGLWidget subclass.

See also QGLFormat::defaultFormat() and isValid().

QGLWidget::~QGLWidget ()

Destroys the widget.

bool QGLWidget::autoBufferSwap () const   [protected]

Returns true if the widget is doing automatic GL buffer swapping; otherwise returns false.

See also setAutoBufferSwap().

GLuint QGLWidget::bindTexture ( const QImage & image, GLenum target = GL_TEXTURE_2D, GLint format = GL_RGBA )

Calls QGLContext:::bindTexture(image, target, format) on the currently set context.

See also deleteTexture().

GLuint QGLWidget::bindTexture ( const QPixmap & pixmap, GLenum target = GL_TEXTURE_2D, GLint format = GL_RGBA )

Calls QGLContext:::bindTexture(pixmap, target, format) on the currently set context.

See also deleteTexture().

GLuint QGLWidget::bindTexture ( const QImage & image, GLenum target, GLint format, QGLContext::BindOptions options )

This is an overloaded function.

The binding options are a set of options used to decide how to bind the texture to the context.

This function was introduced in Qt 4.6.

GLuint QGLWidget::bindTexture ( const QPixmap & pixmap, GLenum target, GLint format, QGLContext::BindOptions options )

This is an overloaded function.

Generates and binds a 2D GL texture to the current context, based on pixmap. The generated texture id is returned and can be used in

The binding options are a set of options used to decide how to bind the texture to the context.

This function was introduced in Qt 4.6.

GLuint QGLWidget::bindTexture ( const QString & fileName )

This is an overloaded function.

Calls QGLContext::bindTexture(fileName) on the currently set context.

See also deleteTexture().

const QGLColormap & QGLWidget::colormap () const

Returns the colormap for this widget.

Usually it is only top-level widgets that can have different colormaps installed. Asking for the colormap of a child widget will return the colormap for the child's top-level widget.

If no colormap has been set for this widget, the QGLColormap returned will be empty.

See also setColormap() and QGLColormap::isEmpty().

const QGLContext * QGLWidget::context () const

Returns the context of this widget.

It is possible that the context is not valid (see isValid()), for example, if the underlying hardware does not support the format attributes that were requested.

QImage QGLWidget::convertToGLFormat ( const QImage & img )   [static]

Converts the image img into the unnamed format expected by OpenGL functions such as glTexImage2D(). The returned image is not usable as a QImage, but QImage::width(), QImage::height() and QImage::bits() may be used with OpenGL. The GL format used is GL_RGBA.

void QGLWidget::deleteTexture ( GLuint id )

Calls QGLContext::deleteTexture(id) on the currently set context.

See also bindTexture().

void QGLWidget::doneCurrent ()

Makes no GL context the current context. Normally, you do not need to call this function; QGLContext calls it as necessary. However, it may be useful in multithreaded environments.

bool QGLWidget::doubleBuffer () const

Returns true if the contained GL rendering context has double buffering; otherwise returns false.

See also QGLFormat::doubleBuffer().

void QGLWidget::drawTexture ( const QRectF & target, GLuint textureId, GLenum textureTarget = GL_TEXTURE_2D )

Draws the given texture, textureId to the given target rectangle, target, in OpenGL model space. The textureTarget should be a 2D texture target.

Equivalent to the corresponding QGLContext::drawTexture().

This function was introduced in Qt 4.4.

void QGLWidget::drawTexture ( const QPointF & point, GLuint textureId, GLenum textureTarget = GL_TEXTURE_2D )

Draws the given texture, textureId, at the given point in OpenGL model space. The textureTarget should be a 2D texture target.

Equivalent to the corresponding QGLContext::drawTexture().

This function was introduced in Qt 4.4.

bool QGLWidget::event ( QEvent * e )   [virtual protected]

Reimplemented from QObject::event().

QGLFormat QGLWidget::format () const

Returns the format of the contained GL rendering context.

See also setFormat().

void QGLWidget::glDraw ()   [virtual protected]

Executes the virtual function paintGL().

The widget's rendering context will become the current context and initializeGL() will be called if it hasn't already been called.

void QGLWidget::glInit ()   [virtual protected]

Initializes OpenGL for this widget's context. Calls the virtual function initializeGL().

QImage QGLWidget::grabFrameBuffer ( bool withAlpha = false )

Returns an image of the frame buffer. If withAlpha is true the alpha channel is included.

Depending on your hardware, you can explicitly select which color buffer to grab with a glReadBuffer() call before calling this function.

void QGLWidget::initializeGL ()   [virtual protected]

This virtual function is called once before the first call to paintGL() or resizeGL(), and then once whenever the widget has been assigned a new QGLContext. Reimplement it in a subclass.

This function should set up any required OpenGL context rendering flags, defining display lists, etc.

There is no need to call makeCurrent() because this has already been done when this function is called.

void QGLWidget::initializeOverlayGL ()   [virtual protected]

This virtual function is used in the same manner as initializeGL() except that it operates on the widget's overlay context instead of the widget's main context. This means that initializeOverlayGL() is called once before the first call to paintOverlayGL() or resizeOverlayGL(). Reimplement it in a subclass.

This function should set up any required OpenGL context rendering flags, defining display lists, etc. for the overlay context.

There is no need to call makeOverlayCurrent() because this has already been done when this function is called.

bool QGLWidget::isSharing () const

Returns true if this widget's GL context is shared with another GL context, otherwise false is returned. Context sharing might not be possible if the widgets use different formats.

See also format().

bool QGLWidget::isValid () const

Returns true if the widget has a valid GL rendering context; otherwise returns false. A widget will be invalid if the system has no OpenGL support.

void QGLWidget::makeCurrent ()

Makes this widget the current widget for OpenGL operations, i.e. makes the widget's rendering context the current OpenGL rendering context.

void QGLWidget::makeOverlayCurrent ()

Makes the overlay context of this widget current. Use this if you need to issue OpenGL commands to the overlay context outside of initializeOverlayGL(), resizeOverlayGL(), and paintOverlayGL().

Does nothing if this widget has no overlay.

See also makeCurrent().

const QGLContext * QGLWidget::overlayContext () const

Returns the overlay context of this widget, or 0 if this widget has no overlay.

See also context().

void QGLWidget::paintEvent ( QPaintEvent * event )   [virtual protected]

Reimplemented from QWidget::paintEvent().

Handles paint events passed in the event parameter. Will cause the virtual paintGL() function to be called.

The widget's rendering context will become the current context and initializeGL() will be called if it hasn't already been called.

void QGLWidget::paintGL ()   [virtual protected]

This virtual function is called whenever the widget needs to be painted. Reimplement it in a subclass.

There is no need to call makeCurrent() because this has already been done when this function is called.

void QGLWidget::paintOverlayGL ()   [virtual protected]

This virtual function is used in the same manner as paintGL() except that it operates on the widget's overlay context instead of the widget's main context. This means that paintOverlayGL() is called whenever the widget's overlay needs to be painted. Reimplement it in a subclass.

There is no need to call makeOverlayCurrent() because this has already been done when this function is called.

void QGLWidget::qglClearColor ( const QColor & c ) const

Convenience function for specifying the clearing color to OpenGL. Calls glClearColor (in RGBA mode) or glClearIndex (in color-index mode) with the color c. Applies to this widgets GL context.

See also qglColor(), QGLContext::currentContext(), and QColor.

void QGLWidget::qglColor ( const QColor & c ) const

Convenience function for specifying a drawing color to OpenGL. Calls glColor4 (in RGBA mode) or glIndex (in color-index mode) with the color c. Applies to this widgets GL context.

Note: This function is not supported on OpenGL/ES 2.0 systems.

See also qglClearColor(), QGLContext::currentContext(), and QColor.

QPixmap QGLWidget::renderPixmap ( int w = 0, int h = 0, bool useContext = false )

Renders the current scene on a pixmap and returns the pixmap.

You can use this method on both visible and invisible QGLWidget objects.

This method will create a pixmap and a temporary QGLContext to render on the pixmap. It will then call initializeGL(), resizeGL(), and paintGL() on this context. Finally, the widget's original GL context is restored.

The size of the pixmap will be w pixels wide and h pixels high unless one of these parameters is 0 (the default), in which case the pixmap will have the same size as the widget.

If useContext is true, this method will try to be more efficient by using the existing GL context to render the pixmap. The default is false. Only use true if you understand the risks. Note that under Windows a temporary context has to be created and usage of the useContext parameter is not supported.

Overlays are not rendered onto the pixmap.

If the GL rendering context and the desktop have different bit depths, the result will most likely look surprising.

Note that the creation of display lists, modifications of the view frustum etc. should be done from within initializeGL(). If this is not done, the temporary QGLContext will not be initialized properly, and the rendered pixmap may be incomplete/corrupted.

void QGLWidget::renderText ( int x, int y, const QString & str, const QFont & font = QFont(), int listBase = 2000 )

Renders the string str into the GL context of this widget.

x and y are specified in window coordinates, with the origin in the upper left-hand corner of the window. If font is not specified, the currently set application font will be used to render the string. To change the color of the rendered text you can use the glColor() call (or the qglColor() convenience function), just before the renderText() call.

The listBase parameter is obsolete and will be removed in a future version of Qt.

Note: This function clears the stencil buffer.

Note: This function is not supported on OpenGL/ES systems. Overpaint with QPainter::drawText() instead.

void QGLWidget::renderText ( double x, double y, double z, const QString & str, const QFont & font = QFont(), int listBase = 2000 )

This is an overloaded function.

x, y and z are specified in scene or object coordinates relative to the currently set projection and model matrices. This can be useful if you want to annotate models with text labels and have the labels move with the model as it is rotated etc.

Note: This function is not supported on OpenGL/ES systems. Overpaint with QPainter::drawText() instead.

void QGLWidget::resizeEvent ( QResizeEvent * event )   [virtual protected]

Reimplemented from QWidget::resizeEvent().

Handles resize events that are passed in the event parameter. Calls the virtual function resizeGL().

void QGLWidget::resizeGL ( int width, int height )   [virtual protected]

This virtual function is called whenever the widget has been resized. The new size is passed in width and height. Reimplement it in a subclass.

There is no need to call makeCurrent() because this has already been done when this function is called.

void QGLWidget::resizeOverlayGL ( int width, int height )   [virtual protected]

This virtual function is used in the same manner as paintGL() except that it operates on the widget's overlay context instead of the widget's main context. This means that resizeOverlayGL() is called whenever the widget has been resized. The new size is passed in width and height. Reimplement it in a subclass.

There is no need to call makeOverlayCurrent() because this has already been done when this function is called.

void QGLWidget::setAutoBufferSwap ( bool on )   [protected]

If on is true automatic GL buffer swapping is switched on; otherwise it is switched off.

If on is true and the widget is using a double-buffered format, the background and foreground GL buffers will automatically be swapped after each paintGL() call.

The buffer auto-swapping is on by default.

See also autoBufferSwap(), doubleBuffer(), and swapBuffers().

void QGLWidget::setColormap ( const QGLColormap & cmap )

Set the colormap for this widget to cmap. Usually it is only top-level widgets that can have colormaps installed.

See also colormap().

void QGLWidget::setMouseTracking ( bool enable )

If enable is true then mouse tracking is enabled; otherwise it is disabled.

void QGLWidget::swapBuffers ()

Swaps the screen contents with an off-screen buffer. This only works if the widget's format specifies double buffer mode.

Normally, there is no need to explicitly call this function because it is done automatically after each widget repaint, i.e. each time after paintGL() has been executed.

See also doubleBuffer(), setAutoBufferSwap(), and QGLFormat::setDoubleBuffer().

void QGLWidget::updateGL ()   [virtual slot]

Updates the widget by calling glDraw().

void QGLWidget::updateOverlayGL ()   [virtual slot]

Updates the widget's overlay (if any). Will cause the virtual function paintOverlayGL() to be executed.

The widget's rendering context will become the current context and initializeGL() will be called if it hasn't already been called.