c++qtqt-signals

Declare abstract signal in interface class


How to declare a Qt signal in an abstract class / interface when the implementing class is already derrived from QObject/QWidget?

class IEmitSomething
{
   public:
     // this should be the signal known to others
     virtual void someThingHappened() = 0;
}

class ImplementEmitterOfSomething : public QWidget, public IEmitSomething
{
     // signal implementation should be generated here
     signals: void someThingHappended();
}

Solution

  • As I found out in the last days... the Qt way of doing this is like this:

    class IEmitSomething
    {
       public:
         virtual ~IEmitSomething(){} // do not forget this
    
       signals: // <- ignored by moc and only serves as documentation aid
                // The code will work exactly the same if signals: is absent.
         virtual void someThingHappened() = 0;
    }
    
    Q_DECLARE_INTERFACE(IEmitSomething, "IEmitSomething") // define this out of namespace scope
    
    class ImplementEmitterOfSomething : public QWidget, public IEmitSomething
    {
       Q_OBJECT
       Q_INTERFACES(IEmitSomething)
    
       signals:
          void someThingHappended();
    }
    

    Now you can connect to those interface signals.

    If you don't have access to the implementation when connecting to the signal your connect statement will require a dynamic cast to QObject:

    IEmitSomething* es = ... // your implementation class
    
    connect(dynamic_cast<QObject*>(es), SIGNAL(someThingHappended()), ...);
    

    ... and this way you're not forced to expose the implementation class to subscribers and clients. Yeah!!!