KDDockWidgets API Documentation  1.2.1
KDDockWidgets

KDDockWidgets is a Qt dock widget library written by KDAB, suitable for replacing QDockWidget and implementing advanced functionalities missing in Qt.

Although KDDockWidgets is ready to be used out of the box, it can also be seen as a framework to allow building very tailored custom docking systems. It tries to expose every internal widget and every knob for the app developer to tune.

Motivation

Throughout the years KDAB contributed and funded bug fixes and features to QDockWidget. Sadly, this was very painful. Each bug fix or feature took many days of implementation, and an equal number of days just to fix dozens of regressions.

QDockWidget mixes GUI code with logic with state, making it very hard to move forward with new features. Furthermore, our customers were getting more creative with their requests, so it was clear we needed a better docking framework.

You will find more information in these places:

Features

Screen capture

Roadmap

Trying out the examples

A full demo lives in examples/dockwidgets/, it showcasts most of the features. A simpler example lives in examples/minimal/, which might be more indicated to learn the API, as it's less overwelming than the full demo.

Open a terminal capable of building Qt5 applications. Make sure you have cmake, ninja, compiler, Qt, etc in PATH.

Adapt the instructions to suit your cmake generator and operating system. Build and install the KDDockWidgets framework:

1 $ cmake -G Ninja -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/path/where/to/install ../path/to/kddockwidgets
2 $ cmake --build .
3 $ cmake --build . --target install

Now build and run the example:

1 $ cd path/to/kddockwidgets/examples/dockwidgets/
2 $ cmake -G Ninja -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=/path/where/to/install
3 $ cmake --build .
4 $ ./kddockwidgets_example

The installation directory defaults to c:\KDAB\KDDockWidgets-<version> on Windows and /usr/local/KDAB/KDDockWidgets-<version> on non-Windows. You can change this location by passing the option -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/install/path to cmake.

Using

From your CMake project, add

find_package(KDDockWidgets CONFIG)

and link to the imported target KDAB::kddockwidgets. That's all you need to do (the imported target also brings in the include directories)

You may also need to point the CMAKE_MODULE_PATH environment variable depending on where you installed KDDockWidgets.

Python Bindings

Make sure you have pyside2, shiboken2 and shiboken2-generator installed. As this time, you cannot get shiboken2-generator because the wheels are not on PyPi. To use the wheels do this: % pip3 install \ –index-url=http://download.qt.io/official_releases/QtForPython/ \ –trusted-host download.qt.io \ shiboken2 pyside2 shiboken2_generator

For more info visit https://doc.qt.io/qtforpython/shiboken2/gettingstarted.html

Once QtForPython is installed you are ready to generate the PySide bindings for KDDockwWidgets.

Next pass -DKDDockWidgets_PYTHON_BINDINGS=ON to CMake, followed by the make command.

The bindings will be installed to the passed -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX, which might require setting the PYTHONPATH env variable to point to that path when running applications. Alternatively, configure the bindings install location by passing -DKDDockWidgets_PYTHON_BINDINGS_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/lib/python3.8/site-packages to CMake (adjust to the python path on your system).

To run the KDDW python example

1 $ export PYTHONPATH=/kddw/install/path # Only if needed
2 $ cd python/examples/
3 $ rcc -g python -o rc_assets.py ../../examples/dockwidgets/resources_example.qrc
4 $ python3 main.py

Supported Qt versions and toolchains

KDDockWidgets requires Qt >= 5.9 (or >=5.12 if Python bindings are enabled). The QtQuick support will require Qt >= 5.15. Qt 6 is supported.

Regarding compilers, whatever toolchain is able to build Qt 5.9 should also be fine to build KDDW. Note however that MSVC 2013 support will be dropped in KDDW v1.3, due to that compiler crashing.

Licensing

KDDockWidgets is (C) 2018-2021, Klarälvdalens Datakonsult AB, and is licensed according to the terms of the GPL 2.0 or GPL 3.0.

Contact KDAB at info@.nosp@m.kdab.nosp@m..com to inquire about commercial licensing.

Get Involved

KDAB will happily accept external contributions; however, all contributions require a signed Copyright Assignment Agreement.

Contact info@.nosp@m.kdab.nosp@m..com for more information.

Please submit your contributions or issue reports from our GitHub space at https://github.com/KDAB/KDDockWidgets

About KDAB

KDDockWidgets is supported and maintained by Klarälvdalens Datakonsult AB (KDAB).

The KDAB Group is the global No.1 software consultancy for Qt, C++ and OpenGL applications across desktop, embedded and mobile platforms.

The KDAB Group provides consulting and mentoring for developing Qt applications from scratch and in porting from all popular and legacy frameworks to Qt. We continue to help develop parts of Qt and are one of the major contributors to the Qt Project. We can give advanced or standard trainings anywhere around the globe on Qt as well as C++, OpenGL, 3D and more.

Please visit https://www.kdab.com to meet the people who write code like this.

Stay up-to-date with KDAB product announcements:


Klarälvdalens Datakonsult AB (KDAB)
"The Qt, C++ and OpenGL Experts"
https://www.kdab.com/
KDDockWidgets
Advanced Dock Widget Framework for Qt
https://www.kdab.com/development-resources/qt-tools/kddockwidgets/