Qt Signal Slot Lambda Functions
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OpenTutorialsPyQt / QtFramework / QtWidgets / SignalSlot / signalslot01lambda.py / Jump to Code definitions Form Class init Function initwidget Function. Signals and slots are used for communication between objects. The signals and slots mechanism is a central feature of Qt and probably the part that differs most from the features provided by other frameworks. The minimal example requires a class with one signal, one slot and one connection: counter.h.
Unlike a console mode application, which is executed in a sequential manner, a GUI based application is event driven. Functions or methods are executed in response to user’s actions like clicking on a button, selecting an item from a collection or a mouse click etc., called events.
Widgets used to build the GUI interface act as the source of such events. Each PyQt widget, which is derived from QObject class, is designed to emit ‘signal’ in response to one or more events. The signal on its own does not perform any action. Instead, it is ‘connected’ to a ‘slot’. The slot can be any callable Python function.
In PyQt, connection between a signal and a slot can be achieved in different ways. Following are most commonly used techniques −
A more convenient way to call a slot_function, when a signal is emitted by a widget is as follows −
Suppose if a function is to be called when a button is clicked. Here, the clicked signal is to be connected to a callable function. It can be achieved in any of the following two techniques −
or
Qt Signal Slot Lambda Functions Python
Example
In the following example, two QPushButton objects (b1 and b2) are added in QDialog window. We want to call functions b1_clicked() and b2_clicked() on clicking b1 and b2 respectively.
When b1 is clicked, the clicked() signal is connected to b1_clicked() function
When b2 is clicked, the clicked() signal is connected to b2_clicked() function
Example
The above code produces the following output −
Output
Introduction
Remarks
Official documentation on this topic can be found here.
A Small Example
Signals and slots are used for communication between objects. The signals and slots mechanism is a central feature of Qt and probably the part that differs most from the features provided by other frameworks.
The minimal example requires a class with one signal, one slot and one connection:
counter.h
The main
sets a new value. We can check how the slot is called, printing the value.
Finally, our project file:
Connecting overloaded signals/slots
While being better in many regards, the new connection syntax in Qt5 has one big weakness: Connecting overloaded signals and slots. In order to let the compiler resolve the overloads we need to use static_cast
s to member function pointers, or (starting in Qt 5.7) qOverload
and friends:
Multi window signal slot connection
A simple multiwindow example using signals and slots.
There is a MainWindow class that controls the Main Window view. A second window controlled by Website class.
The two classes are connected so that when you click a button on the Website window something happens in the MainWindow (a text label is changed).
I made a simple example that is also on GitHub:
mainwindow.h
mainwindow.cpp
website.h
website.cpp
Project composition:
Consider the Uis to be composed:
- Main Window: a label called 'text' and a button called 'openButton'
- Website Window: a button called 'changeButton'
So the keypoints are the connections between signals and slots and the management of windows pointers or references.
The new Qt5 connection syntax
The conventional connect
syntax that uses SIGNAL
and SLOT
macros works entirely at runtime, which has two drawbacks: it has some runtime overhead (resulting also in binary size overhead), and there's no compile-time correctness checking. The new syntax addresses both issues. Before checking the syntax in an example, we'd better know what happens in particular.
Let's say we are building a house and we want to connect the cables. This is exactly what connect function does. Signals and slots are the ones needing this connection. The point is if you do one connection, you need to be careful about the further overlaping connections. Whenever you connect a signal to a slot, you are trying to tell the compiler that whenever the signal was emitted, simply invoke the slot function. This is what exactly happens.
Qt Slot Lambda
Here's a sample main.cpp:
Hint: the old syntax (SIGNAL
/SLOT
macros) requires that the Qt metacompiler (MOC) is run for any class that has either slots or signals. From the coding standpoint that means that such classes need to have the Q_OBJECT
macro (which indicates the necessity to run MOC on this class).
Qt Signal Slot Lambda
The new syntax, on the other hand, still requires MOC for signals to work, but not for slots. If a class only has slots and no signals, it need not have the Q_OBJECT
macro and hence may not invoke the MOC, which not only reduces the final binary size but also reduces compilation time (no MOC call and no subsequent compiler call for the generated *_moc.cpp
file).