doc/src/frameworks-technologies/qundo.qdoc
author eckhart.koppen@nokia.com
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/****************************************************************************
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**
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** Copyright (C) 2010 Nokia Corporation and/or its subsidiary(-ies).
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** All rights reserved.
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** Contact: Nokia Corporation (qt-info@nokia.com)
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**
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** This file is part of the documentation of the Qt Toolkit.
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**
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** $QT_BEGIN_LICENSE:LGPL$
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** No Commercial Usage
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** This file contains pre-release code and may not be distributed.
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** You may use this file in accordance with the terms and conditions
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** contained in the Technology Preview License Agreement accompanying
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** this package.
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**
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** GNU Lesser General Public License Usage
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** Alternatively, this file may be used under the terms of the GNU Lesser
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** General Public License version 2.1 as published by the Free Software
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** Foundation and appearing in the file LICENSE.LGPL included in the
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** packaging of this file.  Please review the following information to
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** ensure the GNU Lesser General Public License version 2.1 requirements
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** will be met: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/lgpl-2.1.html.
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**
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** In addition, as a special exception, Nokia gives you certain additional
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** rights.  These rights are described in the Nokia Qt LGPL Exception
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** version 1.1, included in the file LGPL_EXCEPTION.txt in this package.
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**
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** If you have questions regarding the use of this file, please contact
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** Nokia at qt-info@nokia.com.
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**
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**
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**
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**
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**
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**
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**
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**
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** $QT_END_LICENSE$
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**
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****************************************************************************/
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/*!
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    \page qundo.html
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    \title Overview of Qt's Undo Framework
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    \keyword Undo framework
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    \ingroup frameworks-technologies
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    \section1 Introduction
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    Qt's Undo Framework is an implementation of the Command pattern, for
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    implementing undo/redo functionality in applications.
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    The Command pattern is based on the idea that all editing in
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    an application is done by creating instances of command objects.
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    Command objects apply changes to the document and are stored
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    on a command stack. Furthermore, each command knows how to undo its
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    changes to bring the document back to its previous state. As long
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    as the application only uses command objects to change the state of
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    the document, it is possible to undo a sequence of commands by
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    traversing the stack downwards and calling undo
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    on each command in turn. It is also possible to redo a sequence of
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    commands by traversing the stack upwards and calling
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    redo on each command.
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    \section1 Classes
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    The framework consists of four classes:
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    \list
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    \i \l QUndoCommand is the base class of all commands stored on an
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            undo stack. It can apply (redo) or undo a single change in the document.
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    \i \l QUndoStack is a list of QUndoCommand objects. It contains all the
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            commands executed on the document and can roll the document's state
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            backwards or forwards by undoing or redoing them.
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    \i \l QUndoGroup is a group of undo stacks. It is useful when an application
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            contains more than one undo stack, typically one for each opened
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            document. QUndoGroup provides a single pair of undo/redo slots for all
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            the stacks in the group. It forwards undo and redo requests to
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            the active stack, which is the stack associated with the document that
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            is currently being edited by the user.
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    \i \l QUndoView is a widget which shows the contents of an undo stack. Clicking
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            on a command in the view rolls the document's state backwards or
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            forwards to that command.
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    \endlist
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    \section1 Concepts
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    The following concepts are supported by the framework:
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    \list
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    \i \bold{Clean state:} Used to signal when the document enters and leaves a
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        state that has been saved to disk. This is typically used to disable or
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        enable the save actions, and to update the document's title bar.
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    \i \bold{Command compression:} Used to compress sequences of commands into a
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        single command.
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        For example: In a text editor, the commands that insert individual
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        characters into the document can be compressed into a single command that
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        inserts whole sections of text. These bigger changes are more convenient
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        for the user to undo and redo.
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    \i \bold{Command macros:} A sequence of commands, all of which are undone or
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        redone in one step.
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        These simplify the task of writing an application, since a set of simpler
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        commands can be composed into more complex commands. For example, a command
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        that moves a set of selected objects in a document can be created by
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        combining a set of commands, each of which moves a single object.
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    \endlist
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    QUndoStack provides convenient undo and redo QAction objects that
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    can be inserted into a menu or a toolbar. The text properties of these
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    actions always reflect what command will be undone or redone when
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    they are triggered. Similarly, QUndoGroup provides undo and redo actions
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    that always behave like the undo and redo actions of the active stack.
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*/