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authortoma <toma@283d02a7-25f6-0310-bc7c-ecb5cbfe19da>2009-11-25 17:56:58 +0000
committertoma <toma@283d02a7-25f6-0310-bc7c-ecb5cbfe19da>2009-11-25 17:56:58 +0000
commit114a878c64ce6f8223cfd22d76a20eb16d177e5e (patch)
treeacaf47eb0fa12142d3896416a69e74cbf5a72242 /doc/kde_app_devel
downloadtdevelop-114a878c64ce6f8223cfd22d76a20eb16d177e5e.tar.gz
tdevelop-114a878c64ce6f8223cfd22d76a20eb16d177e5e.zip
Copy the KDE 3.5 branch to branches/trinity for new KDE 3.5 features.
BUG:215923 git-svn-id: svn://anonsvn.kde.org/home/kde/branches/trinity/kdevelop@1054174 283d02a7-25f6-0310-bc7c-ecb5cbfe19da
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+KDE_LANG = en
+KDE_DOCS = AUTO
+
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+<?xml version="1.0" ?>
+<!DOCTYPE book PUBLIC "-//KDE//DTD DocBook XML V4.1.2-Based Variant V1.1//EN" "dtd/kdex.dtd" [
+ <!ENTITY kdevelop "<application>KDevelop</application>">
+ <!ENTITY kappname "&kdevelop;">
+ <!ENTITY % addindex "INCLUDE">
+ <!ENTITY % English "INCLUDE" > <!-- change language only here -->
+]>
+
+<book lang="&language;">
+
+<bookinfo>
+<title>The &kdevelop; Programming Handbook</title>
+
+<date>2002-12-05</date>
+<releaseinfo>2.0</releaseinfo>
+
+<authorgroup>
+<author>
+<firstname>Ralf</firstname>
+<surname>Nolden</surname>
+<affiliation><address><email>Ralf.Nolden@post.rwth-aachen.de</email></address></affiliation>
+</author>
+<author>
+<firstname>Caleb</firstname>
+<surname>Tennis</surname>
+<affiliation><address><email>caleb@aei-tech.com</email></address></affiliation>
+</author>
+</authorgroup>
+
+<copyright>
+<year>1999</year>
+<holder>Ralf Nolden</holder>
+</copyright>
+<copyright>
+<year>2002</year>
+<holder>Caleb Tennis</holder>
+</copyright>
+
+<!-- ROLES_OF_TRANSLATORS -->
+
+<legalnotice>&FDLNotice;</legalnotice>
+
+<abstract>
+<para>The User Guide to C++ Application Design for the K Desktop Environment (KDE) with
+the &kdevelop; IDE</para>
+</abstract>
+
+<keywordset>
+<keyword>KDE</keyword>
+<keyword>KDevelop</keyword>
+<keyword>IDE</keyword>
+<keyword>development</keyword>
+<keyword>programming</keyword>
+</keywordset>
+
+</bookinfo>
+
+<chapter id="chapter1">
+<title>Introduction</title>
+<para>
+As Unix Systems are becoming more and more popular to even beginners working with computer machines
+due to its advantages in regards of stability and functionality, most are somehow disappointed, because
+those applications don't have a consistent look and each one behaves different from another. With KDE,
+developers have an almost perfect way to create first-class applications for Unix desktop systems to get
+a wider user community by the mere quality their applications have to offer. Therefore, KDE becomes more
+and more popular as a base for programming design, and developers want to take advantage of the
+possibilities that the system has to offer.
+</para>
+
+<sect1 id="c1s1">
+<title>What you should know already</title>
+<para>
+For making the best use of this programming handbook, we assume that you already know about the
+C++ programming language; if not, you should make yourself familiar with that first. Information about
+C++ is available through various sources either in printed form at your local bookstore or by tutorials
+found on the Internet. Knowledge about the design of Graphical User Interfaces is not required, as this
+handbook tries to cover the application design for KDE programs, which also includes an introduction into
+the Qt toolkit as well as the KDE libraries and the design of User Interfaces. Also, you should have made
+yourself comfortable with &kdevelop; by reading The User Manual to &kdevelop;, which contains a descriptive
+review of the functionality provided by the IDE.
+</para>
+</sect1>
+
+<sect1 id="c1s2">
+<title>About this Handbook</title>
+<para>
+This handbook has been written to give developers an introduction into KDE application development by
+using the KDevelop Integrated Development Environment.
+</para>
+<para>
+The following chapters therefore give an introduction on how to create projects, explains the sourcecode
+already generated and shows how to extend the given sources on various topics such as toolbars, menu bars
+and view areas.
+</para>
+<para>
+Then the dialogeditor is discussed in detail, explaining how widgets are created and covers widget
+properties settings in detail for all provided widgets.
+</para>
+<para>
+Finally, you will learn about several topics that will complete your knowledge in regards of project design
+and helps you work out additional issues besides coding such as adding API documentation and extending
+online-manuals.
+</para>
+<sect2 id="c1s2s1">
+<title>In the next chapter</title>
+<para>
+We'll take a look at the Qt and KDE libraries, showing basic concepts and why things are the way they are.
+Also, we will discuss how to create the tutorial applications provided with the Qt toolkit by using
+kdevelop;, so beginners can already see first results with a few steps, and thereby will learn how to make
+use of some of &kdevelop;'s best features.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
+<sect2 id="c1s2s2">
+<title>In the following chapters</title>
+<para>
+You will learn how to:
+<itemizedlist>
+<listitem><para>create an application with the KAppWizard</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>What the project skeleton already provides</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>What the code already create means</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>How to create your own views</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>How to extend your application's functionality by dialog, menu bars, and toolbars</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>How to make your application user friendly by providing help functions</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>How to write online documentation</para></listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
+</sect1>
+
+<sect1 id="c1s3">
+<title>Additional Information</title>
+<para>
+Additional information about Qt/KDE programming is available by various sources:
+<itemizedlist>
+<listitem><para>Programming with Qt by Matthias Kalle Dalheimer</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para><ulink url="www.kdevelop.org">The User Manual to KDevelop, provided with the KDevelop IDE</ulink></para></listitem>
+<listitem><para><ulink url="doc.trolltech.com">The Online Reference to the Qt library</ulink></para></listitem>
+<listitem><para><ulink url="developer.kde.org">The KDE Developer web site</ulink></para></listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+</para>
+<para>
+Additionally, you should look for help by subscribing to the various mailing lists, whose addresses
+are available on the mentioned web sites, and on the Usenet newsgroups dedicated to users of KDE and
+Unix Systems as well as about the C and C++ programming language.
+</para>
+<para>
+For obtaining help about the KDevelop IDE, you should send requests to our mailinglist at
+<email>kdevelop@kdevelop.org</email>. Mind that the KDevelop team is dedicated to provide the means to enable you to
+program applications and therefore is not intended as a technical support team in cases where the
+applications you're developing don't work due to implementation errors or misconfigurations of your
+operating system. By this, we ask all users to take advantage of the mailinglist in any case you're running
+into problems with the use of the IDE itself, as well as for bug reports and suggestions for improving the
+functionality of the development environment.
+</para>
+</sect1>
+
+</chapter>
+
+<chapter id="chapter2">
+<title>The KDE and Qt Libraries</title>
+<para>
+The Norwegian company TrollTech (<ulink url="http://www.trolltech.com">http://www.trolltech.com</ulink>)
+provides a so-called GUI toolkit, named Qt. GUI means "Graphical User Interface", and therefore, Qt-based
+applications represent themselves with buttons, windows etc, allowing user input by visualizing the functions
+an application provides. Such a toolkit is needed for developing graphical applications that run on the X-Window
+interface on Unix Systems, because X does not contain a pre-defined user interface itself. Although other
+toolkits are also available to create User Interfaces, Qt offers some technical advantages that make
+application design very easy. Additionally, the Qt toolkit is also available for Microsoft Windows systems,
+which allows developers to provide their applications for both platforms.
+</para>
+<para>
+The KDE Team (<ulink url="http://www.kde.org">http://www.kde.org</ulink>) joined together with the goal
+to make using Unix Systems more friendly, and decided to use the Qt toolkit for the development of a window
+manager on X-Windows, plus a variety of tools included with the KDE packages. The K Desktop Environment
+therefore contains the window manager kwm, the file manager kfm and the launch panel kpanel as the main
+components plus a variety of first-class utilities and applications. After KDE was out, a lot of developers
+turned their eyes towards the new environment and what it has to offer them. The KDE libraries are providing
+essential methods and classes that make all applications designed with them look similar and consistent,
+so the user has the great advantage that he only has to get accustomed with an application's specific
+usage, not with handling dialogs or buttons. Also, KDE programs integrate themselves into the desktop and
+are able to interact with the file manager via drag'n drop, offer session management and many more, if all
+features offered by the KDE libraries are used. Both, the Qt toolkit and the KDE libraries, are implemented
+in the C++ programming language; therefore applications that make use of these libraries are also mostly
+written in C++. In the following chapter, we'll make a short trip through the libraries to see what already
+is provided and how Qt and KDE applications are created in general.
+</para>
+<para>
+Both, the Qt toolkit and the KDE libraries, are implemented in the C++ programming language;
+therefore applications that make use of these libraries are also mostly written in C++. In the following
+chapter, we'll make a short trip through the libraries to see what already is provided and how Qt and KDE
+applications are created in general.
+</para>
+
+<sect1 id="c2s1">
+<title>The Qt GUI Toolkit</title>
+<para>
+As said, the Qt library is a toolkit that offers graphical elements that are used for creating GUI
+applications and are needed for X-Window programming. Additionally, the toolkit offers:
+<itemizedlist>
+<listitem><para>A complete set of classes and methods ready to use even for non-graphical programming issues</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>A good solution towards user interaction by virtual methods and the signal/slot mechanism</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>A set of predefined GUI-elements, called "widgets", that can be used easily for creating the visible elements</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>Additional completely pre-defined dialogs that are often used in applications such as progress and file dialogs</para></listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+</para>
+<para>
+Therefore knowing the Qt classes is very essential, even if you only want to program KDE-applications.
+To have an impression on the basic concept how GUI-applications are constructed and compiled, we'll first
+have a look at a sample Qt-only program; then we'll extend it to a KDE program.
+</para>
+
+<sect2 id="c2s1s1">
+<title>The first Qt Application</title>
+<para>
+As usual, programs in C++ have to contain a <function>main()</function> function, which is the starting point for application
+execution. As we want them to be graphically visible in windows and offering user interaction,
+we first have to know, how they can show themselves to the user. For an example, we'll have a look
+at the first tutorial included with the Qt Online Reference Documentation and explain the basic execution
+steps; also why and how the application window appears:
+<programlisting>
+#include &lt;qapplication.h>
+#include &lt;qpushbutton.h>
+
+int main( int argc, char **argv )
+{
+QApplication a( argc, argv );
+
+QPushButton hello( "Hello world!", 0 );
+hello.resize( 100, 30 );
+
+a.setMainWidget( &amp;hello );
+hello.show();
+return a.exec();
+}
+</programlisting>
+</para>
+<para>
+This application merely paints a window containing a button with "Hello world" as its text. As for
+all Qt-based applications, you first have to create an instance of the class <classname>QApplication</classname>, represented by
+variable a.
+</para>
+<para>
+Next, the program creates an instance of the class <classname>QPushButton</classname> called hello, this will be the button.
+The constructor of hello gets a string as a parameter, which is the contents of the widget visible as
+the buttons text.
+</para>
+<para>
+Then the <methodname>resize()</methodname> method is called on the hello button. This changes the default size a widget
+(which is in this case the <classname>QPushButton</classname>) has when created to the length of 100 pixels and the height of
+30 pixels. Finally, the setMainWidget() method is called for a and the show() method for hello. The
+QApplication is finally executed by <methodname>a.exec()</methodname>, enters the main event loop and waits until it has to return
+an integer value to the overlaying Operating System signaling that the application is exited.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
+<sect2 id="c2s1s2">
+<title>The Reference Documentation for Qt</title>
+<para>
+Now, let's have a quick look at the reference documentation of the Qt library. To do this, start
+&kdevelop; and select "Qt" from the tree in the Documentation tab. The documentation browser opens
+and shows you the start page of the Qt reference. This will be your first place to get information
+about Qt, it's classes and the available functions they provide. Also, the above program is the first
+that is included in the tutorials section. To get to the classes we want to have a look at,
+<classname>QApplication</classname> and <classname>QPushButton</classname>, select "Alphabetical Class List"
+and search for the according names. Follow either of them to have a look at the class documentation.
+</para>
+<para>
+Alternatively, you can use the online documentation from Trolltech's <ulink url="doc.trolltech.com">Qt Documentation</ulink>
+</para>
+<para>
+For <classname>QApplication</classname>, you will see the constructor and all other methods that this
+class provides. If you follow a link, you will get more information about the usage and meaning of the
+methods, which is very useful when you sometimes can't detect the correct use or want to have an example.
+This also counts for the KDE library documentation, which uses a similar documentation type; therefore
+this is almost all you have to know about using the class-references with the documentation browser.
+</para>
+<sect3 id="c2s1s2s1">
+<title>Interpretation of the Sample</title>
+<para>
+Starting with <classname>QApplication</classname>, you will find all the methods used in our first example:
+<itemizedlist>
+<listitem><para>the constructor <methodname>QApplication()</methodname></para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>the <methodname>setMainWidget()</methodname> method</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>the <methodname>exec()</methodname> method</para></listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+</para>
+<para>
+The interpretation why we use these methods is very simple:
+<orderedlist>
+<listitem><para>Create an instance of the class <classname>QApplication</classname> with the constructor,
+so we can make use of the GUI elements provided by Qt</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>Create a widget which will be the contents of our program window</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>Set the widget as the main widget for a</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>Execute the a instance of <classname>QApplication</classname></para></listitem>
+</orderedlist>
+</para>
+<para>
+The second object of our program is the pushbutton, an instance of the class <classname>QPushButton</classname>.
+From the two constructors given to create an instance, we used the second: this accepts a text,
+which is the label contents of the button; here, it is the string "Hello world!". Then we called the
+<methodname>resize()</methodname> method to change the size of the button according to it's contents -
+the button has to be larger to make the string completely visible.
+</para>
+<para>
+But what about the <methodname>show()</methodname> method? Now, you see that like most other widgets,
+<classname>QPushButton</classname> is based on a single inheritance, the documentation says, Inherits
+<classname>QButton</classname>. Follow the link to the <classname>QButton</classname> class.
+This shows you a lot of other widgets that are inherited by <classname>QPushButton</classname>,
+which we'll use later to explain the signal/slot mechanism. Anyway, the <methodname>show()</methodname>
+method is not listed, therefore, it must be a method that is provided by inheritance as well. The class
+that <classname>QButton</classname> inherits is <classname>QWidget</classname>. Just follow the link
+again, and you will see a whole bunch of methods that the QWidget class provides; including
+the <methodname>show()</methodname> method. Now we understand what was done in the sample with the button:
+<orderedlist>
+<listitem><para>Create an instance of <classname>QPushButton</classname>, use the second constructor to set the button text</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>Resize the widget to its contents</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>Set the widget as the main widget of the <classname>QApplication</classname> instance a</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>Tell the widget to display itself on the screen by calling <methodname>show()</methodname>, an inherited method from <classname>QWidget</classname></para></listitem>
+</orderedlist>
+</para>
+<para>
+After calling the <methodname>exec()</methodname> method, the application is visible to the user,
+showing a window with the button showing "Hello world!". Note: GUI programs behave somewhat differently
+than procedural applications. The main thing here is that the application enters a so-called
+"main event loop". This means that the program has to wait for user actions and then react to it, also
+that for a Qt application, the program has to be in the main event loop to start the event handling.
+The next section tells you in short what this means to the programmer and what Qt offers to process
+user events.
+</para>
+<note><para>
+For already advanced users: The button has no parent declared in the constructor, therefore it
+is a top-level widget alone and runs in a local event loop which doesn't need to wait for the main
+event loop. See the QWidget class documentation and The KDE Library Reference Guide</para>
+</note>
+
+</sect3>
+</sect2>
+
+<sect2 id="c2s1s3">
+<title>User Interaction</title>
+<para>
+After reading the last sections, you should already know:
+<itemizedlist>
+<listitem><para>What the Qt-library provides in terms of GUI applications</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>How a program using Qt is created and</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>Where and how to find information about classes that you want to use with the documentation browser</para></listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+</para>
+<para>
+Now we'll turn to give the application "life" by processing user events. Generally, the user has two ways
+to interact with a program: the mouse and the keyboard. For both ways, a graphical user interface has to
+provide methods that detect actions and methods that do something as a reaction to these actions.
+</para>
+<para>
+The Window system therefore sends all interaction events to the according application. The
+<classname>QApplication</classname> then sends them to the active window as a <classname>QEvent</classname>
+and the widgets themselves have to decide what to do with them. A widget receives the event and processes
+<methodname>QWidget::event(QEvent*)</methodname>, which then decides which event has been executed
+and how to react; <methodname>event()</methodname> is therefore the main event handler. Then,
+the <methodname>event()</methodname> method passes the event to so-called event filters
+that determine what happened and what to do with the event. If no filter signs responsible for the
+event, the specialized event handlers are called. Thereby we can decide between:
+<itemizedlist>
+<listitem><para>
+Keyboard events -- TAB and Shift-TAB keys:</para>
+<itemizedlist>
+<listitem><para><methodname>virtual void focusInEvent(QFocusEvent *)</methodname></para></listitem>
+<listitem><para><methodname>virtual void focusOutEvent(QFocusEvent *)</methodname></para></listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+</listitem>
+
+<listitem><para>
+All other keyboard input:</para>
+<itemizedlist>
+<listitem><para><methodname>virtual void keyPressEvent(QKeyEvent *)</methodname></para></listitem>
+<listitem><para><methodname>virtual void keyReleaseEvent(QKeyEvent *)</methodname></para></listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+</listitem>
+
+<listitem><para>
+Mouse movements:</para>
+<itemizedlist>
+<listitem><para><methodname>virtual void mouseMoveEvent(QMouseEvent *)</methodname></para></listitem>
+<listitem><para><methodname>virtual void enterEvent(QEvent *)</methodname></para></listitem>
+<listitem><para><methodname>virtual void leaveEvent(QEvent *)</methodname></para></listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+</listitem>
+
+<listitem><para>
+Mouse button actions</para>
+<itemizedlist>
+<listitem><para><methodname>virtual void mousePressEvent(QMouseEvent *)</methodname></para></listitem>
+<listitem><para><methodname>virtual void mouseReleaseEvent(QMouseEvent *)</methodname></para></listitem>
+<listitem><para><methodname>virtual void mouseDoubleClickEvent(QMouseEvent *)</methodname></para></listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+</listitem>
+
+<listitem><para>
+Window events containing the widget</para>
+<itemizedlist>
+<listitem><para><methodname>virtual void moveEvent(QMoveEvent *)</methodname></para></listitem>
+<listitem><para><methodname>virtual void resizeEvent(QResizeEvent *)</methodname></para></listitem>
+<listitem><para><methodname>virtual void closeEvent(QCloseEvent *)</methodname></para></listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+</listitem>
+
+</itemizedlist>
+</para>
+<para>
+Note that all event functions are virtual and protected; therefore you can re-implement the events
+that you need in your own widgets and specify how your widget has to react. <classname>QWidget</classname>
+also contains some other virtual methods that can be useful in your programs; anyway, it is sufficient
+to know about <classname>QWidget</classname> very well.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+<sect2 id="c1s2s4">
+<title>Object Interaction by Signals and Slots</title>
+<para>
+Now we're coming to the most obvious advantages of the Qt toolkit: the signal/slot mechanism.
+This offers a very handy and useful solution to object interaction, which usually is solved by
+callback functions for X-Window toolkits. As this communication requires a strict programming and
+sometimes makes user interface creation very difficult (as referred by the Qt documentation and explained
+in Programming with Qt by K.Dalheimer), Troll Tech invented a new system where objects can emit signals
+that can be connected to methods declared as slots. For the C++ part of the programmer, he only has to know
+some things about this mechanism:
+<itemizedlist>
+<listitem><para>
+the class declaration of a class using signals/slots has to contain the Q_OBJECT macro at the beginning
+(without a semicolon); and have to be derved from the <classname>QObject</classname> class
+</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>
+a signal can be emitted by the keyword emit, e.g. emit signal(parameters); from within any member function
+of a class that allows signals/slots
+</para></listitem>
+
+<listitem><para>
+all signals used by the classes that are not inherited have to be added to the class declaration by a
+signals section
+</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>
+all methods that can be connected with a signal are declared in sections with the additional keyword slot,
+e.g. public slots: within the class declaration
+</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>
+the meta-object compiler moc has to run over the header file to expand the macros and to produce the
+implementation (which is not necessary to know). The output files of moc are compiled also by the C++ compiler.
+</para></listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+</para>
+<para>
+Another way to use signals without deriving from <classname>QObject</classname> is to use the
+<classname>QSignal</classname> class- see the reference documentation for more information and example
+usage. In the following, we assume you're deriving from <classname>QObject</classname>.
+</para>
+<para>
+This way, your class is able to send signals anywhere and to provide slots that signals can connect
+to. By using the signals, you don't have to care about who's receiving it- you just have to emit the
+signal and whatever slot you want to connect to it can react to the emission. Also the slots can be used
+as normal methods during implementation.
+</para>
+<para>
+Now, to connect a signal to a slot, you have to use the <methodname>connect()</methodname> methods that
+are provided by <classname>QObject</classname> or, where available, special methods that objects provide
+to set the connection for a certain signal.
+</para>
+
+<sect3 id="c1s2s4s1">
+<title>Sample Usage</title>
+<para>
+To explain the way how to set up object-interaction, we'll take our first example again and extend it by a
+simple connection:
+<programlisting>
+#include &lt;qapplication.h>
+#include &lt;qpushbutton.h>
+
+int main( int argc, char **argv )
+{
+QApplication a( argc, argv );
+
+QPushButton hello( "Hello world!" , 0);
+hello.resize( 100, 30 );
+
+a.setMainWidget( &amp;hello );
+
+QObject::connect(&amp;hello, SIGNAL( clicked() ), &amp;a, SLOT( quit() ));
+
+hello.show();
+return a.exec();
+}
+</programlisting>
+</para>
+<para>
+You see, the only addition to give the button more interaction is to use a <methodname>connect()
+</methodname> method: <methodname>connect(&amp;hello, SIGNAL( clicked() ), &amp;a, SLOT( quit() ))</methodname>;
+is all you have to add. What is the meaning now? The class declaration of QObject says about the
+<methodname>connect()</methodname> method:
+</para>
+<para><methodname>
+bool connect ( const QObject * sender, const char * signal, const QObject * receiver, const char * member )
+</methodname></para>
+<para>
+This means you have to specify a <classname>QObject</classname> instance pointer that is the sender
+of the signal, meaning that it can emit this signal as first parameter; then you have to specify the signal
+that you want to connect to. The last two parameters are the receiver object that provides a slot, followed
+by the member function which actually is the slot that will be executed on signal emission.
+</para>
+<para>
+By using signals and slots, your program's objects can interact with each other easily without explicitly
+depending on the type of the receiver object. You will learn more about using this mechanism for productive
+usage later in this handbook. More information about the Signals/Slot mechanism can also be found in
+<ulink url="developer.kde.org/documentation/library/libraryref.html">The KDE Library Reference Guide</ulink>
+and the <ulink url="doc.trolltech.com">Qt online reference</ulink>.
+</para>
+</sect3>
+</sect2>
+</sect1>
+
+<sect1 id="c2s3">
+<title>What KDE provides</title>
+<sect2 id="c2s3s1">
+<title>The KDE 3.x libraries</title>
+<para>
+The main KDE libraries you'll be using for creating your own KDE applications are:
+<itemizedlist>
+<listitem><para>
+the kdecore library, containing all classes that are non-visible elements to provide application functionality
+</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>
+the kdeui library, containing user interface elements like menubars, toolbars, etc.
+</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>
+the kfile library, containing the file selection dialogs
+</para></listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+</para>
+<para>
+Additionally, for specific solutions KDE offers the following libraries:
+<itemizedlist>
+<listitem><para>
+the kdefx library, containing pixmaps, image effects the KStyle extension to QStyle
+</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>
+the khtml library, containing KDE's html component
+</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>
+the kjs library, containing KDE's Javascript support
+</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>
+the kio library, containing low level access to network files
+</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>
+the kparts library, containing support for re-usable embeddable extendable applications
+</para></listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+</para>
+<para>
+Next we'll have a look at what is needed to turn out first Qt Application into a KDE one.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+<sect2 id="c2s3s2">
+<title>Example KDE Application</title>
+<para>
+In the following, you will see that writing a KDE application is not much more difficult than a
+Qt application. For the use of KDE's features, you just have to use some other classes, and you're almost
+done. As an example, we'll discuss the changed version of the Qt example from above:
+<programlisting>
+#include &lt;kapplication.h>
+#include &lt;qpushbutton.h>
+
+int main( int argc, char **argv )
+{
+KApplication a( argc, argv );
+
+QPushButton hello( "Hello world!", 0 );
+hello.resize( 100, 30 );
+
+a.setTopWidget( &amp;hello );
+
+QObject::connect(&amp;hello, SIGNAL( clicked() ), &amp;a, SLOT( quit() ));
+
+hello.show();
+return a.exec();
+}
+</programlisting>
+</para>
+<para>
+You see that first we have changed from <classname>QApplication</classname> to <classname>KApplication
+</classname>. Further, we had to change the previously used <methodname>setMainWidget()</methodname> method
+to <methodname>setTopWidget</methodname>, which <classname>KApplication</classname> uses to set the main
+widget. That's it! Your first KDE application is ready - you only have to tell the compiler the KDE
+include path and the linker to link in the kdecore library with -lkdecore.
+</para>
+<para>
+As you now know what at least the <function>main()</function> function provides generally and how an
+application gets visible and allows user and object interaction, we'll go on with the next chapter,
+where our first application is made with &kdevelop;. There you can also test everything which was
+mentioned before and see the effects.
+</para>
+<para>
+What you should have looked into additionally until now is the reference documentation for Qt,
+especially the <classname>QApplication</classname>, <classname>QWidget</classname> and <classname>QObject
+</classname> class and the kdecore library documentation for the <classname>KApplication</classname> class.
+The <ulink url="developer.kde.org/documentation/library/libraryref.html">KDE Library Reference handbook</ulink>
+also covers a complete description about the invocation of the <classname>QApplication</classname> and
+<classname>KApplication</classname> constructors including command-line argument processing.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+</sect1>
+
+</chapter>
+
+<chapter id="chapter3">
+<title>Creating New Applications</title>
+
+<sect1 id="c3s1">
+<title>The Application Wizard</title>
+<para>
+&kdevelop;'s Application Wizard is intended to let you start working on new project with &kdevelop;. Therefore
+all of your projects are first created by the wizard, and then you can start building them and extend what is
+already provided by the source skeleton. You can choose from several project types according to your project goals:
+<itemizedlist>
+<listitem><para>
+KDE Application Framework: includes source code for a complete frame structre of a standard KDE application
+</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>
+QMake Project: Creates an application framework based around Trolltech's qmake configuration system
+</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>
+Simple hello world program: Creates a C++ terminal based program with no GUI support
+</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>
+A multitude of other program skeletons
+</para></listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+</para>
+<para>
+In this chapter we'll see how the Application Wizard can be invoked and what has to be done to generate
+a KDE application project. This will also be the initial step of our coverage, where we will create the
+initial version of a sample project. For all other project types the steps are usualyl the same, but you
+may not have as many options available.
+</para>
+</sect1>
+
+<sect1 id="c3s2">
+<title>Invoking the Application Wizard and Project Generation</title>
+<sect2 id="c3s2s1">
+<title>Starting the Application Wizard and the First Page</title>
+<para>
+To start with your KDE application, open &kdevelop;. From the Project menu, selection New Project. The
+Application Wizard starts, and you'll see the selection tree on the first page containing available project
+types that can be created. Choose the C++ subtree, then KDE, then Application Framework.
+</para>
+<para>
+For our sample project, we are going to create the application KScribble. Enter this as the application
+name, and change any other information at the bottom of this screen that may need it. Then, select Next.
+<screenshot><mediaobject><imageobject>
+<imagedata fileref="appwizard.png" format="PNG"/>
+</imageobject><textobject><phrase>Application Wizard</phrase></textobject>
+</mediaobject></screenshot>
+</para>
+</sect2>
+<sect2 id="c3s2s2">
+<title>Version control information</title>
+<para>
+On this screen you have the ability to decide if your project will use a version control system like
+CVS. For our sample project we will not use source control, so make sure the selection box reads None
+and select Next.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+<sect2 id="c3s2s3">
+<title>Header and Source Templates</title>
+<para>
+The next two pages show example headers that will go at the top of each of the header and source files that
+you create using &kdevelop;. For now, just leave these as the default, and select Next, then Finish. If the
+Finish button is not activated, you haven't set all of the options correct. Use the Back button to return
+to earlier menus and correct any mistakes.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+<sect2 id="c3s2s4">
+<title>Finishing Up</title>
+<para>
+Upon completion, the Application Wizard should close and the messages window should popup displaying
+information about the tasks that &kdevelop; is currently doing. At the end of all of the tasks, you
+should see **** Success *****. This means the application framework was successfully loaded.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+</sect1>
+
+<sect1 id="c3s3">
+<title>The First Build</title>
+<para>
+After our project is generated, we'll first make a trip through the source code to get a general understanding
+of how the application framework looks. This won't only help us get started, but we'll know where to change
+what in later steps.
+</para>
+<para>
+This chapter makes the assumption that you understand the basic navigation of &kdevelop;. Consult the
+KDevelop User Manual for information if you need it.
+</para>
+<para>
+The Automake manager shows the project files as follows:
+<screenshot><mediaobject><imageobject>
+<imagedata fileref="kscribblefiles.png" format="PNG"/>
+</imageobject><textobject><phrase>Files in our project</phrase></textobject>
+</mediaobject></screenshot>
+</para>
+<para>
+Before diving into the sources, we'll let &kdevelop; build an run our new application. To do this, select
+Build Project from the Build menu, or press F8. The output window opens and displays output messages during
+the compilation phase.
+<programlisting>
+1 cd /home/caleb/kscribble &amp;&amp; WANT_AUTOCONF_2_5=1 WANT_AUTOMAKE_1_6=1 gmake k
+2 gmake all-recursive
+3 gmake[1]: Entering directory `/home/caleb/kscribble'
+4 Making all in doc
+5 gmake[2]: Entering directory `/home/caleb/kscribble/doc'
+6 Making all in .
+7 gmake[3]: Entering directory `/home/caleb/kscribble/doc'
+8 gmake[3]: Nothing to be done for `all-am'.
+9 gmake[3]: Leaving directory `/home/caleb/kscribble/doc'
+10 Making all in en
+11 gmake[3]: Entering directory `/home/caleb/kscribble/doc/en'
+12 /usr/local/kde3/bin/meinproc --check --cache index.cache.bz2 /home/caleb/kscribble/doc/en/index.docbook
+13 gmake[3]: Leaving directory `/home/caleb/kscribble/doc/en'
+14 gmake[2]: Leaving directory `/home/caleb/kscribble/doc'
+15 Making all in po
+16 gmake[2]: Entering directory `/home/caleb/kscribble/po'
+17 gmake[2]: Nothing to be done for `all'.
+18 gmake[2]: Leaving directory `/home/caleb/kscribble/po'
+19 Making all in src
+20 gmake[2]: Entering directory `/home/caleb/kscribble/src'
+21 source='main.cpp' object='main.o' libtool=no \
+22 depfile='.deps/main.Po' tmpdepfile='.deps/main.TPo' \
+23 depmode=gcc3 /bin/sh /home/caleb/kscribble/admin/depcomp \
+24 g++ -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -I. -I/home/caleb/kscribble/src -I.. -I/usr/local/kde3/include
+ -I/usr/lib/qt/include -I/usr/X11R6/include -DQT_THREAD_SUPPORT -D_REENTRANT -Wnon-virtual-dtor
+ -Wno-long-long -Wundef -Wall -pedantic -W -Wpointer-arith -Wmissing-prototypes -Wwrite-strings
+ -ansi -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=500 -D_BSD_SOURCE -Wcast-align -Wconversion -O2 -fno-exceptions -fno-check-new
+ -c -o main.o `test -f 'main.cpp' || echo '/home/caleb/kscribble/src/'`main.cpp
+25 /usr/lib/qt/bin/moc /home/caleb/kscribble/src/kscribble.h -o kscribble.moc
+26 source='kscribble.cpp' object='kscribble.o' libtool=no \
+27 depfile='.deps/kscribble.Po' tmpdepfile='.deps/kscribble.TPo' \
+28 depmode=gcc3 /bin/sh /home/caleb/kscribble/admin/depcomp \
+29 g++ -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -I. -I/home/caleb/kscribble/src -I.. -I/usr/local/kde3/include
+ -I/usr/lib/qt/include -I/usr/X11R6/include -DQT_THREAD_SUPPORT -D_REENTRANT -Wnon-virtual-dtor
+ -Wno-long-long -Wundef -Wall -pedantic -W -Wpointer-arith -Wmissing-prototypes -Wwrite-strings
+ -ansi -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=500 -D_BSD_SOURCE -Wcast-align -Wconversion -O2 -fno-exceptions -fno-check-new
+ -c -o kscribble.o `test -f 'kscribble.cpp' || echo '/home/caleb/kscribble/src/'`kscribble.cpp
+30 kscribble.cpp: In member function `void KScribble::setupActions()'
+31 kscribble.cpp:107: warning: unused variable `KAction*custom'
+32 /usr/lib/qt/bin/moc /home/caleb/kscribble/src/kscribbleview.h -o kscribbleview.moc
+33 source='kscribbleview.cpp' object='kscribbleview.o' libtool=no \
+34 depfile='.deps/kscribbleview.Po' tmpdepfile='.deps/kscribbleview.TPo' \
+35 depmode=gcc3 /bin/sh /home/caleb/kscribble/admin/depcomp \
+36 g++ -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -I. -I/home/caleb/kscribble/src -I.. -I/usr/local/kde3/include
+ -I/usr/lib/qt/include -I/usr/X11R6/include -DQT_THREAD_SUPPORT -D_REENTRANT -Wnon-virtual-dtor
+ -Wno-long-long -Wundef -Wall -pedantic -W -Wpointer-arith -Wmissing-prototypes -Wwrite-strings -ansi
+ -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=500 -D_BSD_SOURCE -Wcast-align -Wconversion -O2 -fno-exceptions -fno-check-new -c
+ -o kscribbleview.o `test -f 'kscribbleview.cpp' || echo '/home/caleb/kscribble/src/'`kscribbleview.cpp
+37 kscribbleview.cpp: In member function `void KScribbleView::print(QPainter*,
+38 int, int)':
+39 kscribbleview.cpp:79: warning: unused parameter `QPainter*p'
+40 kscribbleview.cpp:79: warning: unused parameter `int height'
+41 kscribbleview.cpp:79: warning: unused parameter `int width'
+42 /usr/lib/qt/bin/moc /home/caleb/kscribble/src/pref.h -o pref.moc
+43 source='pref.cpp' object='pref.o' libtool=no \
+44 depfile='.deps/pref.Po' tmpdepfile='.deps/pref.TPo' \
+45 depmode=gcc3 /bin/sh /home/caleb/kscribble/admin/depcomp \
+46 g++ -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -I. -I/home/caleb/kscribble/src -I.. -I/usr/local/kde3/include
+ -I/usr/lib/qt/include -I/usr/X11R6/include -DQT_THREAD_SUPPORT -D_REENTRANT -Wnon-virtual-dtor
+ -Wno-long-long -Wundef -Wall -pedantic -W -Wpointer-arith -Wmissing-prototypes -Wwrite-strings
+ -ansi -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=500 -D_BSD_SOURCE -Wcast-align -Wconversion -O2 -fno-exceptions -fno-check-new
+ -c -o pref.o `test -f 'pref.cpp' || echo '/home/caleb/kscribble/src/'`pref.cpp
+47 /usr/local/kde3/bin/dcopidl /home/caleb/kscribble/src/kscribbleiface.h > kscribbleiface.kidl ||
+ ( rm -f kscribbleiface.kidl ; /bin/false )
+48 /usr/local/kde3/bin/dcopidl2cpp --c++-suffix cpp --no-signals --no-stub kscribbleiface.kidl
+49 source='kscribbleiface_skel.cpp' object='kscribbleiface_skel.o' libtool=no \
+50 depfile='.deps/kscribbleiface_skel.Po' tmpdepfile='.deps/kscribbleiface_skel.TPo' \
+51 depmode=gcc3 /bin/sh /home/caleb/kscribble/admin/depcomp \
+52 g++ -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -I. -I/home/caleb/kscribble/src -I.. -I/usr/local/kde3/include
+ -I/usr/lib/qt/include -I/usr/X11R6/include -DQT_THREAD_SUPPORT -D_REENTRANT -Wnon-virtual-dtor
+ -Wno-long-long -Wundef -Wall -pedantic -W -Wpointer-arith -Wmissing-prototypes -Wwrite-strings
+ -ansi -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=500 -D_BSD_SOURCE -Wcast-align -Wconversion -O2 -fno-exceptions -fno-check-new
+ -c -o kscribbleiface_skel.o `test -f 'kscribbleiface_skel.cpp' ||
+ echo '/home/caleb/kscribble/src/'`kscribbleiface_skel.cpp
+53 /bin/sh ../libtool --silent --mode=link --tag=CXX g++ -Wnon-virtual-dtor -Wno-long-long -Wundef -Wall
+ -pedantic -W -Wpointer-arith -Wmissing-prototypes -Wwrite-strings -ansi -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=500
+ -D_BSD_SOURCE -Wcast-align -Wconversion -O2 -fno-exceptions -fno-check-new -o kscribble -R
+ /usr/local/kde3/lib -R /usr/lib/qt/lib -R /usr/X11R6/lib -L/usr/X11R6/lib -L/usr/lib/qt/lib
+ -L/usr/local/kde3/lib main.o kscribble.o kscribbleview.o pref.o kscribbleiface_skel.o -lkio
+54 source='kscribble_client.cpp' object='kscribble_client.o' libtool=no \
+55 depfile='.deps/kscribble_client.Po' tmpdepfile='.deps/kscribble_client.TPo' \
+56 depmode=gcc3 /bin/sh /home/caleb/kscribble/admin/depcomp \
+57 g++ -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -I. -I/home/caleb/kscribble/src -I.. -I/usr/local/kde3/include
+ -I/usr/lib/qt/include -I/usr/X11R6/include -DQT_THREAD_SUPPORT -D_REENTRANT -Wnon-virtual-dtor
+ -Wno-long-long -Wundef -Wall -pedantic -W -Wpointer-arith -Wmissing-prototypes -Wwrite-strings
+ -ansi -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=500 -D_BSD_SOURCE -Wcast-align -Wconversion -O2 -fno-exceptions -fno-check-new
+ -c -o kscribble_client.o `test -f 'kscribble_client.cpp' || echo
+ '/home/caleb/kscribble/src/'`kscribble_client.cpp
+58 /bin/sh ../libtool --silent --mode=link --tag=CXX g++ -Wnon-virtual-dtor -Wno-long-long -Wundef
+ -Wall -pedantic -W -Wpointer-arith -Wmissing-prototypes -Wwrite-strings -ansi -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=500
+ -D_BSD_SOURCE -Wcast-align -Wconversion -O2 -fno-exceptions -fno-check-new -o kscribble_client -R
+ /usr/local/kde3/lib -R /usr/lib/qt/lib -R /usr/X11R6/lib -L/usr/X11R6/lib -L/usr/lib/qt/lib
+ -L/usr/local/kde3/lib kscribble_client.o -lkdecore
+59 gmake[2]: Leaving directory `/home/caleb/kscribble/src'
+60 gmake[2]: Entering directory `/home/caleb/kscribble'
+61 gmake[2]: Nothing to be done for `all-am'.
+62 gmake[2]: Leaving directory `/home/caleb/kscribble'
+63 gmake[1]: Leaving directory `/home/caleb/kscribble'
+64 *** Success ***
+</programlisting>
+</para>
+<para>
+As you can see, we've put line numbers in front of each line which won't appear on your output but it makes it
+easier to describe what is happening during the build. First of all, gmake works recursively. This means
+that it starts from the directory it is invoked and goes into the subdirectories first, one at a time, then
+returns to the directory it was started, processes it, then finishes.
+</para>
+<para>
+Our first line of interest is 24. Notice on this line that g++, which is our C++ compiler, gets called by make
+to compile the first source code file in our project - in this case main.cpp. Many extra command line options
+are also being used with the g++ compiler; some of which are defaults and some of which can be configured
+via &kdevelop;.
+</para>
+<para>
+Before the next file (kscribble.cpp, line 29) is compiled, the moc (meta object compiler) is first
+invoked on kscribble.h (line 25). This is because KScribble classes use signals/slots, so the
+Q_OBJECT macro must be expanded, and the moc does this for us. The resultant file, kscribble.moc, is
+used by kscribble.cpp via an #include statement inside of the file.
+</para>
+</sect1>
+
+<sect1 id="c3s4">
+<title>The source skeleton</title>
+<para>
+To conceptualize how a KDE application works, we'll first have a very close look at the source
+skeleton already provided by the Application Wizard. As we already saw, we're having a set of source
+and header files that build the initial code for the application and make it ready-to-run. Therefore,
+the easiest way to explain the code is to follow the implementation line by line as it is processed
+during executing the program until it enters the main event loop and is ready to accept user input.
+Then, we'll have a look at the functionality that enables user interaction and how certain things work.
+This is probably the best way to explain the framework and, as it is similar to almost all KDE
+applications, will enable you to read source codes from other projects as well; additionally, you will
+know where to change what part of the code to make your applications behave the way they are designed for.
+</para>
+
+<sect2 id="c3s4s1">
+<title>The main() function</title>
+<para>
+As the application begins its execution with entering the <function>main()</function> function,
+this will be the start for our code examination. The <function>main()</function> function of
+KScribble is implemented in the file main.cpp and can also be found using the Class Browser
+by selecting the "Global Functions" folder.
+<programlisting>
+1 int main(int argc, char **argv)
+2 {
+3 KAboutData about("kscribble", I18N_NOOP("KScribble"), version, description,
+4 KAboutData::License_GPL, "(C) 2002 Your Name", 0, 0, "you@you.com");
+5 about.addAuthor( "Your Name", 0, "you@you.com" );
+6 KCmdLineArgs::init(argc, argv, &amp;about);
+7 KCmdLineArgs::addCmdLineOptions(options);
+8 KApplication app;
+9
+10 // register ourselves as a dcop client
+11 app.dcopClient()->registerAs(app.name(), false);
+12
+13 // see if we are starting with session management
+14 if (app.isRestored())
+15 RESTORE(KScribble)
+16 else
+17 {
+18 // no session.. just start up normally
+19 KCmdLineArgs *args = KCmdLineArgs::parsedArgs();
+20 if (args->count() == 0)
+21 {
+22 KScribble *widget = new KScribble;
+23 widget->show();
+24 }
+25 else
+26 {
+27 int i = 0;
+28 for (; i &lt; args->count(); i++)
+29 {
+30 KScribble *widget = new KScribble;
+31 widget->show();
+32 widget->load(args->url(i));
+33 }
+34 }
+35 args->clear();
+36 }
+37
+38 return app.exec();
+39 }
+</programlisting>
+</para>
+<para>
+Now, what happens first is the usual creation of a <classname>KApplication</classname> object, but we've
+added some KDE methods that set program and author information for this application.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+<sect2>
+<title>User Application Start</title>
+
+<para>... (not written yet)</para>
+
+</sect2>
+<sect2>
+<title>The Constructor</title>
+<para>
+Let's have a look at the constructor and see how this instance is called
+<programlisting>
+1 KScribble::KScribble()
+2 : KMainWindow( 0, "KScribble" ),
+3 m_view(new KScribbleView(this)),
+4 m_printer(0)
+5 {
+6 // accept dnd
+7 setAcceptDrops(true);
+8
+9 // tell the KMainWindow that this is indeed the main widget
+10 setCentralWidget(m_view);
+11
+12 // then, setup our actions
+13 setupActions();
+14
+15 // and a status bar
+16 statusBar()->show();
+17
+18 // allow the view to change the statusbar and caption
+19 connect(m_view, SIGNAL(signalChangeStatusbar(const QString&amp;)),
+20 this, SLOT(changeStatusbar(const QString&amp;)));
+21 connect(m_view, SIGNAL(signalChangeCaption(const QString&amp;)),
+22 this, SLOT(changeCaption(const QString&amp;)));
+23
+24 }
+</programlisting>
+</para>
+<para>
+Notice that <classname>KScribble</classname> inherits the <classname>KMainWindow</classname> class - a
+commonly used base class for KDE applications. We initialize a class called <classname>KScribbleView</classname>
+as our central widget, create a <classname>KStatusBar</classname> via the <methodname>statusBar()</methodname>
+method (line 16), and connect some signals and slots together.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+</sect1>
+</chapter>
+
+
+<chapter id="chapter4">
+<title>Application View Design</title>
+<sect1 id="c4s1">
+<title>Introduction</title>
+<para>
+When developing an application with a graphical user interface, the main work takes place in
+providing a so-called "view" for the application. A view generally is a widget that displays the data
+of a document and provides methods to manipulate the document contents. This can be done by the user via
+the events he emits by the keyboard or the mouse; more complex operations are often processed by toolbars
+and menubars which interact with the view and the document. The statusbar then provides information about
+the document, view or application status. As an example, we look at how an editor is constructed and where
+we can find which part.
+</para>
+<para>
+An editor generally is supposed to provide an interface to view and/or change the contents of a text
+document for the user. If you start Kate, you see the visual interface as the following:
+<itemizedlist>
+<listitem><para>
+The menubar: providing complex operations as well as opening, saving and closing files and
+exiting the application.
+</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>
+The toolbar: offers icons which allow quicker access for most needed functions,
+</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>
+The statusbar: displays the status of the cursor position by the current row and column,
+</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>
+The view in the center of the window, displaying a document and offering a cursor connected to
+the keyboard and the mouse to operate on the data.
+</para></listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+</para>
+<para>
+Now it's easy to understand that a view is the most unique part of the application and the design
+of the view decides about the usability and acceptability of an application. This means that one of
+the first steps in development is to determine the purpose of the application and what kind of view
+design would match best to allow any user to work with the application with a minimum of work
+learning how to handle the user interface.
+</para>
+<para>
+For some purposes like text editing and displaying HTML files, views are provided by the Qt and KDE
+libraries; we will discuss certain aspects of these high-level widgets in the next section.
+But for most applications new widgets have to be designed and implemented. It is that what makes a
+programmer also a designer and where his abilities on creativity are asked. Nevertheless, you should
+watch for intuitivity first. Remember, a lot of users won't accept an application that isn't:
+<itemizedlist>
+<listitem><para>
+graphically nice.
+</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>
+offering a lot of features
+</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>
+easy to handle
+</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>
+fast to learn how to use it
+</para></listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+</para>
+<para>
+Needless to say that stability is a major design goal. Nobody can prevent bugs, but a minimum can
+be reached at least by clever design goals and wide use of object-oriented design. C++ makes programming
+a joy if you know how to exploit it's capabilities- inheritance, information hiding and reusablitity of
+already existing code.
+</para>
+<para>
+When creating a KDE or Qt project, you always have to have a view that inherits QWidget, either by
+direct inheritance or because the library widget you want to use inherits QWidget. Therefore, the
+Application Wizard already constructed a view that is an instance of a class yourappView, which
+inherits QWidget already.
+</para>
+<para>
+This chapter therefore describes how to use library widgets for creating views of KDE or
+Qt applications that are generated with &kdevelop;, then we look at the libraries and what kind of
+views are already offered.
+</para>
+</sect1>
+<sect1 id="c4s2">
+<title>Using Library Views</title>
+<para>
+When your application design has been set up, you first should look for already existing code that
+will make your life a lot easier. A part of this search is to look for a widget that can be used as
+a view or at least as a part of it; either directly or by inheritance. The KDE and Qt libraries already
+contain a set of widgets that can be used for this purpose. To use them, you have two options:
+<orderedlist>
+<listitem><para>
+Remove the new view class and create an instance of a library widget; then set this as the view,
+</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>
+Change the inheritance of the provided view class to the class of the library widget to use.
+</para></listitem>
+</orderedlist>
+</para>
+<para>
+In either way, it is important to know that if the application framework is currently not linked
+against the library that contains the widget, the linker will fail. After you decided to use a
+certain widget, look for the library to link to; then open "Project"->"Options" from the &kdevelop;
+menubar. Switch to the "Linker Options" page and look for the checkmarks indicating the libraries
+that are currently used. If the library of your view widget is already checked, you can leave the
+project options untouched and start doing the necessary changes due to your choice. If not, and the
+linker options offer to add the library by a check box, check it and press "OK" to leave the project
+options dialog again. In any other case, add the library in the edit line below with the -l option.
+For libraries that your application has to search for before preparing the Makefiles by the
+configure script on the end-user machine, add the according search macro to the configure.in file
+located at the root directory of your project and add the macro to the edit line. Mind that you have
+to run "Build"->"Autoconf and automake" and "Build"->"Configure" before the Makefiles contain the
+correct expansion for the library macro.
+</para>
+<para>
+Also, if the include files for the library to add are not in the current include path
+(which can be seen by the -I options in the output window on "Make"), you have to add the path to the
+Project Options dialog -"Compiler Options" page with the -I option or the according automake macro at
+the edit line for "Additional Options".
+</para>
+<sect2 id="c4s3s1">
+<title>Qt Views</title>
+<para>
+Looking at the first page of the Qt online documentation, you will find a link to
+"Widget Screenshots" where you can have a look at how the widgets Qt contains look like.
+These are ready to use and can be combined together to form complex widgets to create application
+views or dialogs. In the following, we'll discuss some of these which are very usable for creating
+application views, but keep in mind that the KDE libraries sometimes contain other widgets for the
+same purpose; those will be reviewed in the next section.
+</para>
+<para>
+Here are a set of hints for what purpose you could use which Qt component:
+<orderedlist>
+<listitem><para>
+If your view area isn't big enough to display all your data, the user must be enabled to scroll
+over the document with bars on the left and bottom of the view. For this, Qt provides the class
+<classname>QScrollView</classname>, which offers a scrollable child area. As explained, you could
+inherit your own widget from <classname>QScrollView</classname> or use an instance to manage your
+document's view widget.
+</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>
+to create a ScrollView yourself, inherit the View widget from <classname>QWidget</classname>
+and add vertical and horizontal <classname>QScrollBars </classname>.
+(This is done by KDE`s KHTMLView widget.)
+</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>
+For text processing, use <classname>QTextEdit</classname>. This class provides a complete
+text editor widget that is already capable to cut, copy and paste text and is managed by a scrollview.
+</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>
+Use <classname>QTable</classname> to display data that is arranged in a table.
+As <classname>QTable</classname> is managed by scrollbars as well, it offers a good solution for
+table calculation applications.
+</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>
+To display two different widgets or two widget instances at the same time, use <classname>QSplitter
+</classname>. This allows to tile views by horizontal or vertical dividers.
+KMail is a good example what this would look like- the main view is separated by a
+splitter vertically, the right window then is divided again horizontally.
+</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>
+<classname>QListView</classname> displays information in a list and tree.
+This is useful for creating file trees or any other hierarchical information you want to interact with.
+</para></listitem>
+</orderedlist>
+</para>
+<para>
+You see that Qt alone offers a whole set of widgets which are ready to use so you don't have to invent
+new solutions if these match your needs. The sideffect when using standard widgets is that users already
+know how to handle them and only have to concentrate on the displayed data.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+<sect2 id="c4s3s2">
+<title>KDE Views</title>
+<para>
+The KDE libraries were invented to make designing applications for the K Desktop Environment easier
+and capable of more functionality than what Qt alone is offering. The kdeui library offers:
+<orderedlist>
+<listitem><para>
+KListView: a more powerful version of <classname>QListView</classname>
+</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>
+KIconView: a graphical viewer of icon files
+</para></listitem>
+</orderedlist>
+</para>
+<para>
+The khtml library, on the other hand, offers a complete HTML-interpreting widget that is ready to use.
+It is scrollable already, so you don't even have to take care for that. A possible use could be to
+integrate it as a preview widget for an HTML editor; used by applications such as Konqueror to display HTML files.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+</sect1>
+<sect1 id="c4s4">
+<title>Creating your own Views</title>
+<para>
+Not yet written
+</para>
+</sect1>
+</chapter>
+
+<chapter id="chapter5">
+<title>Configuring Menubars and Toolbars</title>
+<sect1 id="c5s1">
+<title>Introduction</title>
+<para>
+Menubars and toolbars are one of the most important parts of an application to provide methods to
+work with a document structure. As a general rule, you should make all functions available by the menubar.
+Those methods that should not be available at a current stage of the application process should be
+disabled.
+</para>
+<para>
+Further, an application can only contain one menubar, but several toolbars.
+Toolbars on the other hand should contain only the most frequently used commands by pixmap
+icons or provide quick access methods like combos to select values.
+</para>
+</sect1>
+<sect1 id="c5s2">
+<title>How does it work?</title>
+<para>
+Our application inherits the <classname>KMainWindow</classname> class, which automatically handles creating
+a menu bar and tool bars for us. In the <methodname>KScribble::setupActions()</methodname> method there is
+a call to <methodname>KMainWindow::createGUI()</methodname>. This method loads a resource file, in this
+case kscribbleui.rc, to initialize menus at startup. Note that kscribbleui.rc is listed as one of the
+project files in the Automake Manager. Opening that file up reveals this:
+<programlisting>
+1 &lt;!DOCTYPE kpartgui SYSTEM "kpartgui.dtd">
+2 &lt;kpartgui name="kscribble" version="1">
+3 &lt;MenuBar>
+4 &lt;Menu name="custom">&lt;text>C&amp;ustom&lt;/text>
+5 &lt;Action name="custom_action" />
+6 &lt;/Menu>
+7 &lt;/MenuBar>
+8 &lt;/kpartgui>
+</programlisting>
+</para>
+<para>
+Explanation...
+</para>
+<para>
+Another way to modify the contents of the menu and tool bars is to directly manipulate them through the
+methods provided by their class. For example, the <methodname>menuBar()</methodname> method returns the
+<classname>KMenuBar</classname> widget that the menubar for our program. Looking at the documentation for
+<classname>KMenuBar</classname> and its inheritor class <classname>QMenuBar</classname>, you will find
+a large number of <methodname>insertItem()</methodname> methods which allow you to add items to the
+menu bar.
+</para>
+<para>
+<classname>KMainWindow</classname>'s methods <methodname>statusBar()</methodname> and <methodname>
+toolBar()</methodname> will also provide you with applicable widgets.
+</para>
+</sect1>
+<sect1 id="c5s3">
+<title>Keyboard Accelerator Configuration</title>
+<para>
+A very professional thing you should always add to your application are keyboard accelerators.
+Those are mainly used by experienced users that want to work fast with their applications and
+are willing to learn shortcuts. For this, the KDE libraries provide the class <classname>
+KAction</classname>, which provides the keyboard accelerator keys and access to global configured
+standard keyboard accelerators.
+</para>
+<para>
+By default, frame applications generated by &kdevelop; only use standard keyboard accelerators
+such as F1 for accessing online-help, Ctrl+N for New File etc.
+</para>
+<para>
+If your application contains a lot of accelerators, you should make them configurable
+by an Options-menu; either it could be combined with other application configuration in a QWidget
+or stand alone. The KDE library already provides a <classname>KKeyChooser</classname>
+for use in tab dialogs, whereas <classname>KKeyDialog</classname> provides a ready-to use
+key-configuration dialog.
+</para>
+
+</sect1>
+</chapter>
+
+<!--
+<chapter id="chapter6">
+<title>Other Features</title>
+</chapter>
+
+<chapter id="chapter7">
+<title>Printing Support</title>
+</chapter>
+-->
+<chapter id="chapter8">
+<title>Help Functions</title>
+<sect1 id="c8s1">
+<title>Introduction</title>
+<para>
+A very important part of the development process is to provide help functionality to the user
+wherever possible. Most developers tend to delay this, but you should remember that a normal user
+isn't necessarily a Unix expert. He may come from the the dark side of computer software usage offering
+all sweets that a user may need to work himself into using an application even without ever touching the
+manuals. Therefore, the KDE and Qt library provide all means usually considered making an application
+professional in the eyes of the normal user by help functions that are ready to use.
+Within the application, those are:</para>
+<itemizedlist>
+<listitem><para>Tool-Tips</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>Statusbar help</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>What's this...? buttons</para></listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+<para>
+Additionally, the application should provide means to access a HTML-based online manual directly
+using the standard help key F1. This context based help system is provided automatically through the
+<classname>KMainWindow</classname> class, though as the author you must provide the content.
+</para>
+<para>
+As &kdevelop; also offers all types of help as well as the KDE framework generated by the
+application wizard already contains support for this, this chapter will help you find out where
+and how to add your help functionality. </para>
+<para>
+During the development of your application you should try to be consistent whatever you're doing;
+therefore you should do the necessary steps directly while extending the code. This will prevent you
+from diving into the code again and figuring out what your application does or what you intended by
+certain parts of the code.
+</para>
+</sect1>
+
+<sect1 id="c8s2">
+<title>Tool-Tips</title>
+<para>
+A very easy means of providing help are tool-tips. Those are small help messages popping up while
+the user moves the mouse over a widget that provides a tool-tip and disappears when the mouse moves away.
+The most popular usage of tool-tips is made in toolbars where your tool-tips should be kept as small
+as possible because toolbars can be configured to display their contents in various ways:
+either displaying the button, button with text on the right, button with text below, text only.
+This possibility should be made configurable by the user, but isn't a must-be. The text is shown
+as a tool-tip anyway and a toolbar usually consists of buttons and other widgets like lineedits and
+combo boxes. For a complete reference, see the <classname>KToolBar</classname> class reference located
+in the kdeui library.
+</para>
+<para>
+As an example, we have a look at the "New File" button in a generic application:
+</para>
+<para>
+There, the part i18n("New File") provides a tool-tip message. It is enclosed by the i18n()
+macro provided by kapp.h to translate the tool-tip towards the currently selected language.
+</para>
+<para>
+Tool-tips can also be added to any custom widget by using the <classname>QToolTip</classname>
+provided by Qt. An example of that would be:
+</para>
+</sect1>
+<sect1 id="c8s3">
+<title>Extending the Statusbar</title>
+<para>
+As the applications that inherit <classname>KMainWindow</classname> contain a statusbar as well,
+it also offers a set of statusbar messages already for all menu and toolbar items. A statusbar
+help message is a short message that extends the meaning of a tool-tip or can be seen as a replacement
+for a tool-tip over menubar items and is (as the name suggests) displayed in the statusbar when the user
+enters a menu and highlights the menu entry.
+</para>
+</sect1>
+<sect1 id="c8s4">
+<title>The <guibutton>What's This...?</guibutton> Button</title>
+<para>
+The <guibutton>What's This...?</guibutton> button provides help windows with the intention
+that the user wants to get help about a certain widget within the working view or a toolbar item.
+It is placed in the toolbar and gets activated once the user hits the button. The cursor changes
+to an arrow cursor with a question mark like the button itself looks like. The the user can press on
+a visible widget item and gets a help window. As an exercise, you could try this behavior with the
+<guibutton>What's this...?</guibutton> button within &kdevelop;.
+</para>
+<para>
+To add the What's This...? help to one of your widgets, use the static method
+<methodname>QWhatsThis::add(QWidget *widget, const QString &amp;text)</methodname>
+</para>
+</sect1>
+</chapter>
+
+<chapter id="chapter9">
+<title>Documentation</title>
+<sect1 id="c9s1">
+<title>Introduction</title>
+<para>
+Due to the fact that projects often lack a complete set of user documentation,
+all &kdevelop; projects contain a pre-build handbook that can be easily adapted;
+therefore fulfiling another goal of KDE: providing enough online-help to support users that
+are not familiar with an application. This chapter therefore introduces you on how to extend
+the provided documentation template and what you have to do to make it available to the user.
+</para>
+</sect1>
+<sect1 id="c9s2">
+<title>User Documentation</title>
+<para>
+The documentation for your project lies in projectdir/doc/en, or perhaps another directory if English
+isn't your native language. Therein lies a file, index.docbook, in which the documentation is stored.
+The format for editing this file is explained on
+<ulink url="http://i18n.kde.org/doc/markup/">KDE's documentation website</ulink>.
+</para>
+</sect1>
+<sect1 id="c9s3">
+<title>Programmer Documentation</title>
+<para>
+Another important part of the documentation is including a descriptive help for your class interfaces.
+This will allow you and other programmers to use your classes by reading the HTML class documentation
+that can be created with KDoc. &kdevelop; supports the use of KDoc completely by creating the
+KDE-library documentation, also your application frameworks are already documented. To work yourself
+into the provided code, it would be a good start to read the included documentation online.
+The following describes what to do to get the API documentation, where &kdevelop; helps you add it
+and what kind of special tags KDoc provides.
+</para>
+</sect1>
+</chapter>
+
+<chapter id="chapter10">
+<title>Internationalization</title>
+<sect1 id="c10s1">
+<title>Introdction</title>
+<para>
+i18n is an internationalization system that is used to offer internationalized versions of an
+application or project. The difficulty with writing applications is that they only support the
+language they originally are composed with; visually this can be seen on labels, menu entries and the
+like. The goal of the internationalization is to provide applications and library functions in the
+language of the user; therefore enabling users that are not native speakers the original language to make
+use of the provided functionality and feel more comfortable.
+</para>
+</sect1>
+<!--
+<sect1 id="c10s2">
+<title>How KDE support Internationalization</title>
+<para>
+</para>
+</sect1> -->
+</chapter>
+<!--
+<chapter id="chapter11">
+<title>Finding Errors</title>
+</chapter>
+
+<chapter id="chapter12">
+<title>Licensing</title>
+</chapter>
+
+<chapter id="chapter13">
+<title>References</title>
+</chapter>
+-->
+<chapter id="credits">
+<title>Credits</title>
+
+<para>
+(... to be written ...)
+</para>
+
+<!--CREDITS_FOR_TRANSLATORS-->
+
+</chapter> <!-- credits -->
+
+<appendix id="bibliography">
+<title>Bibliography</title>
+<bibliography>
+
+<biblioentry>
+<title><ulink url="info://make/Top">GNU Make Manual</ulink></title>
+<authorgroup>
+<author><firstname>Richard M.</firstname><surname>Stallman</surname></author>
+<author><firstname>Roland</firstname><surname>McGrath</surname></author>
+</authorgroup>
+</biblioentry>
+
+<biblioentry>
+<title><ulink url="info://automake/Top">GNU Automake</ulink></title>
+<authorgroup>
+<author><firstname>David</firstname><surname>MacKenzie</surname></author>
+<author><firstname>Tom</firstname><surname>Tromey</surname></author>
+</authorgroup>
+</biblioentry>
+
+<biblioentry>
+<title><ulink url="info://autoconf/Top">GNU Autoconf</ulink></title>
+<authorgroup>
+<author><firstname>David</firstname><surname>MacKenzie</surname></author>
+<author><firstname>Ben</firstname><surname>Elliston</surname></author>
+</authorgroup>
+</biblioentry>
+
+<biblioentry>
+<title><ulink url="info://gcc/Top">Using the GNU Compiler Collection</ulink></title>
+<author><firstname>Richard M.</firstname><surname>Stallman</surname></author>
+</biblioentry>
+
+<biblioentry>
+<title><ulink url="info://libtool/Top">GNU Libtool</ulink></title>
+<authorgroup>
+<author><firstname>Gordon</firstname><surname>Matzigkeit</surname></author>
+<author><firstname>Alexandre</firstname><surname>Oliva</surname></author>
+<author><firstname>Thomas</firstname><surname>Tanner</surname></author>
+<author><firstname>Gary V.</firstname><surname>Vaughan</surname></author>
+</authorgroup>
+</biblioentry>
+
+<biblioentry>
+<title>GNU Autoconf, Automake, and Libtool</title>
+<edition>1st edition</edition>
+<pubdate>October 2000</pubdate>
+<authorgroup>
+<author><firstname>Gary V.</firstname><surname>Vaughan</surname></author>
+<author><firstname>Ben</firstname><surname>Elliston</surname></author>
+<author><firstname>Tom</firstname><surname>Tromey</surname></author>
+<author><firstname>Ian Lance</firstname><surname>Taylor</surname></author>
+</authorgroup>
+<publisher><publishername>New Riders Publishing</publishername></publisher>
+<isbn>ISBN 1578701902</isbn>
+</biblioentry>
+
+
+<biblioentry>
+<title>Advanced Programming in the UNIX(R) Environment</title>
+<edition>1st edition</edition>
+<pubdate>June 1992</pubdate>
+<author><firstname>W. Richard</firstname><surname>Stevens</surname></author>
+<publisher><publishername>Addison-Wesley Pub Co</publishername></publisher>
+<isbn>ISBN 0201563177</isbn>
+</biblioentry>
+
+<biblioentry>
+<title>Thinking in C++, Volume 1: Introduction to Standard C++</title>
+<edition>2nd Edition</edition>
+<pubdate>April 15, 2000</pubdate>
+<author><firstname>Bruce</firstname><surname>Eckel</surname></author>
+<publisher><publishername>Prentice Hall</publishername></publisher>
+<isbn>ISBN 0139798099</isbn>
+</biblioentry>
+
+<biblioentry>
+<title>Open Source Development with CVS</title>
+<edition>2nd Edition</edition>
+<pubdate>October 12, 2001</pubdate>
+<authorgroup>
+<author><firstname>Karl</firstname><surname>Fogel</surname></author>
+<author><firstname>Moshe</firstname><surname>Bar</surname></author>
+</authorgroup>
+<publisher><publishername>The Coriolis Group</publishername></publisher>
+<isbn>ISBN 158880173X</isbn>
+</biblioentry>
+
+<biblioentry>
+<title>Programming PHP</title>
+<edition>1st edition</edition>
+<pubdate>March 2002</pubdate>
+<authorgroup>
+<author><firstname>Rasmus</firstname><surname>Lerdorf</surname></author>
+<author><firstname>Kevin</firstname><surname>Tatroe</surname></author>
+</authorgroup>
+<publisher><publishername>O'Reilly &amp; Associates</publishername></publisher>
+<isbn>ISBN 1565926102</isbn>
+</biblioentry>
+
+<biblioentry>
+<title>Programming Python</title>
+<edition>2nd Edition</edition>
+<pubdate>March 2001</pubdate>
+<author><firstname>Mark</firstname><surname>Lutz</surname></author>
+<publisher><publishername>O'Reilly &amp; Associates</publishername></publisher>
+<isbn>ISBN 0596000855</isbn>
+</biblioentry>
+
+<biblioentry>
+<title>Gui Programming With Python : Using the Qt Toolkit</title>
+<edition>Bk&amp;Cd-r edition</edition>
+<pubdate>January 2002</pubdate>
+<author><firstname>Boudewijn</firstname><surname>Rempt</surname></author>
+<publisher><publishername>Opendocs Llc</publishername></publisher>
+<isbn>ISBN 0970033044</isbn>
+</biblioentry>
+
+<biblioentry>
+<title>Programming Perl</title>
+<subtitle>The Camel book</subtitle>
+<edition>3rd Edition</edition>
+<pubdate>July 2000</pubdate>
+<authorgroup>
+<author><firstname>Larry</firstname><surname>Wall</surname></author>
+<author><firstname>Tom</firstname><surname>Christiansen</surname></author>
+<author><firstname>Jon</firstname><surname>Orwant</surname></author>
+</authorgroup>
+<publisher><publishername>O'Reilly &amp; Associates</publishername></publisher>
+<isbn>ISBN 0596000278</isbn>
+</biblioentry>
+
+<biblioentry>
+<title>Learning Perl</title>
+<subtitle>The Lama book</subtitle>
+<edition>3rd Edition</edition>
+<pubdate>July 15, 2001</pubdate>
+<authorgroup>
+<author><firstname>Randal L.</firstname><surname>Schwartz</surname></author>
+<author><firstname>Tom</firstname><surname>Phoenix</surname></author>
+</authorgroup>
+<publisher><publishername>O'Reilly &amp; Associates</publishername></publisher>
+<isbn>ISBN 0596001320</isbn>
+</biblioentry>
+
+</bibliography>
+
+&underFDL;
+
+
+</appendix>
+
+</book>
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