qsettings man page on Peanut

Man page or keyword search:  
man Server   7435 pages
apropos Keyword Search (all sections)
Output format
Peanut logo
[printable version]

QSettings(3qt)							QSettings(3qt)

NAME
       QSettings - Persistent platform-independent application settings

SYNOPSIS
       #include <qsettings.h>

   Public Members
       enum Format { Native = 0, Ini }
       enum System { Unix = 0, Windows, Mac }
       enum Scope { User, Global }
       QSettings ()
       QSettings ( Format format )
       ~QSettings ()
       bool writeEntry ( const QString & key, bool value )
       bool writeEntry ( const QString & key, double value )
       bool writeEntry ( const QString & key, int value )
       bool writeEntry ( const QString & key, const QString & value )
       bool writeEntry ( const QString & key, const QStringList & value )
       bool writeEntry ( const QString & key, const QStringList & value, const
	   QChar & separator )	(obsolete)
       QStringList entryList ( const QString & key ) const
       QStringList subkeyList ( const QString & key ) const
       QStringList readListEntry ( const QString & key, bool * ok = 0 ) const
       QStringList readListEntry ( const QString & key, const QChar &
	   separator, bool * ok = 0 ) const  (obsolete)
       QString readEntry ( const QString & key, const QString & def =
	   QString::null, bool * ok = 0 ) const
       int readNumEntry ( const QString & key, int def = 0, bool * ok = 0 )
	   const
       double readDoubleEntry ( const QString & key, double def = 0, bool * ok
	   = 0 ) const
       bool readBoolEntry ( const QString & key, bool def = FALSE, bool * ok =
	   0 ) const
       bool removeEntry ( const QString & key )
       void insertSearchPath ( System s, const QString & path )
       void removeSearchPath ( System s, const QString & path )
       void setPath ( const QString & domain, const QString & product, Scope
	   scope = Global )
       void beginGroup ( const QString & group )
       void endGroup ()
       void resetGroup ()
       QString group () const

DESCRIPTION
       The QSettings class provides persistent platform-independent
       application settings.

       On Unix systems, QSettings uses text files to store settings. On
       Windows systems, QSettings uses the system registry. On Mac OS X,
       QSettings uses the Carbon preferences API.

       Each setting comprises an identifying key and the data associated with
       the key. A key is a unicode string which consists of two or more
       subkeys. A subkey is a slash, '/', followed by one or more unicode
       characters (excluding slashes, newlines, carriage returns and equals,
       '=', signs). The associated data, called the entry or value, may be a
       boolean, an integer, a double, a string or a list of strings. Entry
       strings may contain any unicode characters.

       If you want to save and restore the entire desktop's settings, i.e.
       which applications are running, use QSettings to save the settings for
       each individual application and QSessionManager to save the desktop's
       session.

       Example settings:

	   /MyCompany/MyApplication/background color
	   /MyCompany/MyApplication/foreground color
	   /MyCompany/MyApplication/geometry/x
	   /MyCompany/MyApplication/geometry/y
	   /MyCompany/MyApplication/geometry/width
	   /MyCompany/MyApplication/geometry/height
	   /MyCompany/MyApplication/recent files/1
	   /MyCompany/MyApplication/recent files/2
	   /MyCompany/MyApplication/recent files/3
       Each line above is a complete key, made up of subkeys.

       A typical usage pattern for reading settings at application startup:

	   QSettings settings;
	   settings.setPath( "MyCompany.com", "MyApplication" );
	   QString bgColor = settings.readEntry( "/colors/background", "white" );
	   int width = settings.readNumEntry( "/geometry/width", 640 );
	   // ...

       A typical usage pattern for saving settings at application exit or
       'save preferences':

	   QSettings settings;
	   settings.setPath( "MyCompany.com", "MyApplication" );
	   settings.writeEntry( "/colors/background", bgColor );
	   settings.writeEntry( "/geometry/width", width );
	   // ...

       A key prefix can be prepended to all keys using beginGroup(). The
       application of the prefix is stopped using endGroup(). For example:

	   QSettings settings;
	   settings.beginGroup( "/MainWindow" );
	       settings.beginGroup( "/Geometry" );
		   int x = settings.readEntry( "/x" );
		   // ...
	       settings.endGroup();
	       settings.beginGroup( "/Toolbars" );
		   // ...
	       settings.endGroup();
	   settings.endGroup();

       You can get a list of entry-holding keys by calling entryList(), and a
       list of key-holding keys using subkeyList().

	   QStringList keys = settings.entryList( "/MyApplication" );
	   // keys contains 'background color' and 'foreground color'.
	   QStringList keys = settings.entryList( "/MyApplication/recent files" );
	   // keys contains '1', '2' and '3'.
	   QStringList subkeys = settings.subkeyList( "/MyApplication" );
	   // subkeys contains 'geometry' and 'recent files'
	   QStringList subkeys = settings.subkeyList( "/MyApplication/recent files" );
	   // subkeys is empty.

       Since settings for Windows are stored in the registry there are some
       size limitations as follows:

       A subkey may not exceed 255 characters.

       An entry's value may not exceed 16,300 characters.

       All the values of a key (for example, all the 'recent files' subkeys
       values), may not exceed 65,535 characters.

       These limitations are not enforced on Unix or Mac OS X.

       Warning: Creating multiple, simultaneous instances of QSettings writing
       to a text file may lead to data loss! This is a known issue which will
       be fixed in a future release of Qt.

Notes for Mac OS X Applications
       The location where settings are stored is not formally defined by the
       CFPreferences API.

       At the time of writing settings are stored (either on a global or user
       basis, preferring locally) into a plist file in
       $ROOT/System/Library/Preferences (in XML format). QSettings will create
       an appropriate plist file (com.<first group name>.plist) out of the
       full path to a key.

       For further information on CFPreferences see Apple's Specifications

Notes for Unix Applications
       There is no universally accepted place for storing application settings
       under Unix. In the examples the settings file will be searched for in
       the following directories: <ol type=1>

       SYSCONF - the default value is INSTALL/etc/settings

       /opt/MyCompany/share/etc

       /opt/MyCompany/share/MyApplication/etc

       $HOME/.qt When reading settings the files are searched in the order
       shown above, with later settings overriding earlier settings. Files for
       which the user doesn't have read permission are ignored. When saving
       settings QSettings works in the order shown above, writing to the first
       settings file for which the user has write permission. (INSTALL is the
       directory where Qt was installed. This can be modified by using the
       configure script's -prefix argument )

       If you want to put the settings in a particular place in the filesystem
       you could do this:

	   settings.insertSearchPath( QSettings::Unix, "/opt/MyCompany/share" );

       But in practice you may prefer not to use a search path for Unix. For
       example the following code:

	   settings.writeEntry( "/MyApplication/geometry/width", width );
       will end up writing the "geometry/width" setting to the file
       $HOME/.qt/myapplicationrc (assuming that the application is being run
       by an ordinary user, i.e. not by root).

       For cross-platform applications you should ensure that the Windows size
       limitations are not exceeded.

       Warning: QSettings doesn't write the settings until it is destroyed so
       you should construct the QSettings object on the stack.

       See also Input/Output and Networking and Miscellaneous Classes.

   Member Type Documentation
QSettings::Format
       QSettings::Native - Store the settings in a platform dependent location

       QSettings::Ini - Store the settings in a text file

QSettings::Scope
       QSettings::Global - Save settings as global as possible

       QSettings::User - Save settings in user space

QSettings::System
       QSettings::Mac - Macintosh execution environments

       QSettings::Unix - Mac OS X, Unix, Linux and Unix-like execution
       environments

       QSettings::Windows - Windows execution environments

MEMBER FUNCTION DOCUMENTATION
QSettings::QSettings ()
       Creates a settings object.

       Be aware that you must call setPath() or insertSearchPath() before you
       can use the QSettings object.

QSettings::QSettings ( Format format )
       Creates a settings object. If format is 'Ini' the settings will be
       stored in a text file, using the Unix strategy (see above). If format
       is 'Native', the settings will be stored in a platform specific way
       (ie. the Windows registry).

       Be aware that you must call setPath() or insertSearchPath() before you
       can use the QSettings object.

QSettings::~QSettings ()
       Destroys the settings object. All modifications made to the settings
       will automatically be saved.

void QSettings::beginGroup ( const QString & group )
       Appends group to the current key prefix.

	   QSettings settings;
	   settings.beginGroup( "/MainWindow" );
	   // read values
	   settings.endGroup();

void QSettings::endGroup ()
       Undo previous calls to beginGroup(). Note that a single
       beginGroup("a/b/c") is undone by a single call to endGroup().

	   QSettings settings;
	   settings.beginGroup( "/MainWindow/Geometry" );
	   // read values
	   settings.endGroup();

QStringList QSettings::entryList ( const QString & key ) const
       Returns a list of the keys which contain entries under key. Does not
       return any keys that contain subkeys.

       Example settings:

	   /MyCompany/MyApplication/background color
	   /MyCompany/MyApplication/foreground color
	   /MyCompany/MyApplication/geometry/x
	   /MyCompany/MyApplication/geometry/y
	   /MyCompany/MyApplication/geometry/width
	   /MyCompany/MyApplication/geometry/height

	   QStringList keys = settings.entryList( "/MyCompany/MyApplication" );

       In the above example, keys will contain 'background color' and
       'foreground color'. It will not contain 'geometry' because this key
       contains subkeys not entries.

       To access the geometry values, you could either use subkeyList() to
       read the keys then read each entry, or simply read each entry directly
       by specifying its full key, e.g." /MyCompany/MyApplication/geometry/y".

       See also subkeyList().

QString QSettings::group () const
       Returns the current key prefix, or a null string if there is no key
       prefix set.

       See also beginGroup().

void QSettings::insertSearchPath ( System s, const QString & path )
       Inserts path into the settings search path. The semantics of path
       depends on the system s. It is usually easier and better to use
       setPath() instead of this function.

       When s is Windows and the execution environment is not Windows the
       function does nothing. Similarly when s is Unix and the execution
       environment is not Unix the function does nothing.

       When s is Windows, and the execution environment is Windows, the search
       path list will be used as the first subfolder of the "Software" folder
       in the registry.

       When reading settings the folders are searched forwards from the first
       folder (listed below) to the last, returning the first settings found,
       and ignoring any folders for which the user doesn't have read
       permission. <ol type=1>

       HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/MyCompany/MyApplication

       HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/MyCompany/MyApplication

       HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/MyApplication

       HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/MyApplication

	 QSettings settings;
	 settings.insertSearchPath( QSettings::Windows, "/MyCompany" );
	 settings.writeEntry( "/MyApplication/Tip of the day", TRUE );
       The code above will write the subkey "Tip of the day" into the first of
       the registry folders listed below that is found and for which the user
       has write permission. <ol type=1>

       HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/MyCompany/MyApplication

       HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/MyCompany/MyApplication

       HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/MyApplication

       HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/MyApplication If a setting is found in the
       HKEY_CURRENT_USER space, this setting is overwritten independently of
       write permissions in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE space.

       When s is Unix, and the execution environment is Unix, the search path
       list will be used when trying to determine a suitable filename for
       reading and writing settings files. By default, there are two entries
       in the search path:

       <ol type=1>

       SYSCONF - where SYSCONF is a directory specified when configuring Qt;
       by default it is INSTALL/etc/settings.

       $HOME/.qt/ - where $HOME is the user's home directory.

       All insertions into the search path will go before $HOME/.qt/. For
       example:

	 QSettings settings;
	 settings.insertSearchPath( QSettings::Unix, "/opt/MyCompany/share/etc" );
	 settings.insertSearchPath( QSettings::Unix, "/opt/MyCompany/share/MyApplication/etc" );
	 // ...
       Will result in a search path of: <ol type=1>

       SYSCONF

       /opt/MyCompany/share/etc

       /opt/MyCompany/share/MyApplication/etc

       $HOME/.qt When reading settings the files are searched in the order
       shown above, with later settings overriding earlier settings. Files for
       which the user doesn't have read permission are ignored. When saving
       settings QSettings works in the order shown above, writing to the first
       settings file for which the user has write permission.

       Note that paths in the file system are not created by this function, so
       they must already exist to be useful.

       Settings under Unix are stored in files whose names are based on the
       first subkey of the key (not including the search path). The algorithm
       for creating names is essentially: lowercase the first subkey, replace
       spaces with underscores and add 'rc', e.g.
       /MyCompany/MyApplication/background color will be stored in
       myapplicationrc (assuming that /MyCompany is part of the search path).

       See also removeSearchPath().

       Example: chart/chartform.cpp.

bool QSettings::readBoolEntry ( const QString & key, bool def = FALSE, bool *
       ok = 0 ) const
       Reads the entry specified by key, and returns a bool, or the default
       value, def, if the entry couldn't be read. If ok is non-null, *ok is
       set to TRUE if the key was read, FALSE otherwise.

       See also readEntry(), readNumEntry(), readDoubleEntry(), writeEntry(),
       and removeEntry().

double QSettings::readDoubleEntry ( const QString & key, double def = 0, bool
       * ok = 0 ) const
       Reads the entry specified by key, and returns a double, or the default
       value, def, if the entry couldn't be read. If ok is non-null, *ok is
       set to TRUE if the key was read, FALSE otherwise.

       See also readEntry(), readNumEntry(), readBoolEntry(), writeEntry(),
       and removeEntry().

QString QSettings::readEntry ( const QString & key, const QString & def =
       QString::null, bool * ok = 0 ) const
       Reads the entry specified by key, and returns a QString, or the default
       value, def, if the entry couldn't be read. If ok is non-null, *ok is
       set to TRUE if the key was read, FALSE otherwise.

       See also readListEntry(), readNumEntry(), readDoubleEntry(),
       readBoolEntry(), writeEntry(), and removeEntry().

QStringList QSettings::readListEntry ( const QString & key, bool * ok = 0 )
       const
       Reads the entry specified by key as a string. If ok is not 0, *ok is
       set to TRUE if the key was read, otherwise *ok is set to FALSE.

       Note that if you want to iterate over the list, you should iterate over
       a copy, e.g.

	   QStringList list = mySettings.readListEntry( "recentfiles" );
	   QStringList::Iterator it = list.begin();
	   while( it != list.end() ) {
	       myProcessing( *it );
	       ++it;
	   }

       See also readEntry(), readDoubleEntry(), readBoolEntry(), writeEntry(),
       removeEntry(), and QStringList::split().

QStringList QSettings::readListEntry ( const QString & key, const QChar &
       separator, bool * ok = 0 ) const
       This is an overloaded member function, provided for convenience. It
       behaves essentially like the above function.

       This function is obsolete. It is provided to keep old source working.
       We strongly advise against using it in new code.

       Reads the entry specified by key as a string. The separator is used to
       create a QStringList by calling QStringList::split(separator, entry).
       If ok is not 0: *ok is set to TRUE if the key was read, otherwise *ok
       is set to FALSE.

       Warning: As the documentation states, QStringList::split() will omit
       empty strings from the list. Because of this, it is impossible to
       retrieve identical list data with this function. We recommend using the
       readListEntry() and writeEntry() overloads that do not take a separator
       argument.

       Note that if you want to iterate over the list, you should iterate over
       a copy, e.g.

	   QStringList list = mySettings.readListEntry( "size", " " );
	   QStringList::Iterator it = list.begin();
	   while( it != list.end() ) {
	       myProcessing( *it );
	       ++it;
	   }

       See also readEntry(), readDoubleEntry(), readBoolEntry(), writeEntry(),
       removeEntry(), and QStringList::split().

int QSettings::readNumEntry ( const QString & key, int def = 0, bool * ok = 0
       ) const
       Reads the entry specified by key, and returns an integer, or the
       default value, def, if the entry couldn't be read. If ok is non-null,
       *ok is set to TRUE if the key was read, FALSE otherwise.

       See also readEntry(), readDoubleEntry(), readBoolEntry(), writeEntry(),
       and removeEntry().

bool QSettings::removeEntry ( const QString & key )
       Removes the entry specified by key.

       Returns true if the entry was successfully removed; otherwise returns
       false. Note that removing the last entry in any given folder, will also
       remove the folder.

       See also readEntry() and writeEntry().

void QSettings::removeSearchPath ( System s, const QString & path )
       Removes all occurrences of path (using exact matching) from the
       settings search path for system s. Note that the default search paths
       cannot be removed.

       See also insertSearchPath().

void QSettings::resetGroup ()
       Set the current key prefix to the empty string.

void QSettings::setPath ( const QString & domain, const QString & product,
       Scope scope = Global )
       Insert platform-dependent paths from platform-independent information.

       The domain should be an Internet domain name controlled by the producer
       of the software, eg. Trolltech products use "trolltech.com".

       The product should be the official name of the product.

       The scope should be QSettings::User for user-specific settings, or
       QSettings::Global for system-wide settings (generally these will be
       read-only to many users).

       Not all information is relevant on all systems.

QStringList QSettings::subkeyList ( const QString & key ) const
       Returns a list of the keys which contain subkeys under key. Does not
       return any keys that contain entries.

       Example settings:

	   /MyCompany/MyApplication/background color
	   /MyCompany/MyApplication/foreground color
	   /MyCompany/MyApplication/geometry/x
	   /MyCompany/MyApplication/geometry/y
	   /MyCompany/MyApplication/geometry/width
	   /MyCompany/MyApplication/geometry/height
	   /MyCompany/MyApplication/recent files/1
	   /MyCompany/MyApplication/recent files/2
	   /MyCompany/MyApplication/recent files/3

	   QStringList keys = settings.subkeyList( "/MyCompany/MyApplication" );

       In the above example, keys will contain 'geometry' and 'recent files'.
       It will not contain 'background color' or 'foreground color' because
       those keys contain entries not subkeys. To get a list of keys that
       contain entries rather than subkeys use entryList() instead.

       Warning: In the above example, if QSettings is writing to an Ini file,
       then a call to

	subkeyList("/MyCompany")
       will return an empty list. This happens because a key like

	/MyCompany/MyApplication/background color
       is written to the file "mycompanyrc", under the section
       [MyApplication]. This call is therefore a request to list the sections
       in an ini file, which is not supported in this version of QSettings.
       This is a known issue which will be fixed in Qt-4.

       See also entryList().

bool QSettings::writeEntry ( const QString & key, bool value )
       Writes the boolean entry value into key key. The key is created if it
       doesn't exist. Any previous value is overwritten by value.

       If an error occurs the settings are left unchanged and FALSE is
       returned; otherwise TRUE is returned.

       Warning: On certain platforms, keys are required to contain at least
       two components (e.g., "/foo/bar"). This limitation does not apply to Qt
       4.

       See also readListEntry(), readNumEntry(), readDoubleEntry(),
       readBoolEntry(), and removeEntry().

       Example: chart/chartform.cpp.

bool QSettings::writeEntry ( const QString & key, double value )
       This is an overloaded member function, provided for convenience. It
       behaves essentially like the above function.

       Writes the double entry value into key key. The key is created if it
       doesn't exist. Any previous value is overwritten by value.

       If an error occurs the settings are left unchanged and FALSE is
       returned; otherwise TRUE is returned.

       See also readListEntry(), readNumEntry(), readDoubleEntry(),
       readBoolEntry(), and removeEntry().

bool QSettings::writeEntry ( const QString & key, int value )
       This is an overloaded member function, provided for convenience. It
       behaves essentially like the above function.

       Writes the integer entry value into key key. The key is created if it
       doesn't exist. Any previous value is overwritten by value.

       If an error occurs the settings are left unchanged and FALSE is
       returned; otherwise TRUE is returned.

       See also readListEntry(), readNumEntry(), readDoubleEntry(),
       readBoolEntry(), and removeEntry().

bool QSettings::writeEntry ( const QString & key, const QString & value )
       This is an overloaded member function, provided for convenience. It
       behaves essentially like the above function.

       Writes the string entry value into key key. The key is created if it
       doesn't exist. Any previous value is overwritten by value. If value is
       an empty string or a null string the key's value will be an empty
       string.

       If an error occurs the settings are left unchanged and FALSE is
       returned; otherwise TRUE is returned.

       See also readListEntry(), readNumEntry(), readDoubleEntry(),
       readBoolEntry(), and removeEntry().

bool QSettings::writeEntry ( const QString & key, const QStringList & value )
       This is an overloaded member function, provided for convenience. It
       behaves essentially like the above function.

       Writes the string list entry value into key key. The key is created if
       it doesn't exist. Any previous value is overwritten by value.

       If an error occurs the settings are left unchanged and FALSE is
       returned; otherwise returns TRUE.

       See also readListEntry(), readNumEntry(), readDoubleEntry(),
       readBoolEntry(), and removeEntry().

bool QSettings::writeEntry ( const QString & key, const QStringList & value,
       const QChar & separator )
       This is an overloaded member function, provided for convenience. It
       behaves essentially like the above function.

       This function is obsolete. It is provided to keep old source working.
       We strongly advise against using it in new code.

       Writes the string list entry value into key key. The key is created if
       it doesn't exist. Any previous value is overwritten by value. The list
       is stored as a sequence of strings separated by separator (using
       QStringList::join()), so none of the strings in the list should contain
       the separator. If the list is empty or null the key's value will be an
       empty string.

       Warning: The list should not contain empty or null strings, as
       readListEntry() will use QStringList::split() to recreate the list. As
       the documentation states, QStringList::split() will omit empty strings
       from the list. Because of this, it is impossible to retrieve identical
       list data that is stored with this function. We recommend using the
       writeEntry() and readListEntry() overloads that do not take a separator
       argument.

       If an error occurs the settings are left unchanged and FALSE is
       returned; otherwise returns TRUE.

       See also readListEntry(), readNumEntry(), readDoubleEntry(),
       readBoolEntry(), removeEntry(), and QStringList::join().

SEE ALSO
       http://doc.trolltech.com/qsettings.html
       http://www.trolltech.com/faq/tech.html

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright 1992-2007 Trolltech ASA, http://www.trolltech.com.  See the
       license file included in the distribution for a complete license
       statement.

AUTHOR
       Generated automatically from the source code.

BUGS
       If you find a bug in Qt, please report it as described in
       http://doc.trolltech.com/bughowto.html.	Good bug reports help us to
       help you. Thank you.

       The definitive Qt documentation is provided in HTML format; it is
       located at $QTDIR/doc/html and can be read using Qt Assistant or with a
       web browser. This man page is provided as a convenience for those users
       who prefer man pages, although this format is not officially supported
       by Trolltech.

       If you find errors in this manual page, please report them to qt-
       bugs@trolltech.com.  Please include the name of the manual page
       (qsettings.3qt) and the Qt version (3.3.8).

Trolltech AS			2 February 2007			QSettings(3qt)
[top]

List of man pages available for Peanut

Copyright (c) for man pages and the logo by the respective OS vendor.

For those who want to learn more, the polarhome community provides shell access and support.

[legal] [privacy] [GNU] [policy] [cookies] [netiquette] [sponsors] [FAQ]
Tweet
Polarhome, production since 1999.
Member of Polarhome portal.
Based on Fawad Halim's script.
....................................................................
Vote for polarhome
Free Shell Accounts :: the biggest list on the net