Development/Architecture/KDE4/Plasma: Difference between revisions

    From KDE TechBase
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    ===Further reading===
    ===Further reading===
    * [http://plasma.kde.org Plasma homesite]
    * [http://plasma.kde.org Plasma homesite]
    * [http://api.kde.org/4.0-api/kdebase-apidocs/workspace/plasma/html/index.html Plasma API]
    * [http://api.kde.org/4.0-api/kdebase-workspace-apidocs/libs/plasma/html/index.html API]
    * [http://techbase.kde.org/Projects/Plasma Plasma techbase page]
    * [http://techbase.kde.org/Projects/Plasma Plasma techbase page]

    Revision as of 22:46, 7 May 2008


    Development/Architecture/KDE4/Plasma


    Plasma is the name of the new desktop planned to replace KDesktop in KDE4. You may think that it is a union of SuperKaramba and KDesktop, but it's more. It's a whole concept of functionality and beauty.

    Its implementation is based on the Qt Graphics View Framework introduced in Qt 4.2.

    From a developer point of view there are some classes in libplasma who play central roles.

    • Corona: extends QGraphicsScene and provides functionality for adding applets and karamba themes.
    • Widget: extends QGraphicsItem and works as simple elements in the desktop. There are some built-in in libplasma as icons or buttons.
    • Applet: extends Widget and implements sophisticated functionality as rss display, a clock or system monitoring.
    • DataEngine: The common use of a DataEngine is to provide data to a applet for display. This allows a user interface elements to show all sorts of data.

    Further reading