View source for Development/Architecture/KDE3/Library Structure


The following list gives an overview of the library structure.

== Libraries by name ==

; [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/index.html kdecore]
: The kdecore library is the basic application framework for every KDE based program. It provides access to the configuration system, command line handling, icon loading and manipulation, some special kinds inter-process communication, file handling and various other utilities.

; [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/index.html kdeui]
: The kdeui library provides many widgets and standard dialogs which Qt doesn't have or which have more features than their Qt counterparts. It also includes several widgets which are subclassed from Qt ones and are better integrated with the KDE desktop by respecting user preferences.

; [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kio/html/index.html kio]
: The kio library contains facilities for asynchronous, network transparent I/O and access to mimetype handling. It also provides the KDE file dialog and its helper classes.

; [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kjs/html/index.html kjs]
: The kjs library provides an implementation of JavaScript.

; [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/khtml/html/index.html khtml]
: The khtml library contains the KHTML part, a HTML browsing widget, DOM API and parser, including interfaces to Java and JavaScript.

== Grouped Classes ==

Core application skeleton - classes needed by almost every application.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKApplication.html KApplication] - initializes and controls a KDE application.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKUniqueApplication.html KUniqueApplication] - makes sure only instance of an application can run simultaneously.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKAboutData.html KAboutData] - hold information for the about box.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKCmdLineArgs.html KCmdLineArgs] - command line argument processing.


Configuration settings - access to KDE's hierarchical configuration database, global settings and application resources.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKConfig.html KConfig] - provides access to KDE's configuration database.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKSimpleConfig.html KSimpleConfig] - access to simple, non-hierarchical configuration files.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKDesktopFile.html KDesktopFile] - access to <tt>.desktop</tt> files.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKGlobalSettings.html KGlobalSettings] - convenient access to not application-specific settings.


File and URL handling - decoding of URLs, temporary files etc.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKURL.html KURL] - represents and parses URLs.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKTempFile.html KTempFile] - creates unique files for temporary data
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKSaveFile.html KSaveFile] - allows to save files atomically.


Interprocess communication - DCOP helper classes and subprocess invocation.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKProcess.html KProcess] - invokes and controls child processes.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKShellProcess.html KShellProcess] - invokes child processes via a shell.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdesu/html/classPtyProcess.html PtyProcess] - communication with a child process through a pseudo terminal.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKIPC.html KIPC] - simple IPC mechanism using X11 ClientMessages.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/dcop/html/classDCOPClient.html DCOPClient] - DCOP messaging.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKDCOPPropertyProxy.html KDCOPPropertyProxy] - a proxy class publishing Qt properties through DCOP.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/classKDCOPActionProxy.html KDCOPActionProxy] - a proxy class publishing a DCOP interface for actions.


Utility classes - memory management, regular expressions, string manipulation, random numbers * [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKRegExp.html KRegExp] - POSIX regular expression maching.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKStringHandler.html KStringHandler] - an extravagant interface for string manipulation.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKZoneAllocator.html KZoneAllocator] - efficient memory allocator for large groups of small objects.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKRandomSequence.html KRandomSequence] - pseudo random number generator.


Keyboard accelerators - classes helping to establish consistent key bindings throughout the desktop.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKAccel.html KAccel] - collection of keyboard shortcuts.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKStdAccel.html KStdAccel] - easy access to the common keyboard shortcut keys.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKGlobalAccel.html KGlobalAccel] - collection of system-wide keyboard shortcuts.


Image processing - icon loading and manipulating.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKIconLoader.html KIconLoader] - loads icons in a theme-conforming way.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKIconTheme.html KIconTheme] - helper classes for KIconLoader.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKPixmap.html KPixmap] - a pixmap class with extended dithering capabilities.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/classKPixmapEffect.html KPixmapEffect] - pixmap effects like gradients and patterns.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/classKPixmapIO.html KPixmapIO] - fast QImage to QPixmap conversion.


Drag and Drop - drag objects for colors and URLs.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKURLDrag.html KURLDrag] - a drag object for URLs.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/classKColorDrag.html KColorDrag] - a drag object for colors.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKMultipleDrag.html KMultipleDrag] - allows to construct drag objects from several others.


Auto-Completion
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKCompletion.html KCompletion] - generic auto-completion of strings.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kio/kio/html/classKURLCompletion.html KURLCompletion] - auto-completion of URLs.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kio/kio/html/classKShellCompletion.html KShellCompletion] - auto-completion of executables.


Widgets - widget classes for list views, rules, color selction etc.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/classKListView.html KListView] - a variant of QListView that honors KDE's system-wide settings.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/classKListView.html KListBox] - a variant of QListBox that honors KDE's system-wide settings.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/classKListView.html KIconView] - a variant of QIconView that honors KDE's system-wide settings.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/classKListView.html KLineEdit] - a variant of QLineEdit with completion support.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/classKComboBox.html KComboBox] - a variant of QComboBox with completion support.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/classKFontCombo.html KFontCombo] - a combo box for selecting fonts.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/classKColorCombo.html KColorCombo] - a combo box for selecting colors.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/classKColorButton.html KColorButton] - a button for selecting colors.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/classKURLCombo.html KURLCombo] - a combo box for selecting file names and URLs.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kio/kfile/html/classKURLRequester.html KURLRequester] - a line edit for selecting file names and URLs.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/classKRuler.html KRuler] - a ruler widget.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/classKAnimWidget.html KAnimWidget] - animations.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/classKNumInput.html KNumInput] - a widget for inputting numbers.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/classKPasswordEdit.html KPasswordEdit] - a widget for inputting passwords.

Dialogs - full-featured dialogs for file, color and font selection.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kio/kfile/html/classKFileDialog.html KFileDialog] - a file selection dialog.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/classKColorDialog.html KColorDialog] - a color selection dialog.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/classKFontDialog.html KFontDialog] - a font selection dialog.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kio/kfile/html/classKIconDialog.html KIconDialog] - an icon selection dialog.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/classKKeyDialog.html KKeyDialog] - a dialog for editing keyboard bindings.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/classKEditToolBar.html KEditToolBar] - a dialog for editing toolbars.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/classKTipDialog.html KTipDialog] - a Tip-of-the-day dialog.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/classKAboutDialog.html KAboutDialog] - an about dialog.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/classKLineEditDlg.html KLineEditDlg] - a simple dialog for entering text.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kio/kfile/html/classKURLRequesterDlg.html KURLRequesterDlg] - a simple dialog for entering URLs.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/classKMessageBox.html KMessageBox] - a dialog for signaling errors and warnings.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/classKPasswordDialog.html KPasswordDialog] - a dialog for inputting passwords.


Actions and XML GUI
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/classKAction.html KAction] - abstraction for an action that can be plugged into menu bars and tool bars.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/classKActionCollection.html KActionCollection] - a set of actions.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdeui/html/classKXMLGUIClient.html KXMLGUIClient] - a GUI fragment consisting of an action collection and a DOM tree representing their location in the GUI.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kparts/html/classKParts_1_1PartManager.html KPartManager] - manages the activation of XMLGUI clients.


Plugins and Components
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKLibrary.html KLibrary] - represents a dynamically loaded library.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKLibrary.html KLibLoader] - shared library loading.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kdecore/html/classKLibFactory.html KLibFactory] - object factory in plugins.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kio/kio/html/classKServiceType.html KServiceType] - represents a service type.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kio/kio/html/classKService.html KService] - represents a service.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kio/kio/html/classKMimeType.html KMimeType] - represents a MIME type.* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kio/kio/html/classKServiceTypeProfile.html KServiceTypeProfile] - user preferences for MIME type mappings.
* [http://api.kde.org/3.5-api/kdelibs-apidocs/kio/kio/html/classKServiceTypeProfile.html KTrader] - querying for services.


''Initial Author:'' Bernd Gehrmann [mailto:bernd@kdevelop.org bernd@kdevelop.org]

[[Category:KDE3]]
[[Category:Architecture]]