Development/Tutorials/KDevelop/Creating a class template: Difference between revisions

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    {{Construction}}
    {{Review|Port to KF5 and KDev5}}
     
    {{Warning|The functionaly described here requires an unreleased version of KDevelop. If you are not using the latest development version, while you can write class templates, you will not be able to use them.}}


    {{TutorialBrowser|
    {{TutorialBrowser|
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    Now, let's move on to the class declaration.
    Now, let's move on to the class declaration.


    In most free software project, source files start with a license header. This header varies with the chosen license, author, and the programming language's comment characters. When using our template, the user choose one of the suggested licenses or write his own. In either case, the full text of the license header is available to the template as the <tt>license</tt> variable.  
    ==== Template header ====
     
    In most free software projects, source files start with a license header. This header varies with the chosen license, author, and the programming language's comment characters. When using our template, the user choose one of the suggested licenses or write his own. In either case, the full text of the license header is available to the template as the <tt>license</tt> variable.  


    Since C++ has block-style comments, we could write the license simply as
    Since C++ has block-style comments, we could write the license simply as
    Line 83: Line 87:
      */
      */
    </nowiki>}}
    </nowiki>}}
    ==== Include guards ====


    If our file is to be included somewhere, it is good practice to provide an include guard macro. '''KDevPlatform''' ships a convenience template for generating such a macro called <tt>include_guard_cpp.txt</tt>. We can use it like this
    If our file is to be included somewhere, it is good practice to provide an include guard macro. '''KDevPlatform''' ships a convenience template for generating such a macro called <tt>include_guard_cpp.txt</tt>. We can use it like this
    Line 96: Line 102:


    {{Note|The included template will expand into an uppercase class name with an appended <tt>_H</tt>, which could also be achieved by typing <code><nowiki>{{ name|upper }}_H</nowiki></code>. However, the include guard template also supports namespaces.}}
    {{Note|The included template will expand into an uppercase class name with an appended <tt>_H</tt>, which could also be achieved by typing <code><nowiki>{{ name|upper }}_H</nowiki></code>. However, the include guard template also supports namespaces.}}
    {{Note|See the [https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.1/ref/templates/builtins/#include Django documentation] for details about the <tt>include</tt> command}}
    {{Note|See the [https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.8/ref/templates/builtins/#include Django documentation] for details about the <tt>include</tt> command}}
     
    ==== Class declaration ====
     
    Information about inheritance is stored in the <tt>baseClasses</tt> variable. It is a list that can be iterated using a <tt>for</tt> loop. Each list element has two properties, <tt>inheritanceMode</tt> and <tt>baseType</tt>, which can be accessed using the dot notation, like class members in C++ or Python.
     
    <syntaxhighlight lang="cpp">
    class {{ name }}
    {% if baseClasses %}
        : {% for b in baseClasses %}b.inheritanceMode b.baseType{% if not forloop.last %}, {% endif %}{% endfor %}
    {% endif %}
    {
    </syntaxhighlight>
     
    If our new class inherites from KFoo and KBar, and both inheritances are public, the output from such a template looks like
     
    {{Output|1=<nowiki>
    class Example
        : public KFoo, public KBar
    {
    </nowiki>}}
     
    The template text could also be written in one line, so that the inheritance declarations (as possible the opening brace) would be on the same line as the class name. It is only written out this way in the tutorial for better readability. Both versions are valid C++.
     
    ==== Members ====
     
    Classes can have two kinds of members: variables and functions. They are available to templates as <tt>members</tt> and <tt>functions</tt> variables, respectively. Both are lists and are intended to be iterated.
     
    For simplicity, we will ignore access modes and various function modifiers (const, virtual, static, etc).
     
    <syntaxhighlight lang="smarty">
    {% for f in functions %}
      {% with f.arguments as arguments %}
        {{ f.returnType|default:"void" }} {{ f.name }}({% include "arguments_types_names.txt" %});
      {% endwith %}
    {% endfor %}
    </syntaxhighlight>
     
    Every function in C++ has a return type, if it returns nothing that type is <tt>void</tt>, which is what the <tt>default</tt> filter assures. Next, we have included another templates, called <tt>arguments_types_names.txt</tt>, which creates an argument list for language that require both argument types and names to be specified. This template requires a variables called <tt>arguments</tt>, which we created within the <tt>{% with %}</tt> statement.
     
    <syntaxhighlight lang="smarty">
    {% for m in members %}
      {{ m.type }} {{ m.name }};
    {% endfor %}
    </syntaxhighlight>


    == Installing the template ==
    Member variables are simple, they only require a type and a name.


    Now we have all the template contents prepared. We only need to compress the directory and make it available to '''KDevelop'''.
    ==== Whole header ====


    There are three ways for doing that:
    The entire header file looks like this
    * compressing and loading it manually
    * loading it from within '''KDevelop'''
    * using a CMake macro.


    === Manually ===
    <syntaxhighlight lang="smarty">
    {% load kdev_filters %}
    /*
    {{ license|lines_prepend:" * " }}
    */
     
    #ifndef {% include "include_guard_cpp.txt" %}
    #define {% include "include_guard_cpp.txt" %}


    First create an archive out of the {{path|kdev_tutorial}} directory. Many archive formats are accepted, but for best compatibility use {{path|.zip}} in Windows and {{path|.tar.bz2}} everywhere else. In '''Dolphin''', this can be achieved by right clicking within the directory, choosing <menuchoice>Compress -> Compress To...</menuchoice>, and entering the filename as {{path|kdev_tutorial.tar.bz2}}.
    class {{ name }}
    {% if baseClasses %}
        : {% for b in baseClasses %}b.inheritanceMode b.baseType{% if not forloop.last %}, {% endif %}{% endfor %}
    {% endif %}
    {
    public:
    {% for f in functions %}
      {% with f.arguments as arguments %}
        {{ f.returnType|default:"void" }} {{ f.name }}({% include "arguments_types_names.txt" %});
      {% endwith %}
    {% endfor %}


    Now copy the new archive somewhere where '''KDevelop''' will find it. It looks for template archives in the {{path|${PREFIX}/share/apps/kdevappwizard/templates}}, where prefix is either the system directory where KDE is installed (for example {{path|/usr}}) or the the local KDE configuration (for example {{path|~/.kde}} or {{path|~/.kde4}}). Copying our template to either is fine, choose dependeng on whether you want the template available only to you or all users on your computer.
    {% for m in members %}
      {{ m.type }} {{ m.name }};
    {% endfor %}
    };


    After a run of <tt>kbuildsycoca4</tt>, '''KDevelop''' should pick up and offer you new template when creating a new project.
    #endif // {% include "include_guard_cpp.txt" %}
    </syntaxhighlight>


    === From '''KDevelop''' ===
    === The implementation file ===


    {{Note|This method requires an unreleased version of KDevelop. If you are not using the latest development version, use one of the other two options. }}
    Class implementation has the same license as the header, and needs no include guard. Instead, it has to include the header file and contain bodies for member functions.  


    You can have '''KDevelop''' do all this. Select <menuchoice>Project -> New From Template</menuchoice>, then in the dialog click the <menuchoice>Load Template From File</menuchoice>. Navigate to the {{path|kdev_tutorial}} directory, and open the {{path|kdev_tutorial.kdevtemplate}} file. Your template directory will be compressed and install into the local directory (usually {{path|~/.kde/share/apps/kdevappwizard/templates}}).
    Including the header can be done using variables. For every output file in the template, '''KDevelop''' adds two variables: <tt>output_file_foo</tt> with the relative path to file Foo, and <tt>output_file_foo_absolute</tt> with the absolute path. For C++ includes, we will use the relative path.


    === With CMake ===
    Member functions difinitions are very similar to their declarations, except that static and virtual modifiers are dropped and the class name is prepended to function names. Therefore we can copy the function declaration code and only make a small modification.


    '''KDevPlatform''' includes a CMake macro that takes care of compressing and installing templates. This has the disadvantage of requiring a large library for installing a simple archive file, but may be useful especially for project that already depend on it. Alternatively, you may copy [https://projects.kde.org/projects/extragear/kdevelop/kdevplatform/repository/revisions/master/entry/cmake/modules/KDevPlatformMacros.cmake KDevPlatformMacros.cmake] and put it into your project.
    The whole implementation is below


    The macro requires that each template is in a separate directory, so create a new {{path|kdev_tutorial_templates}} directory and move {{path|kdev_tutorial}} into it. Then add the following {{path|CMakeLists.txt}} file to the top-level directory
    <syntaxhighlight lang="smarty">
    {% load kdev_filters %}
    /*
    {{ license|lines_prepend: * }}
    */


    <syntaxhighlight lang="cmake">
    #include {{ output_file_header }}
    project(kdevelop_template_tutorial)


    find_package(KDE4 REQUIRED)
    {% for f in functions %}
    find_package(KDevPlatform REQUIRED)
      {% with f.arguments as arguments %}
        {{ f.returnType|default:"void" }} {{ name }}::{{ f.name }}({% include "arguments_types_names.txt" %});
      {% endwith %}
      {


    set(TEMPLATE_DIRS kdev_tutorial)
      }
    kdevplatform_add_app_templates(${TEMPLATE_DIRS})
    {% endfor %}
    </syntaxhighlight>
    </syntaxhighlight>


    Build and install the project with the usual CMake steps
    The function body is left empty and has to be implemented by the user.


    {{Input|1=<nowiki>
    == Installing the template ==
    mkdir build
     
    cd build
    Now we have all the template contents prepared. We only need to compress the directory and make it available to '''KDevelop'''.  
    cmake ..
     
    make
    This can be done in a similar way as installing [[special:myLanguage/Development/Tutorials/KDevelop/Creating_a_project_template#Installing_the_template|project templates]]. The only differences are:
    make install
    </nowiki>}}


    Note that this will install the template into {{path|<nowiki>${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}</nowiki>}}, for which you may need root privileges.
    * templates should be saved into {{path|1=<nowiki>${PREFIX}/share/apps/kdevfiletemplates/templates</nowiki>}}
    * they can be loaded from the <menuchoice>Code -> Create class from template</menuchoice> dialog
    * the CMake macro is named <tt>kdevplatform_add_file_templates</tt> instead of <tt>kdevplatform_add_app_templates</tt>.

    Latest revision as of 12:33, 31 May 2019

    Warning
    This page needs a review and probably holds information that needs to be fixed.

    Parts to be reviewed:

    Port to KF5 and KDev5
    Warning
    The functionaly described here requires an unreleased version of KDevelop. If you are not using the latest development version, while you can write class templates, you will not be able to use them.


    Creating a project template
    Tutorial Series   KDevelop Templates
    Previous   Grantlee for theme artists, Django template language
    What's Next  
    Further Reading   Class template specification

    Introduction

    In this tutorial, we will create a template for a basic C++ class. It will demonstrate using the Grantlee template language, as well features specific to KDevelop class templates.

    We chose C++ because even the simplest class definition often consists of two separate files, header and implementation. It is possible to include any number of files in a class template (there should be at least one, obviously).

    Creating the directory structure

    Note
    There is a project template for a C++ class template available here. The resulting project is similar to what we will create here. You may use it to create the files but still follow this tutorial for explanation.


    We will start with an empty directory. Name it something unique, like kdev_class_tutorial.

    The description file

    Every class template needs a description file. It is a regular desktop file with an extension of .desktop. Its base name must match the name of the generated archive, so let's call it kdev_class_tutorial.desktop. Paste in these contents:

    [General]
    Name=Tutorial
    Comment=An example C++ class template, suitable for a tutorial
    Category=C++
    Files=Header,Implementation
    
    [Header]
    Name=Header
    File=class.h
    OutputFile={{ name }}.h
    
    [Implementation]
    Name=Implementation
    File=class.cpp
    OutputFile={{ name }}.cpp
    

    You can see there are three sections in the description file: one for general properties, and one for each output file. In order for a file to be generated, it has to be listed in the Files entry, as well as have its own section with the same name.

    In the output file sections, we already used template variables: {{ name }} will be replaced with the class name. The actual generated header file will not be {{ name }}.h, but rather Exmample.h, assuming we name our class Example.

    The class header file

    Now, let's move on to the class declaration.

    Template header

    In most free software projects, source files start with a license header. This header varies with the chosen license, author, and the programming language's comment characters. When using our template, the user choose one of the suggested licenses or write his own. In either case, the full text of the license header is available to the template as the license variable.

    Since C++ has block-style comments, we could write the license simply as

    /*
    {{ license }}
    */
    

    However, it might be easier to read if the license had some kind of formatting. For this purpose, KDevPlatform includes a template filter library that makes it possible to write a nicely-formatted license header. We can use it like this:

    {% load kdev_filters %}
    /*
    {{ license|lines_prepend:" * " }}
     */
    

    The lines_prened filter prepends its argument (in our case " * ") to every line of its input (in our case the license). This can produce licenses like the following

    /*
     * This file is part of KDevelop
     * Copyright 2012 Example Developer <[email protected]>
     */
    

    Include guards

    If our file is to be included somewhere, it is good practice to provide an include guard macro. KDevPlatform ships a convenience template for generating such a macro called include_guard_cpp.txt. We can use it like this

    #ifndef {% include "include_guard_cpp.txt" %}
    #define {% include "include_guard_cpp.txt" %}
    
    // Class declaration goes here
    
    #endif // {% include "include_guard_cpp.txt" %}
    
    Note
    The included template will expand into an uppercase class name with an appended _H, which could also be achieved by typing {{ name|upper }}_H. However, the include guard template also supports namespaces.
    Note
    See the Django documentation for details about the include command


    Class declaration

    Information about inheritance is stored in the baseClasses variable. It is a list that can be iterated using a for loop. Each list element has two properties, inheritanceMode and baseType, which can be accessed using the dot notation, like class members in C++ or Python.

    class {{ name }}
    {% if baseClasses %}
        : {% for b in baseClasses %}b.inheritanceMode b.baseType{% if not forloop.last %}, {% endif %}{% endfor %}
    {% endif %}
    {
    

    If our new class inherites from KFoo and KBar, and both inheritances are public, the output from such a template looks like

    class Example
        : public KFoo, public KBar
    {
    

    The template text could also be written in one line, so that the inheritance declarations (as possible the opening brace) would be on the same line as the class name. It is only written out this way in the tutorial for better readability. Both versions are valid C++.

    Members

    Classes can have two kinds of members: variables and functions. They are available to templates as members and functions variables, respectively. Both are lists and are intended to be iterated.

    For simplicity, we will ignore access modes and various function modifiers (const, virtual, static, etc).

    {% for f in functions %}
      {% with f.arguments as arguments %}
        {{ f.returnType|default:"void" }} {{ f.name }}({% include "arguments_types_names.txt" %});
      {% endwith %}
    {% endfor %}
    

    Every function in C++ has a return type, if it returns nothing that type is void, which is what the default filter assures. Next, we have included another templates, called arguments_types_names.txt, which creates an argument list for language that require both argument types and names to be specified. This template requires a variables called arguments, which we created within the {% with %} statement.

    {% for m in members %}
      {{ m.type }} {{ m.name }};
    {% endfor %}
    

    Member variables are simple, they only require a type and a name.

    Whole header

    The entire header file looks like this

    {% load kdev_filters %}
    /*
    {{ license|lines_prepend:" * " }}
     */
    
    #ifndef {% include "include_guard_cpp.txt" %}
    #define {% include "include_guard_cpp.txt" %}
    
    class {{ name }}
    {% if baseClasses %}
        : {% for b in baseClasses %}b.inheritanceMode b.baseType{% if not forloop.last %}, {% endif %}{% endfor %}
    {% endif %}
    {
    public:
    {% for f in functions %}
      {% with f.arguments as arguments %}
        {{ f.returnType|default:"void" }} {{ f.name }}({% include "arguments_types_names.txt" %});
      {% endwith %}
    {% endfor %}
    
    {% for m in members %}
      {{ m.type }} {{ m.name }};
    {% endfor %}
    };
    
    #endif // {% include "include_guard_cpp.txt" %}
    

    The implementation file

    Class implementation has the same license as the header, and needs no include guard. Instead, it has to include the header file and contain bodies for member functions.

    Including the header can be done using variables. For every output file in the template, KDevelop adds two variables: output_file_foo with the relative path to file Foo, and output_file_foo_absolute with the absolute path. For C++ includes, we will use the relative path.

    Member functions difinitions are very similar to their declarations, except that static and virtual modifiers are dropped and the class name is prepended to function names. Therefore we can copy the function declaration code and only make a small modification.

    The whole implementation is below

    {% load kdev_filters %}
    /*
    {{ license|lines_prepend: * }}
     */
    
    #include {{ output_file_header }}
    
    {% for f in functions %}
      {% with f.arguments as arguments %}
        {{ f.returnType|default:"void" }} {{ name }}::{{ f.name }}({% include "arguments_types_names.txt" %});
      {% endwith %}
      {
    
      }
    {% endfor %}
    

    The function body is left empty and has to be implemented by the user.

    Installing the template

    Now we have all the template contents prepared. We only need to compress the directory and make it available to KDevelop.

    This can be done in a similar way as installing project templates. The only differences are:

    • templates should be saved into ${PREFIX}/share/apps/kdevfiletemplates/templates
    • they can be loaded from the Code -> Create class from template dialog
    • the CMake macro is named kdevplatform_add_file_templates instead of kdevplatform_add_app_templates.