Extending QML - Default Property Example

Default Property.

This example builds on:

The Default Property Example is a minor modification of the Extending QML - Inheritance and Coercion Example that simplifies the specification of a BirthdayParty through the use of a default property.

 BirthdayParty {
     host: Boy {
         name: "Bob Jones"
         shoeSize: 12
     }

     Boy { name: "Leo Hodges" }
     Boy { name: "Jack Smith" }
     Girl { name: "Anne Brown" }
 }

Declaring the BirthdayParty Class

The only difference between this example and the last, is the addition of the DefaultProperty class info annotation.

 class BirthdayParty : public QObject
 {
     Q_OBJECT
     Q_PROPERTY(Person *host READ host WRITE setHost)
     Q_PROPERTY(QQmlListProperty<Person> guests READ guests)
     Q_CLASSINFO("DefaultProperty", "guests")
     QML_ELEMENT
 public:
     BirthdayParty(QObject *parent = nullptr);

     Person *host() const;
     void setHost(Person *);

     QQmlListProperty<Person> guests();
     int guestCount() const;
     Person *guest(int) const;

 private:
     Person *m_host;
     QList<Person *> m_guests;
 };

The default property specifies the property to assign to whenever an explicit property is not specified, in the case of the BirthdayParty type the guest property. It is purely a syntactic simplification, the behavior is identical to specifying the property by name, but it can add a more natural feel in many situations. The default property must be either an object or list property.

Running the Example

The main.cpp file in the example includes a simple shell application that loads and runs the QML snippet shown at the beginning of this page.

Example project @ code.qt.io