Next
Previous
Contents
This section will tell you the steps to create a new class. For a more in depth
look at what's going on check out the next section.
When you first open up KlassModeler you will see an empty tree view. From the file menu
choose new. Now you will see an empty model view. These are the two primary windows that
you will use to work with a model. The tree view will show you all your classes, methods, and
variables in a tree form, whereas the model view will show you the same info as boxes and
lines. The model view shows more info (it includes inheritence and method arguments)
whereas the tree view is often easier to navigate.
Simply right click in the model view and you will get a menu of options. Choose "New Class"
and a box with the words "NewClass" in it will appear. This is the basic view of a class with
no member functions or variables. You will also see that the new class has appeared in the
tree view.
You can left double click on the new class in either the model view or the tree view, this
will bring up the Class Information dialog. The top edit field is the name of the class.
You'll probably want to change this. There are five tabs on this dialog. For creating
a new class I find it easier to start at the end with the Misc tab. You will definitely
want to fill in the Header File and the HTML file. These determine the path and file for
generating header files and HTML docs.
Paths are relative to the saved KlassModeler file (*.kml). If you haven't saved the
file yet then the paths are relative to the current working directory. You can also specify
a full path.
Next move to the
Documentation tab. This is a free form box for writing all your docs about this class. The
next tabs are the Methods and Variables tabs and they both work pretty much the same. For
this example go to the Methods tab and clik on Add Method. You will see a new method in the
list. In the box below the method list you can directly edit the docs for that method and
click on Set Doc to save what you write. You can also move methods around to organize them
to your liking with the up and down arrows. You can delete them as well.
With the Class Information dialog still open go to the Methods tab. Again you see your list
of new methods. Left double click on a method to open the Method Information dialog. Again
your first step is probably to change the method name and the return type. If you're creating
a constructor or destructor then simple leave the return type empty. If your return type
is something fancy like "const int*" then fill that in. It's free form. Next pick your access
type as well as whether or not this is a pure virtual function or a Qt slot or signal. Now
you have 3 tabs. The variables tab is a lot like the variables tab in the Class Information
dialog, only now you are defining the function arguments. The documentation tab will generate
docs for this method. The method body tab is where you can enter code that will be written
into your header file. This is best for accessor functions. Notice that whatever you type
here will be directly entered into the header with no parsing. So you must include the {}
brackets and any carriage returns you may want. When you want to work with your variables
(either here as arguments or in class information as member variables) you simply left double
click on the variable name. This brings up a variable information dialog that should look
pretty self evident by now.
On the Misc tab you will also see a section for enums. I figure people don't have to work with
these much, so the support is sort of raw, but it does work. Click on Add Enum to add a new one.
You will then be prompted for a name, fill that in and press okay. Now when you click on the enum
in the list you will see the enum body below. This enum body is the exact text that will be put
into your header file, so make sure it's correct. Feel free to change it and set the access type
however you want it. When you are done press the Set Enum button! If you don't set the enum
you will loose the changes. This is what I mean when I say it's wort of raw :) Also if you
need to change the enum name you will have to delete it and create a new one. User friendliness
is for wussies.
When you close all the dialogs you will be back to the model view and tree view. They will
both refresh themselves to show you how your class looks now. In the model view you can
see all your new methods and variables as well as access info (the colour square). You can
left click and drag to move the classes around. You can zoom in or out by right clicking
on the model view (not on a class). You can also delete a class by right clicking on the model
view (on the class). You can expand or collapse classes in the tree view, and double clicking
on classes, methods, or variables will bring up the same information dialogs you've already
seen.
Next Previous Contents