QHelpEngineCore

Inherited by: QHelpEngine

Synopsis

Functions

• def addCustomFilter (filterName, attributes)
• def autoSaveFilter ()
• def collectionFile ()
• def copyCollectionFile (fileName)
• def currentFilter ()
• def customFilters ()
• def customValue (key[, defaultValue=None])
• def documentationFileName (namespaceName)
• def error ()
• def fileData (url)
• def files (namespaceName, filterAttributes[, extensionFilter=”“])
• def filterAttributeSets (namespaceName)
• def filterAttributes ()
• def filterAttributes (filterName)
• def findFile (url)
• def linksForIdentifier (id)
• def registerDocumentation (documentationFileName)
• def registeredDocumentations ()
• def removeCustomFilter (filterName)
• def removeCustomValue (key)
• def setAutoSaveFilter (save)
• def setCollectionFile (fileName)
• def setCurrentFilter (filterName)
• def setCustomValue (key, value)
• def setupData ()
• def unregisterDocumentation (namespaceName)

Signals

• def currentFilterChanged (newFilter)
• def setupFinished ()
• def setupStarted ()
• def warning (msg)

Static functions

• def metaData (documentationFileName, name)
• def namespaceName (documentationFileName)

Detailed Description

The PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore class provides the core functionality of the help system.

Before the help engine can be used, it must be initialized by calling PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.setupData() . At the beginning of the setup process the signal PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.setupStarted() is emitted. From this point on until the signal PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.setupFinished() is emitted, is the help data in an undefined meaning unusable state.

The core help engine can be used to perform different tasks. By calling PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.linksForIdentifier() the engine returns urls specifying the file locations inside the help system. The actual file data can then be retrived by calling PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.fileData() . In contrast to all other functions in this class, PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.linksForIdentifier() depends on the currently set custom filter. Depending on the filter, the function may return different hits.

Every help engine can contain any number of custom filters. A custom filter is defined by a name and set of filter attributes and can be added to the help engine by calling PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.addCustomFilter() . Analogous, it is removed by calling PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.removeCustomFilter() . PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.customFilters() returns all defined filters.

The help engine also offers the possibility to set and read values in a persistant way comparable to ini files or Windows registry entries. For more information see setValue() or value() .

This class does not offer any GUI components or functionality for indices or contents. If you need one of those use PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngine instead.

When creating a custom help viewer the viewer can be configured by writing a custom collection file which could contain various keywords to be used to configure the help engine. These keywords and values and their meaning can be found in the help information for creating a custom help collection file for Assistant.

class PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore(collectionFile[, parent=None])

Parameters:

• collectionFile – unicode
• parent – PySide.QtCore.QObject

Constructs a new core help engine with a parent . The help engine uses the information stored in the collectionFile to provide help. If the collection file does not exist yet, it’ll be created.

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.addCustomFilter(filterName, attributes)

Parameters:

• filterName – unicode
• attributes – list of strings

Return type:

PySide.QtCore.bool

Adds the new custom filter filterName . The filter attributes are specified by attributes . If the filter already exists, its attribute set is replaced. The function returns true if the operation succeeded, otherwise it returns false.

See also

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.customFilters() PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.removeCustomFilter()

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.autoSaveFilter()

Return type:PySide.QtCore.bool

This property holds whether PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore is in auto save filter mode or not..

If PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore is in auto save filter mode, the current filter is automatically saved when it is changed by the PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.setCurrentFilter() function. The filter is saved persistently in the help collection file.

By default, this mode is on.

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.collectionFile()

Return type:unicode

This property holds the absolute file name of the collection file currently used..

Setting this property leaves the help engine in an invalid state. It is important to invoke PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.setupData() or any getter function in order to setup the help engine again.

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.copyCollectionFile(fileName)

Parameters:fileName – unicode Return type:PySide.QtCore.bool

Creates the file fileName and copies all contents from the current collection file into the newly created file, and returns true if successful; otherwise returns false.

The copying process makes sure that file references to Qt Collection files (.qch ) files are updated accordingly.

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.currentFilter()

Return type:unicode

This property holds the name of the custom filter currently applied..

Setting this property will save the new custom filter permanently in the help collection file. To set a custom filter without saving it permanently, disable the auto save filter mode.

See also

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.autoSaveFilter()

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.currentFilterChanged(newFilter)

Parameters:newFilter – unicode

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.customFilters()

Return type:list of strings

Returns a list of custom filters.

See also

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.addCustomFilter() PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.removeCustomFilter()

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.customValue(key[, defaultValue=None])

Parameters:

• key – unicode
• defaultValue – object

Return type:

object

Returns the value assigned to the key . If the requested key does not exist, the specified defaultValue is returned.

See also

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.setCustomValue() PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.removeCustomValue()

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.documentationFileName(namespaceName)

Parameters:namespaceName – unicode Return type:unicode

Returns the absolute file name of the Qt compressed help file (.qch) identified by the namespaceName . If there is no Qt compressed help file with the specified namespace registered, an empty string is returned.

See also

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.namespaceName()

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.error()

Return type:unicode

Returns a description of the last error that occurred.

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.fileData(url)

Parameters:url – PySide.QtCore.QUrl Return type:PySide.QtCore.QByteArray

Returns the data of the file specified by url . If the file does not exist, an empty PySide.QtCore.QByteArray is returned.

See also

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.findFile()

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.files(namespaceName, filterAttributes[, extensionFilter=""])

Parameters:

• namespaceName – unicode
• filterAttributes – list of strings
• extensionFilter – unicode

Return type:

Returns a list of files contained in the Qt compressed help file namespaceName . The files can be filtered by filterAttributes as well as by their extension extensionFilter (e.g. ‘html’).

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.filterAttributeSets(namespaceName)

Parameters:namespaceName – unicode Return type:

Returns a list of filter attributes for the different filter sections defined in the Qt compressed help file with the given namespace namespaceName .

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.filterAttributes(filterName)

Parameters:filterName – unicode Return type:list of strings

Returns a list of filter attributes used by the custom filter filterName .

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.filterAttributes()

Return type:list of strings

Returns a list of all defined filter attributes.

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.findFile(url)

Parameters:url – PySide.QtCore.QUrl Return type:PySide.QtCore.QUrl

Returns an invalid URL if the file url cannot be found. If the file exists, either the same url is returned or a different url if the file is located in a different namespace which is merged via a common virtual folder.

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.linksForIdentifier(id)

Parameters:id – unicode Return type:

Returns a map of hits found for the id . A hit contains the title of the document and the url where the keyword is located. The result depends on the current filter, meaning only the keywords registered for the current filter will be returned.

static PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.metaData(documentationFileName, name)

Parameters:

• documentationFileName – unicode
• name – unicode

Return type:

object

Returns the meta data for the Qt compressed help file documentationFileName . If there is no data available for name , an invalid QVariant() is returned. The meta data is defined when creating the Qt compressed help file and cannot be modified later. Common meta data includes e.g. the author of the documentation.

static PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.namespaceName(documentationFileName)

Parameters:documentationFileName – unicode Return type:unicode

Returns the namespace name defined for the Qt compressed help file (.qch) specified by its documentationFileName . If the file is not valid, an empty string is returned.

See also

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.documentationFileName()

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.registerDocumentation(documentationFileName)

Parameters:documentationFileName – unicode Return type:PySide.QtCore.bool

Registers the Qt compressed help file (.qch) contained in the file documentationFileName . One compressed help file, uniquely identified by its namespace can only be registered once. True is returned if the registration was successful, otherwise false.

See also

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.unregisterDocumentation() PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.error()

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.registeredDocumentations()

Return type:list of strings

Returns a list of all registered Qt compressed help files of the current collection file. The returned names are the namespaces of the registered Qt compressed help files (.qch).

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.removeCustomFilter(filterName)

Parameters:filterName – unicode Return type:PySide.QtCore.bool

Returns true if the filter filterName was removed successfully, otherwise false.

See also

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.addCustomFilter() PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.customFilters()

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.removeCustomValue(key)

Parameters:key – unicode Return type:PySide.QtCore.bool

Removes the key from the settings section in the collection file. Returns true if the value was removed successfully, otherwise false.

See also

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.customValue() PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.setCustomValue()

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.setAutoSaveFilter(save)

Parameters:save – PySide.QtCore.bool

This property holds whether PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore is in auto save filter mode or not..

If PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore is in auto save filter mode, the current filter is automatically saved when it is changed by the PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.setCurrentFilter() function. The filter is saved persistently in the help collection file.

By default, this mode is on.

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.setCollectionFile(fileName)

Parameters:fileName – unicode

This property holds the absolute file name of the collection file currently used..

Setting this property leaves the help engine in an invalid state. It is important to invoke PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.setupData() or any getter function in order to setup the help engine again.

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.setCurrentFilter(filterName)

Parameters:filterName – unicode

This property holds the name of the custom filter currently applied..

Setting this property will save the new custom filter permanently in the help collection file. To set a custom filter without saving it permanently, disable the auto save filter mode.

See also

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.autoSaveFilter()

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.setCustomValue(key, value)

Parameters:

• key – unicode
• value – object

Return type:

PySide.QtCore.bool

Save the value under the key . If the key already exist, the value will be overwritten. Returns true if the value was saved successfully, otherwise false.

See also

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.customValue() PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.removeCustomValue()

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.setupData()

Return type:PySide.QtCore.bool

Sets up the help engine by processing the information found in the collection file and returns true if successful; otherwise returns false.

By calling the function, the help engine is forced to initialize itself immediately. Most of the times, this function does not have to be called explicitly because getter functions which depend on a correctly set up help engine do that themselves.

Note

qsqlite4.dll needs to be deployed with the application as the help system uses the sqlite driver when loading help collections.

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.setupFinished()

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.setupStarted()

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.unregisterDocumentation(namespaceName)

Parameters:namespaceName – unicode Return type:PySide.QtCore.bool

Unregisters the Qt compressed help file (.qch) identified by its namespaceName from the help collection. Returns true on success, otherwise false.

See also

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.registerDocumentation() PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.error()

PySide.QtHelp.QHelpEngineCore.warning(msg)

Parameters:msg – unicode