- Qt 6.8
- Getting Started Programming with Qt Quick
- Qt 6.8.0 Reference Documentation

# Getting Started Programming with Qt Quick

A tutorial for Qt Quick based on an alarms application.

This tutorial shows how to develop a simple alarm application as an introduction to Qt Quick and Qt Quick Controls.

This application is similar to the alarm application usually found on an Android phone. Its features let you enter, edit, or delete alarms. An alarm can trigger on a given date, and you can set it to repeat on a series of subsequent days.

The main screen shows the list of saved alarms:

The detail screen lets you edit or delete existing alarms:

The dialog screen is used for adding new alarms. It pops up when you click on the "+" RoundButton on the bottom of the main screen:

The source files are located in the qtdoc repository. You can either fetch the Qt sources from the Qt Project, or install them as part of Qt. The application is also available in the example list of Qt Creator's Welcome mode.

#### Creating the Alarms Project

This section shows how to create the project in Qt Creator. It discusses the files generated automatically by Qt Creator, and the two files the programmer has to create in Qt Creator or some other editor. The latter two files are included with the source code for this tutorial.

Note: The UI text in Qt Creator and the contents of the generated files depend on the Qt Creator version that you use.

#### Qt Creator

Setting up a new project in Qt Creator is aided by a wizard that guides you step-by-step through the project creation process. The wizard prompts you to enter the settings needed for that particular type of project and creates the project for you.

To create the Alarms project, select File > New Project > Application (Qt) > Qt Quick Application > Choose. Type alarms in the Name field, and follow the instructions of the wizard.

The Qt Quick application wizard creates a project that contains the following source files:

Source file | Purpose
--- | ---
CMakeLists.txt | The project file
main.cpp | The main C++ code file for the application.
main.qml | The main QML code file for the application. We will instantiate our custom QML types (`AlarmDialog`, `AlarmModel`, `AlarmDelegate`, and `TumblerDelegate`) in this file.

The wizard generates the code in the main.cpp file below. This code block enables High DPI scaling and declares `app` and `engine`. The engine then loads our main QML file.

     int main(int argc, char *argv[])
     {
         QGuiApplication app(argc, argv);

         QQmlApplicationEngine engine;
         const QUrl url(u"qrc:/alarms/main.qml"_s);
         QObject::connect(&engine, &QQmlApplicationEngine::objectCreated, &app,
                          [url](QObject *obj, const QUrl &objUrl) {
                              if (!obj && url == objUrl)
                                  QCoreApplication::exit(-1);
                          },

#### Additional source files

Source file | Purpose
--- | ---
`qtquickcontrols2.conf` | Selects the `Material` style with the `Dark` theme.
`AlarmDialog.qml` | Defines the dialog for adding new alarms.
`AlarmDelegate.qml` | Defines the layout of the main screen of the app.
`AlarmModel.qml` | Defines the ListModel used for storing the alarms' data.
`TumblerDelegate.qml` | Defines the graphical layout of the Tumblers.
`qml.qrc` | The resource file, which contains the names of the source files, except main.cpp and the project file.

##### `qtquickcontrols2.conf`

The following snippet shows how to set the `Dark` theme in the `Material` style:

     [Controls]
     Style=Material
     [Material]
     Theme=Dark
     Accent=Red

##### `main.qml`

`mainWindow`, an ApplicationWindow QML type, is the root item in this app.

     ApplicationWindow {
         id: window
         width: 400
         height: 500
         visible: true

The ListView `alarmListView` combines the data from `alarmModel` with the layout defined in `alarmDelegate`.

         ListView {
             id: alarmListView
             anchors.fill: parent
             model: AlarmModel {}
             delegate: AlarmDelegate {}
         }

New alarms can be added by clicking RoundButton `addAlarmButton`. Clicking it opens a Dialog screen `alarmDialog`.

         RoundButton {
             id: addAlarmButton
             text: "+"
             anchors.bottom: alarmListView.bottom
             anchors.bottomMargin: 8
             anchors.horizontalCenter: parent.horizontalCenter
             onClicked: alarmDialog.open()
         }

         AlarmDialog {
             id: alarmDialog
             x: Math.round((parent.width - width) / 2)
             y: Math.round((parent.height - height) / 2)
             alarmModel: alarmListView.model
         }

##### `AlarmDialog.qml`

This dialog screen has a RowLayout with a Tumbler each for hours and minutes, and another RowLayout with a Tumbler each for day, month, and year.

         contentItem: RowLayout {
             RowLayout {
                 id: rowTumbler

                 Tumbler {
                     id: hoursTumbler
                     model: 24
                     delegate: TumblerDelegate {
                         text: formatNumber(modelData)
                     }
                 }
                 Tumbler {
                     id: minutesTumbler
                     model: 60
                     delegate: TumblerDelegate {
                         text: formatNumber(modelData)
                     }
                 }
             }

             RowLayout {
                 id: datePicker

                 Layout.leftMargin: 20

                 property alias dayTumbler: dayTumbler
                 property alias monthTumbler: monthTumbler
                 property alias yearTumbler: yearTumbler

                 readonly property var days: [31, 29, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31]

                 Tumbler {
                     id: dayTumbler

                     function updateModel() {
                         // Populate the model with days of the month. For example: [0, ..., 30]
                         var previousIndex = dayTumbler.currentIndex
                         var array = []
                         var newDays = datePicker.days[monthTumbler.currentIndex]
                         for (var i = 1; i <= newDays; ++i)
                             array.push(i)
                         dayTumbler.model = array
                         dayTumbler.currentIndex = Math.min(newDays - 1, previousIndex)
                     }

                     Component.onCompleted: updateModel()

                     delegate: TumblerDelegate {
                         text: formatNumber(modelData)
                     }
                 }
                 Tumbler {
                     id: monthTumbler

                     onCurrentIndexChanged: dayTumbler.updateModel()

                     model: 12
                     delegate: TumblerDelegate {
                         text: window.locale.standaloneMonthName(modelData, Locale.ShortFormat)
                     }
                 }
                 Tumbler {
                     id: yearTumbler

                     // This array is populated with the next three years. For example: [2018, 2019, 2020]
                     readonly property var years: (function() {
                         var currentYear = new Date().getFullYear()
                         return [0, 1, 2].map(function(value) { return value + currentYear; })
                     })()

                     model: years
                     delegate: TumblerDelegate {
                         text: formatNumber(modelData)
                     }
                 }
             }
         }
     }

If you click on OK in the dialog, the entered data will be added to `alarmModel`:

         onAccepted: {
             alarmModel.append({
                 "hour": hoursTumbler.currentIndex,
                 "minute": minutesTumbler.currentIndex,
                 "day": dayTumbler.currentIndex + 1,
                 "month": monthTumbler.currentIndex + 1,
                 "year": yearTumbler.years[yearTumbler.currentIndex],
                 "activated": true,
                 "label": "",
                 "repeat": false,
                 "daysToRepeat": [
                     { "dayOfWeek": 0, "repeat": false },
                     { "dayOfWeek": 1, "repeat": false },
                     { "dayOfWeek": 2, "repeat": false },
                     { "dayOfWeek": 3, "repeat": false },
                     { "dayOfWeek": 4, "repeat": false },
                     { "dayOfWeek": 5, "repeat": false },
                     { "dayOfWeek": 6, "repeat": false }
                 ],
             })
         }
         onRejected: alarmDialog.close()

##### `AlarmDelegate.qml`

Each alarm in the main screen is an ItemDelegate. The ItemDelegate `root` contains all fields on the main screen and the detail screen. The detail screen's fields are only visible after an alarm has been clicked on, i.e. when `root.checked` is `true`.

     ItemDelegate {
         id: root
         width: parent.width
         checkable: true

         onClicked: ListView.view.currentIndex = index

         contentItem: ColumnLayout {
             spacing: 0

             RowLayout {
                 ColumnLayout {
                     id: dateColumn

                     readonly property date alarmDate: new Date(
                         model.year, model.month - 1, model.day, model.hour, model.minute)

                     Label {
                         id: timeLabel
                         font.pixelSize: Qt.application.font.pixelSize * 2
                         text: dateColumn.alarmDate.toLocaleTimeString(window.locale, Locale.ShortFormat)
                     }
                     RowLayout {
                         Label {
                             id: dateLabel
                             text: dateColumn.alarmDate.toLocaleDateString(window.locale, Locale.ShortFormat)
                         }
                         Label {
                             id: alarmAbout
                             text: "⸱ " + model.label
                             visible: model.label.length > 0 && !root.checked
                         }
                     }
                 }
                 Item {
                     Layout.fillWidth: true
                 }
                 Switch {
                     checked: model.activated
                     Layout.alignment: Qt.AlignTop
                     onClicked: model.activated = checked
                 }
             }
             CheckBox {
                 id: alarmRepeat
                 text: qsTr("Repeat")
                 checked: model.repeat
                 visible: root.checked
                 onToggled: model.repeat = checked
             }
             Flow {
                 visible: root.checked && model.repeat
                 Layout.fillWidth: true

                 Repeater {
                     id: dayRepeater
                     model: daysToRepeat
                     delegate: RoundButton {
                         text: Qt.locale().dayName(model.dayOfWeek, Locale.NarrowFormat)
                         flat: true
                         checked: model.repeat
                         checkable: true
                         Material.background: checked ? Material.accent : "transparent"
                         onToggled: model.repeat = checked
                     }
                 }
             }

             TextField {
                 id: alarmDescriptionTextField
                 placeholderText: qsTr("Enter description here")
                 cursorVisible: true
                 visible: root.checked
                 text: model.label
                 onTextEdited: model.label = text
             }
             Button {
                 id: deleteAlarmButton
                 text: qsTr("Delete")
                 width: 40
                 height: 40
                 visible: root.checked
                 onClicked: root.ListView.view.model.remove(root.ListView.view.currentIndex, 1)
             }
         }
     }

##### `AlarmModel.qml`

This QML file contains the definition of `alarmModel`, the ListModel that manages the alarm data.

It creates five ListElements with example alarms.

     import QtQuick

     // Populate the model with some sample data.
     ListModel {
         id: alarmModel

         ListElement {
             hour: 6
             minute: 0
             day: 2
             month: 8
             year: 2018
             activated: true
             label: "Wake up"
             repeat: true
             daysToRepeat: [
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 0; repeat: false },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 1; repeat: false },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 2; repeat: false },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 3; repeat: false },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 4; repeat: false },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 5; repeat: false },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 6; repeat: false }
             ]
         }
         ListElement {
             hour: 6
             minute: 0
             day: 3
             month: 8
             year: 2018
             activated: true
             label: "Wake up"
             repeat: true
             daysToRepeat: [
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 0; repeat: true },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 1; repeat: true },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 2; repeat: true },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 3; repeat: true },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 4; repeat: true },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 5; repeat: false },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 6; repeat: false }
             ]
         }
         ListElement {
             hour: 7
             minute: 0
             day: 3
             month: 8
             year: 2018
             activated: false
             label: "Exercise"
             repeat: true
             daysToRepeat: [
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 0; repeat: true },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 1; repeat: true },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 2; repeat: true },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 3; repeat: true },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 4; repeat: true },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 5; repeat: true },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 6; repeat: true }
             ]
         }
         ListElement {
             hour: 5
             minute: 15
             day: 1
             month: 9
             year: 2018
             activated: true
             label: ""
             repeat: false
             daysToRepeat: [
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 0; repeat: false },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 1; repeat: false },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 2; repeat: false },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 3; repeat: false },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 4; repeat: false },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 5; repeat: false },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 6; repeat: false }
             ]
         }
         ListElement {
             hour: 5
             minute: 45
             day: 3
             month: 9
             year: 2018
             activated: false
             label: ""
             repeat: false
             daysToRepeat: [
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 0; repeat: false },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 1; repeat: false },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 2; repeat: false },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 3; repeat: false },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 4; repeat: false },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 5; repeat: false },
                 ListElement { dayOfWeek: 6; repeat: false }
             ]
         }
     }

##### TumblerDelegate.qml

TumblerDelegate defines the graphical properties of the Tumblers.

     import QtQuick
     import QtQuick.Controls
     import QtQuick.Controls.Material

     Text {
         text: modelData
         color: Tumbler.tumbler.Material.foreground
         font: Tumbler.tumbler.font
         opacity: 1.0 - Math.abs(Tumbler.displacement) / (Tumbler.tumbler.visibleItemCount / 2)
         horizontalAlignment: Text.AlignHCenter
         verticalAlignment: Text.AlignVCenter
     }

#### Entering new alarms

At the bottom of the startup screen, you can see a Button for adding alarms. Click it to open the Add new alarm dialog.

         RoundButton {
             id: addAlarmButton
             text: "+"
             anchors.bottom: alarmListView.bottom
             anchors.bottomMargin: 8
             anchors.horizontalCenter: parent.horizontalCenter
             onClicked: alarmDialog.open()
         }

The dialog for new alarms:

All fields are entered using Tumbler QML types. If you press `OK`, the values selected in the Tumblers are written to `alarmModel`.

         contentItem: RowLayout {
             RowLayout {
                 id: rowTumbler

                 Tumbler {
                     id: hoursTumbler
                     model: 24
                     delegate: TumblerDelegate {
                         text: formatNumber(modelData)
                     }
                 }
                 Tumbler {
                     id: minutesTumbler
                     model: 60
                     delegate: TumblerDelegate {
                         text: formatNumber(modelData)
                     }
                 }
             }

             RowLayout {
                 id: datePicker

                 Layout.leftMargin: 20

                 property alias dayTumbler: dayTumbler
                 property alias monthTumbler: monthTumbler
                 property alias yearTumbler: yearTumbler

                 readonly property var days: [31, 29, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31]

                 Tumbler {
                     id: dayTumbler

                     function updateModel() {
                         // Populate the model with days of the month. For example: [0, ..., 30]
                         var previousIndex = dayTumbler.currentIndex
                         var array = []
                         var newDays = datePicker.days[monthTumbler.currentIndex]
                         for (var i = 1; i <= newDays; ++i)
                             array.push(i)
                         dayTumbler.model = array
                         dayTumbler.currentIndex = Math.min(newDays - 1, previousIndex)
                     }

                     Component.onCompleted: updateModel()

                     delegate: TumblerDelegate {
                         text: formatNumber(modelData)
                     }
                 }
                 Tumbler {
                     id: monthTumbler

                     onCurrentIndexChanged: dayTumbler.updateModel()

                     model: 12
                     delegate: TumblerDelegate {
                         text: window.locale.standaloneMonthName(modelData, Locale.ShortFormat)
                     }
                 }
                 Tumbler {
                     id: yearTumbler

                     // This array is populated with the next three years. For example: [2018, 2019, 2020]
                     readonly property var years: (function() {
                         var currentYear = new Date().getFullYear()
                         return [0, 1, 2].map(function(value) { return value + currentYear; })
                     })()

                     model: years
                     delegate: TumblerDelegate {
                         text: formatNumber(modelData)
                     }
                 }
             }
         }
     }

#### Editing alarms

If you click on a particular alarm, you can edit it in the detail screen.

Clicking on an alarm sets `root.checked` to `true`, which makes visible the fields of the detail screen.

     visible: root.checked

If you want the alarm to trigger also on other days, check `alarmRepeat`. The Repeater will display a checkable RoundButton for each day of the week.

             Flow {
                 visible: root.checked && model.repeat
                 Layout.fillWidth: true

                 Repeater {
                     id: dayRepeater
                     model: daysToRepeat
                     delegate: RoundButton {
                         text: Qt.locale().dayName(model.dayOfWeek, Locale.NarrowFormat)
                         flat: true
                         checked: model.repeat
                         checkable: true
                         Material.background: checked ? Material.accent : "transparent"
                         onToggled: model.repeat = checked
                     }
                 }
             }

If you modify the description of the alarm, it will be reflected in the main screen afterwards.

             TextField {
                 id: alarmDescriptionTextField
                 placeholderText: qsTr("Enter description here")
                 cursorVisible: true
                 visible: root.checked
                 text: model.label
                 onTextEdited: model.label = text
             }

#### Deleting alarms

The detail screen (see above) has a Button for deleting alarms. When `onClicked` is emitted, the current ListElement is deleted from `alarmModel`.

             Button {
                 id: deleteAlarmButton
                 text: qsTr("Delete")
                 width: 40
                 height: 40
                 visible: root.checked
                 onClicked: root.ListView.view.model.remove(root.ListView.view.currentIndex, 1)
             }

##### Summary

The app has no code for adding sound or vibration to the alarm, nor does it store the alarms in any format or database. Maybe it could be an interesting coding project to add those features. Storing the data could be done quickly and easily in JSON format.

Example project @ code.qt.io

See also JSON Support in Qt.