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<div class="section" id="things-to-be-aware-of">
<h1>Things to be Aware Of<a class="headerlink" href="#things-to-be-aware-of" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h1>
<div class="section" id="python-strings-qt-strings-and-unicode">
<h2>Python Strings, Qt Strings and Unicode<a class="headerlink" href="#python-strings-qt-strings-and-unicode" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>PyQt4 uses the <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">QString</span></tt> class to represent Unicode strings, and the
<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">QByteArray</span></tt> to represent byte arrays or strings. In Python v3 the
corresponding native object types are <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">str</span></tt> and <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">bytes</span></tt>. In Python v2 the
corresponding native object types are <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">unicode</span></tt> and <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">str</span></tt>.</p>
<p>PyQt4 does its best to automatically convert between objects of the various
types. Explicit conversions can be easily made where necessary.</p>
<p>In some cases PyQt4 will not perform automatic conversions where it is
necessary to distinguish between different overloaded methods.</p>
<p>For Python v3 the following conversions are done by default.</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>If Qt expects a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">char</span> <span class="pre">*</span></tt> (or a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">const</span></tt> version) then PyQt4 will accept a
<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">str</span></tt> or <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">QString</span></tt> that contains only ASCII characters, a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">bytes</span></tt>, a
<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">QByteArray</span></tt>, or a Python object that implements the buffer protocol.</li>
<li>If Qt expects a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">char</span></tt> (or a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">const</span></tt> version) then PyQt4 will accept the
same types as for <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">char</span> <span class="pre">*</span></tt> and also require that a single character is
provided.</li>
<li>If Qt expects a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">signed</span> <span class="pre">char</span> <span class="pre">*</span></tt> or an <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">unsigned</span> <span class="pre">char</span> <span class="pre">*</span></tt> (or a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">const</span></tt>
version) then PyQt4 will accept a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">bytes</span></tt>.</li>
<li>If Qt expects a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">signed</span> <span class="pre">char</span></tt> or an <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">unsigned</span> <span class="pre">char</span></tt> (or a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">const</span></tt>
version) then PyQt4 will accept a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">bytes</span></tt> of length 1.</li>
<li>If Qt expects a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">QString</span></tt> then PyQt4 will accept a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">str</span></tt>, a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">bytes</span></tt>
that contains only ASCII characters, a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">QChar</span></tt> or a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">QByteArray</span></tt>.</li>
<li>If Qt expects a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">QByteArray</span></tt> then PyQt4 will also accept a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">str</span></tt> that
contains only Latin-1 characters, or a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">bytes</span></tt>.</li>
</ul>
<p>For Python v2 the following conversions are done by default.</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>If Qt expects a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">char</span> <span class="pre">*</span></tt>, <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">signed</span> <span class="pre">char</span> <span class="pre">*</span></tt> or an <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">unsigned</span> <span class="pre">char</span> <span class="pre">*</span></tt> (or a
<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">const</span></tt> version) then PyQt4 will accept a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">unicode</span></tt> or <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">QString</span></tt> that
contains only ASCII characters, a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">str</span></tt>, a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">QByteArray</span></tt>, or a Python
object that implements the buffer protocol.</li>
<li>If Qt expects a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">char</span></tt>, <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">signed</span> <span class="pre">char</span></tt> or an <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">unsigned</span> <span class="pre">char</span></tt> (or a
<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">const</span></tt> version) then PyQt4 will accept the same types as for <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">char</span> <span class="pre">*</span></tt>,
<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">signed</span> <span class="pre">char</span> <span class="pre">*</span></tt> and <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">unsigned</span> <span class="pre">char</span> <span class="pre">*</span></tt> and also require that a single
character is provided.</li>
<li>If Qt expects a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">QString</span></tt> then PyQt4 will accept a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">unicode</span></tt>, a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">str</span></tt>
that contains only ASCII characters, a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">QChar</span></tt> or a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">QByteArray</span></tt>.</li>
<li>If Qt expects a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">QByteArray</span></tt> then PyQt4 will accept a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">unicode</span></tt> that
contains only Latin-1 characters, or a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">str</span></tt>.</li>
</ul>
<p>Note that the different behaviour between Python v2 and v3 is due to v3’s
reduced support for the buffer protocol.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="garbage-collection">
<h2>Garbage Collection<a class="headerlink" href="#garbage-collection" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>C++ does not garbage collect unreferenced class instances, whereas Python does.
In the following C++ fragment both colours exist even though the first can no
longer be referenced from within the program:</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><pre>col = new QColor();
col = new QColor();</pre>
</div>
<p>In the corresponding Python fragment, the first colour is destroyed when the
second is assigned to <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">col</span></tt>:</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="n">col</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">QtGui</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">QColor</span><span class="p">()</span>
<span class="n">col</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">QtGui</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">QColor</span><span class="p">()</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>In Python, each colour must be assigned to different names. Typically this is
done within class definitions, so the code fragment would be something like:</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="bp">self</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">col1</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">QtGui</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">QColor</span><span class="p">()</span>
<span class="bp">self</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">col2</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">QtGui</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">QColor</span><span class="p">()</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Sometimes a Qt class instance will maintain a pointer to another instance and
will eventually call the destructor of that second instance. The most common
example is that a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">QObject</span></tt> (and any of its sub-classes) keeps pointers to
its children and will automatically call their destructors. In these cases,
the corresponding Python object will also keep a reference to the corresponding
child objects.</p>
<p>So, in the following Python fragment, the first <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">QLabel</span></tt> is not destroyed
when the second is assigned to <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">lab</span></tt> because the parent <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">QWidget</span></tt> still has
a reference to it:</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="n">parent</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">QtGui</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">QWidget</span><span class="p">()</span>
<span class="n">lab</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">QtGui</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">QLabel</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">"First label"</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">parent</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">lab</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">QtGui</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">QLabel</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">"Second label"</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">parent</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="multiple-inheritance">
<h2>Multiple Inheritance<a class="headerlink" href="#multiple-inheritance" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>It is not possible to define a new Python class that sub-classes from more than
one Qt class.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="access-to-protected-member-functions">
<h2>Access to Protected Member Functions<a class="headerlink" href="#access-to-protected-member-functions" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>When an instance of a C++ class is not created from Python it is not possible
to access the protected member functions, or emit any signals, of that
instance. Attempts to do so will raise a Python exception. Also, any Python
methods corresponding to the instance’s virtual member functions will never be
called.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="none-and-null">
<h2><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">None</span></tt> and <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">NULL</span></tt><a class="headerlink" href="#none-and-null" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>Throughout PyQt4, the <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">None</span></tt> value can be specified wherever <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">NULL</span></tt> is
acceptable to the underlying C++ code.</p>
<p>Equally, <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">NULL</span></tt> is converted to <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">None</span></tt> whenever it is returned by the
underlying C++ code.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="support-for-void">
<h2>Support for <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">void</span> <span class="pre">*</span></tt><a class="headerlink" href="#support-for-void" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>PyQt4 (actually SIP) represents <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">void</span> <span class="pre">*</span></tt> values as objects of type
<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">sip.voidptr</span></tt>. Such values are often used to pass the addresses of external
objects between different Python modules. To make this easier, a Python
integer (or anything that Python can convert to an integer) can be used
whenever a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">sip.voidptr</span></tt> is expected.</p>
<p>A <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">sip.voidptr</span></tt> may be converted to a Python integer by using the <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">int()</span></tt>
builtin function.</p>
<p>A <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">sip.voidptr</span></tt> may be converted to a Python string by using its
<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">asstring()</span></tt> method. The <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">asstring()</span></tt> method takes an optional integer
argument which is the length of the data in bytes.</p>
<p>A <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">sip.voidptr</span></tt> may also be given a size (ie. the size of the block of
memory that is pointed to) by calling its <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">setsize()</span></tt> method. If it has a
size then it is also able to support Python’s buffer protocol and behaves like
a Python <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">memoryview</span></tt> object so that the block of memory can be treated as a
mutable list of bytes. It also means that the Python <tt class="xref py py-mod docutils literal"><span class="pre">struct</span></tt> module can
be used to unpack and pack binary data structures in memory, memory mapped
files or shared memory.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="super-and-pyqt4-classes">
<h2><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">super</span></tt> and PyQt4 Classes<a class="headerlink" href="#super-and-pyqt4-classes" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>In versions of PyQt4 earlier than v4.5 there were restrictions on the use of
<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">super</span></tt> with PyQt4 classes. These restrictions no longer apply with v4.5 and
later.</p>
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<h3><a href="index.html">Table Of Contents</a></h3>
<ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#">Things to be Aware Of</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#python-strings-qt-strings-and-unicode">Python Strings, Qt Strings and Unicode</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#garbage-collection">Garbage Collection</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#multiple-inheritance">Multiple Inheritance</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#access-to-protected-member-functions">Access to Protected Member Functions</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#none-and-null"><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">None</span></tt> and <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">NULL</span></tt></a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#support-for-void">Support for <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">void</span> <span class="pre">*</span></tt></a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#super-and-pyqt4-classes"><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">super</span></tt> and PyQt4 Classes</a></li>
</ul>
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