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<td align="right" valign="center"><img src="logo32.png" align="right" width="64" height="32" border="0"></td></tr></table><h1 align=center>QLibrary Class Reference</h1>
<p>The QLibrary class provides a wrapper for handling shared libraries.
<a href="#details">More...</a>
<p>All the functions in this class are <a href="threads.html#reentrant">reentrant</a> when Qt is built with thread support.</p>
<p><tt>#include <<a href="qlibrary-h.html">qlibrary.h</a>></tt>
<p><a href="qlibrary-members.html">List of all member functions.</a>
<h2>Public Members</h2>
<ul>
<li><div class=fn><a href="#QLibrary"><b>QLibrary</b></a> ( const QString & filename )</div></li>
<li><div class=fn>virtual <a href="#~QLibrary"><b>~QLibrary</b></a> ()</div></li>
<li><div class=fn>void * <a href="#resolve"><b>resolve</b></a> ( const char * symb )</div></li>
<li><div class=fn>bool <a href="#load"><b>load</b></a> ()</div></li>
<li><div class=fn>virtual bool <a href="#unload"><b>unload</b></a> ()</div></li>
<li><div class=fn>bool <a href="#isLoaded"><b>isLoaded</b></a> () const</div></li>
<li><div class=fn>bool <a href="#autoUnload"><b>autoUnload</b></a> () const</div></li>
<li><div class=fn>void <a href="#setAutoUnload"><b>setAutoUnload</b></a> ( bool enabled )</div></li>
<li><div class=fn>QString <a href="#library"><b>library</b></a> () const</div></li>
</ul>
<h2>Static Public Members</h2>
<ul>
<li><div class=fn>void * <a href="#resolve-2"><b>resolve</b></a> ( const QString & filename, const char * symb )</div></li>
</ul>
<hr><a name="details"></a><h2>Detailed Description</h2>
The QLibrary class provides a wrapper for handling shared libraries.
<p>
\group plugins
<p> An instance of a QLibrary object can handle a single shared
library and provide access to the functionality in the library in
a platform independent way. If the library is a component server,
QLibrary provides access to the exported component and can
directly query this component for interfaces.
<p> QLibrary ensures that the shared library is loaded and stays in
memory whilst it is in use. QLibrary can also unload the library
on destruction and release unused resources.
<p> A typical use of QLibrary is to resolve an exported symbol in a
shared object, and to call the function that this symbol
represents. This is called "explicit linking" in contrast to
"implicit linking", which is done by the link step in the build
process when linking an executable against a library.
<p> The following code snippet loads a library, resolves the symbol
"mysymbol", and calls the function if everything succeeded. If
something went wrong, e.g. the library file does not exist or the
symbol is not defined, the function pointer will be 0 and won't be
called. When the QLibrary object is destroyed the library will be
unloaded, making all references to memory allocated in the library
invalid.
<p> <pre>
typedef void (*MyPrototype)();
MyPrototype myFunction;
QLibrary myLib( "mylib" );
myFunction = (MyProtoype) myLib.<a href="#resolve">resolve</a>( "mysymbol" );
if ( myFunction ) {
myFunction();
}
</pre>
<hr><h2>Member Function Documentation</h2>
<h3 class=fn><a name="QLibrary"></a>QLibrary::QLibrary ( const <a href="qstring.html">QString</a> & filename )
</h3>
Creates a QLibrary object for the shared library <em>filename</em>. The
library will be unloaded in the destructor.
<p> Note that <em>filename</em> does not need to include the (platform specific)
file extension, so calling
<pre>
QLibrary lib( "mylib" );
</pre>
is equivalent to calling
<pre>
QLibrary lib( "mylib.dll" );
</pre>
on Windows, and
<pre>
QLibrary lib( "libmylib.so" );
</pre>
on Unix. Specifying the extension is not recommended, since
doing so introduces a platform dependency.
<p> If <em>filename</em> does not include a path, the library loader will
look for the file in the platform specific search paths.
<p> <p>See also <a href="#load">load</a>(), <a href="#unload">unload</a>(), and <a href="#setAutoUnload">setAutoUnload</a>().
<h3 class=fn><a name="~QLibrary"></a>QLibrary::~QLibrary ()<tt> [virtual]</tt>
</h3>
Deletes the QLibrary object.
<p> The library will be unloaded if <a href="#autoUnload">autoUnload</a>() is TRUE (the
default), otherwise it stays in memory until the application
exits.
<p> <p>See also <a href="#unload">unload</a>() and <a href="#setAutoUnload">setAutoUnload</a>().
<h3 class=fn>bool <a name="autoUnload"></a>QLibrary::autoUnload () const
</h3>
Returns TRUE if the library will be automatically unloaded when
this wrapper object is destructed; otherwise returns FALSE. The
default is TRUE.
<p> <p>See also <a href="#setAutoUnload">setAutoUnload</a>().
<h3 class=fn>bool <a name="isLoaded"></a>QLibrary::isLoaded () const
</h3>
Returns TRUE if the library is loaded; otherwise returns FALSE.
<p> <p>See also <a href="#unload">unload</a>().
<h3 class=fn><a href="qstring.html">QString</a> <a name="library"></a>QLibrary::library () const
</h3>
Returns the filename of the shared library this QLibrary object
handles, including the platform specific file extension.
<p> For example:
<pre>
QLibrary lib( "mylib" );
<a href="qstring.html">QString</a> str = lib.<a href="#library">library</a>();
</pre>
will set <em>str</em> to "mylib.dll" on Windows, and "libmylib.so" on Linux.
<h3 class=fn>bool <a name="load"></a>QLibrary::load ()
</h3>
Loads the library. Since <a href="#resolve">resolve</a>() always calls this function
before resolving any symbols it is not necessary to call it
explicitly. In some situations you might want the library loaded
in advance, in which case you would use this function.
<h3 class=fn>void * <a name="resolve"></a>QLibrary::resolve ( const char * symb )
</h3>
Returns the address of the exported symbol <em>symb</em>. The library is
loaded if necessary. The function returns 0 if the symbol could
not be resolved or the library could not be loaded.
<p> <pre>
typedef int (*avgProc)( int, int );
avgProc avg = (avgProc) library->resolve( "avg" );
if ( avg )
return avg( 5, 8 );
else
return -1;
</pre>
<p>
<h3 class=fn>void * <a name="resolve-2"></a>QLibrary::resolve ( const <a href="qstring.html">QString</a> & filename, const char * symb )<tt> [static]</tt>
</h3>
This is an overloaded member function, provided for convenience. It behaves essentially like the above function.
<p> Loads the library <em>filename</em> and returns the address of the
exported symbol <em>symb</em>. Note that like the constructor, <em>filename</em> does not need to include the (platform specific) file
extension. The library remains loaded until the process exits.
<p> The function returns 0 if the symbol could not be resolved or the
library could not be loaded.
<p> This function is useful only if you want to resolve a single
symbol, e.g. a function pointer from a specific library once:
<p> <pre>
typedef void (*FunctionType)();
static FunctionType *ptrFunction = 0;
static bool triedResolve = FALSE;
if ( !ptrFunction && !triedResolve )
ptrFunction = QLibrary::<a href="#resolve">resolve</a>( "mylib", "mysymb" );
if ( ptrFunction )
ptrFunction();
else
...
</pre>
<p> If you want to resolve multiple symbols, use a QLibrary object and
call the non-static version of <a href="#resolve">resolve</a>().
<p> <p>See also
<h3 class=fn>void <a name="setAutoUnload"></a>QLibrary::setAutoUnload ( bool enabled )
</h3>
If <em>enabled</em> is TRUE (the default), the wrapper object is set to
automatically unload the library upon destruction. If <em>enabled</em>
is FALSE, the wrapper object is not unloaded unless you explicitly
call <a href="#unload">unload</a>().
<p> <p>See also <a href="#autoUnload">autoUnload</a>().
<h3 class=fn>bool <a name="unload"></a>QLibrary::unload ()<tt> [virtual]</tt>
</h3>
Unloads the library and returns TRUE if the library could be
unloaded; otherwise returns FALSE.
<p> This function is called by the destructor if <a href="#autoUnload">autoUnload</a>() is
enabled.
<p> <p>See also <a href="#resolve">resolve</a>().
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