anchors.qdoc

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// Copyright (C) 2017 The Qt Company Ltd.
// SPDX-License-Identifier: LicenseRef-Qt-Commercial OR GFDL-1.3-no-invariants-only
 
/*!
\page qtquick-positioning-anchors.html
\title Positioning with Anchors
\brief placing items with anchor properties
 
\keyword anchor-layout
In addition to the more traditional \l Grid, \l Row, and \l Column,
Qt Quick also provides a way to layout items using the concept of \e anchors.
Each item can be thought of as having a set of 7 invisible "anchor lines":
\l {Item::anchors.left}{left}, \l {Item::anchors.horizontalCenter}{horizontalCenter},
\l {Item::anchors.right}{right}, \l {Item::anchors.top}{top},
\l {Item::anchors.verticalCenter}{verticalCenter}, \l {Item::anchors.baseline}{baseline},
and \l {Item::anchors.bottom}{bottom}.
 
\image edges_qml.png
       {Rectangle showing six anchor lines: left, right, top, bottom, and centers}
 
The baseline (not pictured above) corresponds to the imaginary line on which
text would sit. For items with no text it is the same as \e top.
 
The Qt Quick anchoring system allows you to define relationships between the anchor lines of different items. For example, you can write:
 
\code
Rectangle { id: rect1; ... }
Rectangle { id: rect2; anchors.left: rect1.right; ... }
\endcode
 
In this case, the left edge of \e rect2 is bound to the right edge of \e rect1, producing the following:
 
\image edge1.png {rect1 and rect2 side by side with left edge anchored to right}
 
 
You can specify multiple anchors. For example:
 
\code
Rectangle { id: rect1; ... }
Rectangle { id: rect2; anchors.left: rect1.right; anchors.top: rect1.bottom; ... }
\endcode
 
\image edge3.png {rect2 positioned below and to the right of rect1}
 
By specifying multiple horizontal or vertical anchors you can control the size of an item. Below,
\e rect2 is anchored to the right of \e rect1 and the left of \e rect3. If either of the blue
rectangles are moved, \e rect2 will stretch and shrink as necessary:
 
\code
Rectangle { id: rect1; x: 0; ... }
Rectangle { id: rect2; anchors.left: rect1.right; anchors.right: rect3.left; ... }
Rectangle { id: rect3; x: 150; ... }
\endcode
 
\image edge4.png {rect2 stretched between rect1 on left and rect3 on right}
 
There are also some convenience anchors. \c anchors.fill is a convenience that
is the same as setting the left, right, top, and bottom anchors to the
left, right, top and bottom of the target item. \c anchors.centerIn is another
convenience anchor, and is the same as setting the \c verticalCenter and
\c horizontalCenter anchors to the \c verticalCenter and \c horizontalCenter of
the target item.
 
\section1 Anchor Margins and Offsets
 
The anchoring system also allows \e margins and \e offsets to be specified for an item's anchors.
Margins specify the amount of empty space to leave to the outside of an item's anchor, while
offsets allow positioning to be manipulated using the center anchor lines.  An item can
specify its anchor margins individually through \l {Item::anchors.leftMargin}{leftMargin},
\l {Item::anchors.rightMargin}{rightMargin}, \l {Item::anchors.topMargin}{topMargin} and
\l {Item::anchors.bottomMargin}{bottomMargin}, or use \l {Item::}{anchors.margins} to
specify the same margin value for all four edges. Anchor offsets are specified using
\l {Item::anchors.horizontalCenterOffset}{horizontalCenterOffset},
\l {Item::anchors.verticalCenterOffset}{verticalCenterOffset} and
\l {Item::anchors.baselineOffset}{baselineOffset}.
 
\image margins_qml.png
       {Rectangle with labeled margin areas: top, bottom, left, right}
 
The following example specifies a left margin:
 
\code
Rectangle { id: rect1; ... }
Rectangle { id: rect2; anchors.left: rect1.right; anchors.leftMargin: 5; ... }
\endcode
 
In this case, a margin of 5 pixels is reserved to the left of \e rect2, producing the following:
 
\image edge2.png {rect1 and rect2 side by side with margin gap between them}
 
\note Anchor margins only apply to anchors; they are \e not a generic means of applying margins to an \l Item.
If an anchor margin is specified for an edge but the item is not anchored to any item on that
edge, the margin is not applied.
 
\section1 Changing Anchors
 
Qt Quick provides the AnchorChanges type for specifying the anchors in a state.
 
\qml
State {
    name: "anchorRight"
    AnchorChanges {
        target: rect2
        anchors.right: parent.right
        anchors.left: undefined  //remove the left anchor
    }
}
\endqml
 
AnchorChanges can be animated using the AnchorAnimation type.
 
\qml
Transition {
    AnchorAnimation {}  //animates any AnchorChanges in the corresponding state change
}
\endqml
 
Anchors can also be changed imperatively within JavaScript. However, these changes should be
carefully ordered, or they may produce unexpected outcomes. The following example illustrates the issue:
 
\table
\row
\li
    \code
    // May produce unexpected results
    Rectangle {
        width: 50
        anchors.left: parent.left
 
        function reanchorToRight() {
            anchors.right = parent.right
            anchors.left = undefined
        }
    }
    \endcode
\li
    \image anchor_ordering_bad.png
           {Three steps showing rect1 stretching unexpectedly when reanchoring}
\endtable
 
 
When \c reanchorToRight is called, the function first sets the right anchor. At that point, both left
and right anchors are set, and the item will be stretched horizontally to fill its parent. When the left
anchor is unset, the new width will remain. Thus when updating anchors within JavaScript,  you should
first unset any anchors that are no longer required, and only then set any new anchors that are required,
as shown below:
 
\table
\row
\li
    \qml
    // Correct code
    Rectangle {
        width: 50
        anchors.left: parent.left
 
        function reanchorToRight() {
            anchors.left = undefined
            anchors.right = parent.right
        }
    }
    \endqml
\li
    \image anchor_ordering.png
           {Three steps showing rect1 correctly moving from left to right anchor}
\endtable
 
Because the evaluation order of bindings is not defined, it is not recommended to change anchors via
conditional bindings, as this can lead to the ordering issue described above. In the following example
the \c Rectangle will eventually grow to the full width of its parent, because both left and right anchors
will be simultaneously set during binding update.
 
\code
// May produce unexpected results
Rectangle {
    width: 50; height: 50
    anchors.left: state == "right" ? undefined : parent.left;
    anchors.right: state == "right" ? parent.right : undefined;
}
\endcode
 
This should be rewritten to use \l AnchorChanges instead, as \l AnchorChanges
will automatically handle ordering issues internally. Here's how to rewrite the
above example correctly:
 
\qml
// Correct code
Rectangle {
    id: rect
    width: 50; height: 50
    anchors.left: parent.left  // initial position
 
    states: State {
        name: "rightAligned"
        AnchorChanges {
            target: rect
            anchors.left: undefined
            anchors.right: parent.right
        }
    }
    function toggleAnchoring() {
        parent.state = (parent.state == "" ? "rightAligned" : "")
    }
}
\endqml
 
\section1 Restrictions
 
For performance reasons, you can only anchor an item to its siblings and direct parent. For example,
the following anchor is invalid and would produce a warning:
 
\code
//bad code
Item {
    id: group1
    Rectangle { id: rect1; ... }
}
Item {
    id: group2
    Rectangle { id: rect2; anchors.left: rect1.right; ... }    // invalid anchor!
}
\endcode
 
Also, anchor-based layouts cannot be mixed with absolute positioning. If an item specifies its
\l {Item::}{x} position and also sets \l {Item::}{anchors.left},
or anchors its left and right edges but additionally sets a \l {Item::}{width}, the
result is undefined, as it would not be clear whether the item should use anchoring or absolute
positioning. The same can be said for setting an item's \l {Item::}{y} and \l {Item::}{height}
with \l {Item::}{anchors.top} and \l {Item::}{anchors.bottom}, or setting \l {Item::}{anchors.fill}
as well as \l {Item::}{width} or \l {Item::}{height}. The same applies when using positioners
such as Row and Grid, which may set the item's \l {Item::}{x} and \l {Item::}{y} properties.
If you wish to change from using
anchor-based to absolute positioning, you can clear an anchor value by setting it to \c undefined.
 
*/