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/** \file Architecture.dox
* \brief KDevelop architecture
*/
/** \page architecture KDevelop Architecture
\section source_overview Platform Source Overview
\subsection what_is_platform Platform Vs. Others
The idea is that kdevplatform contains:
- Everything to create platform plugins
- Everything to create platform applications
- Commonly used/important plugins
.
\subsection platform_code Platform Code Layout
Platform consists of
- interfaces
- interfaces that expose everything necessary for plugins
.
- shell
- implements interfaces and basically provides a ready-to-use and extend application.
.
- sublime
- the user interface library
.
- project and language
- additional libraries for project managers and language supports (usable for other plugins as well)
.
- plugins
- common plugins, ie those that could be useful for other applications than just KDevelop
.
- outputview
- allows plugins to easily implement toolviews that show line-by-line output. for example make build output.
.
- vcs
- central & distributed version control library
.
.
\subsection platform_for_plugins What to Use in Plugins
- Plugins need to link to the interfaces
- Plugins should never link to the shell
- Plugins should not need to link to the sublime library
- Plugins can optionally link to other helper libraries in platform when necessary
.
\subsection platform_coding_conventions Current Platform Coding Conventions
-- The preferred coding style is http://www.kdevelop.org/mediawiki/index.php/Coding_Guidelines
- All platform classes shall be in the KDevelop namespace
- All files should be named without a kdev prefix
- All files have to be installed in subdirectories under ${INCLUDE_INSTALL_DIR}/kdevplatform/
- All interface names should start with an I (e.g. KDevelop::IFoo) and the files should be named ifoo.h and ifoo.cpp
- All interface implementations are named KDevelop::Foo and their files foo.h/cpp
.
\section code_overview Platform Code Overview
\subsection core ICore/Core
Core is the central class. It provides access to all shell functionality.
There's a KDevelop::ICore interface and a KDevelop::Core implementation.
The KDevelop::ICore interface gives access to all controllers exposed via
interfaces. Each plugin is initialized with an KDevelop::ICore pointer so
it always has access to the core via the KDevelop::IPlugin::core method.
Core is a singleton that needs to be manually initialized by platform
applications using \ref KDevelop::Core::initialize right after the KApplication
object is created and ShellExtension is initialized. KDevelop::ShellExtension
the mechanism platform applications define which UI configuration files are
used and what the default profile is. Use KDevelop::ShellExtension::defaultArea
to define the name of default UI area (see below for more information about areas).
\subsection plugin IPlugin
All concrete plugins must inherit from KDevelop::IPlugin. Extension interfaces
can be used to handle groups of similar plugins in a generic fashion, see below.
Each plugin must have an associated .desktop file, as described in the
KPluginInfo class documentation.
\subsection extensions Extension Interfaces and Plugins
The idea behind extension interfaces is to provide following features:
- To allow plugins to expose their functionality via abstract interfaces
and at the same time allow them to not care about binary compatibility
and to not force a plugin to link against another plugin.\n \n The documentation
plugin would be a good example of a piece of non-core functionality
that could be exported via an IDocumentation extension interface with methods like
lookupInDocumentation(const QString &) and others. The outputview plugin with
has an IOutputView interface which is another example of such a use-case. The
IOutputView interface provided by the outputview plugin can be used by other
plugins to display information to the user with the other plugin not caring
about the specific implementation details of the outputview plugin
- To provide implementations of important functionality in plugins.\n \n
Good examples are buildsystem managers, builders, and language supports in
KDevelop4. When a project is opened, a buildsystem manager plugin (that
implements either IBuildSystemManager interface or IProjectFileManager) is
looked for by the shell and loaded.
- To forget about binary compatibility issues of dependent plugins.\n \n
In case the plugin has something new to expose, a new version of the
extension interface has to be defined. All other plugins will either continue
using the old interface or ask for the new one.
.
The extension interfaces framework is implemented with QExtensionManager and
company. See the Qt documentation for more information.
KDevelop::IBuildSystemManager is an example of an extension interface.
Plugins that implement this provide build and/or compile functionality.
An other example is KDevelop::ILanguageSupport which abstracts away language
specific details from shell.
\subsubsection declare_extension To declare an extension interface:
- Create an abstract class
- Add macros declaring the interface to your abstract class' header file
- If your abstract class is in a namespace use the following:
\code
Q_DECLARE_INTERFACE( KDevelop::IMyInterface, "org.kdevelop.IMyInterface" )
\endcode
- Otherwise use:
\code
Q_DECLARE_INTERFACE( IMyInterface, "org.kdevelop.IMyInterface" )
\endcode
.
\note The use of nested namespaces is not supported.
.
\subsubsection implement_extension To implement an extension interface:
- Create a class that inherits from KDevelop::IPlugin
- Add the interface you wish to implement to the inheritance chain for your
new plugin class (use multiple inheritance here)
- Add a Q_INTERFACES macro to your class declaration. \n \n It should be in the
same section as the Q_OBJECT macro. The argument to the Q_INTERFACES macro
should be the name of the interface you're inheriting from. \n \n For
example, if one is using the IMyInterface interface, one would add
\code
Q_INTERFACES( IMyInterface )
\endcode
to one's class declaration.
- Add the following to the plugin's .desktop file:
\code
X-KDevelop-Interfaces=IMyInterface
\endcode
Replacing IMyInterface which the class name of one's interface.
.
Here's an example putting all of the above together:
\code
class MyPlugin: public KDevelop::IPlugin, public KDevelop::IMyInterface
{
Q_OBJECT
Q_INTERFACES(KDevelop::IMyInterface)
public:
MyPlugin(QObject* parent) : IPlugin( parent )
{
}
};
\endcode
\subsubsection load_extension To load a plugin that supports a certain extension interface:
- Use KDevelop::IPluginController::pluginForExtension if you have only one
possible plugin implementing the extension interface
- Or use KDevelop::IPluginController::allPluginsForExtension to return a list
of plugins. \n \note The above methods will load plugins to verify they implement the
extension being asked for if needed.
- Once an KDevelop::IPlugin pointer is returned by one of two methods above,
it can be asked for an extension using KDevelop::IPlugin::extension
.
\subsubsection interplugin_dependency To set a dependency between interfaces:
- Set the list of required interfaces in plugin's .desktop file
\code
X-KDevelop-IRequired=IMyInterface,IMyOtherInterface
\endcode
.
It is not possible to set direct inter-plugin dependencies. One plugin shall
never depend on another plugin, it shall only depend on something that
implements an interface.
\subsection project Project Management Infrastructure
KDevelop4 can have multiple projects open at any given time.
Project management structure:
\code
|--------------------| |-------------------------------|
|---->| KDevelop::IProject |------>| KDevelop::IProjectFileManager |
| |--------------------| |-------------------------------|
| |
|------------------------------| | |------------------------|
| KDevelop::IProjectController |------->| KDevelop::ProjectModel |
|------------------------------| | |------------------------|
| |
| |--------------------| |-------------------------------|
|---->| KDevelop::IProject |------>| KDevelop::IBuildSystemManager |
|--------------------| |-------------------------------|
\endcode
ProjectController is a container for projects (KDevelop::IProject interface). Each project contributes
its contents (files, folders, targets, etc.) to the KDevelop::ProjectModel. Each project also has
a file manager plugin associated with it.
A project file manager is the plugin which implements either one of two
interfaces: KDevelop::IProjectFileManager or KDevelop::IBuildSystemManager. The
project file manager provides the actual project management facilities.
Plugins access project contents through classes defined in
KDevelop::ProjectModel. Examples include ProjectFolderItem, ProjectFileItem,
ProjectTargetItem, etc.
%KDevelop currently supports the notion of "current project" (the one which is
currently selected in the project management view). But plugins are encouraged
to not depend on the notion of a current project. The selection might be empty
or the project management view might be closed at any time.
%KDevelop Platform provides by default a generic project manager. This project
manager treats all files and subdirectories under the project directory as
project items and currently provides no building facilities.
The project file (<projectname>.kdev4) controls which project file
manager will be loaded. For example, this .kdev4 file will load the generic
manager:
\code
[General Options]
Manager=KDevGenericManager
\endcode
\subsection language Language Support Infrastructure
The language support infrastructure is designed to be similar to project management.
Its goals are:
- use as many language supports as necessary at the same time
- be able to load several language supports for one source file
good examples are mixed-source files like .php (php+html), .rhtml (ruby + html)
- be not dependent on projects
.
language support structure:
\code
|----------------------------|
|---->| KDevelop::ILanguageSupport |
|---------------------| | |----------------------------|
|---->| KDevelop::ILanguage |----|
| |---------------------| | |----------------------------|
| |---->| KDevelop::BackgroundParser |
|-------------------------------| | |----------------------------|
| KDevelop::ILanguageController |--|
|-------------------------------| | |----------------------------|
| |---->| KDevelop::ILanguageSupport |
| |---------------------| | |----------------------------|
|---->| KDevelop::ILanguage |----|
|---------------------| | |----------------------------|
|---->| KDevelop::BackgroundParser |
|----------------------------|
\endcode
Language controller holds the set of already loaded languages and provides means to load more.
For each language (defined by its "name") Language object exists. Each such language has
a background parser and a actual support plugin that implements KDevelop::ILanguageSupport.
This way the basic shell functionality (like language loading algorithm and background parser)
is separated from language-specific stuff (like parsing).
Unlike KDevelop3, language support plugin is loaded not among with a project. Instead, when the
source file is opened, the language controller asks plugin controller whether there are
any language plugins (those that implement KDevelop::ILanguageSupport) that support a mime type
of the file (those who set X-KDevelop-SupportedMimeTypes=...).
For each language support plugin found, the KDevelop::Language object (that implements KDevelop::ILanguage interface)
is created and language support plugin is associated with it. Then each language is asked to return
a KDevelop::ParseJob to process the file. This way several language supports are able to parse one file.
If KDevelop::Language object for given mimetype already exists, it is used and no plugin loading is performed.
\subsection uicontroller IUiController
KDevelop::UiController is closely connected to the Sublime UI and basically is an subclass of
\ref Sublime::Controller which will be explained later.
The main job of UiController is to allow plugins to manager their views and toolviews. Currently only
toolviews can be added and removed.
Sublime UI wants plugins to add and remove not actual toolviews, but factories to create them.
This is because user can request from Sublime UI to show a new toolview at any time. For example,
it is possible to have more than one Konsole toolviews. The user just have to ask for them.
Automatically factory will be used only once, when UI controller is asked to add a toolview.
This means for example that only one Konsole toolview will be opened automatically.
To create a factory, a plugin needs to subclass KDevelop::IToolViewFactory and implement two methods:
- virtual QWidget* KDevelop::IToolViewFactory::create(QWidget *parent = 0)
where the actual toolview widget will be created
- virtual Qt::DockWidgetArea KDevelop::IToolViewFactory::defaultPosition(const QString &areaName)
which will give the UI a hint on where to place the toolview
.
Once the factory is ready, it has to be added to the UiController using IUiController::addToolView() method.
It is not absolutely necessary for a plugin to remove or delete toolview factory. UiController will
delete them all upon unload.
NOTE: temporarily IUiController has KDevelop::IUiController::openUrl() method which is the only
way to open files in KDevelop until DocumentController is ported.
\subsection launch Launch Framework
- Launch Configuration (\ref KDevelop::ILaunchConfiguration)
one entry created by the user in Configure Launches
(ie an executable)
- has one Launch Configuration Type
- has a Launcher for every possible Launch Mode
- Launch Configuration Type (\ref KDevelop::LaunchConfigurationType)
native application / script
- has possible Launchers
- Launcher (\ref KDevelop::ILauncher)
creates the KJob for launching
- has LaunchConfigurationPageFactories
- supports a number of Launch Modes
- Launch Mode: execute / debug / profile
- Launch Configuration Page Factory (\ref KDevelop::LaunchConfigurationPageFactory)
creates Widget used in Configure Launches
- Launch Configuration Page (\ref KDevelop::LaunchConfigurationPage)
Widget that configures a LaunchConfiguration
- RunController (\ref KDevelop::IRunController)
- has possible Launch Configuration Types
\section sublime Sublime UI
\subsection sublime_operation Modus Operandi
- UI provides support for "areas" (alike Eclipse's perspectives)
- The basic set of areas is:
- code editing area with split editor windows \n
(with kate/konqueror-like splitting)
- debugging area \n
(Xcode-like debugger window with only one editor view by default but with possiblility to show more)
- profiling area \n
(like KCacheGrind)
- user interface design area \n
(like Qt designer)
- Area configuration includes code editor windows (unlike eclipse)
- Each area can be displayed in usual Qt mainwindow with toolviews in dockwidgets
- Areas are shown in separate mainwindows so that multiple-monitor setups become the best supported
- One area can be shown in two and more mainwindows by "cloning" the area \n
(unlike Eclipse that pretends that two mainwindows show the same area)
- Optionally areas can be switched inside the same mainwindow without opening new ones
(like in Eclipse), but this mode of operation is currently not implemented. \n
Also Sublime was not optimized for this use-case. See wiki pages for a detailed discussion and
explanation of possible problems.
- It is possible to open as many similar toolviews as necessary (for example, several konsole's)
- It is possible to open several views for the same file in code editor view (unlike KDevelop 3.x)
- Instead of tabs for editor windows a "switcher" is provided. \n
Currently the switcher is a combobox but that will change for sure.
.
\subsection sublime_architecture Brief Architecture Overview
Sublime::Controller is the central point of the whole Sublime infrastructure. It contains areas,
documents, and controlls mainwindows. \n
Sublime::Controller::showArea() is the only way to show an area in the mainwindow.
Sublime::MainWindow is just a KParts::MainWindow which knows how to "reconstruct" the area
and react on area changes. Additionally it knows which view and toolview is "active" (i.e. last focused).
Sublime::Area is the object that controls views, toolviews, and defines their placement
inside the mainwindow. Provides various view management (e.g. add/remove/etc.) methods and signals.
Also Area is responsible for storing and restoring the view layout (on-disk storage is not
implemented currently).
An area is identified by its name. Each KDevelop platform application, for example, has to define
a concept of a "default area" in ShellExtension so that the UiController can load it by default.
While areas operate on views, the Sublime Controller deals with Sublime::Document objects only.
Sublime::View is only a thin wrapper around QWidget.
Document is what provides views. Sublime::Document::createView() is the only way to get a view.
When createView() is called, the protected Sublime::Document::createViewWidget() is called to
return the actual widget for a view.
There is an abstract Sublime::Document class with no createViewWidget() implementation and
there's a convenience class Sublime::ToolDocument that can create widgets of user-specified type.
KDevelop currently uses Sublime::PartDocument which is subclassed by KDevelop::PartDocument.
This PartDocument creates a view by loading a part and then asking a part about its widget.
*/