summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/doc/src/howtos/appicon.qdoc
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'doc/src/howtos/appicon.qdoc')
-rw-r--r--doc/src/howtos/appicon.qdoc230
1 files changed, 230 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/doc/src/howtos/appicon.qdoc b/doc/src/howtos/appicon.qdoc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2452689bdf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/src/howtos/appicon.qdoc
@@ -0,0 +1,230 @@
+/****************************************************************************
+**
+** Copyright (C) 2009 Nokia Corporation and/or its subsidiary(-ies).
+** Contact: Nokia Corporation (qt-info@nokia.com)
+**
+** This file is part of the documentation of the Qt Toolkit.
+**
+** $QT_BEGIN_LICENSE:LGPL$
+** No Commercial Usage
+** This file contains pre-release code and may not be distributed.
+** You may use this file in accordance with the terms and conditions
+** contained in the either Technology Preview License Agreement or the
+** Beta Release License Agreement.
+**
+** GNU Lesser General Public License Usage
+** Alternatively, this file may be used under the terms of the GNU Lesser
+** General Public License version 2.1 as published by the Free Software
+** Foundation and appearing in the file LICENSE.LGPL included in the
+** packaging of this file. Please review the following information to
+** ensure the GNU Lesser General Public License version 2.1 requirements
+** will be met: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/lgpl-2.1.html.
+**
+** In addition, as a special exception, Nokia gives you certain
+** additional rights. These rights are described in the Nokia Qt LGPL
+** Exception version 1.0, included in the file LGPL_EXCEPTION.txt in this
+** package.
+**
+** GNU General Public License Usage
+** Alternatively, this file may be used under the terms of the GNU
+** General Public License version 3.0 as published by the Free Software
+** Foundation and appearing in the file LICENSE.GPL included in the
+** packaging of this file. Please review the following information to
+** ensure the GNU General Public License version 3.0 requirements will be
+** met: http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html.
+**
+** If you are unsure which license is appropriate for your use, please
+** contact the sales department at http://qt.nokia.com/contact.
+** $QT_END_LICENSE$
+**
+****************************************************************************/
+
+/*!
+ \page appicon.html
+ \title Setting the Application Icon
+
+ \ingroup best-practices
+
+ The application icon, typically displayed in the top-left corner of an
+ application's top-level windows, is set by calling the
+ QWidget::setWindowIcon() method on top-level widgets.
+
+ In order to change the icon of the executable application file
+ itself, as it is presented on the desktop (i.e., prior to
+ application execution), it is necessary to employ another,
+ platform-dependent technique.
+
+ \tableofcontents
+
+ \section1 Setting the Application Icon on Windows
+
+ First, create an ICO format bitmap file that contains the icon
+ image. This can be done with e.g. Microsoft Visual C++: Select
+ \menu{File|New}, then select the \menu{File} tab in the dialog
+ that appears, and choose \menu{Icon}. (Note that you do not need
+ to load your application into Visual C++; here we are only using
+ the icon editor.)
+
+ Store the ICO file in your application's source code directory,
+ for example, with the name \c myappico.ico. Then, create a text
+ file called, say, \c myapp.rc in which you put a single line of
+ text:
+
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_appicon.qdoc 0
+
+ Finally, assuming you are using \c qmake to generate your
+ makefiles, add this line to your \c myapp.pro file:
+
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_appicon.qdoc 1
+
+ Regenerate your makefile and your application. The \c .exe file
+ will now be represented with your icon in Explorer.
+
+ If you do not use \c qmake, the necessary steps are: first, run
+ the \c rc program on the \c .rc file, then link your application
+ with the resulting \c .res file.
+
+ \section1 Setting the Application Icon on Mac OS X
+
+ The application icon, typically displayed in the application dock
+ area, is set by calling QWidget::setWindowIcon() on a top-level
+ widget. It is possible that the program could appear in the
+ application dock area before the function call, in which case a
+ default icon will appear during the bouncing animation.
+
+ To ensure that the correct icon appears, both when the application is
+ being launched, and in the Finder, it is necessary to employ a
+ platform-dependent technique.
+
+ Although many programs can create icon files (\c .icns), the
+ recommended approach is to use the \e{Icon Composer} program
+ supplied by Apple (in the \c Developer/Application folder).
+ \e{Icon Composer} allows you to import several different sized
+ icons (for use in different contexts) as well as the masks that
+ go with them. Save the set of icons to a file in your project
+ directory.
+
+ If you are using qmake to generate your makefiles, you only need
+ to add a single line to your \c .pro project file. For example,
+ if the name of your icon file is \c{myapp.icns}, and your project
+ file is \c{myapp.pro}, add this line to \c{myapp.pro}:
+
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_appicon.qdoc 2
+
+ This will ensure that \c qmake puts your icons in the proper
+ place and creates an \c{Info.plist} entry for the icon.
+
+ If you do not use \c qmake, you must do the following manually:
+ \list 1
+ \i Create an \c Info.plist file for your application (using the
+ \c PropertyListEditor, found in \c Developer/Applications).
+ \i Associate your \c .icns record with the \c CFBundleIconFile record in the
+ \c Info.plist file (again, using the \c PropertyListEditor).
+ \i Copy the \c Info.plist file into your application bundle's \c Contents
+ directory.
+ \i Copy the \c .icns file into your application bundle's \c Contents/Resources
+ directory.
+ \endlist
+
+ \section1 Setting the Application Icon on Common Linux Desktops
+
+ In this section we briefly describe the issues involved in providing
+ icons for applications for two common Linux desktop environments:
+ \l{http://www.kde.org/}{KDE} and \l{http://www.gnome.org/}{GNOME}.
+ The core technology used to describe application icons
+ is the same for both desktops, and may also apply to others, but there
+ are details which are specific to each. The main source of information
+ on the standards used by these Linux desktops is
+ \l{http://www.freedesktop.org/}{freedesktop.org}. For information
+ on other Linux desktops please refer to the documentation for the
+ desktops you are interested in.
+
+ Often, users do not use executable files directly, but instead launch
+ applications by clicking icons on the desktop. These icons are
+ representations of "desktop entry files" that contain a description of
+ the application that includes information about its icon. Both desktop
+ environments are able to retrieve the information in these files, and
+ they use it to generate shortcuts to applications on the desktop, in
+ the start menu, and on the panel.
+
+ More information about desktop entry files can be found in the
+ \l{http://www.freedesktop.org/Standards/desktop-entry-spec}{Desktop Entry
+ Specification}.
+
+ Although desktop entry files can usefully encapsulate the application's details,
+ we still need to store the icons in the conventional location for each desktop
+ environment. A number of locations for icons are given in the
+ \l{http://www.freedesktop.org/Standards/icon-theme-spec}{Icon Theme
+ Specification}.
+
+ Although the path used to locate icons depends on the desktop in use,
+ and on its configuration, the directory structure beneath each of
+ these should follow the same pattern: subdirectories are arranged by
+ theme, icon size, and application type. Generally, application icons
+ are added to the hicolor theme, so a square application icon 32 pixels
+ in size would be stored in the \c hicolor/32x32/apps directory beneath
+ the icon path.
+
+ \section2 K Desktop Environment (KDE)
+
+ Application icons can be installed for use by all users, or on a per-user basis.
+ A user currently logged into their KDE desktop can discover these locations
+ by using \l{http://developer.kde.org/documentation/other/kde-config.html}{kde-config},
+ for example, by typing the following in a terminal window:
+
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_appicon.qdoc 3
+
+ Typically, the list of colon-separated paths printed to stdout includes the
+ user-specific icon path and the system-wide path. Beneath these
+ directories, it should be possible to locate and install icons according
+ to the conventions described in the
+ \l{http://www.freedesktop.org/Standards/icon-theme-spec}{Icon Theme Specification}.
+
+ If you are developing exclusively for KDE, you may wish to take
+ advantage of the \link
+ http://developer.kde.org/documentation/other/makefile_am_howto.html
+ KDE build system\endlink to configure your application. This ensures
+ that your icons are installed in the appropriate locations for KDE.
+
+ The KDE developer website is at \l{http://developer.kde.org/}.
+
+ \section2 GNOME
+
+ Application icons are stored within a standard system-wide
+ directory containing architecture-independent files. This
+ location can be determined by using \c gnome-config, for example
+ by typing the following in a terminal window:
+
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_appicon.qdoc 4
+
+ The path printed on stdout refers to a location that should contain a directory
+ called \c{pixmaps}; the directory structure within the \c pixmaps
+ directory is described in the \link
+ http://www.freedesktop.org/Standards/icon-theme-spec Icon Theme
+ Specification \endlink.
+
+ If you are developing exclusively for GNOME, you may wish to use
+ the standard set of \link
+ http://developer.gnome.org/tools/build.html GNU Build Tools\endlink,
+ also described in the relevant section of
+ the \link http://developer.gnome.org/doc/GGAD/ggad.html GTK+/Gnome
+ Application Development book\endlink. This ensures that your icons are
+ installed in the appropriate locations for GNOME.
+
+ The GNOME developer website is at \l{http://developer.gnome.org/}.
+
+ \section1 Setting the Application Icon on S60 platforms
+
+ In order to set application icon for S60 application you need SVG-T icon.
+ How to create such SVG-T, please refer to
+ \l{http://wiki.forum.nokia.com/index.php/How_to_create_application_icon(SVG)_in_S60_3rd_edition/}
+
+ Once you have icon in correct format and assuming you are using
+ \c qmake to generate your makefiles, you only need to add a single
+ line to your \c .pro project file. For example, if the name of your
+ icon file is \c{myapp.svg}, and your project file is \c{myapp.pro},
+ add this line to \c{myapp.pro}:
+
+ \snippet doc/src/snippets/code/doc_src_appicon.qdoc 5
+
+*/