QDockWidget

The QDockWidget class provides a widget that can be docked inside a QMainWindow or floated as a top-level window on the desktop. More…

Inheritance diagram of PySide6.QtWidgets.QDockWidget

Synopsis

Functions

Virtual functions

Signals

Detailed Description

QDockWidget provides the concept of dock widgets, also know as tool palettes or utility windows. Dock windows are secondary windows placed in the dock widget area around the central widget in a QMainWindow .

../../_images/mainwindow-docks.png

Dock windows can be moved inside their current area, moved into new areas and floated (e.g., undocked) by the end-user. The QDockWidget API allows the programmer to restrict the dock widgets ability to move, float and close, as well as the areas in which they can be placed.

Appearance

A QDockWidget consists of a title bar and the content area. The title bar displays the dock widgets window title , a float button and a close button. Depending on the state of the QDockWidget , the float and close buttons may be either disabled or not shown at all.

The visual appearance of the title bar and buttons is dependent on the style in use.

A QDockWidget acts as a wrapper for its child widget, set with setWidget() . Custom size hints, minimum and maximum sizes and size policies should be implemented in the child widget. QDockWidget will respect them, adjusting its own constraints to include the frame and title. Size constraints should not be set on the QDockWidget itself, because they change depending on whether it is docked; a docked QDockWidget has no frame and a smaller title bar.

Note

On macOS, if the QDockWidget has a native window handle (for example, if winId() is called on it or the child widget), then due to a limitation it will not be possible to drag the dock widget when undocking. Starting the drag will undock the dock widget, but a second drag will be needed to move the dock widget itself.

See also

QMainWindow Dock Widgets Example

class PySide6.QtWidgets.QDockWidget([parent=None[, flags=Qt.WindowFlags()]])

PySide6.QtWidgets.QDockWidget(title[, parent=None[, flags=Qt.WindowFlags()]])

Parameters

Constructs a QDockWidget with parent parent and window flags flags. The dock widget will be placed in the left dock widget area.

Constructs a QDockWidget with parent parent and window flags flags. The dock widget will be placed in the left dock widget area.

The window title is set to title. This title is used when the QDockWidget is docked and undocked. It is also used in the context menu provided by QMainWindow .

See also

setWindowTitle()

PySide6.QtWidgets.QDockWidget.DockWidgetFeature

Constant

Description

QDockWidget.DockWidgetClosable

The dock widget can be closed. On some systems the dock widget always has a close button when it’s floating (for example on MacOS 10.5).

QDockWidget.DockWidgetMovable

The dock widget can be moved between docks by the user.

QDockWidget.DockWidgetFloatable

The dock widget can be detached from the main window, and floated as an independent window.

QDockWidget.DockWidgetVerticalTitleBar

The dock widget displays a vertical title bar on its left side. This can be used to increase the amount of vertical space in a QMainWindow .

QDockWidget.NoDockWidgetFeatures

The dock widget cannot be closed, moved, or floated.
PySide6.QtWidgets.QDockWidget.allowedAreas()
Return type

DockWidgetAreas

This property holds areas where the dock widget may be placed.

The default is AllDockWidgetAreas .

See also

DockWidgetArea

PySide6.QtWidgets.QDockWidget.allowedAreasChanged(allowedAreas)
Parameters

allowedAreas – DockWidgetAreas

PySide6.QtWidgets.QDockWidget.dockLocationChanged(area)
Parameters

area – DockWidgetArea

PySide6.QtWidgets.QDockWidget.features()
Return type

DockWidgetFeatures

This property holds whether the dock widget is movable, closable, and floatable.

By default, this property is set to a combination of DockWidgetClosable , DockWidgetMovable and DockWidgetFloatable .

See also

DockWidgetFeature

PySide6.QtWidgets.QDockWidget.featuresChanged(features)
Parameters

features – DockWidgetFeatures

PySide6.QtWidgets.QDockWidget.initStyleOption(option)
Parameters

option – PySide6.QtWidgets.QStyleOptionDockWidget

Initialize option with the values from this QDockWidget . This method is useful for subclasses when they need a QStyleOptionDockWidget , but don’t want to fill in all the information themselves.

See also

initFrom()

PySide6.QtWidgets.QDockWidget.isAreaAllowed(area)
Parameters

area – DockWidgetArea

Return type

bool

Returns true if this dock widget can be placed in the given area; otherwise returns false.

PySide6.QtWidgets.QDockWidget.isFloating()
Return type

bool

This property holds whether the dock widget is floating.

A floating dock widget is presented to the user as an independent window “on top” of its parent QMainWindow , instead of being docked in the QMainWindow .

By default, this property is true.

When this property changes, the topLevelChanged() signal is emitted.

PySide6.QtWidgets.QDockWidget.setAllowedAreas(areas)
Parameters

areas – DockWidgetAreas

This property holds areas where the dock widget may be placed.

The default is AllDockWidgetAreas .

See also

DockWidgetArea

PySide6.QtWidgets.QDockWidget.setFeatures(features)
Parameters

features – DockWidgetFeatures

This property holds whether the dock widget is movable, closable, and floatable.

By default, this property is set to a combination of DockWidgetClosable , DockWidgetMovable and DockWidgetFloatable .

See also

DockWidgetFeature

PySide6.QtWidgets.QDockWidget.setFloating(floating)
Parameters

floating – bool

This property holds whether the dock widget is floating.

A floating dock widget is presented to the user as an independent window “on top” of its parent QMainWindow , instead of being docked in the QMainWindow .

By default, this property is true.

When this property changes, the topLevelChanged() signal is emitted.

PySide6.QtWidgets.QDockWidget.setTitleBarWidget(widget)
Parameters

widget – PySide6.QtWidgets.QWidget

Sets an arbitrary widget as the dock widget’s title bar. If widget is None, any custom title bar widget previously set on the dock widget is removed, but not deleted, and the default title bar will be used instead.

If a title bar widget is set, QDockWidget will not use native window decorations when it is floated.

Here are some tips for implementing custom title bars:

  • Mouse events that are not explicitly handled by the title bar widget must be ignored by calling ignore() . These events then propagate to the QDockWidget parent, which handles them in the usual manner, moving when the title bar is dragged, docking and undocking when it is double-clicked, etc.

  • When DockWidgetVerticalTitleBar is set on QDockWidget , the title bar widget is repositioned accordingly. In resizeEvent() , the title bar should check what orientation it should assume:

    dockWidget = QDockWidget(parentWidget())
if dockWidget.features()  QDockWidget.DockWidgetVerticalTitleBar:
    # I need to be vertical
else:
    # I need to be horizontal

  • The title bar widget must have a valid sizeHint() and minimumSizeHint() . These functions should take into account the current orientation of the title bar.

  • It is not possible to remove a title bar from a dock widget. However, a similar effect can be achieved by setting a default constructed QWidget as the title bar widget.

Using qobject_cast() as shown above, the title bar widget has full access to its parent QDockWidget . Hence it can perform such operations as docking and hiding in response to user actions.

See also

titleBarWidget() DockWidgetVerticalTitleBar

PySide6.QtWidgets.QDockWidget.setWidget(widget)
Parameters

widget – PySide6.QtWidgets.QWidget

Sets the widget for the dock widget to widget.

If the dock widget is visible when widget is added, you must show() it explicitly.

Note that you must add the layout of the widget before you call this function; if not, the widget will not be visible.

See also

widget()

PySide6.QtWidgets.QDockWidget.titleBarWidget()
Return type

PySide6.QtWidgets.QWidget

Returns the custom title bar widget set on the QDockWidget , or None if no custom title bar has been set.

PySide6.QtWidgets.QDockWidget.toggleViewAction()
Return type

PySide6.QtGui.QAction

Returns a checkable action that can be added to menus and toolbars so that the user can show or close this dock widget.

The action’s text is set to the dock widget’s window title.

Note

The action can not be used to programmatically show or hide the dock widget. Use the visible property for that.

See also

text windowTitle

PySide6.QtWidgets.QDockWidget.topLevelChanged(topLevel)
Parameters

topLevel – bool

PySide6.QtWidgets.QDockWidget.visibilityChanged(visible)
Parameters

visible – bool

PySide6.QtWidgets.QDockWidget.widget()
Return type

PySide6.QtWidgets.QWidget

Returns the widget for the dock widget. This function returns zero if the widget has not been set.

See also

setWidget()