QAction¶
The QAction
class provides an abstraction for user commands that can be added to different user interface components. More…

Inherited by: QWidgetAction
Synopsis¶
Functions¶
def
actionGroup
()def
activate
(event)def
associatedObjects
()def
autoRepeat
()def
changed
()def
checkableChanged
(checkable)def
data
()def
enabledChanged
(enabled)def
font
()def
hover
()def
hovered
()def
icon
()def
iconText
()def
isCheckable
()def
isChecked
()def
isEnabled
()def
isIconVisibleInMenu
()def
isSeparator
()def
isVisible
()def
menuRole
()def
priority
()def
resetEnabled
()def
setActionGroup
(group)def
setAutoRepeat
(arg__1)def
setCheckable
(arg__1)def
setChecked
(arg__1)def
setData
(var)def
setDisabled
(b)def
setEnabled
(arg__1)def
setFont
(font)def
setIcon
(icon)def
setIconText
(text)def
setIconVisibleInMenu
(visible)def
setMenuRole
(menuRole)def
setPriority
(priority)def
setSeparator
(b)def
setShortcut
(shortcut)def
setShortcutContext
(context)def
setShortcutVisibleInContextMenu
(show)def
setShortcuts
(arg__1)def
setShortcuts
(shortcuts)def
setStatusTip
(statusTip)def
setText
(text)def
setToolTip
(tip)def
setVisible
(arg__1)def
setWhatsThis
(what)def
shortcut
()def
shortcutContext
()def
shortcuts
()def
showStatusText
([object=None])def
statusTip
()def
text
()def
toggle
()def
toggled
(arg__1)def
toolTip
()def
trigger
()def
triggered
([checked=false])def
visibleChanged
()def
whatsThis
()
Detailed Description¶
In applications many common commands can be invoked via menus, toolbar buttons, and keyboard shortcuts. Since the user expects each command to be performed in the same way, regardless of the user interface used, it is useful to represent each command as an action.
Actions can be added to menus and toolbars, and will automatically keep them in sync. For example, in a word processor, if the user presses a Bold toolbar button, the Bold menu item will automatically be checked.
A QAction
may contain an icon, menu text, a shortcut, status text, “What’s This?” text, and a tooltip. Most of these can be set in the constructor. They can also be set independently with setIcon()
, setText()
, setIconText()
, setShortcut()
, setStatusTip()
, setWhatsThis()
, and setToolTip()
. For menu items, it is possible to set an individual font with setFont()
.
We recommend that actions are created as children of the window they are used in. In most cases actions will be children of the application’s main window.
QAction in widget applications¶
Once a QAction
has been created, it should be added to the relevant menu and toolbar, then connected to the slot which will perform the action. For example:
const QIcon openIcon = QIcon::fromTheme("document-open", QIcon(":/images/open.png")); QAction *openAct = new QAction(openIcon, tr("&Open..."), this); openAct->setShortcuts(QKeySequence::Open); openAct->setStatusTip(tr("Open an existing file")); connect(openAct, &QAction::triggered, this, &MainWindow::open); fileMenu->addAction(openAct); fileToolBar->addAction(openAct);
Actions are added to widgets using addAction()
or addAction()
. Note that an action must be added to a widget before it can be used. This is also true when the shortcut should be global (i.e., ApplicationShortcut
as ShortcutContext
).
Actions can be created as independent objects. But they may also be created during the construction of menus. The QMenu
class contains convenience functions for creating actions suitable for use as menu items.
See also
QMenu
QToolBar
Qt Widgets - Application Example
-
class
PySide6.QtGui.
QAction
([parent=None])¶ PySide6.QtGui.QAction(icon, text[, parent=None])
PySide6.QtGui.QAction(text[, parent=None])
- Parameters
icon –
PySide6.QtGui.QIcon
text – str
parent –
PySide6.QtCore.QObject
Constructs an action with parent
. If parent
is an action group the action will be automatically inserted into the group.
Note
The parent
argument is optional since Qt 5.7.
Constructs an action with an icon
and some text
and parent
. If parent
is an action group the action will be automatically inserted into the group.
The action uses a stripped version of text
(e.g. “&Menu Option…” becomes “Menu Option”) as descriptive text for tool buttons. You can override this by setting a specific description with setText()
. The same text will be used for tooltips unless you specify a different text using setToolTip()
.
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
MenuRole
¶
This enum describes how an action should be moved into the application menu on macOS.
Constant
Description
QAction.NoRole
This action should not be put into the application menu
QAction.TextHeuristicRole
This action should be put in the application menu based on the action’s text as described in the
QMenuBar
documentation.QAction.ApplicationSpecificRole
This action should be put in the application menu with an application specific role
QAction.AboutQtRole
This action handles the “About Qt” menu item.
QAction.AboutRole
This action should be placed where the “About” menu item is in the application menu. The text of the menu item will be set to “About <application name>”. The application name is fetched from the
Info.plist
file in the application’s bundle (See Qt for macOS - Deployment).QAction.PreferencesRole
This action should be placed where the “Preferences…” menu item is in the application menu.
QAction.QuitRole
This action should be placed where the Quit menu item is in the application menu.
Setting this value only has effect on items that are in the immediate menus of the menubar, not the submenus of those menus. For example, if you have File menu in your menubar and the File menu has a submenu, setting the for the actions in that submenu have no effect. They will never be moved.
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
Priority
¶
This enum defines priorities for actions in user interface.
Constant
Description
QAction.LowPriority
The action should not be prioritized in the user interface.
QAction.NormalPriority
QAction.HighPriority
The action should be prioritized in the user interface.
See also
New in version 4.6.
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
ActionEvent
¶
This enum type is used when calling activate()
Constant
Description
QAction.Trigger
this will cause the
triggered()
signal to be emitted.QAction.Hover
this will cause the
hovered()
signal to be emitted.
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
actionGroup
()¶ - Return type
Returns the action group for this action. If no action group manages this action, then None
will be returned.
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
activate
(event)¶ - Parameters
event –
ActionEvent
Sends the relevant signals for ActionEvent
event
.
Action-based widgets use this API to cause the QAction
to emit signals as well as emitting their own.
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
associatedObjects
()¶ - Return type
Returns a list of objects this action has been added to.
See also
addAction()
addAction()
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
autoRepeat
()¶ - Return type
bool
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
changed
()¶
This signal is emitted when an action has changed. If you are only interested in actions in a given widget, you can watch for sent with an ActionChanged
.
See also
actionEvent()
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
checkableChanged
(checkable)¶ - Parameters
checkable – bool
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
data
()¶ - Return type
object
Returns the user data as set in setData
.
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
enabledChanged
(enabled)¶ - Parameters
enabled – bool
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
font
()¶ - Return type
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
hover
()¶
This is a convenience slot that calls activate(Hover).
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
hovered
()¶
This signal is emitted when an action is highlighted by the user; for example, when the user pauses with the cursor over a menu option, toolbar button, or presses an action’s shortcut key combination.
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
icon
()¶ - Return type
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
iconText
()¶ - Return type
str
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
isCheckable
()¶ - Return type
bool
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
isChecked
()¶ - Return type
bool
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
isEnabled
()¶ - Return type
bool
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
isIconVisibleInMenu
()¶ - Return type
bool
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
isSeparator
()¶ - Return type
bool
Returns true
if this action is a separator action; otherwise it returns false
.
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
isShortcutVisibleInContextMenu
()¶ - Return type
bool
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
isVisible
()¶ - Return type
bool
- Return type
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
priority
()¶ - Return type
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
resetEnabled
()¶
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
setActionGroup
(group)¶ - Parameters
group –
PySide6.QtGui.QActionGroup
Sets this action group to group
. The action will be automatically added to the group’s list of actions.
Actions within the group will be mutually exclusive.
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
setAutoRepeat
(arg__1)¶ - Parameters
arg__1 – bool
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
setCheckable
(arg__1)¶ - Parameters
arg__1 – bool
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
setChecked
(arg__1)¶ - Parameters
arg__1 – bool
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
setData
(var)¶ - Parameters
var – object
Sets the action’s internal data to the given data
.
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
setDisabled
(b)¶ - Parameters
b – bool
This is a convenience function for the enabled
property, that is useful for signals–slots connections. If b
is true the action is disabled; otherwise it is enabled.
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
setEnabled
(arg__1)¶ - Parameters
arg__1 – bool
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
setFont
(font)¶ - Parameters
font –
PySide6.QtGui.QFont
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
setIcon
(icon)¶ - Parameters
icon –
PySide6.QtGui.QIcon
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
setIconText
(text)¶ - Parameters
text – str
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
setIconVisibleInMenu
(visible)¶ - Parameters
visible – bool
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
setSeparator
(b)¶ - Parameters
b – bool
If b
is true then this action will be considered a separator.
How a separator is represented depends on the widget it is inserted into. Under most circumstances the text, submenu, and icon will be ignored for separator actions.
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
setShortcut
(shortcut)¶ - Parameters
shortcut –
PySide6.QtGui.QKeySequence
Sets shortcut
as the sole shortcut that triggers the action.
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
setShortcutContext
(context)¶ - Parameters
context –
ShortcutContext
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
setShortcutVisibleInContextMenu
(show)¶ - Parameters
show – bool
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
setShortcuts
(arg__1)¶ - Parameters
arg__1 –
StandardKey
Sets a platform dependent list of shortcuts based on the key
. The result of calling this function will depend on the currently running platform. Note that more than one shortcut can assigned by this action. If only the primary shortcut is required, use setShortcut
instead.
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
setShortcuts
(shortcuts) - Parameters
shortcuts –
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
setStatusTip
(statusTip)¶ - Parameters
statusTip – str
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
setVisible
(arg__1)¶ - Parameters
arg__1 – bool
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
setWhatsThis
(what)¶ - Parameters
what – str
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
shortcut
()¶ - Return type
Returns the primary shortcut.
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
shortcutContext
()¶ - Return type
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
shortcuts
()¶ - Return type
Returns the list of shortcuts, with the primary shortcut as the first element of the list.
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
showStatusText
([object=None])¶ - Parameters
object –
PySide6.QtCore.QObject
- Return type
bool
Updates the relevant status bar for the UI represented by object
by sending a QStatusTipEvent
. Returns true
if an event was sent, otherwise returns false
.
If a null widget is specified, the event is sent to the action’s parent.
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
statusTip
()¶ - Return type
str
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
toggle
()¶
This is a convenience function for the checked
property. Connect to it to change the checked state to its opposite state.
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
toggled
(arg__1)¶ - Parameters
arg__1 – bool
This signal is emitted whenever a checkable action changes its isChecked()
status. This can be the result of a user interaction, or because setChecked()
was called. As setChecked()
changes the QAction
, it emits changed()
in addition to .
checked
is true if the action is checked, or false if the action is unchecked.
See also
activate()
triggered()
checked
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
toolTip
()¶ - Return type
str
See also
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
trigger
()¶
This is a convenience slot that calls activate(Trigger).
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
triggered
([checked=false])¶ - Parameters
checked – bool
This signal is emitted when an action is activated by the user; for example, when the user clicks a menu option, toolbar button, or presses an action’s shortcut key combination, or when trigger()
was called. Notably, it is not emitted when setChecked()
or toggle()
is called.
If the action is checkable, checked
is true if the action is checked, or false if the action is unchecked.
See also
activate()
toggled()
checked
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
visibleChanged
()¶
-
PySide6.QtGui.QAction.
whatsThis
()¶ - Return type
str
See also
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