- Qt 5.15
- QML Coding Conventions
- Qt 5.15.16 Reference Documentation

# QML Coding Conventions

This document contains the QML coding conventions that we follow in our documentation and examples and recommend that others follow.

## QML Object Declarations

Throughout our documentation and examples, QML object attributes are always structured in the following order:

- id
- property declarations
- signal declarations
- JavaScript functions
- object properties
- child objects
- states
- transitions

For better readability, we separate these different parts with an empty line.

For example, a hypothetical photo QML object would look like this:

     Rectangle {
         id: photo                                               // id on the first line makes it easy to find an object

         property bool thumbnail: false                          // property declarations
         property alias image: photoImage.source

         signal clicked                                          // signal declarations

         function doSomething(x)                                 // javascript functions
         {
             return x + photoImage.width
         }

         color: "gray"                                           // object properties
         x: 20                                                   // try to group related properties together
         y: 20
         height: 150
         width: {                                                // large bindings
             if (photoImage.width > 200) {
                 photoImage.width;
             } else {
                 200;
             }
         }

         Rectangle {                                             // child objects
             id: border
             anchors.centerIn: parent; color: "white"

             Image {
                 id: photoImage
                 anchors.centerIn: parent
             }
         }

         states: State {                                         // states
             name: "selected"
             PropertyChanges { target: border; color: "red" }
         }

         transitions: Transition {                               // transitions
             from: ""
             to: "selected"
             ColorAnimation { target: border; duration: 200 }
         }
     }

## Grouped Properties

If using multiple properties from a group of properties, consider using group notation instead of dot notation if it improves readability.

For example, this:

     Rectangle {
         anchors.left: parent.left; anchors.top: parent.top; anchors.right: parent.right; anchors.leftMargin: 20
     }

     Text {
         text: "hello"
         font.bold: true; font.italic: true; font.pixelSize: 20; font.capitalization: Font.AllUppercase
     }

could be written like this:

     Rectangle {
         anchors { left: parent.left; top: parent.top; right: parent.right; leftMargin: 20 }
     }

     Text {
         text: "hello"
         font { bold: true; italic: true; pixelSize: 20; capitalization: Font.AllUppercase }
     }

## Lists

If a list contains only one element, we generally omit the square brackets.

For example, it is very common for a component to only have one state.

In this case, instead of:

     states: [
         State {
             name: "open"
             PropertyChanges { target: container; width: 200 }
         }
     ]

we will write this:

     states: State {
         name: "open"
         PropertyChanges { target: container; width: 200 }
     }

## JavaScript Code

If the script is a single expression, we recommend writing it inline:

     Rectangle { color: "blue"; width: parent.width / 3 }

If the script is only a couple of lines long, we generally use a block:

     Rectangle {
         color: "blue"
         width: {
             var w = parent.width / 3
             console.debug(w)
             return w
         }
     }

If the script is more than a couple of lines long or can be used by different objects, we recommend creating a function and calling it like this:

     function calculateWidth(object)
     {
         var w = object.width / 3
         // ...
         // more javascript code
         // ...
         console.debug(w)
         return w
     }

     Rectangle { color: "blue"; width: calculateWidth(parent) }

For long scripts, we will put the functions in their own JavaScript file and import it like this:

     import "myscript.js" as Script

     Rectangle { color: "blue"; width: Script.calculateWidth(parent) }

If the code is longer than one line and hence within a block, we use semicolons to indicate the end of each statement:

     MouseArea {
         anchors.fill: parent
         onClicked: {
             var scenePos = mapToItem(null, mouseX, mouseY);
             console.log("MouseArea was clicked at scene pos " + scenePos);
         }
     }

## Related Information

- Best Practices for QML and Qt Quick