Qt Reference Documentation

# QAbstractAnimation Class Reference

The QAbstractAnimation class is the base of all animations. More...

     #include <QAbstractAnimation>

Inherits: QObject.

Inherited by: QAnimationGroup, QPauseAnimation, and QVariantAnimation.

This class was introduced in Qt 4.6.

- List of all members, including inherited members

## Public Types

enum | DeletionPolicy { KeepWhenStopped, DeleteWhenStopped }
enum | Direction { Forward, Backward }
enum | State { Stopped, Paused, Running }

## Properties

- currentLoop : const int
- currentTime : int
- direction : Direction

- duration : const int
- loopCount : int
- state : const State

- 1 property inherited from QObject

## Public Functions

| QAbstractAnimation ( QObject * parent = 0 )
virtual | ~QAbstractAnimation ()
int | currentLoop () const
int | currentLoopTime () const
int | currentTime () const
Direction | direction () const
virtual int | duration () const = 0
QAnimationGroup * | group () const
int | loopCount () const
void | setDirection ( Direction direction )
void | setLoopCount ( int loopCount )
State | state () const
int | totalDuration () const

- 29 public functions inherited from QObject

## Public Slots

void | pause ()
void | resume ()
void | setCurrentTime ( int msecs )
void | setPaused ( bool paused )
void | start ( QAbstractAnimation::DeletionPolicy policy = KeepWhenStopped )
void | stop ()

- 1 public slot inherited from QObject

## Signals

void | currentLoopChanged ( int currentLoop )
void | directionChanged ( QAbstractAnimation::Direction newDirection )
void | finished ()
void | stateChanged ( QAbstractAnimation::State newState, QAbstractAnimation::State oldState )

- 1 signal inherited from QObject

## Protected Functions

virtual void | updateCurrentTime ( int currentTime ) = 0
virtual void | updateDirection ( QAbstractAnimation::Direction direction )
virtual void | updateState ( QAbstractAnimation::State newState, QAbstractAnimation::State oldState )

## Reimplemented Protected Functions

virtual bool | event ( QEvent * event )

- 8 protected functions inherited from QObject

### Additional Inherited Members

- 7 static public members inherited from QObject

## Detailed Description

The QAbstractAnimation class is the base of all animations.

The class defines the functions for the functionality shared by all animations. By inheriting this class, you can create custom animations that plug into the rest of the animation framework.

The progress of an animation is given by its current time (currentLoopTime()), which is measured in milliseconds from the start of the animation (0) to its end (duration()). The value is updated automatically while the animation is running. It can also be set directly with setCurrentTime().

At any point an animation is in one of three states: Running, Stopped, or Paused--as defined by the State enum. The current state can be changed by calling start(), stop(), pause(), or resume(). An animation will always reset its current time when it is started. If paused, it will continue with the same current time when resumed. When an animation is stopped, it cannot be resumed, but will keep its current time (until started again). QAbstractAnimation will emit stateChanged() whenever its state changes.

An animation can loop any number of times by setting the loopCount property. When an animation's current time reaches its duration(), it will reset the current time and keep running. A loop count of 1 (the default value) means that the animation will run one time. Note that a duration of -1 means that the animation will run until stopped; the current time will increase indefinitely. When the current time equals duration() and the animation is in its final loop, the Stopped state is entered, and the finished() signal is emitted.

QAbstractAnimation provides pure virtual functions used by subclasses to track the progress of the animation: duration() and updateCurrentTime(). The duration() function lets you report a duration for the animation (as discussed above). The animation framework calls updateCurrentTime() when current time has changed. By reimplementing this function, you can track the animation progress. Note that neither the interval between calls nor the number of calls to this function are defined; though, it will normally be 60 updates per second.

By reimplementing updateState(), you can track the animation's state changes, which is particularly useful for animations that are not driven by time.

See also QVariantAnimation, QPropertyAnimation, QAnimationGroup, and The Animation Framework.

## Member Type Documentation

### enum QAbstractAnimation::DeletionPolicy

Constant | Value | Description
--- | --- | ---
`QAbstractAnimation::KeepWhenStopped` | `0` | The animation will not be deleted when stopped.
`QAbstractAnimation::DeleteWhenStopped` | `1` | The animation will be automatically deleted when stopped.

### enum QAbstractAnimation::Direction

This enum describes the direction of the animation when in Running state.

Constant | Value | Description
--- | --- | ---
`QAbstractAnimation::Forward` | `0` | The current time of the animation increases with time (i.e., moves from 0 and towards the end / duration).
`QAbstractAnimation::Backward` | `1` | The current time of the animation decreases with time (i.e., moves from the end / duration and towards 0).

See also direction.

### enum QAbstractAnimation::State

This enum describes the state of the animation.

Constant | Value | Description
--- | --- | ---
`QAbstractAnimation::Stopped` | `0` | The animation is not running. This is the initial state of QAbstractAnimation, and the state QAbstractAnimation reenters when finished. The current time remain unchanged until either setCurrentTime() is called, or the animation is started by calling start().
`QAbstractAnimation::Paused` | `1` | The animation is paused (i.e., temporarily suspended). Calling resume() will resume animation activity.
`QAbstractAnimation::Running` | `2` | The animation is running. While control is in the event loop, QAbstractAnimation will update its current time at regular intervals, calling updateCurrentTime() when appropriate.

See also state() and stateChanged().

## Property Documentation

### currentLoop : const int

This property holds the current loop of the animation.

This property describes the current loop of the animation. By default, the animation's loop count is 1, and so the current loop will always be 0. If the loop count is 2 and the animation runs past its duration, it will automatically rewind and restart at current time 0, and current loop 1, and so on.

When the current loop changes, QAbstractAnimation emits the currentLoopChanged() signal.

Access functions:

int | currentLoop () const

Notifier signal:

void | currentLoopChanged ( int currentLoop )

### currentTime : int

This property holds the current time and progress of the animation.

This property describes the animation's current time. You can change the current time by calling setCurrentTime, or you can call start() and let the animation run, setting the current time automatically as the animation progresses.

The animation's current time starts at 0, and ends at totalDuration().

Access functions:

int | currentTime () const
void | setCurrentTime ( int msecs )

See also loopCount and currentLoopTime().

### direction : Direction

This property holds the direction of the animation when it is in Running state.

This direction indicates whether the time moves from 0 towards the animation duration, or from the value of the duration and towards 0 after start() has been called.

By default, this property is set to Forward.

Access functions:

Direction | direction () const
void | setDirection ( Direction direction )

Notifier signal:

void | directionChanged ( QAbstractAnimation::Direction newDirection )

### duration : const int

This property holds the duration of the animation.

If the duration is -1, it means that the duration is undefined. In this case, loopCount is ignored.

Access functions:

virtual int | duration () const = 0

### loopCount : int

This property holds the loop count of the animation.

This property describes the loop count of the animation as an integer. By default this value is 1, indicating that the animation should run once only, and then stop. By changing it you can let the animation loop several times. With a value of 0, the animation will not run at all, and with a value of -1, the animation will loop forever until stopped. It is not supported to have loop on an animation that has an undefined duration. It will only run once.

Access functions:

int | loopCount () const
void | setLoopCount ( int loopCount )

### state : const State

This property holds state of the animation.

This property describes the current state of the animation. When the animation state changes, QAbstractAnimation emits the stateChanged() signal.

Access functions:

State | state () const

Notifier signal:

void | stateChanged ( QAbstractAnimation::State newState, QAbstractAnimation::State oldState )

## Member Function Documentation

### QAbstractAnimation::QAbstractAnimation ( QObject * parent = 0 )

Constructs the QAbstractAnimation base class, and passes parent to QObject's constructor.

See also QVariantAnimation and QAnimationGroup.

### QAbstractAnimation::~QAbstractAnimation ()`[virtual]`

Stops the animation if it's running, then destroys the QAbstractAnimation. If the animation is part of a QAnimationGroup, it is automatically removed before it's destroyed.

### void QAbstractAnimation::currentLoopChanged ( int currentLoop )`[signal]`

QAbstractAnimation emits this signal whenever the current loop changes. currentLoop is the current loop.

See also currentLoop() and loopCount().

### int QAbstractAnimation::currentLoopTime () const

Returns the current time inside the current loop. It can go from 0 to duration().

See also duration() and currentTime.

### void QAbstractAnimation::directionChanged ( QAbstractAnimation::Direction newDirection )`[signal]`

QAbstractAnimation emits this signal whenever the direction has been changed. newDirection is the new direction.

See also direction.

### bool QAbstractAnimation::event ( QEvent * event )`[virtual protected]`

Reimplemented from QObject::event().

### void QAbstractAnimation::finished ()`[signal]`

QAbstractAnimation emits this signal after the animation has stopped and has reached the end.

This signal is emitted after stateChanged().

See also stateChanged().

### QAnimationGroup * QAbstractAnimation::group () const

If this animation is part of a QAnimationGroup, this function returns a pointer to the group; otherwise, it returns 0.

See also QAnimationGroup::addAnimation().

### void QAbstractAnimation::pause ()`[slot]`

Pauses the animation. When the animation is paused, state() returns Paused. The value of currentTime will remain unchanged until resume() or start() is called. If you want to continue from the current time, call resume().

See also start(), state(), and resume().

### void QAbstractAnimation::resume ()`[slot]`

Resumes the animation after it was paused. When the animation is resumed, it emits the resumed() and stateChanged() signals. The currenttime is not changed.

See also start(), pause(), and state().

### void QAbstractAnimation::setPaused ( bool paused )`[slot]`

If paused is true, the animation is paused. If paused is false, the animation is resumed.

See also state(), pause(), and resume().

### void QAbstractAnimation::start ( QAbstractAnimation::DeletionPolicy policy = KeepWhenStopped )`[slot]`

Starts the animation. The policy argument says whether or not the animation should be deleted when it's done. When the animation starts, the stateChanged() signal is emitted, and state() returns Running. When control reaches the event loop, the animation will run by itself, periodically calling updateCurrentTime() as the animation progresses.

If the animation is currently stopped or has already reached the end, calling start() will rewind the animation and start again from the beginning. When the animation reaches the end, the animation will either stop, or if the loop level is more than 1, it will rewind and continue from the beginning.

If the animation is already running, this function does nothing.

See also stop() and state().

### void QAbstractAnimation::stateChanged ( QAbstractAnimation::State newState, QAbstractAnimation::State oldState )`[signal]`

QAbstractAnimation emits this signal whenever the state of the animation has changed from oldState to newState. This signal is emitted after the virtual updateState() function is called.

See also updateState().

### void QAbstractAnimation::stop ()`[slot]`

Stops the animation. When the animation is stopped, it emits the stateChanged() signal, and state() returns Stopped. The current time is not changed.

If the animation stops by itself after reaching the end (i.e., currentLoopTime() == duration() and currentLoop() > loopCount() - 1), the finished() signal is emitted.

See also start() and state().

### int QAbstractAnimation::totalDuration () const

Returns the total and effective duration of the animation, including the loop count.

See also duration() and currentTime.

### void QAbstractAnimation::updateCurrentTime ( int currentTime )`[pure virtual protected]`

This pure virtual function is called every time the animation's currentTime changes.

See also updateState().

### void QAbstractAnimation::updateDirection ( QAbstractAnimation::Direction direction )`[virtual protected]`

This virtual function is called by QAbstractAnimation when the direction of the animation is changed. The direction argument is the new direction.

See also setDirection() and direction().

### void QAbstractAnimation::updateState ( QAbstractAnimation::State newState, QAbstractAnimation::State oldState )`[virtual protected]`

This virtual function is called by QAbstractAnimation when the state of the animation is changed from oldState to newState.

See also start(), stop(), pause(), and resume().