QSystemTrayIcon Class

The QSystemTrayIcon class provides an icon for an application in the system tray. More...

Header:	#include <QSystemTrayIcon>
qmake:	QT += widgets
Since:	Qt 4.2
Inherits:	QObject

This class was introduced in Qt 4.2.

• List of all members, including inherited members

Public Types

enum	ActivationReason { Unknown, Context, DoubleClick, Trigger, MiddleClick }
enum	MessageIcon { NoIcon, Information, Warning, Critical }

Properties

• icon : QIcon
• toolTip : QString
• visible : bool

Public Functions

	QSystemTrayIcon(const QIcon &icon, QObject *parent = nullptr)
	QSystemTrayIcon(QObject *parent = nullptr)
virtual	~QSystemTrayIcon()
QMenu *	contextMenu() const
QRect	geometry() const
QIcon	icon() const
bool	isVisible() const
void	setContextMenu(QMenu *menu)
void	setIcon(const QIcon &icon)
void	setToolTip(const QString &tip)
QString	toolTip() const

Public Slots

void	hide()
void	setVisible(bool visible)
void	show()
void	showMessage(const QString &title, const QString &message, QSystemTrayIcon::MessageIcon icon = QSystemTrayIcon::Information, int millisecondsTimeoutHint = 10000)
void	showMessage(const QString &title, const QString &message, const QIcon &icon, int millisecondsTimeoutHint = 10000)

Signals

void	activated(QSystemTrayIcon::ActivationReason reason)
void	messageClicked()

Static Public Members

bool	isSystemTrayAvailable()
bool	supportsMessages()

Reimplemented Protected Functions

virtual bool

event(QEvent *e) override

Detailed Description

Modern operating systems usually provide a special area on the desktop, called the system tray or notification area, where long-running applications can display icons and short messages.

The QSystemTrayIcon class can be used on the following platforms:

• All supported versions of Windows.
• All window managers and independent tray implementations for X11 that implement the http://standards.freedesktop.org/systemtray-spec/systemtray-spec-0.2.html freedesktop.org XEmbed system tray specification.
• All X11 desktop environments that implement the D-Bus http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Specifications/StatusNotifierItem/StatusNotifierItem specification, including recent versions of KDE and Unity.
• All supported versions of macOS.

To check whether a system tray is present on the user's desktop, call the QSystemTrayIcon::isSystemTrayAvailable() static function.

To add a system tray entry, create a QSystemTrayIcon object, call setContextMenu() to provide a context menu for the icon, and call show() to make it visible in the system tray. Status notification messages ("balloon messages") can be displayed at any time using showMessage().

If the system tray is unavailable when a system tray icon is constructed, but becomes available later, QSystemTrayIcon will automatically add an entry for the application in the system tray if the icon is visible.

The activated() signal is emitted when the user activates the icon.

Only on X11, when a tooltip is requested, the QSystemTrayIcon receives a QHelpEvent of type QEvent::ToolTip. Additionally, the QSystemTrayIcon receives wheel events of type QEvent::Wheel. These are not supported on any other platform.

See also QDesktopServices, QDesktopWidget, Desktop Integration, and System Tray Icon Example.

Member Type Documentation

enum QSystemTrayIcon::ActivationReason

This enum describes the reason the system tray was activated.

Constant	Value	Description
QSystemTrayIcon::Unknown	0	Unknown reason
QSystemTrayIcon::Context	1	The context menu for the system tray entry was requested
QSystemTrayIcon::DoubleClick	2	The system tray entry was double clicked.

Note: On macOS, a double click will only be emitted if no context menu is set, since the menu opens on mouse press

Constant	Value	Description
QSystemTrayIcon::Trigger	3	The system tray entry was clicked
QSystemTrayIcon::MiddleClick	4	The system tray entry was clicked with the middle mouse button

See also activated().

enum QSystemTrayIcon::MessageIcon

This enum describes the icon that is shown when a balloon message is displayed.

Constant	Value	Description
QSystemTrayIcon::NoIcon	0	No icon is shown.
QSystemTrayIcon::Information	1	An information icon is shown.
QSystemTrayIcon::Warning	2	A standard warning icon is shown.
QSystemTrayIcon::Critical	3	A critical warning icon is shown.

See also QMessageBox.

Member Function Documentation

QSystemTrayIcon::QSystemTrayIcon(const QIcon &icon, QObject *parent = nullptr)

Constructs a QSystemTrayIcon object with the given icon and parent.

The icon is initially invisible.

See also visible.

QSystemTrayIcon::QSystemTrayIcon(QObject *parent = nullptr)

Constructs a QSystemTrayIcon object with the given parent.

The icon is initially invisible.

See also visible.

[signal] void QSystemTrayIcon::activated(QSystemTrayIcon::ActivationReason reason)

This signal is emitted when the user activates the system tray icon. reason specifies the reason for activation. QSystemTrayIcon::ActivationReason enumerates the various reasons.

See also QSystemTrayIcon::ActivationReason.

[slot] void QSystemTrayIcon::hide()

Hides the system tray entry.

See also show() and visible.

[signal] void QSystemTrayIcon::messageClicked()

This signal is emitted when the message displayed using showMessage() was clicked by the user.

Currently this signal is not sent on macOS.

Note: We follow Microsoft Windows behavior, so the signal is also emitted when the user clicks on a tray icon with a balloon message displayed.

See also activated().

[slot] void QSystemTrayIcon::show()

Shows the icon in the system tray.

See also hide() and visible.

[slot] void QSystemTrayIcon::showMessage(const QString &title, const QString &message, QSystemTrayIcon::MessageIcon icon = QSystemTrayIcon::Information, int millisecondsTimeoutHint = 10000)

Shows a balloon message for the entry with the given title, message and icon for the time specified in millisecondsTimeoutHint. title and message must be plain text strings.

Message can be clicked by the user; the messageClicked() signal will emitted when this occurs.

Note that display of messages are dependent on the system configuration and user preferences, and that messages may not appear at all. Hence, it should not be relied upon as the sole means for providing critical information.

On Windows, the millisecondsTimeoutHint is usually ignored by the system when the application has focus.

Has been turned into a slot in Qt 5.2.

This function was introduced in Qt 4.3.

See also show() and supportsMessages().

[slot] void QSystemTrayIcon::showMessage(const QString &title, const QString &message, const QIcon &icon, int millisecondsTimeoutHint = 10000)

This function overloads showMessage().

Shows a balloon message for the entry with the given title, message, and custom icon icon for the time specified in millisecondsTimeoutHint.

This function was introduced in Qt 5.9.

[virtual] QSystemTrayIcon::~QSystemTrayIcon()

Removes the icon from the system tray and frees all allocated resources.

QMenu *QSystemTrayIcon::contextMenu() const

Returns the current context menu for the system tray entry.

See also setContextMenu().

[override virtual protected] bool QSystemTrayIcon::event(QEvent *e)

Reimplements: QObject::event(QEvent *e).

QRect QSystemTrayIcon::geometry() const

Returns the geometry of the system tray icon in screen coordinates.

This function was introduced in Qt 4.3.

See also visible.

[static] bool QSystemTrayIcon::isSystemTrayAvailable()

Returns true if the system tray is available; otherwise returns false.

If the system tray is currently unavailable but becomes available later, QSystemTrayIcon will automatically add an entry in the system tray if it is visible.

void QSystemTrayIcon::setContextMenu(QMenu *menu)

Sets the specified menu to be the context menu for the system tray icon.

The menu will pop up when the user requests the context menu for the system tray icon by clicking the mouse button.

On macOS, this is currenly converted to a NSMenu, so the aboutToHide() signal is not emitted.

Note: The system tray icon does not take ownership of the menu. You must ensure that it is deleted at the appropriate time by, for example, creating the menu with a suitable parent object.

See also contextMenu().

[static] bool QSystemTrayIcon::supportsMessages()

Returns true if the system tray supports balloon messages; otherwise returns false.

See also showMessage().