How do I create a simple Qt console application in C++?

Question

I was trying to create a simple console application to try out Qt's XML parser. I started a project in VS2008 and got this template:

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    QCoreApplication a(argc, argv);

    return a.exec();
}

Since I don't need event processing, I was wondering whether I may get into trouble if I neglect to create a QCoreApplication and running the event loop. The docs state that it's recommended in most cases.

For the sake of curiosity however, I am wondering how could I make some generic task execute on the event loop and then terminate the application. I was unable to google a relevant example.

Answer 1

Here is one simple way you could structure an application if you want an event loop running.

// main.cpp
#include <QtCore>

class Task : public QObject
{
    Q_OBJECT
public:
    Task(QObject *parent = 0) : QObject(parent) {}

public slots:
    void run()
    {
        // Do processing here

        emit finished();
    }

signals:
    void finished();
};

#include "main.moc"

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    QCoreApplication a(argc, argv);

    // Task parented to the application so that it
    // will be deleted by the application.
    Task *task = new Task(&a);

    // This will cause the application to exit when
    // the task signals finished.    
    QObject::connect(task, SIGNAL(finished()), &a, SLOT(quit()));

    // This will run the task from the application event loop.
    QTimer::singleShot(0, task, SLOT(run()));

    return a.exec();
}