24.02.2019
Nokia Group-Graphic Editor v1.1.0 serial key or number
Nokia Group-Graphic Editor v1.1.0 serial key or number
US20100299338A1 - Method and apparatus for providing device compatibility service - Google Patents
Method and apparatus for providing device compatibility service Download PDFApplication number US12/468,792 Inventor Ville Aarni Miikka Sainio Dmitry Kolesnikov Niklas Von Knorring Atte Lahtiranta Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.) Nokia Technologies Oy Original Assignee Nokia Oyj Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.) Filing date Publication date Application filed by Nokia OyjfiledCriticalNokia Oyj Priority to US12/468,792priorityCriticalpatent/US20100299338A1/en Assigned to NOKIA CORPORATIONreassignmentNOKIA CORPORATIONASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS).Assignors: AARNI, VILLE, KOLESNIKOV, DMITRY, SAINIO, MIIKKA, VON KNORRING, NIKLAS, LAHTIRANTA, ATTE Publication of US20100299338A1publicationCriticalpatent/US20100299338A1/en Assigned to NOKIA TECHNOLOGIES OYreassignmentNOKIA TECHNOLOGIES OYASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS).Assignors: NOKIA CORPORATION Abandonedlegal-statusCriticalCurrent
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Classifications
- H—ELECTRICITY
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- H04W8/22—Processing or transfer of terminal data, e.g. status or physical capabilities
Abstract
Description
- Wireless (e.g., cellular) service providers and mobile device manufacturers are continually challenged to deliver value and convenience to consumers by, for example, providing compelling network services. With the large variety of operating systems, processor speeds, screen sizes, memory sizes, media capabilities and other characteristics of mobile devices, it is difficult for developers of mobile services and applications to know how many and which devices are able to run effectively the service client or application being developed. Similarly, it is difficult for a user of one mobile device to know what applications and services executing on mobile devices of others will also run effectively on the user's device.
- Therefore, there is a need for an approach for determining mobile device compatibility to ensure effective execution of developed services and applications.
- According to one embodiment, a method comprises receiving a first query from a service indicating first device identification data related to a mobile communication device. The method further comprises initiating a second query into multiple sources for the mobile communication device based on the received device identification data. In response to the received first query, the method further comprises causing to be sent to the service a response that indicates different data associated with the device identification data based on a database of device characteristics, wherein the service is adapted based on the device identification data.
- According to another embodiment, an apparatus comprising at least one processor, and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to receive a first query from a service indicating first device identification data related to a mobile communication device. The apparatus is further caused to initiate a second query into multiple sources for the mobile communication device based on the received device identification data. In response to the received first query, the apparatus is further caused to send to the service a response that indicates different data associated with the device identification data based on a database of device characteristics, wherein the service is adapted based on the device identification data.
- According to another embodiment, a computer-readable storage medium carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause an apparatus to receive a first query from a service indicating first device identification data related to a mobile communication device. The apparatus is further caused to initiate a second query into multiple sources for the mobile communication device based on the received device identification data. In response to the received first query, the apparatus is further caused to send to the service a response that indicates different data associated with the device identification data based on a database of device characteristics, wherein the service is adapted based on the device identification data.
- According to another embodiment, an apparatus comprises means for receiving a first query from a service indicating first device identification data related to a mobile communication device. The apparatus further comprises means for initiating a second query into multiple sources for the mobile communication device based on the received device identification data. The apparatus further comprises means for causing to be sent to the service a response that indicates different data associated with the device identification data based on a database of device characteristics, in response to the received first query, wherein the service is adapted based on the device identification data.
- According to another embodiment, a method comprises granting access to receive a query indicating device identification data related to a mobile communication device. The method further comprises, in receiving the query, transmitting a response that indicates different data associated with the device identification data based on a database of device characteristics, wherein a service is adapted based on the device identification data.
- Still other aspects, features, and advantages of the invention are readily apparent from the following detailed description, simply by illustrating a number of particular embodiments and implementations, including the best mode contemplated for carrying out the invention. The invention is also capable of other and different embodiments, and its several details can be modified in various obvious respects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.
- A method and apparatus for providing device compatibility are disclosed. In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the invention. It is apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these specific details or with an equivalent arrangement. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the embodiments of the invention.
- Although various embodiments are described with respect to application developers for mobile communication devices (e.g., wireless devices such as cellular telephones), it is contemplated that the approach described herein may be used in other contexts, such as by network applications, or modules executing as part of a social service, or by individual users or subscribers to a network service.
- is a diagram of a system 101 capable of determining mobile device compatibility, according to one embodiment. A developer of an application or service for use on a mobile communication device must rely on the hardware and software available on the mobile communication device to implement some or all of the functionality to support the service or application. Some services are stand alone applications and, once installed, operate entirely on the mobile communication device. Some services rely on a standard or special purpose client process on the mobile device interacting across a network with a server process executing on another node of the network, typically a node with more computing power.
- Because of the wide variety of mobile communication device characteristics, it is unlikely that any but the most simple service or application is able to execute effectively on all such devices. There are many characteristics of importance to the developer, such as the screen size of the mobile communication device, the operating system of the device, the processing power of the device, the type of media the device can render, and the type of input a user of the device can enter, among many others, described in more detail below.
- For example, the client-server model of computer process interaction is widely used. According to the client-server model, a client process sends a message including a request to a server process, and the server process responds by providing a service. The server process may also return a message with a response to the client process. Often the client process and server process execute on different computer devices, called hosts, and communicate via a network using one or more protocols for network communications. The term “server” is conventionally used to refer to the process that provides the service, or the host computer on which the process operates. Similarly, the term “client” is conventionally used to refer to the process that makes the request, or the host computer on which the process operates. As used herein, the terms “client” and “server” refer to the processes, rather than the host computers, unless otherwise clear from the context. In addition, the server process can be broken up to run as multiple processes on multiple hosts (sometimes called tiers) for reasons that include reliability, scalability, and redundancy, among others. A well known client process available on most nodes connected to a communications network is a World Wide Web client (called a “web browser,” or simply “browser”) that interacts through messages formatted according to the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) with any of a large number of servers called World Wide Web servers that provide web pages. Some services or applications rely on a web browser on the client. To support small screens available on many mobile communication devices, Web pages are converted to reduced representations and transmitted to mobile communication devices using the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP).
- Typically, the developer has a particular device, or family of devices, in mind when the service or application is being developed; and, the developer knows the characteristics of that device or family. However, in trying to promote the service or application, it would be useful to know what other extant or emerging devices can effectively execute the functionality of the service or application. The developer would be interested in a technique to specify the characteristics of the mobile device invoked by the service or application, and determine all other mobile communication devices that possess the invoked characteristics or more.
- Furthermore, a user of a particular device may want to know what other services and applications can run effectively on that particular device. For example, the user has a friend who is employing an interesting service or application, and the user is interested in knowing whether the application or service will run on the user's device. In some cases, a user of a particular device is thinking of changing an older device and wants to know what currently available devices can effectively run all the applications and services that the user currently employs or intends to employ.
- In yet other applications, a developer might want to adapt a service to perform differently for different device capabilities, running or installing a faster, lighter version of the service (using less memory and CPU) for less capable devices.
- To address this problem, a system of introduces the capability to determine mobile device capability. The system 101 includes a device compatibility service (DCS) process 131 executing on a node (not shown) of a network 105 that grants access to the DCS. The DCS process 131 acquires the device characteristics for multiple devices, e.g., from manuals published by the device manufacturers or websites maintained by those manufacturer or some combination, and stores data indicating those characteristics in a database maintained by the DCS provider. Then, a developer, a process or other user can send queries to the DCS 131 to obtain information about the devices that have a certain characteristic or combination of characteristics, or to obtain information about the characteristics associated with a particular device. Example queries include queries to list out all the characteristics of a specific device, list out partial characteristics of a specific device, list out all the devices with a specific set of values for one or more characteristics, and list out all the devices which are similar to a specific device (e.g., similar values for operating system or media capabilities or mobile application, alone or in some combination).
- As shown in , the system 101 comprises user equipment (UE) 103 having connectivity to a service 121, and a DCS client process 123 having connectivity to the DCS process 131, via a communication network 105. The DCS process 131 is in communication with a device database 133 on a data storage device connected, directly (as illustrated) or indirectly through network 105, to a host (not shown) of the DCS process 131.
- By way of example, the communication network 105 of system 101 includes one or more networks such as a data network (not shown), a wireless network (not shown), a telephony network (not shown), or any combination thereof It is contemplated that the data network may be any local area network (LAN), metropolitan area network (MAN), wide area network (WAN), the Internet, or any other suitable packet-switched network, such as a commercially owned, proprietary packet-switched network, e.g., a proprietary cable or fiber-optic network. In addition, the wireless network may be, for example, a cellular network and may employ various technologies including enhanced data rates for global evolution (EDGE), general packet radio service (GPRS), global system for mobile communications (GSM), Internet protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS), universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), etc., as well as any other suitable wireless medium, e.g., microwave access (WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks, code division multiple access (CDMA), wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), wireless fidelity (WiFi), satellite, mobile ad-hoc network (MANET), and the like.
- The UE 103 and the hosts (not shown) for service process 121 and DCS process 131 are any type of mobile terminal, fixed terminal, or portable terminal including a mobile handset, station, unit, device, multimedia tablet, Internet node, communicator, desktop computer, laptop computer, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), or any combination thereof It is also contemplated that the UE 103 can support any type of interface to the user (such as “wearable” circuitry, etc.). In the illustrated embodiment, UE 103 is a mobile communication device connected to network 105 through wireless link 107.
- In the illustrated embodiment, multiple data sources 111a, 111b, 111c (collectively referenced hereinafter as data sources 111) for device manufacturers are also connected to network 105. These data sources 111 represent any process executing on a node of network 105 that presents information about mobile communication devices and their characteristics. For example, in some embodiments, one or more of data sources 111 is a web page provided by a web server process on a node of network 105.
- The DCS client process 123 communicates with the DCS process 131 to obtain responses to queries about device characteristics or one or more mobile communication devices, such as UE 103. In the illustrated embodiment, DCS client process 123 is included in a service process 121 that communicates with client process 107 on UE 103. In this arrangement, a user of UE 103 can request information about device compatibility from service 121, which uses the DCS client 123 to obtain that information from DCS process 131 and device database 133. Also in this arrangement, a user of UE 103 can request service 121, which uses the DCS client 123 to obtain information about the capabilities of UE 103 from DCS process 131 and device database 133, and adapts its response to client 107 based on the capabilities of UE 103 obtained from the DCS process 131.
- By way of example, the hosts of service 121 and DCS process 131 and data sources 111 and UE 103, and the processes themselves, including client 107 and DCS client 123, communicate with each other and other components of the communication network 105 using well known, new or still developing protocols. In this context, a protocol includes a set of rules defining how the network nodes within the communication network 105 interact with each other based on information sent over the communication links. The protocols are effective at different layers of operation within each node, from generating and receiving physical signals of various types, to selecting a link for transferring those signals, to the format of information indicated by those signals, to identifying which software application executing on a computer system sends or receives the information. The conceptually different layers of protocols for exchanging information over a network are described in the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Reference Model.
- Communications between the network nodes are typically effected by exchanging discrete packets of data. Each packet typically comprises (1) header information associated with a particular protocol, and (2) payload information that follows the header information and contains information that may be processed independently of that particular protocol. In some protocols, the packet includes (3) trailer information following the payload and indicating the end of the payload information. The header includes information such as the source of the packet, its destination, the length of the payload, and other properties used by the protocol. Often, the data in the payload for the particular protocol includes a header and payload for a different protocol associated with a different, higher layer of the OSI Reference Model. The header for a particular protocol typically indicates a type for the next protocol contained in its payload. The higher layer protocol is said to be encapsulated in the lower layer protocol. The headers included in a packet traversing multiple heterogeneous networks, such as the Internet, typically include a physical (layer 1) header, a data-link (layer 2) header, an internetwork (layer 3) header and a transport (layer 4) header, and various application headers (layer 5, layer 6 and layer 7) as defined by the OSI Reference Model.
- Although a particular set of nodes, processes, and data structures, such as databases, are shown in for purposes of illustration, in various other embodiments more or fewer nodes, processes and data structures are involved. Furthermore, although processes and data structures are depicted as particular blocks in a particular arrangement for purposes of illustration, in other embodiments each process or data structure, or portions thereof, may be separated or combined or arranged in some other fashion. For example, in some embodiments, the DCS client 123 is outside of service 121, or service 121 and client 107 are omitted. As a further example, in some embodiments, the functions of DCS client 123 are provided by a Web browser interacting with a web page server included in DCS process 131.
- is a diagram of a system 141 to determine mobile device compatibility; according to another embodiment. In this embodiment, one or more clients 107, such as Wireless Receiver/Transmitter (WRT) client 107a, S40 JAVA client 107b and web browsers 107c on UE (not shown) send a request via a network (not shown) either directly to a client service 121 or indirectly to a link redirector process 145. In some embodiments the request includes a universal resource locator (URL) name for the service 121 or the redirector 145. A request to the link redirector process 145 is analyzed based on the Internet Protocol (IP) address and other data in the request and directed to an appropriate service, such as client service 121. A link redirector process 145 is used for any number of reasons, including providing user specific services, load balancing or geographic distribution, among other reasons. In some embodiments, the request includes device identification data that indicates a specific UE device hosting the client 107 or one or more characteristics of that device that are relevant for the service being requested. In some embodiments, the request includes user profile information that identifies the user as a member of a subscription service, such as a social network service.
- The client service 121 then accesses an export control interface 143, if applicable, to determine whether the service being requested, e.g. content download, is permitted from the service 121 to the client 107, given the client's user or geographic location. If cleared to provide service, or tailored to the services allowed to the user by the export control interface 143, the client service 121 determines how to provide service tailored to the UE by contacting the device compatibility service (DCS) 131.
- The DCS 131 uses information in a device database 133, or detected by a detect 147, or provided by a forum process 149 of the subscription service, if any, to provide a response to the client service 121. The client service then provides a response tot eh UE client 107 based on the capabilities of the UE device hosting client 107.
- Thus, as depicted in , in network communications indicated by numerals 1 through 4, the following actions take place. (1) Client 107 connects to the Link Redirector 145, identifies itself and is redirected to the correct service 121; (2) Client connects to the client service 121 front-end; (3) Client service 121 sends the clients' IP address to an export control interface 143, which responds with a country code based on which client service will make an export control decision; (4) Client service 121 connects to the device compatibility service (DCS) 131, sends the user-agent of the connecting client 107, and receives back the device database ID and queried device attributes, including specific device ID or device properties, or device applications, alone or in some combination. In certain embodiments, the interface 143, in addition to performing the IP address check that may fetch the country code, the interface 143 can (alternatively in additionally) fetch an export classification. For example, the export classification can be “A” when the service is available, “B” when the service is available with some restrictions, and “C” when the service restricted. This export classification may relate to geographical areas, but other conditions may exist. Further, such classification can be temporal or fixed by working hours, daily hours etc. and may or may not relate the geographical area (such as country).
- is a diagram of a record 201 in a device database 133, according to one embodiment. The record 201 describes one device, and additional records describe other devices. In the illustrated embodiment, device database record 201 includes a database identifier (ID) field 203, a specific device identifier field (ID) field 211, a device properties field 221, and applications field 271. The data to fill the data fields of record 201 come from any data source, including manual input, and automated input derived from one or more of data sources 111. As used herein device characteristics (or features) includes the device properties indicated in field 221 and applications indicated in field 271, among others not listed in .
- The database ID field 203 holds data that indicates a key into the device database, such as an index key or record sequence number. The value in the database ID field 203 is an efficient reference to all the data in a particular record 201.
- The specific device ID field 211 holds data that indicates a particular version of a device. In the illustrated embodiment, the device ID field 211 includes a manufacturer name field 213, a model name field 215, a variant name field 217 and a version name field 219. The manufacturer name field 213 holds data that indicates a manufacturer of a mobile communication device. Any data may be used to indicate the manufacturer name including data that directly or indirectly identifies the manufacturer, such as text giving the name explicitly or a number code or pointer to an entry in a list of manufacturers. The model name field 215 holds data that indicates a model name or number of a mobile communication device, used by the manufacturer indicated in field 213 to distinguish different products. The variant name field 217 holds data that indicates a variant of a model used by the manufacturer to distinguish different options of the same model, e.g., a base model or a sport variant or light (“lite”) variant or enhanced variant of the base model indicated in field 215. The version name field 219 holds data that indicates a version of a variant used by the manufacturer to distinguish different temporal releases of a variant, e.g., with fixes or upgrades determined after initial release of the model and variant indicated in fields 215 and 217, respectively.
- The device properties field 221 includes data that defines the capabilities of the device indicated in field 211, and thus the compatibility of that device with software or firmware developed for other devices. In the illustrated embodiment, the device properties field 221 includes fields 223 through 267, described in more detail below. Each of these fields holds data that indicates some device characteristic. It is understood herein that a device characteristic is indicated when the data explicitly (directly) states a value for the characteristic or indicates the characteristic value indirectly through a pointer or reference to another data structure or code.
- The applications field 271 holds data that indicates a list of stand alone applications or service clients that are known to execute effectively on the device, e.g., based on user surveys or published data, including any pre-installed applications or clients. For purposes of illustration it is assumed that the applications field 271 holds data that indicates a list of software and data structures that includes, for example, “X social service client,” “Y navigation application,” “Z image editor,” and “software updates,” among others.
- Although the depicted fields in are shown as integral blocks of data in a particular order in a single data structure for purposes of illustration, in other embodiments one or more fields, or portions thereof, are arranged in a different order in one or more data structures in one or more databases residing on one or more nodes connected directly or indirectly to network 105. In some embodiments, one or more depicted fields or portions thereof are omitted, or additional fields are included.
- The values of properties described in the device properties field 221 are expressed using zero or more of acronyms as listed in the following table.
- Table of well known acronyms used as values in the device properties field.
- In the illustrated embodiment, the device properties field 221 includes the operating system field 223 that holds data that indicates one or more operating systems on the device indicated in field 211. Most software processes, such as clients and stand alone applications, interact with a device through operating system commands. An example operating system indicated in field 223 is the Symbian operating system (OS) version 8.4.
- The screen resolution field 225 holds data that indicates the number of rows and columns of picture elements (pixels) in the display screen on the device. This characteristic is often a limiting factor in designing an application to perform suitably on a device. In some embodiments, the screen resolution field includes data that indicates the color depth, e.g. the number of bits allowed to specify the color at any one pixel.
- The physical dimensions field 227 holds data that indicates the length, width, thickness, weight or physical appearance of a device, such as body shape or color, alone or in some combination. Any or all of these characteristics may affect the style of interface presented to a user by a service or application.
- The input mechanisms field 229 holds data that indicates how a user of the device can input data to the device, which impacts how the service or application presents options to the user. For purposes of illustration, it is assumed that the input mechanisms field 229 holds data that indicates a list that includes, for example, “Applications key,” “Call Creation key,” “Call Termination key,” “Dedicated Camera key,” “Dedicated Volume keys,” “Slide Out QWERTY keyboard,” and “Touch Screen.”
- The frequency bands field 231 holds data that indicates one or more radio frequency bands used by the device to form wireless links, e.g., link 107. For purposes of illustration, it is assumed that the frequency bands field 229 holds data that indicates a list that includes, for example, “GSM 850,” “GSM 900,” “GSM 1800,” “GSM 1900,” “WCDMA 850,” “WCDMA 900,” “WCDMA 1800,” and “WCDMA 1900,”
- The regions available field 233 holds data that indicates one or more regions where the device is available. This may impact the language and character set presented to a user. For purposes of illustration, it is assumed that the regions available field 233 holds data that indicates a list that includes, for example, “Africa,” “Asia-pacific,” “China,” “Europe,” “Latin America,” “Middle East,” and “North America” for worldwide availability.
- The central processing unit (CPU) data field 235 holds data that indicates one or more CPUs on the device. This may impact the speed with which a particular client process or application can perform, especially when the device is not in communication with the network. For purposes of illustration, it is assumed that the CPU data field 235 holds data that indicates, for example, a number of CPU, a CPU manufacturer/model, and a CPU clock rate.
- The network portals field 237 holds data that indicates network protocols and links used by the device. This may impact the way that data and instructions are delivered to the device. For purposes of illustration, it is assumed that the network portals field 237 holds data that indicates a data bearer's list that includes, for example, “CSD,” “Dual Transfer Mode,” “EGPRS,” “GPRS,” “H SCSD,” “HSDPA,” “WCDMA,” and data indicating profile links, a consumer link (e.g., Products Home Page), a developer link (e.g., Developer Home Page), and a remote device access services link.
- The extra features field 241 holds data that indicates additional firmware/hardware modules available on the device. This significantly impacts the way functionality is implemented for the device. For purposes of illustration, it is assumed that the extra features field 241 holds data that indicates a list that includes, for example, “Accelerometer,” “Ambient Light Sensor,” “Compass,” “Flight Mode,” “FOTA Firmware over the Air,” “Magnetometer,” “Proximity Sensor,” “Stereo FM radio,” “Stereo hands free speakers” “television (TV) output,” and “A-global positioning system (GPS).”
- The application program interface (API) field 243 holds data that indicates interfaces to software modules available on the device. This also impacts the way functionality is implemented for the device. For purposes of illustration, it is assumed that the API field 243 holds data that indicates a list of APIs that includes, for example, JAVA technologies, JAVA Access Permissions, Home Screen Publishing, Open C, Open C++, Out of Memory Monitor client, Sensor Data Compensator, Sensor Channels, and Authentication Certificates.
- The browser field 245 holds data that indicates the installed browsers to operate on HTTP messages. For purposes of illustration, it is assumed that the browser field 245 holds data that indicates a list that includes, for example, Hypertext Markup Language over Transmission control Protocol embedded in the Internet Protocol (“HTML over TCP/IP”), “OSS browser,” “WAP 2.0,” “Web Runtime 1.1.,” and extended HTML “(XHTML) over TCP/IP.”
- The flash player field 247 holds data that indicates the installed flash player on the device for rendering various media. For purposes of illustration, it is assumed that the flash player field 247 holds data that indicates, for example, a Flash player model and version.
- The audio features field 251 holds data that indicates audio formats that can be rendered on the device and audio input and output components. For purposes of illustration, it is assumed that the audio features field 251 holds data that indicates a list of well known audio formats that includes, for example, “AAC,” “AAC+,” “AMR-NB,” “AMR-WB,” “AU,” “AWB,” “eAAC+,” “M4A,” “MIDI,” “Tones(poly 64),” “Mobile XMF,” “MP3,” “MP4,” “RealAudio 7, 8, 10,” “RMF,” “SND,” “SP-MIDI,” “True tones,” “WAV,” “WMA,” and “WVE;” and a list of well known audio modules that includes, for example, “Audio Equalizer,” “Audio Recording AAC,” “Audio Streaming,” “Bluetooth Stereo,” “FM transmitter (88.1-107.9 MegaHz),” “Loudness,” “Music Player,” and “Stereo Widening.”
- The camera features field 253 holds data that describes a digital camera in the mobile communications device. For purposes of illustration, it is assumed that the camera features field 253 holds data that indicates camera resolution in rows and columns of pixels (e.g., 2592×1944), CMOS sensor (e.g., 5 Megapixels), digital zoom (e.g., 4 times), focal length (e.g., 5.4 millimeters), F-stop/Aperture (e.g., f/2.8), focus range (e.g., 10 centimeters to infinity), image format (e.g., JPEG/Exif), camera features (e.g., a list that includes “Auto Exposure,” “Auto Focus,” “Carl Zeiss Optics,” “Exposure Compensation,” “Flash,” “Full Screen Viewfinder,” “Self Timer,” “Sequence Mode”), secondary resolution (e.g., 640×480), secondary digital zoom (e.g., 2 times), and secondary image format (e.g., JPEG).
- The video features field 255 holds data that describes video clips compiled by the camera. For purposes of illustration, it is assumed that the video features field 255 holds data that indicates recording resolution (e.g., 640×480 pixels), recording frame rate (e.g., 30 frames per second, fps), recording zoom (e.g., 4 times), a list of recording formats (e.g., “H263” and “MPEG-4”), a list of video features (e.g., “Video Call,” “Video Editor,” “Video Player,” “Video Recorder,” “Video Ringtones,” “Video Sharing,” and “Video Streaming”), a list of video playback formats (e.g., “3GPPformats-H263,” “Flash Video,” “H264/AVC,” “MPEG-4,” “RealVideo 7, 8, 9/10,” and “WMV 9”), playback frame rate (e.g., 30 fps), and a list of graphic formats (e.g., “BMP,” “EXIF,” “GIF87a,” “GIF89a,” “JPEG,” “JPEG2000,” “MBM,” “OTA,” “PNG,” “TIFF,” “WBMP,” and “WMF”).
- The memory functions field 257 holds data that indicates the properties of the device memory. For purposes of illustration, it is assumed that the memory functions field 257 holds data that indicates mass storage memory (e.g., 32 Gigabytes, GB), NAND memory (e.g., 256 Megabytes, MB), SDRAM memory (e.g., 128 MB), memory card type, a list of memory card features (e.g., “Hot Swap”), maximum memory card size (e.g., 16 GB), maximum heap size and maximum JAR size.
- The connectivity field 261 holds data that indicates the types of links supported by the device. For purposes of illustration, it is assumed that the connectivity field 261 holds data that indicates a list of local connection channels (e.g., “Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR,” “Bluetooth Stereo Audio,” “X Manufacturer USB,” “Multimedia Transfer Protocol (MTP)”), a list of Bluetooth profiles (e.g., “A2DP,” “AVDTP,” “BIP,” “DUN,” “FTP,” “GAP,” “GOEP,” “HFP,” “HID,” “HSP,” “OPP,” “PBAP,” “SAP,” and “SDP”), and a list of virtual local area network (VLAN) support protocols (e.g., “IEEE 802.11b/g,” “WEP,” “WPA,” and “WPA2 (AES/TKIP)”).
- The messaging field 263 holds data that indicates the types of messaging protocols supported by the device. For purposes of illustration, it is assumed that the messaging field 263 holds data that indicates a list of protocols (e.g., “IM” “MMS+SMIL,” and “SMS,”), a list of messaging features (e.g., “OMA Multimedia Messaging Service v1.3”), a list of email solutions (e.g., “Mail for Exchange,” “OMA Email Notification v1.0”), a list of email protocols (e.g., “IMAP4,” “POP3,” “SMTP”), and a list of document formats (e.g., “Excel,” “PDF,” “Powerpoint,” “Word,” and “Zip”).
- The power management field 265 holds data that indicates the power features of the device. For purposes of illustration, it is assumed that the power management field 265 holds data that indicates power management technique (e.g., USB charging), battery type, GSM talk time (e.g., 9.5 hours), WCDMA Talk Time (e.g., 6.0 hours), GSM standby time (e.g., 18 days), WCDMA standby time (e.g., 17 days), video playback time (e.g., 4.5 hours), video recording time (e.g., 3.6 hours), and music playback time (e.g., 40 hours).
- The data management field 267 holds data that indicates the data management features of the device. For purposes of illustration, it is assumed that the data management field 267 holds data that indicates client provisioning, device management, data synchronization, a list of digital rights management (DRM) applications, and a DRM delivery method.
- is a diagram of a message 301 requesting compatible devices, according to one embodiment. The message 301 includes a requesting process identifier (ID) field 303, a device identification data field 305 and a query field 309.
- The requesting process ID field 303 holds data that indicates the process on a network that originated the request for device compatibility information, such as an Internet Protocol (IP) address and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) port number or an SMS telephone number. This identifies the process, called a user agent, which is to receive the results of the request in embodiments in which the request is relayed by another process. For example, in embodiments in which the client 103 indicates a selection to service 121 that involves a response from the DCS 131, the service invokes the DCS client 123 and passes the IP address and TCP port (or SMS phone number) of the client 103 to the DCS client, which includes that requesting process ID in the request sent to the DCS service 131.
- The device identification data field 305 holds data that indicates a specific device that is used to specify a condition of a query, such as a manufacturer name, model name, variant name and version name of the specific device. In some embodiments, a family of devices is the condition of the query; and the version or variant or model name is omitted from the device ID field 305. In some embodiments, a characteristic rather than a device is a condition of the query; and the device identification data field 305 indicates the one or more characteristics. In some embodiments the requesting process ID field includes data that identifies a particular user of the process, such as all or part of a user profile on a social network service. In some embodiments, the requesting process ID field 303 includes a time stamp that indicates when the message 301 was initiated
- The query field 309 holds data that indicates a query of the database. For example, the query field 309 holds data that indicates a request for all characteristics of a device indicated in field 305. As another example, the query field 309 holds data that indicates a request for certain enumerated characteristics of a device indicated in field 305. As another example, the query field 309 holds data that indicates a request for all devices with certain characteristics or applications. In yet another example, the query field 309 holds data that indicates a request for all devices with characteristics or applications similar to those of a device indicated in the field 305. In some of these embodiments, the query also indicates particular characteristics to include or exclude in the determination of similarity. Any method may be used to indicate the conditions of the query based on the characteristics or devices and values ranges indicated in field 305. For example, in some embodiments the Structured Query Language (SQL) is used to express the query included in query field 309.
- In the illustrated embodiment, the query field 309 include a query identifier (ID) field 308 that holds data that uniquely identifies the query at the requesting process indicated in field 303, so that response message can indicate the query that produced the result in the response message. In various embodiments, the Query ID field 308 is a time stamp of the time when the query was formed or the message 301 is formed.
- is a diagram of a message 311 responding with compatible devices, according to one embodiment. The message 311 includes field 313, field 315, field 319, field 325, field 329 and other pairs of fields indicated by the ellipsis.
- Field 313 holds data that indicates the requesting process ID, e.g., a user agent, for which message 311 is a response. In some embodiments, message 311 is returned directly to the requesting process and field 313 forms part of the network protocol headers, such as TCP/IP headers, or SMS destination phone number. In some embodiments, message 311 is returned to another process, such as service 121, and service 121 uses the data in field 313 to identify the client 107 to which the service 121 sends a response based, at least in part, on data in the message 311.
- The Query ID field 331 holds data that uniquely identifies the query sent by the process indicated in field 313.
- The field 315 holds data that indicates a specific device identifier (ID), e.g., values for all fields 213, 215, 217 and 219, for the same device, if any, specified in the request message, e.g., in field 305 described above. Field 315 includes Database identifier field 317 that holds data that indicates the reference (e.g., database ID in field 203) to the device database record (e.g., record 201) associated with the device specified in the request message. In some embodiments, field 317 is omitted.
- The field 319 holds data that indicates one or more characteristics for the same device, if any, specified in the request message, e.g., in field 305 described above. If no device is specified in request message 301, e.g., if field 305 is omitted, then, in some embodiments, field 319 holds data that indicates the characteristics specified in the request message, e.g., in field 307 described above.
- The field 325 holds data that indicates a specific device ID for the next device, if any, that satisfies the query indicated in field 309 of the request message 301. In the illustrated embodiment, the field 325 includes database ID field 327 that holds the reference to the device database record associated with the next device, if any. If no device satisfies the query, then, in some embodiments, field 325 is omitted.
- The field 329 holds data that indicates one or more characteristics for the next device, if any, that satisfies the query indicated in field 309 of the request message 301. If no device satisfies the request, e.g., if field 325 is omitted, then, in some embodiments, field 329 holds data that indicates the next characteristics, if any, that satisfy the query.
- Other pairs of fields, if any, for the next device or characteristics or both that satisfy the query, analogous to fields 325 and field 329, are indicated by the ellipsis.
- Although the depicted fields in and are shown as integral blocks of data in a particular order in a single message for purposes of illustration, in other embodiments one or more fields, or portions thereof, are arranged in a different order in one or more messages or data packets. In some other embodiments, one or more depicted fields or portions thereof are omitted, or additional fields are included.
- is a flowchart of a process 401 for providing a device compatibility service, according to one embodiment. Although steps in and subsequent flow chart and are shown in a particular order for purposes of illustration, in other embodiments, one or more steps may be performed in a different order or overlapping in time, in series or in parallel, or one or more steps may be omitted or added, or changed in some combination of ways.
- In one embodiment, the DCS 131 performs the process 401 and is implemented in, for instance, a chip set including a processor and a memory as shown or a computer 600 as depicted in , both described in more detail below.
- In step 403, device characteristics are acquired for multiple mobile communications devices, such as cellular telephones. Any method may be used to acquire this information. In various embodiments, the characteristics acquired are any or all of the characteristics described above for the device database record 201. In some embodiments, additional characteristics are acquired. In some embodiments, a human manually inputs some or all of the information from specification documents available from one or more manufacturers of mobile communications devices. In some embodiments, the information is obtained automatically, e.g., from news services, email notifications, or spider processes that invoke and scan the websites of various equipment manufacturers and cull values for the characteristics of interest. In some embodiments, the device characteristics are acquired on demand, e.g., when a request is received (such as in step 407, described below) indicating the device.
- In step 405, the acquired characteristics are analyzed, organized and stored in a database, e.g., a database for device database records like the record 201 depicted in . For example, in a relational database one or more characteristic names represented by fields in are columns in one or more tables, and data in those columns represent values for the corresponding characteristic, e.g., values in the corresponding fields. Different devices are represented by different rows in the one or more tables.
- In step 407, it is determined whether a request message is received. If not, then in step 409 it is determined whether the process is to end for any reason. If so, the process ends. Otherwise, acquiring device characteristics continues in step 403, described above.
Qt (software)
Object-oriented framework for GUI creation
 | |
 | |
| Original author(s) | Haavard Nord and Eirik Chambe-Eng[1] |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | |
| Initial release | 20 May 1995; 25 years ago (1995-05-20)[1] |
| Stable release | 5.15.1[2] (10 September 2020; 14 days ago (2020-09-10)) [±] |
| Repository |  |
| Written in | C++ |
| Operating system | Android, iOS, Linux (embedded, Wayland, X11), macOS, Microsoft Windows, WebAssembly, ...[3] |
| Platform | Cross-platform |
| Type | Widget toolkit and Application framework |
| License | Qt Commercial License[4] GPL 2.0, 3.0[5] LGPL 3.0[6] |
| Website | www.qt.io |
Qt (pronounced "cute"[7][8][9]) is a free and open-sourcewidget toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces as well as cross-platformapplications that run on various software and hardware platforms such as Linux, Windows, macOS, Android or embedded systems with little or no change in the underlying codebase while still being a native application with native capabilities and speed.
Qt is currently being developed by The Qt Company, a publicly listed company, and the Qt Project under open-source governance, involving individual developers and organizations working to advance Qt.[10][11][12] Qt is available under both commercial licenses[4] and open-source[13]GPL 2.0, GPL 3.0, and LGPL 3.0 licenses.[5][6]
Purposes and abilities[edit]
Qt is used for developing graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and multi-platform applications that run on all major desktop platforms and most mobile or embedded platforms. Most GUI programs created with Qt have a native-looking interface, in which case Qt is classified as a widget toolkit. Also non-GUI programs can be developed, such as command-line tools and consoles for servers. An example of such a non-GUI program using Qt is the Cutelyst web framework.[14]
Qt supports various compilers, including the GCC C++ compiler and the Visual Studio suite and has extensive internationalization support. Qt also provides Qt Quick, that includes a declarativescripting language called QML that allows using JavaScript to provide the logic. With Qt Quick, rapid application development for mobile devices became possible, while logic can still be written with native code as well to achieve the best possible performance.
Other features include SQL database access, XML parsing, JSON parsing, thread management and network support.
Qt releases[edit]
The latest version is Qt 5.15.0, which was released on 26 May 2020.[15]
The current LTS version is Qt 5.15 LTS. It will be supported for 3 years.
Also Qt 5.12 is LTS version[16] Actual Version is 5.12.8.
The initial release of Qt software was on 20 May 1995.
Qt in use[edit]
In 2017, the Qt Company estimated a community of about 1 million developers worldwide[17] in over 70 industries.[18]
Desktop UIs[edit]
KDE's mascot Konqi showing his Qt heart
Graphical user-interfaces and desktop environments that utilize Qt/QML as widget toolkit:
- 010 Editor, a commercial hex editor and text editor for Microsoft Windows, Linux and macOS.
- KDE Plasma, a libredesktop environment for various computing devices[19]
- DDE (Deepin Desktop Environment) of Linux Deepin[20][21]
- UKUI (Ubuntu Kylin User Interface)[22]
- LXQt (Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment)
- Lumina, a desktop environment designed for BSD-based TrueOS[23]
- Lomiri (formerly Unity8)[24], a convergent desktop environment started by Canonical, maintained by Ubports[25]
- Unity 2D, a desktop shell written in Qt and Qml
- Trinity DE, a continuously developed fork based on KDE3[26]
- NX-Desktop, a desktop-shell based on Plasma[27]
- Be-shell, a simple shell based on KDE Frameworks[28]
- Liquidshell, a shell based on QtWidgets[29]
- LiriOS, a workspace shell built with Qt/QML[30]
- SDDM, a display manager that is X11 and Wayland compatible written in QML
- theShell, a desktop shell written in Qt[31]
Embedded and mobile UIs[edit]
- Actively developed or maintained
- AsteroidOS, an open source operating system designed for smartwatches
- Avionics, Panasonic's in-flight entertainment system[32][33]
- Blackberry 10, a touchscreen-based mobile OS by Blackberry Ltd.
- Sailfish OS, a mobile operating system developed by Jolla
- GlacierUX, the successor of MeeGo/Maemo 6/Harmattan, based on Qt5 and Wayland[34]
- Plasma Mobile, a touch-based GUI developed by KDE
- LuneOS, community-driven successor for Palm/HP webOS
- Nemo Mobile, based on Mer
- Ubuntu Touch, a phone UI developed by Ubports, originally by Canonical
- Tesla Model S in-car UI[35]
- webOS, a multitask operating system from LG for smart devices like TVs and smartwatches
- Sky Q, the home entertainment system of Sky plc[36]
- Available, but inactive
- MeeGo handset & tablet UX
- OPIE, a GUI for the Sharp Zaurus
- Qtopia, a system by Nokia for embedded and mobile devices
- Ultrahaptics,[37] haptic interface developer for a wide range of applications
Applications using Qt[edit]
Many notable open-source or proprietary cross-platform software are using Qt or QML:
- Ableton Push
- Adobe Photoshop Album[38]
- Adobe Photoshop Elements[39]
- AMD's Radeon Software Crimson Edition driver tool application.[40]
- Autodesk Maya[41]
- Autodesk 3ds Max[42]
- Bitcoin Core, a bitcoin client
- Bitcoin ABC, a bitcoin cash client
- CryEngine V editor[43]
- DaVinci Resolve, a video editor
- Dolphin (emulator), an emulator for the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo GameCube systems.
- Dorico notation software
- Dragonframe[44] stop motion animation software
- EAGLE by CadSoft Computer / Autodesk, an EDA application with schematic capture, PCB layout, auto-router and CAM features
- Electrum, a lightweight bitcoin client
- FreeMat free open source numerical computing environment
- Gambas free open source BASICintegrated development environment
- Google Earth[45]
- Igor Pro, a data analysis software
- Krita graphics editing and digital painting software[46]
- LMMS, a cross-platform music production software
- Mathematica, a mathematical symbolic computation program, sometimes termed a computer algebra system or program, used in many scientific, engineering, mathematical, and computing fields.[47]
- Moonlight Stream, an open-source implementation of Nvidia Shield[48]
- Musescore, an open-source, multiplatform notation software
- OBS, a libre cross-platform screencast software
- Orange data mining suite[49]
- qBittorrent cross-platform free and open-source BitTorrent client[50]
- QGIS geographic information system[51]
- QuiteRSS Feed Reader
- Roblox Studio a game creation tool used on the Roblox platform.
- Scribus desktop publishing software[52]
- Sibelius music composition and notation software[53]
- Source 2 engine tools[54] a 3D video game engine developed by Valve
- Stellarium, a planetarium program
- Subsurface, a software for logging and planning scuba dives initially designed and developed by Linus Torvalds[55]
- Teamviewer, a computer software package for remote control, desktop sharing, online meetings, web conferencing and file transfer between computers[56]
- Telegram, a messaging client available for Windows, Mac and Linux[57]
- VirtualBox OS virtualization software[58]
- VLC media player[59]
- WPS Office[60]
- XaoS, a real-time fractal zoomer
- XnView MP[61]
Organizations using Qt[edit]
Qt is utilized by a wide range of companies and organizations such as
Qt software architecture[edit]
Example of Qt usage in Linux-based systems
Qt concepts[edit]
Qt is built on these key concepts:
- Complete abstraction of the GUI
- When first released, Qt used its own paint engine and controls, emulating the look of the different platforms it runs on when it drew its widgets. This made the porting work easier because very few classes in Qt really depended on the target platform; however, this occasionally led to slight discrepancies where that emulation was imperfect. Recent versions of Qt use the native style APIs of the different platforms, on platforms that have a native widget set, to query metrics and draw most controls, and do not suffer from such issues as often.[88] On some platforms (such as MeeGo and KDE) Qt is the native API. Some other portable graphical toolkits have made different design decisions; for example, wxWidgets uses the toolkits of the target platform for its implementations.
- Signals and slots
- A language construct introduced in Qt for communication between objects[89] which makes it easy to implement the observer pattern while avoiding boilerplate code. The concept is that GUI widgets can send signals containing event information which can be received by other controls using special functions known as slots.
- Metaobject compiler
- The metaobject compiler, termed moc, is a tool that is run on the sources of a Qt program. It interprets certain macros from the C++ code as annotations, and uses them to generate added C++ code with meta information about the classes used in the program. This meta information is used by Qt to provide programming features not available natively in C++: signals and slots, introspection and asynchronous function calls.
- Language bindings
- Qt can be used in several programming languages other than C++, such as Python, Javascript, C# and Rust[90] via language bindings; many languages have bindings for Qt 5 and bindings for Qt 4. The Ring programming language includes Qt in the standard library.[91][92]
Qt modules[edit]
Starting with Qt 4.0 the framework was split into individual modules.[93][94] With Qt 5.0 the architecture was modularized even further.[95][96] Qt is now split into essential and add-on modules.[97]
Qt essentials[edit]
| Module | Description |
|---|---|
| Qt Core | The only required Qt module, containing classes used by other modules, including the meta-object system, concurrency and threading, containers, event system, plugins and I/O facilities. |
| Qt GUI | The central GUI module. In Qt 5 this module now depends on OpenGL, but no longer contains any widget classes. |
| Qt Widgets | Contains classes for classic widget based GUI applications and the QSceneGraph classes. Was split off from QtGui in Qt 5. |
| Qt QML | Module for QML and JavaScript languages. |
| Qt Quick | The module for GUI application written using QML2. |
| Qt Quick Controls | Widget like controls for Qt Quick intended mainly for desktop applications. |
| Qt Quick Layouts | Layouts for arranging items in Qt Quick. |
| Qt Network | Network abstraction layer. Complete with TCP, UDP, HTTP, SSL and since Qt 5.3 SPDY support. |
| Qt Multimedia | Classes for audio, video, radio and camera functionality. |
| Qt Multimedia Widgets | The widgets from Qt Multimedia. |
| Qt SQL | Contains classes for database integration using SQL. |
| Qt WebEngine | A new set of Qt Widget and QML webview APIs based on Chromium. |
| Qt Test | Classes for unit testing Qt applications and libraries. |
Qt add-ons[edit]
| Module | Description |
|---|---|
| Active Qt | Classes for applications which use ActiveX. |
| Qt Bluetooth | Classes accessing Bluetooth hardware. |
| Qt D-Bus | Classes for IPC using the D-Bus protocol. |
| Qt NFC | Classes accessing NFC hardware. Only officially supported on BlackBerry hardware so far (or N9 in the MeeGo port). |
| Qt OpenGL | Legacy module containing the OpenGL classes from Qt 4. In Qt 5 the similar functionality in Qt GUI is recommended. |
| Qt Location | Classes for accessing GPS and other location services and for mapping and navigation. Split off from the Qt 4 Mobility module of Qt Location. Supported on Android, BlackBerry, iOS, Linux (using GeoClue), Windows and Sailfish OS. |
| Qt Script | Legacy module for scripting Qt application using ECMAScript/JavaScript. In Qt 5, using similar classes in Qt QML is recommended. |
| Qt Sensors | Classes for accessing various mobile hardware sensors. Used to be part of Qt Mobile in Qt 4. Supported on Android, BlackBerry, iOS, WinRT, Mer and Linux. |
| Qt Serial Port | Classes for access to hardware and virtual serial ports. Supported on Windows, Linux and macOS. |
| Qt WebChannel | Provides access to Qt objects to HTML/Js over WebSockets. |
| Qt WebKit | Qt's WebKit implementation and API. |
| Qt WebKit Widgets | The widget API for Qt WebKit |
| Qt WebSockets | Provides a WebSocket implementation. |
| Qt XML | Legacy module containing classes for SAX and DOM style XML APIs. Replaced with QXmlStreamReader and QXmlStreamWriter classes in Qt Core. |
| Qt XML Patterns | Support for XPath, XQuery, XSLT and XML Schema validation. |
Editions[edit]
There are four editions of Qt available: Community, Indie Mobile, Professional and Enterprise.[98] The Community version is under the open source licenses, while the Indie Mobile, Professional and Enterprise versions, which contain additional functionality and libraries, e.g. Enterprise Controls[98] are commercially sold by The Qt Company.
Supported platforms[edit]
Qt works on many different platforms; the following are officially supported:
| Platform | Description |
|---|---|
| Linux/Unix | |
| X11 | Qt for X Window System (Linux);[99]FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, and DragonFly BSD have community support. |
| Wayland | Qt for Wayland (e.g. SailfishOS uses that, as it doesn't have X11).[100] Qt applications can switch between graphical backends like X and Wayland at load time with the -platform command line option.[101][102] This allows a seamless transition of Qt applications from X11 to Wayland. |
| Android | Qt for Android[103] (formerly known as Necessitas).[104] |
| Embedded Linux | Qt for embedded platforms: personal digital assistant, smartphone, etc.[105] Exists as multiple platforms depending on display technology. DirectFB, LinuxFB and EGLFS (EGL Full Screen). |
| Microsoft platforms | |
| Windows | Qt for Microsoft Windows 7,[106]8 and 10[107] |
| Windows RT | Support for WinRT-based Windows 10 Mobile apps and Windows 10 IoT[108] |
| Apple platforms | |
| macOS | Qt for Apple macOS; supports applications on Cocoa[109] |
| iOS | Qt for iOS platforms (iPhone, iPad)[110] |
| Other embedded platforms | |
| Integrity | Qt for Integrity[111] |
| QNX | Qt for QNX[112][113] |
| VxWorks | Qt for VxWorks.[114][115] Only available under a proprietary (commercial) license. Qt 5.5. |
After Nokia opened the Qt source code to the community on Gitorious various ports appeared. There are also some ports of Qt that may be available, but are not supported anymore. These platforms are listed in List of platforms supported by Qt. See also there for current community support for other lesser known platforms, such as SailfishOS.
Licensing[edit]
Qt is available under the following free software licenses:[13]GPL 2.0, GPL 3.0, LGPL 3.0 and LGPL 2.1 (with Qt special exception).[5][116] Note that some modules are available only under a GPL license, which means that applications which statically link to these modules need to comply with that license.[117][118]
In addition, Qt has always been available under a commercial license, like the Qt Commercial License,[4] that allows developing proprietary applications with no restrictions on licensing.
Qt tools[edit]
Qt comes with its own set of tools to ease cross-platform development, which can otherwise be cumbersome due to different set of development tools.
Qt Creator is a cross-platform IDE for C++ and QML. Qt Designer's GUI layout/design functionality is integrated into the IDE, although Qt Designer can still be started as a standalone tool.
In addition to Qt Creator, Qt provides qmake, a cross-platform build script generation tool that automates the generation of Makefiles for development projects across different platforms. There are other tools available in Qt, including the Qt Designer interface builder and the Qt Assistant help browser (which are both embedded in Qt Creator), the Qt Linguist translation tool, uic (user interface compiler), and moc (Meta-Object Compiler).
History of Qt[edit]
Early developments[edit]
In the summer of 1990, Haavard Nord and Eirik Chambe-Eng (the original developers of Qt and the CEO and President, respectively, of Trolltech) were working together on a database application for ultrasound images written in C++ and running on Mac OS, Unix, and Microsoft Windows.[1][119] They began development of "Qt" in 1991, three years before the company was incorporated as Quasar Technologies, then changed the name to Troll Tech and then to Trolltech.[1]
The toolkit was called Qt because the letter Q looked appealing in Haavard's Emacs typeface, and "t" was inspired by Xt, the X toolkit.[1]
The first two versions of Qt had only two flavors: Qt/X11 for Unix and Qt/Windows for Windows.
On 20 May 1995 Troll Tech publicly released Qt 0.90 for X11/Linux with the source code under the Qt Free Edition License.[120][121][122] This license was viewed as not compliant with the free software definition by Free Software Foundation because, while the source was available, it did not allow the redistribution of modified versions. Trolltech used this license until version 1.45. Controversy erupted around 1998 when it became clear that the K Desktop Environment was going to become one of the leading desktop environments for Linux. As it was based on Qt, many people in the free software movement worried that an essential piece of one of their major operating systems would be proprietary.
The Windows platform was available only under a proprietary license, which meant free/open source applications written in Qt for X11 could not be ported to Windows without purchasing the proprietary edition.
Becoming free software–friendly[edit]
With the release of version 2.0 of the toolkit, the license was changed to the Q Public License (QPL), a free software license, but one regarded by the Free Software Foundation as incompatible with the GPL. Compromises were sought between KDE and Trolltech whereby Qt would not be able to fall under a more restrictive license than the QPL, even if Trolltech was bought out or went bankrupt. This led to the creation of the KDE Free Qt foundation,[123] which guarantees that Qt would fall under a BSD-style license should no free/open source version of Qt be released during 12 months.[124][125]
In 2000, Qt/X11 2.2 was released under the GPL v2,[126] ending all controversy regarding GPL compatibility.
At the end of 2001, Trolltech released Qt 3.0, which added support for Mac OS X (now known as macOS). The Mac OS X support was available only in the proprietary license until June 2003, when Trolltech released Qt 3.2 with Mac OS X support available under the GPL.
In 2002, members of the KDE on Cygwin project began porting the GPL licensed Qt/X11 code base to Windows.[127] This was in response to Trolltech's refusal to license Qt/Windows under the GPL on the grounds that Windows was not a free/open source software platform.[128][129] The project achieved reasonable success although it never reached production quality.
This was resolved when Trolltech released Qt 4.0 also for Windows under the GPL in June 2005.[130] Qt 4 supported the same set of platforms in the free software/open source editions as in the proprietary edition, so it is possible, with Qt 4.0 and later releases, to create GPL-licensed free/open source applications using Qt on all supported platforms. The GPL v3 with special exception[131] was later added as an added licensing option. The GPL exception allows the final application to be licensed under various GPL-incompatible free software/open source licenses such as the Mozilla Public License 1.1.
Acquisition by Nokia[edit]
Nokia acquired Trolltech ASA on 17 June 2008 and changed the name first to Qt Software, then to Qt Development Frameworks.
Nokia focused on turning Qt into the main development platform for its devices, including a port to the SymbianS60 platform. Version 1.0 of the Nokia Qt SDK was released on 23 June 2010.[132] The source code was made available over Gitorious, a community oriented git source code repository, with a goal of creating a broader community using and improving Qt.
On 14 January 2009, Qt version 4.5 added another option, the LGPL,[133] to make Qt more attractive for both non-GPL open source projects and closed applications.[134]
In February 2011, Nokia announced its decision to drop Symbian technologies and base their future smartphones on the Windows Phone platform instead (and since then support for that platform has also been dropped).[135] One month later, Nokia announced the sale of Qt's commercial licensing and professional services to Digia, with the immediate goal of taking Qt support to Android, iOS and Windows 8 platforms, and to continue focusing on desktop and embedded development, although Nokia was to remain the main development force behind the framework at that time.
Merging and demerging with Digia[edit]
In March 2011, Nokia sold the commercial licensing part of Qt to Digia creating Qt Commercial.[136] In August 2012, Digia announced that it would acquire Qt from Nokia.[137] The Qt team at Digia started their work in September 2012.[138] They released Qt 5.0 within a month and newer versions every 6 months with new features and additional supported platforms.
In September 2014, Digia transferred the Qt business and copyrights to their wholly owned subsidiary, The Qt Company, which owns 25 brands[139] related to Qt. In May 2016, Digia and Qt demerged completely into two independent companies.[140]
The Qt Project and open governance[edit]
Qt 5 was officially released on 19 December 2012. This new version marked a major change in the platform, with hardware-accelerated graphics, QML and JavaScript playing a major role. The traditional C++-only QWidgets continued to be supported, but did not benefit from the performance improvements available through the new architecture.[141] Qt 5 brings significant improvements to the speed and ease of developing user interfaces.[142]
Framework development of Qt 5 moved to open governance at qt-project.org, which made it possible for developers outside Digia to submit patches for review.[143]
Qt contributors[edit]
Distribution of non-Digia Qt contributors (2013, Week 18)
Aside from The Qt Company, many organizations and individuals using Qt as their development platform participate in the open development of Qt via the Qt Project.[144]
One such Qt contributor is Klarälvdalens Datakonsult AB, a Swedish Qt consulting company.[145] KDAB is involved in many areas, including maintenance of several components.[146][147]
Together with RIM/BlackBerry, KDAB is maintaining the QNX and BlackBerry 10 ports of Qt.[144][148]
Another participator is Intel, contributing for example Wayland support.[149]AudioCodes maintains IBM ClearCase support in Qt Creator.[150]
As a heavy user of Qt, the KDE project submits many patches and features from its developer library KDE Frameworks back to Qt.[151]
See also[edit]
Bibliography[edit]
Qt Wiki provides a comprehensive list of English books about Qt.[152] This is a list of notable books:
- Bocklage-Ryannel, Juergen; Thelin, Johan (12 May 2015). "Qt 5 Cadaques" (1st ed.).
- Blanchette, Jasmin; Summerfield, Mark (14 February 2008). C++ GUI Programming with Qt 4 (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall. ISBN .
- Summerfield, Mark (23 August 2010). Advanced Qt Programming: Creating Great Software with C++ and Qt 4 (1st ed.). Addison-Wesley. ISBN .
- Fitzek, Frank H. P.; Mikkonen, Tommi; Torp, Tony (17 May 2010). Qt for Symbian (1st ed.). Wiley. ISBN . Archived from the original on 19 December 2009.
- Summerfield, Mark (28 October 2007). Rapid GUI Programming with Python and Qt (1st ed.). Prentice Hall. ISBN .
- Molkentin, Daniel (19 July 2007). The Book of Qt 4: The Art of Building Qt Applications (1st ed.). No Starch Press. ISBN .
- Thelin, Johan (3 August 2007). Foundations of Qt Development (1st ed.). Apress. ISBN . Archived from the original on 20 January 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
- Dalheimer, Matthias (January 2002). Programming with Qt (2nd ed.). O'Reilly Media. ISBN .
- Ezust, Alan; Ezust, Paul (10 September 2006). An Introduction to Design Patterns in C++ with Qt 4 (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall. ISBN .
References[edit]
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