tristate Class Reference

#include <KDbTristate.h>

Public Member Functions
	tristate ()
	tristate (bool boolValue)
	tristate (tristate_cancelled_t)
bool	operator! () const
tristate &	operator= (bool boolValue)
tristate &	operator= (tristate tsValue)
tristate &	operator= (tristate_cancelled_t)
bool	operator~ () const
QString	toString () const

Detailed Description

3-state logical type with three values: true, false and cancelled and convenient operators.

cancelled state can be also called dontKnow, it behaves as null in SQL. A main goal of this class is to improve readibility when there's a need for storing third, cancelled, state, especially in case C++ exceptions are not in use. With it, developer can forget about declaring a specific enum type having just three values: true, false, cancelled.

Objects of this class can be used with similar convenience as standard bool type:

• use as return value when 'cancelled'

  tristate doSomething();

• convert from bool (1) or to bool (2)

  tristate t = true; //(1)
  setVisible(t);   //(2)

• clear comparisons

  tristate t = doSomething();
  if (t) doSomethingIfTrue();
  if (!t) doSomethingIfFalse();
  if (~t) doSomethingIfCancelled();

"! ~" can be used as "not cancelled".

With tristate class, developer can also forget about it's additional meaning and treat it just as a bool, if the third state is irrelevant to the current situation.

Other use for tristate class could be to allow cancellation within a callback function or a Qt slot. Example:

public Q_SLOTS:
  void validateData(tristate *result);

Having the single parameter, signals and slots have still simple look. Developers can alter their code (by replacing 'bool *result' with 'tristate *result') in case when a possibility of canceling of, say, data provessing needs to be implemented. Let's say validateData() function uses a QDialog to get some validation from a user. While QDialog::Rejected is returned after cancellation of the validation process, the information about cancellation needs to be transferred up to a higher level of the program. Storing values of type QDialog::DialogCode there could be found as unreadable, and casting these to int is not typesafe. With tristate class it's easier to make it obvious that cancellation should be taken into account.

Definition at line 100 of file KDbTristate.h.

Constructor & Destructor Documentation

tristate() [1/3]

tristate::tristate ( )

inline

Default constructor, object has cancelled value set.

Definition at line 106 of file KDbTristate.h.

tristate() [2/3]

tristate::tristate ( bool boolValue )

inline

Constructor accepting a boolean value.

Definition at line 113 of file KDbTristate.h.

tristate() [3/3]

tristate::tristate ( tristate_cancelled_t )

inline

Constructor accepting a char value.

It is converted in the following way:

• 2 -> cancelled
• 1 -> true
• other -> false

Definition at line 124 of file KDbTristate.h.

Member Function Documentation

operator!()

bool tristate::operator! ( ) const

inline

Casting to bool type with negation: true is only returned if the original tristate value is equal to false.

Definition at line 132 of file KDbTristate.h.

operator=() [1/3]

tristate & tristate::operator= ( bool boolValue )

inline

Definition at line 209 of file KDbTristate.h.

operator=() [2/3]

tristate & tristate::operator= ( tristate tsValue )

inline

Definition at line 203 of file KDbTristate.h.

operator=() [3/3]

tristate & tristate::operator= ( tristate_cancelled_t )

inline

Definition at line 215 of file KDbTristate.h.

operator~()

bool tristate::operator~ ( ) const

inline

Special casting to bool type: true is only returned if the original tristate value is equal to cancelled.

Definition at line 140 of file KDbTristate.h.

toString()

QString tristate::toString ( ) const

inline

Returns

text representation of the value: "true", "false" or "cancelled".

Definition at line 179 of file KDbTristate.h.

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The documentation for this class was generated from the following file:

• KDbTristate.h