UIQ Controls - Time Editor

This guide explains the UIQ control Time Editor (CQikTimeEditor). Time Editor allows the user to choose between showing the time in one or five minute intervals. The time is set by increasing or decreasing the hours and the minutes in a Time Picker pop-out.

The following functionality can be used by the application developer:

• Set the minimum time allowed,

• Set the maximum time allowed,

• Set the initial time,

• Set for 1 or 5 minute intervals,

• Enforce 24-hour time format, overriding user customization,

• Change the font to be used in the Time Editor,

• Use Time Editor without a Time Picker,

• Toggle between dimmed state and normal state,

• Change border properties.

By default, the following configuration applies:

• 1 minute intervals,

• The font in the Time Editor is set to the standard legend font for the system,

• The Time Editor launches a Time Picker,

• The control is not dimmed,

• Default system border is used,

• The information messages that are displayed if the user tries to enter an illegal time is one of: "Min time reached", "Max time reached" and "Invalid input".

Examples of Time Editor graphics:

Time Editor Normal Dimmed 12-hour format 24-hour format

Examples of Time Picker graphics:

Time Picker Pen Style UI Softkey Style UI 12-hour format 24-hour format

See the API documentation for Time Editor CQikTimeEditor.

The Time Editor control is related to the Date Editor and Time and Date Editor controls. See the How To guide for Date Editor.

See even the API documentation for Date Editor (CQikDateEditor) and Time and Date Editor (CQikTimeAndDateEditor).

Time Editor inherits from CQikTTimeEditor and contains a CQikTimePicker.

This section explains how Time Editor is constructed, used and destroyed. Source code examples are used and explained to illustrate how the Time Editor control is used.

Use the following #include directive:

#include <QikTimeEditor.h>

Use the following LIBRARY directive in the project's mmp-file:

LIBRARY qikctl.lib

Use the following control identifier when specifying the control in resource data files. It is used by the framework when constructing the control from resource data:

EQikCtTimeEditor

Resource files can be used to construct the Time Editor. The resource to use is defined by the QIK_TIME_EDITOR structure, defined in Qikon.rh, and by the TIME structure, defined in Eikon.rh. The structures look like this:

STRUCT QIK_TIME_EDITOR
    {
    STRUCT minTime; //TIME struct
    STRUCT maxTime; //TIME struct
    BYTE flags=0;
    }
                    
STRUCT TIME
    {
    BYTE second=0;
    BYTE minute=0;
    BYTE hour=0;
    }

The values given in the structure definitions are default values. The QIK_TIME_EDITOR structure contains the following:

• minTime defines the minimum time that can be shown in the control,

• maxTime defines the maximum time that can be shown in the control,

• flags is used to customize the control. The flags that are available are defined in Qikon.hrh.

The TIME structure contains the following:

• second contains the value of the second field the control will be initiated with,

• minute contains the value of the minute field the control will be initiated with,

• hour contains the value of the hour field the control will be initiated with.

Time Editor can have the following flags:

EQikTimeWithoutPop-outPicker Editor without a popout time picker. EQikTimeForce24HourFormat Forces 24 hour clock format EQikTimeFiveMinuteSteps Sets 5-minute intervals.

This section discusses four different ways of constructing controls. The first three ways describe how to construct and add a control to the view of an application. The view framework is used in three different ways. The fourth way describes how to construct and launch a dialog from an application. The dialog framework constructs the control and adds it to the dialog.

A common way to construct controls is to specify them in the resource files and let the framework construct them from there. Specifying the controls in resource files is the preferred way of constructing controls since it allows for easier modifications compared to creating them entirely from source code.

This section covers different ways of constructing a Time Editor.

3.3.1 Construction with View Framework Using Data from a Resource File

The example below describes how to construct a Time Editor using the view framework.

The reason the example seems to be rather complex is because it demonstrates how to construct a complete view containing a Scrollable Container and a Layout Manager. It also encapsulates the Time Editor in a Building Block. The view supports both pen and softkey styles; support of both styles in a view is optional.

1) Declare an enumeration for the controls to be used in the view in a *.hrh file. Hrh files are files to be included both in resource files (*.rss) and C++ files.

/*Define time-values
#define EMaxMinute  59    
#define EMaxHour    23

/* Declare the controls' ID in a *.hrh file for use both in resource and cpp */
    enum TMyViewControls
        {
        EMyViewScrollableContainer,
        EMyViewBuildingBlock,
        EMyViewTimeEditor,
        EMyViewNumberOfControls
        };

2) Declare the controls to be used in the view in your resource (*.rss) file:

/* Declare the set of controls to be used in the view */
RESOURCE QIK_CONTROL_COLLECTION r_my_time_editor_view_controls
    {
    items =
        {
        QIK_CONTROL
            {
            unique_handle = EMyViewScrollableContainer;     
            type = EQikCtScrollableContainer;           
            control = r_my_time_editor_scroll_pane;
            },
        QIK_CONTROL
            {
            unique_handle = EMyViewTimeEditor;
            type = EQikCtTimeEditor;
            control = r_my_time_editor;
            },
        QIK_CONTROL
            {
            unique_handle = EMyViewBuildingBlock;
            type = EQikCtCaptionedTwolineBuildingBlock;
            control = r_my_time_editor_building_block;
            }
        };
    }

3) Define the view and its contents in your resource file:

/* The view */
RESOURCE QIK_VIEW r_my_time_editor_view
    {
    pages = r_my_time_editor_viewpages;
    }
                
/* The view page */
RESOURCE QIK_VIEW_PAGES r_my_time_editor_viewpages
    {
    pages =
        {
        QIK_VIEW_PAGE
            {
            container_unique_handle = EMyViewScrollableContainer;
            page_content = r_my_time_editor_view_container_details;
            }           
        };
    }

4) Define the resource for the Scrollable Container used in the view:

/* The scrollable container used in the view */
RESOURCE QIK_SCROLLABLE_CONTAINER r_my_time_editor_scroll_pane
    {
    }

5) Declare the contents and properties for the Scrollable Container used in the view:

/* Contents of the Scrollable Container used in the view */
RESOURCE QIK_SCROLLABLE_CONTAINER_SETTINGS r_my_time_editor_view_container_details
    {
    controls =
        {
        QIK_CONTAINER_ITEM
            {
            unique_handle = EMyViewBuildingBlock;
            }
        };
    }

6) Define the control resource structure used in the view:

/* The Time Editor used in the view */ 
RESOURCE QIK_TIME_EDITOR r_my_timeeditor
    {
    minTime=TIME {};
    maxTime=TIME
        {
        minute = EMaxMinute;
        hour = EMaxHour;
        };
    flags=0;
    }

7) Define the settings for the Building Block containing the control:

/* Settings for the EQikCtCaptionedTwolineBuildingBlock containing the Time Editor */   
RESOURCE QIK_SYSTEM_BUILDING_BLOCK r_my_time_editor_building_block
    {
    content =
        {
        QIK_SLOT_CONTENT
            {
            slot_id = EQikItemSlot1;
            caption = "Choose:";
            },
        QIK_SLOT_CONTENT
            {
            slot_id = EQikItemSlot2;
            unique_handle = EMyViewTimeEditor;
            }
        };
    }

8) The configurations of the view:

RESOURCE QIK_VIEW_CONFIGURATIONS r_my_time_editor_ui_configurations
    {
    configurations=
        {
        QIK_VIEW_CONFIGURATION
            {
            ui_config_mode = KQikSoftkeyStylePortrait;
            view = r_my_time_editor_view;
            command_list = r_my_time_editor_commands;
            },
        QIK_VIEW_CONFIGURATION
            {
            ui_config_mode = KQikPenStyleTouchPortrait;
            view = r_my_time_editor_view;
            command_list = r_my_time_editor_commands;
            }                       
        };
    }

9) The command list for the view:

RESOURCE QIK_COMMAND_LIST r_my_time_editor_commands
    {
    items =
        {
        // This command shall only be visible in debug mode because it is only
        // used to find memory leaks during development of the application.
        QIK_COMMAND
            {
            id = EEikCmdExit;
            type = EQikCommandTypeScreen;
            // Indicate that this command will only be visible in debug
            stateFlags = EQikCmdFlagDebugOnly;
            text = "Close (debug)";
            }
        };
    }

10) The view framework constructs the view described in this example with this code:

void CMySinglePageView::ViewConstructL()
    {
    ViewConstructFromResourceL(R_MY_TIME_EDITOR_UI_CONFIGURATIONS, R_MY_TIME_EDITOR_VIEW_CONTROLS);
    }

11) The result should look something like this:

3.3.2 Construction with Your Own C++ Code Using Data from a Resource File

The example below describes how to construct a Time Editor from resource with your own C++ code.

The reason the example seems to be rather complex is because it demonstrates how to construct a complete view containing a Scrollable Container and a Layout Manager. It also encapsulates the Time Editor in a Building Block.

This example uses the resource structures from the previous example. The following code creates the Time Editor:

#include <QikTimeEditor.h>
#include <QikRowLayoutManager.h>
#include <QikGridLayoutManager.h>
#include <QikBuildingBlock.h>
                    
void CMySinglePageView::ViewConstructL()
    {
    // Give a layout manager to the view
    CQikGridLayoutManager* gl = CQikGridLayoutManager::NewLC();
    SetLayoutManagerL(gl);
    CleanupStack::Pop(gl);      
                        
    // Create a container and give it to the view
    ControlProvider()->ControlInfos().AddFromResourceL(R_MY_TIME_EDITOR_VIEW_CONTROLS);
    CCoeControl* ctrl = ControlProvider()->ControlConstructIfNeededL(EMyViewScrollableContainer, *this);
    ASSERT(ctrl);
    CQikContainerBase* container;
    ctrl->MopGetObjectNoChaining(container);
    ASSERT(container);
    Controls().AppendLC(container);
    CleanupStack::Pop(ctrl);
                    
    // Create a layout manager to be used inside the container
    CQikRowLayoutManager* rowlayout = CQikRowLayoutManager::NewLC();
    container->SetLayoutManagerL(rowlayout);
    CleanupStack::Pop(rowlayout);
                    
    // Create the building block (containing a Time Editor) and
    // add it to the container      
    CQikBuildingBlock* block = CQikBuildingBlock::CreateSystemBuildingBlockL(EQikCtCaptionedTwolineBuildingBlock);
    container->AddControlLC(block, EMyViewBuildingBlock);
    TResourceReader blockReader;
    iCoeEnv->CreateResourceReaderLC(blockReader,R_MY_TIME_EDITOR_BUILDING_BLOCK);
    block->ConstructFromResourceL(blockReader, *ControlProvider());
    CleanupStack::PopAndDestroy(); //blockReader
    CleanupStack::Pop(block);
    }

What the code does

1) Initializes the Command Manager with an empty Command List. The controls placed in the view add their commands to the Command List when they receive focus.

2) Creates a Layout Manager for the view. The Grid Layout Manager fills the view with its only control in this example, the Scrollable Container.

3) Loads the control collection R_MY_VIEW_CONTROLS into the Control Provider. Then the Control Provider is asked to create the Scrollable Container.

4) Uses the MopGetObjectNoChaining function to determine whether the control that was created really is a class of the type CQikContainerBase before it is added to the view.

5) Creates a Layout Manager to control the layout inside the container. Adds the Layout Manager to the container.

6) Constructs the Building Block containing the Time Editor from the resource R_MY_BUILDING_BLOCK. Adds the Building Block to the container.

The Time Editor can also be created without a Building Block. In that case, replace the last section in the code above, from the "Create building block..." comment, with the following code.

Since a pointer to the control is declared here, QikTimeEditor.h needs to be included in the cpp-file and qikctl.lib in the mmp-file.

// Create the Time Editor and add it into the container
TResourceReader reader;
iEikonEnv->CreateResourceReaderLC(reader, R_MY_TIME_EDITOR);
CQikTimeEditor* timeEd = new (ELeave) CQikTimeEditor();
container->AddControlLC(timeEd, EMyViewTimeEditor);
timeEd->ConstructFromResourceL(reader);  
timeEd->SetUniqueHandle(EMyViewTimeEditor);
CleanupStack::Pop(timeEd);
CleanupStack::PopAndDestroy(); //reader

Use AddControlLC to add controls to a Scrollable Container. Add the controls as soon as they are created. Do not push them onto the Cleanup Stack before they are added. Do not pop them from the Cleanup Stack until they are fully constructed. A TCleanupItem created in AddControlLC will make sure that the control is both cleaned up and removed from the Components Array if a leave occurs before the control is fully constructed.

3.3.3 Construction Solely from C++ Code

The example below describes how to construct a Time Editor solely from C++ code.

The reason the example seems to be rather complex is because it demonstrates how to construct a complete view containing a Scrollable Container and a Layout Manager.

The following source code constructs a Time Editor:

#include <QikTimeEditor.h>
#include <QikScrollableContainer.h>
#include <QikRowLayoutManager.h>
#include <QikGridLayoutManager.h>
#include <QikBuildingBlock.h>
                    
void CMySinglePageView::ViewConstructL()
    {
    TTime minTime;
    TTime maxTime;
    TTime initialTime;
                        
    minTime.Set(_L("20000101:062500.000000"));
    maxTime.Set(_L("20030101:230000.000000"));
    initialTime.Set(_L("20000101:131100.000000"));
 
                    
    // Give a layout manager to the view
    CQikGridLayoutManager* gridlayout = CQikGridLayoutManager::NewLC();
    SetLayoutManagerL(gridlayout);
    CleanupStack::Pop(gridlayout);
                        
    // Create a container and add it to the view
    CQikScrollableContainer* container = new (ELeave) CQikScrollableContainer();
    Controls().AppendLC(container);
    container->ConstructL(EFalse);
    CleanupStack::Pop(container);
                        
    // Create a layout manager to be used inside the container
    CQikRowLayoutManager* rowlayout = CQikRowLayoutManager::NewLC();
    container->SetLayoutManagerL(rowlayout);
    CleanupStack::Pop(rowlayout);
                    
    // Create the Time Editor and add it to the container
    CQikTimeEditor* timeEd = new (ELeave) CQikTimeEditor();
    container->AddControlLC(timeEd, EMyViewTimeEditor);
    timeEd->ConstructL(minTime, maxTime, initialTime, 0);
    timeEd->SetUniqueHandle(EMyViewTimeEditor);
    timeEd->SetObserver(this);
    CleanupStack::Pop(timeEd);
    }

What the code does

1) Declares a minimum, a maximum and a initial time to be used in the constructor.

2) Initializes the Command Manager with an empty Command List. The controls placed in the view add their commands to the Command List when they receive focus.

3) Creates a Layout Manager for the view. The Grid Layout Manager fills the view with its only control in this example, the Scrollable Container.

4) Instantiates a container and adds it to the view.

5) Creates a Layout Manager and adds it to the container.

6) Creates the Time Editor control from C++ code. Sets the view, this, to be an observer of the Time Editor. The view's base class, CQikViewBase, handles focus changes in its method HandleControlEventL. For more details see the section below on how to be notified with Control Events.

3.3.4 Construction with the Dialog Framework Using Data from a Resource File

The Time Editor can be constructed from resource files in dialogs as well. To construct a dialog from resource, a valid resource definition of that dialog must be in one of the project's resource files.

An example of a dialog resource containing the control is given below. For more information about the dialog class and its resource structure see CEikDialog and DIALOG in the API documentation.

1) Define time values in the *.hrh file:

/*Define time values
#define EMaxMinute  59    
#define EMaxHour    23

2) Declare a dialog resource containing the Time Editor control:

RESOURCE DIALOG r_my_time_editor_dialog
    {
    title = "Time Editor Test";
    flags = EEikDialogFlagWait;                     
    items =
        {
        DLG_LINE
            {
            type = EQikCtTimeEditor;
            prompt = "The time";
            control = QIK_TIME_EDITOR
                {
                minTime = TIME {};
                maxTime = TIME
                    {
                    minute = EMaxMinute;
                    hour = EMaxHour;
                    };
                flags=0;
                };
            }
        };
    }

The resource properties inside the Control Block are the same as the ones described in the previous section.

3) Launch the dialog using the following source code. The dialog resource ID is passed as an argument:

CEikDialog* dlg = new (ELeave) CEikDialog();
dlg->ExecuteLD(R_MY_TIME_EDITOR_DIALOG);

The function returns immediately if EEikDialogFlagWait has not been specified in the dialog resource. If EEikDialogFlagWait is specified, it returns when the dialog exits. The dialog framework will in both situations delete the dialog appropriately as indicated by the D suffix of the ExcecuteLD function name.

This section covers the most common functions used for interacting with the control.

When constructing the control with resource data, no reference to the control is available in the view class. When constructing the control with code, the preferred way might be to not save a reference to the control. In both cases, the LocateControlByUniqueHandle function is used to get a pointer to the control by supplying the control's unique handle. When constructing the view and the control from code you must explicitly set this unique handle by calling the method SetUniqueHandle. See the code examples below.

Note that the function will return NULL if the control could not be found. Always check the pointer before using it!

// Set the unique handle
timeEd->SetUniqueHandle(EMyViewTimeEditor);
            
// Get a pointer to the edwin control
CQikTimeEditor* timeEd = LocateControlByUniqueHandle<CQikTimeEditor*>(EMyViewTimeEditor);             

3.4.1 How to Get Time Values from Time Editor

This example shows how to get the max and min time that is set in the control. It also shows how to extract the specific hour and minute.

// Local variables used to get the time.
TTime minTime;
TTime maxTime;
                    
// Find the control by its unique handle.
CQikTimeEditor* timeEd = LocateControlByUniqueHandle<CQikTimeEditor*>(EMyViewTimeEditor);             
                    
// Get the time.
timeEd->GetMinimumAndMaximum(minTime, maxTime);
                    
// Convert into TDateTime.
TDateTime dateMinTime = minTime.DateTime();
TDateTime dateMaxTime = maxTime.DateTime();
                    
// Extract the min-time.
TInt minHour = dateMinTime.Hour();
TInt minMin = dateMaxTime.Minute();
                    
// Extract the max-time.
TInt maxHour = maxtime.Hour();
TInt maxMin = maxtime.Minute();

3.4.2 How to Set Time Values in the Time Editor

This example shows how to set a specific time in the control.

TTime time;
//Format YYYYMMDD:HHMMSS.MMMMMM
time.Set(_L("20000101:062500.000000"));               
                    
// Find the control by its unique handle.
CQikTimeEditor* timeEd = LocateControlByUniqueHandle<CQikTimeEditor*>(EMyViewTimeEditor);                                 
timeEd->SetTimeL(time);

3.4.3 How to be Notified with Control Events

In order to be notified when the Time Editor changes state, you must add an observer to the Time Editor. An observer is an object of the type MCoeControlObserver. The observer receives a function call to its function HandleControlEventL(CCoeControl* aControl, TCoeEvent aEventType) when the Time Editor changes state.

The view base class, CQikViewBase, implements the MCoeControlObserver. The HandleControlEventL function must be overloaded in the view class, because the view inherits from CQikViewBase.

The following source code example shows how to add an object as an observer and how to receive events from the Time Editor:

void CMySinglePageView::ViewConstructL()
    {
    // Construction code
    …
    // Adding this object as an observer
    timeEd->SetObserver(this);
    }

void CMySinglePageView::HandleControlEventL(CCoeControl* aControl, TCoeEvent aEventType)
    {
    // Call base class to handle focus management
    CQikViewBase::HandleControlEventL(aControl, aEventType);
                        
    CQikTimeEditor* timeEd = LocateControlByUniqueHandle<CQikTimeEditor*>(EMyViewTimeEditor);             
    if(aControl == timeEd)
        {
        switch(aEventType)
            {
            case EEventStateChanged:
                // The internal state of the Time Editor was changed,
                // for example, due to another item being selected. 
                break;
                                        
            case EEventRequestExit:
                break;
                                    
            case EEventRequestCancel:
                break;
                                    
            case EEventRequestFocus:
                // The Time Editor received a pointer down event
                break;
                                    
            case EEventPrepareFocusTransition:
                // A focus change is about to appear
                break;
                                
            case EEventInteractionRefused:
                // The Time Editor is dimmed and received a
                // pointer down event.
                break;
                                
            default:
                break;
            }
        }
    }

The reason for calling the base class's HandleControlEventL function is that the view base class, CQikViewBase, handles focus management between controls in the view. If the control's observer is not a class which derives from CQikViewBase, focus management must be resolved by the observer itself. If a control requests focus and does not get it from the observer, it will generate a panic in some cases if the observer does not leave.

For more details on the TCoeEvent type, see class MCoeControlObserver in the API documentation.

Destroying the control is just a matter of invoking operator delete on the Time Editor object.

Subclassing Date Editor is not recommended.