/****************************************************************************
**
** Copyright (C) 2021 The Qt Company Ltd.
** Contact: https://www.qt.io/licensing/
**
** This file is part of the Qt Creator documentation.
**
** Commercial License Usage
** Licensees holding valid commercial Qt licenses may use this file in
** accordance with the commercial license agreement provided with the
** Software or, alternatively, in accordance with the terms contained in
** a written agreement between you and The Qt Company. For licensing terms
** and conditions see https://www.qt.io/terms-conditions. For further
** information use the contact form at https://www.qt.io/contact-us.
**
** GNU Free Documentation License Usage
** Alternatively, this file may be used under the terms of the GNU Free
** Documentation License version 1.3 as published by the Free Software
** Foundation and appearing in the file included in the packaging of
** this file. Please review the following information to ensure
** the GNU Free Documentation License version 1.3 requirements
** will be met: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl-1.3.html.
**
****************************************************************************/

/*!
    \page quick-components-creating.html
    \previouspage quick-component-instances.html
    \nextpage quick-buttons.html

    \title Creating Custom Components

    You can either use project wizard templates to create custom components and
    controls or move component instances into separate files to turn them into
    new components that you can create instances of. You can then use the
    instances of the new components in other components.

    \image qtquick-components-custom.png "Custom components in My Components"

    Custom components are stored in \l Library > \uicontrol Components >
    \uicontrol {My Components}. You can create instances of custom components
    by dragging-and-dropping them from \uicontrol Library to \l {Form Editor},
    \l {3D Editor}, or \l Navigator.

    \section1 Creating Components from Scratch

    To use wizard templates to create custom components:

    \list 1
        \li Select \uicontrol File > \uicontrol {New File} >
            \if defined(qtcreator)
            \uicontrol Qt > \uicontrol {Qt Quick UI File} >
            \else
            \uicontrol {Qt Quick Files} > \uicontrol {Qt Quick UI File} >
            \endif
            \uicontrol Choose to create a new \c .ui.qml file.
            \note Components are listed in \uicontrol Library >
            \uicontrol Components > \uicontrol {My Components} only
            if the filename begins with a capital letter.
        \li Click \uicontrol Design to open the file in
            \uicontrol {Form Editor}.
        \li Drag-and-drop a component from \uicontrol Library to
            \uicontrol Navigator or \uicontrol {Form Editor}.
        \li Edit component properties in the \uicontrol Properties view.
            The available properties depend on the component type. You can
            \l{Specifying Dynamic Properties}{add properties for
            components} in \uicontrol {Connection View} > \uicontrol Properties.
        \li To change the appearance and behavior of the component instances
            in ways that are not supported in \QDS by default, you can define
            custom properties in \uicontrol {Connection View} >
            \uicontrol {Properties}.

    \endlist

    The following sections contain more information about how to use
    \uicontrol {Form Editor} to edit 2D content and \uicontrol {3D Editor}
    to edit 3D scenes, as well as examples of how to create UI controls
    using instances of basic components:

    \list
        \li \l{Form Editor}
        \li \l{3D Editor}
        \li \l{Creating Buttons}
        \li \l{Creating Scalable Buttons and Borders}
    \endlist

    \section1 Naming Conventions

    Establish naming conventions to keep the components in your UI organized.
    Name your components accurately and give them suitable IDs. Particularly,
    check and modify the default names of the components you export from design
    tools to create reliable and self-explanatory names that follow the naming
    conventions you have established.

    For example, a button symbol might have the ID \e myButton_symbol and the
    different layers might have it as a prefix with the states appended, thus
    producing IDs such as \e myButton_symbol_default. To prepare for additional
    mouse areas later in the project, you could use similar IDs for them, such
    as \e myButton_symbol_hotspot. When you use the button as instances in a
    screen, you would give each of these instances a unique ID that relates to
    that screen. For example, \e myButton_myMenu_home, \e myButton_myMenu_profile,
    and \e myButton_myMenu_settings

    \if defined(qtdesignstudio)
    \include qtdesignstudio-components.qdocinc creating studio components
    \endif

    \section1 Turning Component Instances into Custom Components

    An alternative way of creating reusable components is to turn
    component instances into custom components by moving them into
    separate component files (.ui.qml). Right-click a component instance
    in \uicontrol Navigator or \uicontrol {Form Editor}, and select
    \uicontrol {Move Component into Separate File} in the context menu.

    \image qtcreator-move-component-into-separate-file.png

    Give the new component a name, and select whether properties are set for
    the new component or for the original one.

    When you select \uicontrol OK, a new component file is created and an
    instance of the component is added to the code in the current component
    file. The look of your UI in \uicontrol {Form Editor} does not change.

    To open the new component file for editing the properties that you want
    to change for all instances of the component, right-click the component,
    and then select \uicontrol {Go into Component} in the context menu. For
    additional ways of opening base components, see \l{Moving Within Components}.

    For an example of creating a reusable custom component, see
    \if defined(qtcreator)
    \l{Creating a Mobile Application}.
    \else
    \l{Progress Bar}.
    \endif

    Custom components are listed in \uicontrol Library > \uicontrol Components
    > \uicontrol {My Components}, and you can use instances of them to build
    more components.

    \include qtquick-mcu-support.qdocinc mcu qtquick components

    \section1 Merging Files with Templates

    You can merge the current component file against an existing second
    component file using the second file in a way similar to using a CSS
    stylesheet.

    To use this experimental feature, right-click a component in the
    \uicontrol Navigator or \uicontrol {Form Editor} view and select
    \uicontrol {Merge File with Template} in the context menu.

    \image qmldesigner-merge-with-template.png "Merge with Template dialog"

    In the \uicontrol Template field, select the file to use as a template.
*/
