QSignalSpy to capture a reference argument - qt

Question

It is not possible to capture an argument that has been passed as reference with a QSignalSpy:
QSignalSpy spy( myObject, SIGNAL(foo(int&)));
...
int& i=spy.at(0).at(0).value<int&>();
Since a QVariant can not contain a reference member. Plain logic.
But are there other solutions to check the passed-in argument?

Answer 1

Since Qt 5, we can simply connect to a lambda function, which makes the use of the QSignalSpy unnecessary:
std::vector<Value> values;
QObject::connect(myObject, &MyObject::foo,
[&](const auto &value)
{ values.emplace_back(value); });
myObject.somethingCausingFoo();
ASSERT_EQ(1u, values.size());
EXPECT_EQ(expectedValue, values.at(0));

Answer 2

An "ugly solution" would be to hack the fairly simple QSignalSpy code in order to handle the reference passed arguments. I provide a minimal working example for int reference arguments. The only changes were made to initArgs and appendArgs functions.
Notice that with this approach you will only be able to check the value of the passed argument by reference. You will not be able to change it's value.
In the initArgs function we check if we have references by argument and we populate the shouldreinterpret list.
void initArgs(const QMetaMethod &member)
{
QList<QByteArray> params = member.parameterTypes();
for (int i = 0; i < params.count(); ++i) {
int tp = QMetaType::type(params.at(i).constData());
if (tp == QMetaType::Void)
{
qWarning("Don't know how to handle '%s', use qRegisterMetaType to register it.",
params.at(i).constData());
// Check if we have a reference by removing the & from the parameter name
QString argString(params.at(i).constData());
argString.remove("&");
tp = QMetaType::type(argString.toStdString().c_str());
if (tp != QMetaType::Void)
shouldReinterpret << true;
}
else
shouldReinterpret << false;
args << tp;
}
}
and the appendArgs function, where we reinterpret the passed by reference arguments:
void appendArgs(void **a)
{
QList<QVariant> list;
for (int i = 0; i < args.count(); ++i) {
QMetaType::Type type = static_cast<QMetaType::Type>(args.at(i));
if (shouldReinterpret.at(i))
{
switch (type)
{
case QMetaType::Int:
list << QVariant(type, &(*reinterpret_cast<int*>(a[i + 1])));
break;
// Do the same for other types
}
}
else
list << QVariant(type, a[i + 1]);
}
append(list);
}
Complete code for reference:
class MySignalSpy: public QObject, public QList<QList<QVariant> >
{
public:
MySignalSpy(QObject *obj, const char *aSignal)
{
#ifdef Q_CC_BOR
const int memberOffset = QObject::staticMetaObject.methodCount();
#else
static const int memberOffset = QObject::staticMetaObject.methodCount();
#endif
Q_ASSERT(obj);
Q_ASSERT(aSignal);
if (((aSignal[0] - '0') & 0x03) != QSIGNAL_CODE) {
qWarning("QSignalSpy: Not a valid signal, use the SIGNAL macro");
return;
}
QByteArray ba = QMetaObject::normalizedSignature(aSignal + 1);
const QMetaObject *mo = obj->metaObject();
int sigIndex = mo->indexOfMethod(ba.constData());
if (sigIndex < 0) {
qWarning("QSignalSpy: No such signal: '%s'", ba.constData());
return;
}
if (!QMetaObject::connect(obj, sigIndex, this, memberOffset,
Qt::DirectConnection, 0)) {
qWarning("QSignalSpy: QMetaObject::connect returned false. Unable to connect.");
return;
}
sig = ba;
initArgs(mo->method(sigIndex));
}
inline bool isValid() const { return !sig.isEmpty(); }
inline QByteArray signal() const { return sig; }
int qt_metacall(QMetaObject::Call call, int methodId, void **a)
{
methodId = QObject::qt_metacall(call, methodId, a);
if (methodId < 0)
return methodId;
if (call == QMetaObject::InvokeMetaMethod) {
if (methodId == 0) {
appendArgs(a);
}
--methodId;
}
return methodId;
}
private:
void initArgs(const QMetaMethod &member)
{
QList<QByteArray> params = member.parameterTypes();
for (int i = 0; i < params.count(); ++i) {
int tp = QMetaType::type(params.at(i).constData());
if (tp == QMetaType::Void)
{
qWarning("Don't know how to handle '%s', use qRegisterMetaType to register it.",
params.at(i).constData());
QString argString(params.at(i).constData());
argString.remove("&");
tp = QMetaType::type(argString.toStdString().c_str());
if (tp != QMetaType::Void)
shouldReinterpret << true;
}
else
shouldReinterpret << false;
args << tp;
}
}
void appendArgs(void **a)
{
QList<QVariant> list;
for (int i = 0; i < args.count(); ++i) {
QMetaType::Type type = static_cast<QMetaType::Type>(args.at(i));
if (shouldReinterpret.at(i))
{
switch (type)
{
case QMetaType::Int:
int k = (*reinterpret_cast<int*>(a[i + 1]));
list << QVariant(type, &k);
break;
}
}
else
list << QVariant(type, a[i + 1]);
}
append(list);
}
// the full, normalized signal name
QByteArray sig;
// holds the QMetaType types for the argument list of the signal
QList<int> args;
// Holds the indexes of the arguments that
QList<bool> shouldReinterpret;
};