class QClipboard#

The QClipboard class provides access to the window system clipboard. More…

Synopsis#

Methods#

def clear()
def image()
def mimeData()
def ownsClipboard()
def ownsFindBuffer()
def ownsSelection()
def pixmap()
def setImage()
def setMimeData()
def setPixmap()
def setText()
def supportsFindBuffer()
def supportsSelection()
def text()

Note

This documentation may contain snippets that were automatically translated from C++ to Python. We always welcome contributions to the snippet translation. If you see an issue with the translation, you can also let us know by creating a ticket on https:/bugreports.qt.io/projects/PYSIDE

Detailed Description#

Warning

This section contains snippets that were automatically translated from C++ to Python and may contain errors.

The clipboard offers a simple mechanism to copy and paste data between applications.

QClipboard supports the same data types that QDrag does, and uses similar mechanisms. For advanced clipboard usage read Drag and Drop .

There is a single QClipboard object in an application, accessible as QGuiApplication::clipboard().

Example:

clipboard = QGuiApplication.clipboard()
originalText = clipboard.text()
# etc.
clipboard.setText(newText)

QClipboard features some convenience functions to access common data types: setText() allows the exchange of Unicode text and setPixmap() and setImage() allows the exchange of QPixmaps and QImages between applications. The setMimeData() function is the ultimate in flexibility: it allows you to add any QMimeData into the clipboard. There are corresponding getters for each of these, e.g. text() , image() and pixmap() . You can clear the clipboard by calling clear() .

A typical example of the use of these functions follows:

def paste(self):

    clipboard = QApplication.clipboard()
    mimeData = clipboard.mimeData()
    if mimeData.hasImage():
        setPixmap(QPixmap(mimeData.imageData()))
     elif mimeData.hasHtml():
        setText(mimeData.html())
        setTextFormat(Qt.RichText)
     elif mimeData.hasText():
        setText(mimeData.text())
        setTextFormat(Qt.PlainText)
    else:
        setText(tr("Cannot display data"))

Notes for X11 Users#

The X11 Window System has the concept of a separate selection and clipboard. When text is selected, it is immediately available as the global mouse selection. The global mouse selection may later be copied to the clipboard. By convention, the middle mouse button is used to paste the global mouse selection.

X11 also has the concept of ownership; if you change the selection within a window, X11 will only notify the owner and the previous owner of the change, i.e. it will not notify all applications that the selection or clipboard data changed.

Lastly, the X11 clipboard is event driven, i.e. the clipboard will not function properly if the event loop is not running. Similarly, it is recommended that the contents of the clipboard are stored or retrieved in direct response to user-input events, e.g. mouse button or key presses and releases. You should not store or retrieve the clipboard contents in response to timer or non-user-input events.

Since there is no standard way to copy and paste files between applications on X11, various MIME types and conventions are currently in use. For instance, Nautilus expects files to be supplied with a x-special/gnome-copied-files MIME type with data beginning with the cut/copy action, a newline character, and the URL of the file.

Notes for macOS Users#

macOS supports a separate find buffer that holds the current search string in Find operations. This find clipboard can be accessed by specifying the FindBuffer mode.

Notes for Windows and macOS Users#

Windows and macOS do not support the global mouse selection; they only supports the global clipboard, i.e. they only add text to the clipboard when an explicit copy or cut is made.

Windows and macOS does not have the concept of ownership; the clipboard is a fully global resource so all applications are notified of changes.

Notes for Android Users#

On Android only these mime types are supported: text/plain, text/html, and text/uri-list.

See also

QGuiApplication

class Mode#

This enum type is used to control which part of the system clipboard is used by mimeData() , setMimeData() and related functions.

Constant

Description

QClipboard.Clipboard

indicates that data should be stored and retrieved from the global clipboard.

QClipboard.Selection

indicates that data should be stored and retrieved from the global mouse selection. Support for Selection is provided only on systems with a global mouse selection (e.g. X11).

QClipboard.FindBuffer

indicates that data should be stored and retrieved from the Find buffer. This mode is used for holding search strings on macOS.

See also

supportsSelection()

Constant	Description
QClipboard.Clipboard	indicates that data should be stored and retrieved from the global clipboard.
QClipboard.Selection	indicates that data should be stored and retrieved from the global mouse selection. Support for `Selection` is provided only on systems with a global mouse selection (e.g. X11).
QClipboard.FindBuffer	indicates that data should be stored and retrieved from the Find buffer. This mode is used for holding search strings on macOS.

changed(mode)#

Parameters:: mode – Mode

This signal is emitted when the data for the given clipboard mode is changed.

See also

dataChanged() selectionChanged() findBufferChanged()

clear([mode=QClipboard.Mode.Clipboard])#

Parameters:: mode – Mode

Clear the clipboard contents.

The mode argument is used to control which part of the system clipboard is used. If mode is Clipboard , this function clears the global clipboard contents. If mode is Selection , this function clears the global mouse selection contents. If mode is FindBuffer , this function clears the search string buffer.

See also

Mode supportsSelection()

dataChanged()#

This signal is emitted when the clipboard data is changed.

On macOS and with Qt version 4.3 or higher, clipboard changes made by other applications will only be detected when the application is activated.

See also

findBufferChanged() selectionChanged() changed()

findBufferChanged()#

This signal is emitted when the find buffer is changed. This only applies to macOS.

With Qt version 4.3 or higher, clipboard changes made by other applications will only be detected when the application is activated.

See also

dataChanged() selectionChanged() changed()

image([mode=QClipboard.Mode.Clipboard])#

Parameters:: mode – Mode
Return type:: QImage

Returns the clipboard image, or returns a null image if the clipboard does not contain an image or if it contains an image in an unsupported image format.

The mode argument is used to control which part of the system clipboard is used. If mode is Clipboard , the image is retrieved from the global clipboard. If mode is Selection , the image is retrieved from the global mouse selection.

See also

setImage() pixmap() mimeData() isNull()

mimeData([mode=QClipboard.Mode.Clipboard])#

Parameters:: mode – Mode
Return type:: QMimeData

Returns a pointer to a QMimeData representation of the current clipboard data (can be None if the given mode is not supported by the platform).

The mode argument is used to control which part of the system clipboard is used. If mode is Clipboard , the data is retrieved from the global clipboard. If mode is Selection , the data is retrieved from the global mouse selection. If mode is FindBuffer , the data is retrieved from the search string buffer.

The text() , image() , and pixmap() functions are simpler wrappers for retrieving text, image, and pixmap data.

Note

The pointer returned might become invalidated when the contents of the clipboard changes; either by calling one of the setter functions or externally by the system clipboard changing.