# kio Library API Documentation

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# A network-enabled file management system in a library

### Version 3.4.1

This library implements almost all the file management functions you will ever need. In fact, the KDE file manager, Konqueror also uses this to provide its network-enabled file management.

The easiest way to use this library from a KDE application is via the KIO::NetAccess class (for easy synchronous access) or via the KIO::Job class (for more complex asynchronous jobs).

This library also implements the System Configuration Cache (KSycoca).

KMimeType: The notion of a file type, already existing in KDE-1.x

KService: To a mimetype are bound one or more applications, now called services. Services can be applications, but also libraries, dynamically opened.

KServiceType: A service type allows the same mechanism to be extended to components. For instance : the question "what are the koffice plugins" is solved by a service type called KOfficePlugin, and by every plugin providing a .desktop file stating that it is a service that implements the servicetype KOfficePlugin.

KServiceTypeProfile: Stores the user's preferences for services bound to mimetypes/servicetypes.

KTrader: Use it to query for which services implement a given mimetype/servicetype. Has its own language, in order to allow complex queries.

## Filedialog widget and associated classes.

This library also provides the KDE file selector widget, its building blocks and some other widgets, making use of the file dialog.

The file dialog provides different views; there is a vertically scrolling view based on KListView, showing things like filename, file size, permissions etc. in separate columns. And there is a horizontally scrolling view based on KIconView. Additionally, there are some compound views, like a view using the icon-view for files on the right side and another view for directories on the left. A view, that shows a preview for the currently selected file (using KIO::PreviewJob to generate previews) and any other view to show the files is also available.

All those views share a common baseclass, named KFileView, which defines the interface for inserting files into a view, removing them, selecting etc.

The one class encapsulating all those views and adding browsing capabilities to them is KDirOperator. It allows the user to switch between different views.

KFileTreeView is a KListView based widget that displays files and/or directories as a tree. It does not implement the KFileView interface, however, so it can't be used with KDirOperator.

Besides the filebrowsing widgets, there is the KPropertiesDialog class, implementing a dialog showing the name, permissions, icons, meta information and all kinds of properties of a file, as well as providing a means to modify them.

The KPropertiesDialog is extensible with plugin-pages via the KPropsDlgPlugin class.

The KIconDialog class shows a list of icons installed on the system (as accessible via KIconLoader) and allows the user to select one.

KOpenWithDlg implements a dialog to choose an application from, that is to be run, e.g. to let the user choose an application to open a file/url with.

KFileDialog: The class providing the file selector dialog. It combines a KDirOperator, KURLBar and several other widgets.

KDirOperator: The class encapsulating different KFileViews, offering file browsing and file selection. Asynchronous, network transparent reading of directories is performed via the KIO library.

KURLRequester: A widget to be used for asking for a filename/path/URL. It consists of a KLineEdit (or KComboBox) and a button. Activating the button will open a KFileDialog. Typing in the lineedit is aided with filename completion.

KURLRequesterDlg: A dialog to ask for a filename/path/URL, using KURLRequester.

KFileView: The base class for all views to be used with KDirOperator.

KFileIconView: The KFileView based on KIconView.

KFileDetailView: The KFileView based on KListView.

KFilePreview: The KFileView, combining a widget showing preview for a selected file and another KFileView for browsing.

KURLBar: A widget offering a number of clickable entries which represent a URL, aligned horizontally or vertically. The entries are customizable by the user both on a per application basis or for all applications (URLs, their icon and the description can be added, removed or edited by the user). This is the widget used as "sidebar" in the KFileDialog.

KFileMetaInfoWidget: A widget that allows viewing and editing of meta data of a file, utilizing KFileMetaInfo.

This file is part of the documentation for kio Library Version 3.4.1.
Documentation copyright © 1996-2004 the KDE developers.
Generated on Sat Jun 11 20:23:52 2005 by doxygen 1.4.1 written by Dimitri van Heesch, © 1997-2003