Qt Graphs Migration from Qt DataVisualization

The API and functionality between Qt DataVisualization and Qt Graphs was kept mostly unchanged. However, there are some differences that need to be taken into consideration when migrating your application from Qt DataVisualization to Qt Graphs:

• QML import statement
• CMake module inclusion
• qmake module inclusion
• Widget application creation
• Requirement to use OpenGL backend
• Removed classes
• Removed APIs
• Changed APIs

QML Import Statement

The import statement in Qt DataVisualization:

import QtDataVisualization

is changed to:

import QtGraphs

for Qt Graphs.

CMake Module Inclusion

The inclusion in Qt DataVisualization:

find_package(Qt6 REQUIRED COMPONENTS DataVisualization)
target_link_libraries(mytarget PRIVATE Qt6::DataVisualization)

is changed to:

find_package(Qt6 REQUIRED COMPONENTS Graphs)
target_link_libraries(mytarget PRIVATE Qt6::Graphs)

for Qt Graphs.

Qmake Module Inclusion

The inclusion in Qt DataVisualization:

QT += datavisualization

is changed to:

QT += graphs

for Qt Graphs.

Widget Application Creation

To create a Graph in a widget application, change your code from:

Q3DBars *barGraph = new Q3DBars();
QWidget *barsWidget = new QWidget();
QWidget *container = QWidget::createWindowContainer(barGraph, barsWidget);

auto *hLayout = new QHBoxLayout(barsWidget);
hLayout->addWidget(container, 1);

to:

QQuickWidget *quickWidget = new QQuickWidget();
Q3DBarsWidgetItem *barGraph = new Q3DBarsWidgetItem();
barGraph->setWidget(quickWidget);

auto *hLayout = new QHBoxLayout(quickWidget);

Requirement to Use OpenGL Backend

To use Qt Graphs 3D, you no longer need to force using the OpenGL backend:

// Remove this line
qputenv("QSG_RHI_BACKEND", "opengl");

Qt Graphs uses Qt Quick 3D for rendering, and as such supports the rendering backends native to the platform it is being run on.

Removed classes

• Q3DCamera
• Q3DLight
• Q3DObject
• Q3DTheme

Removed APIs

• hasContext
• shadowsSupported
• reflection
• reflectivity

Changed APIs

• optimizationHint
• renderingMode
• renderToImage
• ColorGradient and ColorGradientStop
• ThemeColor
• Data APIs
• Camera APIs
• Theme APIs
• Enums

optimizationHint

Legacy is now the mode that was OptimizationDefault in QtDataVisualization. Default uses instancing, and should be used for all targets that support it.

renderingMode

RenderDirectToBackground_NoClear has been removed, as it was already obsolete in QtDataVisualization in Qt 6.

renderToImage

renderToImage now returns QSharedPointer<QQuickItemGrabResult> instead of a QImage, and does not take msaaSamples as a parameter anymore.

ColorGradient and ColorGradientStop

ColorGradient is now Gradient and ColorGradientStop GradientStop.

ThemeColor

ThemeColor is now Color.

Data APIs

No need to create data arrays with new anymore. For example, when data was created for bar graph in Qt DataVisualization, it was done like this:

// Qt DataVisualization approach.
QBarDataRow *data = new QBarDataRow;
*data << 1.0f << 3.0f << 7.5f << 5.0f << 2.2f;

Now, it is done like this:

// Qt Graphs approach.
QBarDataRow data;
data << 1.0f << 3.0f << 7.5f << 5.0f << 2.2f;
series->dataProxy()->addRow(data);

Camera APIs

As Q3DCamera was removed, the required functions from it were moved. cameraPreset, cameraTargetPosition, cameraXRotation, cameraYRotation, cameraZoomLevel, wrapCameraXRotation, and wrapCameraYRotation are now the parts of GraphsItem3D.

Theme APIs

As Q3DTheme was removed and the theming between 2D and 3D graphs unified, some of the required functions from it have been moved, and the rest can be found from the replacement, GraphsTheme. lightColor, ambientLightStrength, lightStrength, and shadowStrength are now implemented on GraphsItem3D.

windowColor was removed. backgroundColor now does what windowColor used to do, and a new function plotAreaBackgroundColor replaces the functionality of what backgroundColor previously did.

The generic color scheme of the whole graph is now controlled by a color scheme property, and series colors by a theme property. If color scheme is not explicitly set, it will follow the desktop theming (Light/Dark).

Enums

In Qt Graphs, all the enums are implemented as scoped enums, for example, for the QAbstract3DGraph::ShadowQualityLow in Qt DataVisualization, the corresponding enum in Qt Graphs is QtGraphs3D::ShadowQuality::Low.