Qt 4.8: QNetworkConfiguration Class Reference

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# QNetworkConfiguration Class Reference

The QNetworkConfiguration class provides an abstraction of one or more access point configurations. More...

     #include <QNetworkConfiguration>

This class was introduced in Qt 4.7.

- List of all members, including inherited members

## Public Types

enum | BearerType { BearerUnknown, BearerEthernet, BearerWLAN, Bearer2G, ..., BearerWiMAX }
enum | Purpose { UnknownPurpose, PublicPurpose, PrivatePurpose, ServiceSpecificPurpose }
enum | StateFlag { Undefined, Defined, Discovered, Active }
flags | StateFlags
enum | Type { InternetAccessPoint, ServiceNetwork, UserChoice, Invalid }

## Public Functions

| QNetworkConfiguration ()
| QNetworkConfiguration ( const QNetworkConfiguration & other )
| ~QNetworkConfiguration ()
QString | bearerName () const`(deprecated)`
BearerType | bearerType () const
QString | bearerTypeName () const
QList<QNetworkConfiguration> | children () const
QString | identifier () const
bool | isRoamingAvailable () const
bool | isValid () const
QString | name () const
Purpose | purpose () const
StateFlags | state () const
Type | type () const
bool | operator!= ( const QNetworkConfiguration & other ) const
QNetworkConfiguration & | operator= ( const QNetworkConfiguration & other )
bool | operator== ( const QNetworkConfiguration & other ) const

## Detailed Description

The QNetworkConfiguration class provides an abstraction of one or more access point configurations.

QNetworkConfiguration encapsulates a single access point or service network. In most cases a single access point configuration can be mapped to one network interface. However a single network interface may not always map to only one access point configuration. Multiple configurations for the same network device may enable multiple access points. An example device that could exhibit such a configuration might be a Smartphone which allows the user to manage multiple WLAN configurations while the device itself has only one WLAN network device.

The QNetworkConfiguration also supports the concept of service networks. This concept allows the grouping of multiple access point configurations into one entity. Such a group is called service network and can be beneficial in cases whereby a network session to a particular destination network is required (e.g. a company network). When using a service network the user doesn't usually care which one of the connectivity options is chosen (e.g. corporate WLAN or VPN via GPRS) as long as he can reach the company's target server. Depending on the current position and time some of the access points that make up the service network may not even be available. Furthermore automated access point roaming can be enabled which enables the device to change the network interface configuration dynamically while maintaining the applications connection to the target network. It allows adaption to the changing environment and may enable optimization with regards to cost, speed or other network parameters.

Special configurations of type UserChoice provide a placeholder configuration which is resolved to an actual network configuration by the platform when a session is opened. Not all platforms support the concept of a user choice configuration.

### Configuration states

The list of available configurations can be obtained via QNetworkConfigurationManager::allConfigurations(). A configuration can have multiple states. The Defined configuration state indicates that the configuration is stored on the device. However the configuration is not yet ready to be activated as e.g. a WLAN may not be available at the current time.

The Discovered state implies that the configuration is Defined and the outside conditions are such that the configuration can be used immediately to open a new network session. An example of such an outside condition may be that the Ethernet cable is actually connected to the device or that the WLAN with the specified SSID is in range.

The Active state implies that the configuration is Discovered. A configuration in this state is currently being used by an application. The underlying network interface has a valid IP configuration and can transfer IP packets between the device and the target network.

The Undefined state indicates that the system has knowledge of possible target networks but cannot actually use that knowledge to connect to it. An example for such a state could be an encrypted WLAN that has been discovered but the user hasn't actually saved a configuration including the required password which would allow the device to connect to it.

Depending on the type of configuration some states are transient in nature. A GPRS/UMTS connection may almost always be Discovered if the GSM/UMTS network is available. However if the GSM/UMTS network looses the connection the associated configuration may change its state from Discovered to Defined as well. A similar use case might be triggered by WLAN availability. QNetworkConfigurationManager::updateConfigurations() can be used to manually trigger updates of states. Note that some platforms do not require such updates as they implicitly change the state once it has been discovered. If the state of a configuration changes all related QNetworkConfiguration instances change their state automatically.

See also QNetworkSession and QNetworkConfigurationManager.

## Member Type Documentation

### enum QNetworkConfiguration::BearerType

Specifies the type of bearer used by a configuration.

Constant | Value | Description
--- | --- | ---
`QNetworkConfiguration::BearerUnknown` | `0` | The type of bearer is unknown or unspecified. The bearerTypeName() function may return additional information.
`QNetworkConfiguration::BearerEthernet` | `1` | The configuration is for an Ethernet interfaces.
`QNetworkConfiguration::BearerWLAN` | `2` | The configuration is for a Wireless LAN interface.
`QNetworkConfiguration::Bearer2G` | `3` | The configuration is for a CSD, GPRS, HSCSD, EDGE or cdmaOne interface.
`QNetworkConfiguration::BearerCDMA2000` | `4` | The configuration is for CDMA interface.
`QNetworkConfiguration::BearerWCDMA` | `5` | The configuration is for W-CDMA/UMTS interface.
`QNetworkConfiguration::BearerHSPA` | `6` | The configuration is for High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) interface.
`QNetworkConfiguration::BearerBluetooth` | `7` | The configuration is for a Bluetooth interface.
`QNetworkConfiguration::BearerWiMAX` | `8` | The configuration is for a WiMAX interface.

### enum QNetworkConfiguration::Purpose

Specifies the purpose of the configuration.

Constant | Value | Description
--- | --- | ---
`QNetworkConfiguration::UnknownPurpose` | `0` | The configuration doesn't specify any purpose. This is the default value.
`QNetworkConfiguration::PublicPurpose` | `1` | The configuration can be used for general purpose internet access.
`QNetworkConfiguration::PrivatePurpose` | `2` | The configuration is suitable to access a private network such as an office Intranet.
`QNetworkConfiguration::ServiceSpecificPurpose` | `3` | The configuration can be used for operator specific services (e.g. receiving MMS messages or content streaming).

### enum QNetworkConfiguration::StateFlag
flags QNetworkConfiguration::StateFlags

Specifies the configuration states.

Constant | Value | Description
--- | --- | ---
`QNetworkConfiguration::Undefined` | `0x0000001` | This state is used for transient configurations such as newly discovered WLANs for which the user has not actually created a configuration yet.
`QNetworkConfiguration::Defined` | `0x0000002` | Defined configurations are known to the system but are not immediately usable (e.g. a configured WLAN is not within range or the Ethernet cable is currently not plugged into the machine).
`QNetworkConfiguration::Discovered` | `0x0000006` | A discovered configuration can be immediately used to create a new QNetworkSession. An example of a discovered configuration could be a WLAN which is within in range. If the device moves out of range the discovered flag is dropped. A second example is a GPRS configuration which generally remains discovered for as long as the device has network coverage. A configuration that has this state is also in state QNetworkConfiguration::Defined. If the configuration is a service network this flag is set if at least one of the underlying access points configurations has the Discovered state.
`QNetworkConfiguration::Active` | `0x000000e` | The configuration is currently used by an open network session (see QNetworkSession::isOpen()). However this does not mean that the current process is the entity that created the open session. It merely indicates that if a new QNetworkSession were to be constructed based on this configuration QNetworkSession::state() would return QNetworkSession::Connected. This state implies the QNetworkConfiguration::Discovered state.

The StateFlags type is a typedef for QFlags<StateFlag>. It stores an OR combination of StateFlag values.

### enum QNetworkConfiguration::Type

This enum describes the type of configuration.

Constant | Value | Description
--- | --- | ---
`QNetworkConfiguration::InternetAccessPoint` | `0` | The configuration specifies the details for a single access point. Note that configurations of type InternetAccessPoint may be part of other QNetworkConfigurations of type ServiceNetwork.
`QNetworkConfiguration::ServiceNetwork` | `1` | The configuration is based on a group of QNetworkConfigurations of type InternetAccessPoint. All group members can reach the same target network. This type of configuration is a mandatory requirement for roaming enabled network sessions. On some platforms this form of configuration may also be called Service Network Access Point (SNAP).
`QNetworkConfiguration::UserChoice` | `2` | The configuration is a placeholder which will be resolved to an actual configuration by the platform when a session is opened. Depending on the platform the selection may generate a popup dialog asking the user for his preferred choice.
`QNetworkConfiguration::Invalid` | `3` | The configuration is invalid.

## Member Function Documentation

### QNetworkConfiguration::QNetworkConfiguration ()

Constructs an invalid configuration object.

See also isValid().

### QNetworkConfiguration::QNetworkConfiguration ( const QNetworkConfiguration & other )

Creates a copy of the QNetworkConfiguration object contained in other.

### QNetworkConfiguration::~QNetworkConfiguration ()

Frees the resources associated with the QNetworkConfiguration object.

### QString QNetworkConfiguration::bearerName () const

This function is deprecated.

This function is deprecated. It is equivalent to calling bearerTypeName(), however bearerType() should be used in preference.

### BearerType QNetworkConfiguration::bearerType () const

Returns the type of bearer used by this network configuration.

If the bearer type is unknown the bearerTypeName() function can be used to retrieve a textural type name for the bearer.

An invalid network configuration always returns the BearerUnknown value.

### QString QNetworkConfiguration::bearerTypeName () const

Returns the type of bearer used by this network configuration as a string.

The string is not translated and therefore can not be shown to the user. The subsequent table shows the fixed mappings between BearerType and the bearer type name for known types. If the BearerType is unknown this function may return additional information if it is available; otherwise an empty string will be returned.

BearerType | Value
--- | ---
BearerUnknown |  | The session is based on an unknown or unspecified bearer type. The value of the string returned describes the bearer type.
BearerEthernet | Ethernet
BearerWLAN | WLAN
Bearer2G | 2G
BearerCDMA2000 | CDMA2000
BearerWCDMA | WCDMA
BearerHSPA | HSPA
BearerBluetooth | Bluetooth
BearerWiMAX | WiMAX

This function returns an empty string if this is an invalid configuration, a network configuration of type QNetworkConfiguration::ServiceNetwork or QNetworkConfiguration::UserChoice.

See also bearerType().

### QList<QNetworkConfiguration> QNetworkConfiguration::children () const

Returns all sub configurations of this network configuration in priority order. The first sub configuration in the list has the highest priority.

Only network configurations of type ServiceNetwork can have children. Otherwise this function returns an empty list.

### QString QNetworkConfiguration::identifier () const

Returns the unique and platform specific identifier for this network configuration; otherwise an empty string.

### bool QNetworkConfiguration::isRoamingAvailable () const

Returns true if this configuration supports roaming; otherwise false.

### bool QNetworkConfiguration::isValid () const

Returns true if this QNetworkConfiguration object is valid. A configuration may become invalid if the user deletes the configuration or the configuration was default-constructed.

The addition and removal of configurations can be monitored via the QNetworkConfigurationManager.

See also QNetworkConfigurationManager.

### QString QNetworkConfiguration::name () const

Returns the user visible name of this configuration.

The name may either be the name of the underlying access point or the name for service network that this configuration represents.

### Purpose QNetworkConfiguration::purpose () const

Returns the purpose of this configuration.

The purpose field may be used to programmatically determine the purpose of a configuration. Such information is usually part of the access point or service network meta data.

### StateFlags QNetworkConfiguration::state () const

Returns the current state of the configuration.

### Type QNetworkConfiguration::type () const

Returns the type of the configuration.

A configuration can represent a single access point configuration or a set of access point configurations. Such a set is called service network. A configuration that is based on a service network can potentially support roaming of network sessions.

### bool QNetworkConfiguration::operator!= ( const QNetworkConfiguration & other ) const

Returns true if this configuration is not the same as the other configuration given; otherwise returns false.

### QNetworkConfiguration & QNetworkConfiguration::operator= ( const QNetworkConfiguration & other )

Copies the content of the QNetworkConfiguration object contained in other into this one.

### bool QNetworkConfiguration::operator== ( const QNetworkConfiguration & other ) const

Returns true, if this configuration is the same as the other configuration given; otherwise returns false.