Girish Mahajan (Editor)

KDE Platform 4

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Original author(s)
  
KDE

Development status
  
Maintenance

Developer(s)
  
KDE

Written in
  
C++

KDE Platform 4

Initial release
  
11 January 2008;9 years ago (2008-01-11)

Last release
  
4.14.12 (September 15, 2015; 17 months ago (2015-09-15)) [±]

KDE Platform 4 is a collection of libraries and software frameworks by KDE that serve as technological foundation for KDE Software Compilation 4 distributed under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL). KDE Platform 4 is the successor to KDElibs and the predecessor of KDE Frameworks 5. KDE Platform 4 is the only version of KDE Platform, see KDE’s brand repositioning.

Contents

Technologies

  • User Interface
  • Plasma – desktop and panel widget engine
  • KHTML – HTML rendering engine
  • KIO – extensible network-transparent file access
  • KParts – lightweight in-process graphical component framework
  • Sonnet – spell checker
  • XMLGUI – allows defining UI elements such as menus and toolbars via XML files
  • Goya
  • Hardware and Multimedia
  • Phonon – multimedia framework
  • Solid – device integration framework
  • Services
  • NEPOMUK
  • KNewStuff – KDE's "Hot New Stuff" classes
  • Policykit-KDE
  • Communication
  • Akonadi
  • Games
  • Gluon
  • KGGZ
  • Other
  • ThreadWeaver – library to use multiprocessor systems more effectively
  • Kiosk – allows disabling features within KDE to create a more controlled environment
  • Kross
  • KConfig XT
  • ownCloud

    • Technologies superseded in KDE Platform 4

  • aRts – sound server (replaced with Phonon)
  • DCOP – inter-process communication system (replaced with D-Bus)

    • KParts

    KParts is the component framework for the KDE Plasma desktop environment. An individual component is called a KPart. KParts are analogous to Bonobo components in GNOME and ActiveX controls in Microsoft's Component Object Model. Konsole is available as a KPart and is used in applications like Konqueror and Kate.

    Example uses of KParts:

  • Konqueror uses the Okular part to display documents
  • Konqueror uses the Dragon Player part to play multimedia
  • Kontact embeds kdepim applications
  • Kate and other editors use the katepart editor component
  • Several applications use the Konsole KPart to embed a terminal
    • External links
  • Creating and Using Components (KParts) (from KDE)
  • Writing Plugins For KDE Applications (from KDE)

    • Solid

    Solid is a device integration framework for KDE Platform 4, the current release of KDE. It functions on similar principles to KDE's multimedia pillar Phonon; rather than managing hardware on its own, it makes existing solutions accessible through a single API. The current solution uses udev, NetworkManager and BlueZ (the official Linux Bluetooth stack). However, any and all parts can be replaced without breaking the application, making applications using Solid extremely flexible and portable. Work is underway to build a Solid backend for the Windows port of KDE based on Windows Management Instrumentation.

    Solid is broken up into many hardware “domains” which operate independently. Domains may be added as needed. For instance, one domain may be Bluetooth, and another may be power management. Solid is used extensively within KDE 4 and its popular applications, making them more aware of hardware events and easier to develop.

    External links
  • Solid home page
  • KDE dot article on Solid

    • References

    KDE Platform 4 Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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