What does the Q_OBJECT macro do? Why do all Qt objects need this macro?

I just started using Qt and noticed that all the example class definitions have the macro Q_OBJECT as the first line. What is the purpose of this preprocessor macro?

From the Qt documentation:

> The Meta-Object Compiler, moc, is the > program that handles Qt's C++ > extensions. > > The moc tool reads a C++ header file. > If it finds one or more class > declarations that contain the Q_OBJECT > macro, it produces a C++ source file > containing the meta-object code for > those classes. Among other things, > meta-object code is required for the > signals and slots mechanism, the > run-time type information, and the > dynamic property system.

It simply tells the pre-compiler that this class needs to be run through the 'moc', or Meta-Object Compiler, which adds extra hidden fields and functions to the class as well as parsing signals and slots. You only need to add this to classes that use the signal/slot mechanism or other Qt class-level features, such as introspection. You do not need to add Q_OBJECT to classes that only use standard C++ features.

The MOC (meta object compiler) converts the Q_OBJECT macro included header files in to C++ equivalent source code. It basically controls the signal-slot mechanism, and makes it understandable to the C++ compiler

1 From Qt documentation of The Meta-Object System

The moc tool reads a C++ source file. If it finds one or more class declarations that contain the Q_OBJECT macro, it produces another C++ source file which contains the meta-object code for each of those classes. This generated source file is either #include'd into the class's source file or, more usually, compiled and linked with the class's implementation.

2 From Qt documentation of THE Q_OBJECT

The Q_OBJECT macro must appear in the private section of a class definition that declares its own signals and slots or that uses other services provided by Qt's meta-object system.

3 From Qt documentation of moc

The moc tool reads a C++ header file. If it finds one or more class declarations that contain the Q_OBJECT macro, it produces a C++ source file containing the meta-object code for those classes. Among other things, meta-object code is required for the signals and slots mechanism, the run-time type information, and the dynamic property system.

4 From Qt documentation of Signals and Slots

The Q_OBJECT macro is expanded by the preprocessor to declare several member functions that are implemented by the moc; if you get compiler errors along the lines of "undefined reference to vtable for LcdNumber", you have probably forgotten to run the moc or to include the moc output in the link command.

In gcc with -E you can see expanded macros. This is what Q_OBJECT expands into on gcc on Linux. Be aware, this might be platform dependent and it might change depending on the version of QT. You can see it is not just a tag for the moc compiler.

# 11 "mainwindow.hh"
#pragma GCC diagnostic push
# 11 "mainwindow.hh"
   
# 11 "mainwindow.hh"
#pragma GCC diagnostic ignored "-Wsuggest-override"
# 11 "mainwindow.hh"
    static const QMetaObject staticMetaObject; virtual const QMetaObject *metaObject() const; virtual void *qt_metacast(const char *); virtual int qt_metacall(QMetaObject::Call, int, void **); static inline QString tr(const char *s, cons
t char *c = nullptr, int n = -1) { return staticMetaObject.tr(s, c, n); } __attribute__ ((__deprecated__)) static inline QString trUtf8(const char *s, const char *c = nullptr, int n = -1) { return staticMetaObject.tr(s, c, n); } private:
# 11 "mainwindow.hh"
#pragma GCC diagnostic ignored "-Wattributes"
# 11 "mainwindow.hh"
    __attribute__((visibility("hidden"))) static void qt_static_metacall(QObject *, QMetaObject::Call, int, void **);
# 11 "mainwindow.hh"
#pragma GCC diagnostic pop
# 11 "mainwindow.hh"
    struct QPrivateSignal {};

The Q_OBJECT macro must appear in the private section of a class definition that declares its own signals and slots or that uses other services provided by Qt's meta-object system.