Modules#
Components declared in a .slint
file can be used as elements in other
.slint
files, by means of exporting and importing them.
By default, every type declared in a .slint
file is private. The export
keyword changes this.
component ButtonHelper inherits Rectangle {
// ...
}
component Button inherits Rectangle {
// ...
ButtonHelper {
// ...
}
}
export { Button }
In the above example, Button
is accessible from other .slint
files, but
ButtonHelper
isn’t.
It’s also possible to change the name just for the purpose of exporting, without affecting its internal use:
component Button inherits Rectangle {
// ...
}
export { Button as ColorButton }
In the above example, Button
isn’t accessible from the outside, but
is available under the name ColorButton
instead.
For convenience, a third way of exporting a component is to declare it exported right away:
export component Button inherits Rectangle {
// ...
}
Similarly, components exported from other files may be imported:
import { Button } from "./button.slint";
export component App inherits Rectangle {
// ...
Button {
// ...
}
}
In the event that two files export a type under the same name, then you have the option of assigning a different name at import time:
import { Button } from "./button.slint";
import { Button as CoolButton } from "../other_theme/button.slint";
export component App inherits Rectangle {
// ...
CoolButton {} // from other_theme/button.slint
Button {} // from button.slint
}
Elements, globals and structs can be exported and imported.
It’s also possible to export globals (see Global Singletons) imported from other files:
import { Logic as MathLogic } from "math.slint";
export { MathLogic } // known as "MathLogic" when using native APIs to access globals
Module Syntax#
The following syntax is supported for importing types:
import { export1 } from "module.slint";
import { export1, export2 } from "module.slint";
import { export1 as alias1 } from "module.slint";
import { export1, export2 as alias2, /* ... */ } from "module.slint";
The following syntax is supported for exporting types:
// Export declarations
export component MyButton inherits Rectangle { /* ... */ }
// Export lists
component MySwitch inherits Rectangle { /* ... */ }
export { MySwitch };
export { MySwitch as Alias1, MyButton as Alias2 };
// Re-export all types from other module
export * from "other_module.slint";
Component Libraries#
Splitting your code base into separate module files promotes re-use and improves encapsulation by allow you to hide helper components. This works well within a project’s own directory structure. To share libraries of components between projects without hardcoding their relative paths, use the component library syntax:
import { MySwitch } from "@mylibrary";
In the above example, the MySwitch
component will be imported from a component
library called “mylibrary”. The path to this library must be defined separately at compilation time.
Use one of the following methods to help the Slint compiler resolve “mylibrary” to the correct
path on disk:
When using Rust and
build.rs
, callwith_library_paths
to provide a mapping from library name to path.When invoking the
slint-viewer
from the command line, pass-Lmylibrary=/path/to/my/library
for each component library.When using the live-preview in the VS code extension, configure the Slint extension’s library path using the
Slint: Library Paths
setting.