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FigmaQML

(FigmaQML)[https://github.com/mmertama/FigmaQML] is an application to generate QML sourcecode from Figma designs for QtQuick applications. FigmaQML will let designer to compose the UI without need of programmer to reproduce design using UI code. Omitting that tedious, redundant step, will dramatically decrease development effort. FigmaQML will provide a QML code that is ready programmer to focus on implementing functionality. You can inject tags in you Figma Design that enables seamlessly assign functionality so that there is no need to implement any QML UI code.

FigmaQML supports both Desktop and Qt for MCU development.

Quick steps

  1. Make figma design.

  2. Start FigmaQML.

  3. Enter your user and personal tokens to access your project.

  4. Press Update.

  5. Press QtQuick Tab.

  6. Select you 1st view (use those [1][1] widgets).

  7. Go File/Export Qt Desktop.

  8. Add View... to add your application views in the included views (if any).

  9. Save... save in your application folder. Here a folder is created (MY_PROJECT below)

  10. In your application CMakeLists.txt - MY_PROJECT and Page_1 may vary.

    • add_subdirectory(${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/MY_PROJECT/Page_1/FigmaQmlInterface)
    • target_include_directories(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE MY_PROJECT/Page_1/FigmaQmlInterface")
    • target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE FigmaQmlInterface
  11. Add FigmaQmlInterface::registerFigmaQmlSingleton(QQmlEngine) before loading a QML code in your C++ code.

    • Needed only for dynamic code.
  12. Insert in QML code

        FigmaQmlUi {
            id: figmaUi
            anchors.fill: parent
            }  
    

FigmaQML UI

File

  • Tokens
  • Export Qt for Desktop
    • Export application QMLs
  • Export Qt for MCU
    • Open view to manage and export Qt for MCU content.
    • Available only for Linux (Qt for MCU requires Ubuntu 20.04)
  • Export all QMLs
    • Generates QML code and related images into the given directory.
    • Do not use for Qt for MCU.
  • Edit Imports... edit a QML "imports" statement.
  • Fonts...
    • See and map how the current Figma design fonts are mapped with the local fonts. You don't have to install missing fonts, therefore you set an additional font file search folder.
    • Qt For MCU is partial, MCU application uses the font defined in its qmlproject file, and it may be different defined for FigmaQML. I.e. Fonts defined here does not impact to final fonts. (TODO)
  • Store
    • Saves the current project. The big project can take time and Store-Restore would save your time by storing of 'snapshot' of the current content.
  • Restore
    • Reads a project from a file.

Tabs

  • Source
    • Generated source code. Mostly for debugging . You may use Ctrl+C to copy it to an external editor.
  • Figma
    • Figma produced internal content. Mostly for debugging
  • QtQuick
    • Show QML rendering of the rendering - verify here that it looks ok.

Views

  • +/-
    • Navigate pages and views
    • Figma project consists of "page" (or canvas) and "views" on each page.
    • FigmaQML generates an UI for each view.

Connect

  • Update
    • Read Figma data and generate QML out from it.
    • May take a while, When server is connected at first time, all the document data is retrieved, then transcoded to QML and rendered to UI

Settings

  • Break booleans

    • Generate code for each child element that composites a Figma Boolean element are generated. By default only the composed shape Item is produced.
    • Avoid using.
  • Embed images

    • Creates stand-alone QML files that have images written in the QML code instead of generating and referring to image files.
    • Do not use with Qt for MCU
  • Antialiasing shapes

    • Whether "Antialiasing: true" property is set on each shape.
    • Do not use with Qt for MCU
    • Alternatively improve rendering quality (as FigmaQML does) by setting the global multisampling using the code snippet:
    QSurfaceFormat format;
    format.setSamples(8);
    QSurfaceFormat::setDefaultFormat(format);
    
  • Qt for MCU

    • The generated code is targeted for Qt for MCU.
    • Available only for Linux (Qt for MCU requires Ubuntu 20.04)
  • Static QML

    • Turn off all dynamic code creation.
  • Cyan background

    • Change FigmaQML background to an alternative color.
    • Does not affect to the exported code.
  • No Gradients

    • Qt for MCU current version (2.6) does not support gradients, this enforces to rendered with the gradient's average color.
  • Loader placeholders

    • Show dynamic loader placeholder instead of rendered components.
    • Does not affect to the exported code.
  • Render placeholders

    • Show placeholder components as rendered images.
    • Only for debugging and verification. Figma server may have hiccups if there are too much to render.
    • Does not affect to the exported code.
  • Render view

    • Set the view to be rendered on the Figma Server, and the generated UI is just an image. Handy to compare rendering results.
    • Only for debugging and verification. Figma server may have hiccups if there are too much to render.

Components

  • Displayed only when the source code tab is activated.
    • Show a source code of the component or item selected.
  • Scaling
    • Let the user to zoom in and out the current rendering.

Export Qt for Desktop

Execute

  • Application UI built and executed
  • For debug and verification
  • Available only for Linux

Save

Store generated files in your application folder.

  • Included views
    • By default a only a current view is exported, to add more views add them into list.
    • FigmaQmlSingleton::setView index refers to this view order so that 1st, default, is zero.
  • Save as app
    • For debugging, copies also project files to create an executable (virtually same as "Execute" is using).

Export Qt for MCU

(available only on Linux)

Qt for MCU dialog

Execute

For UI verification "Execute" builds a dummy UI and execute it on the connected MCU device.

  • Qt Dir
    • Qt directory, e.g. "/home/user/Qt"
  • Qul Version
    • Qt for MCU version, e.g, "2.6.0"
  • Qul Platform
    • Target platform e.g. "STM32F769I-DISCOVERY-baremetal"
  • Qt License
    • Qt for MCU requires Qt commercial license.
    • License file, can be downloaded from your Qt account.
  • Platform Hardware
    • Supported "Execute" platform - currently only STM32 is available.
  • Platform tools
    • Path to MCU tooling e.g. "/home/user/STM32_MCU"

Save

Store generated files in your application folder.

  • Included views
    • By default a only a current view is exported, to add more views add them into list.
    • FigmaQmlSingleton::setView index refers to this view order so that 1st, default, is zero.
  • Save as app
    • For debugging, copies also project files to create an executable (virtually same as "Execute" is using).

API Documentation

FigmaQML Documentation

Dynamic code

The FigmaQML generated code is exported into application code where it is used like any QML item. FigmaQmlUi Item takes charge of rendering the UI graphics. You can inject the FigmaQML generated UI in your application just by adding a FigmaQML item.

FigmaQmlUi {
        id: figmaUi
        anchors.fill: parent
        }

That code renders the UI on the parent space, that is typically the full screen rectangle.

Displaying is only part of the UI: Any useful applications would be able to change its content and interact with user. Therefore, the new FigmaQML adds concept for dynamic functionality, and introduces few methods to act with FigmaQML generated code.

The special innovation is to use a special naming in the Figma document, i.e. tagging. The naming is simple and practical – name targeted Figma element format is with “qml?name.command” - the name identifies the element in QML and command tells what to do:

  • If command is a property name, that value can be changed.

    • FigmaQmlSingleton::applyValue - Change UI strings, e.g., when tag is qml?pressure_info.text:
    FigmaQmlSingleton.applyValue("pressure_info",  pressure + " kPa");
  • onClick

    • FigmaQmlSingleton::onEvent is a signal handler that receives touch events coming from the named element.
    • The signalled parameters are 'element' and 'click_event'.
    • Most common is to implement button actions, e.g. qml?temp_unit.onClick:
    FigmaQmlSingleton.onEventReceived: {
        if(event == 'click_event' && element == 'temp_unit') {
            bme680.currentUnitCelcius = !bme680.currentUnitCelcius;
        }
  • asLoader

    • FigmaQmlSingleton::setSource let replace part of Figma generated with the custom QML component.
    • Since all UI content just cannot be visualize beforehand, this powerful feature injects any QML content into UI to replace the tagged element.
    • In Qt for MCU the QML file has to be injected in the FigmaQML module - therefore some steps are needed.
      • FigmaQml_AddQml cmake function let you inject QML and header files into UI codes.
      • in Desktop that is not needed.
    # include helpers  
    include(${path_to_generated_source/FigmaQmlInterface}/FigmaQmlInterface.cmake)
    FigmaQml_AddQml(QMLS  ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/qml/Graphs.qml  ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/qml/TimeSeries.qml HEADERS ${mcukit_SOURCE_DIR}/utils/Utils.hpp)
    • Injecting component is straightforward, to replace qml?Temp.asLoader:
    FigmaQmlSingleton.setSource("Temp", "Graphs.qml");

Besides of those methods you can include multiple views in your application, and navigate between them using FigmaQmlSingleton::setView that changes entire view.

FigmaQmlSingleton.setView(1);

Integrate for Desktop project

  1. Add FigmaQmlInterface into target_link_libraries

    target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE` FigmaQmlInterface)
  2. In your application QML file

    • Import FigmaQmlInterface and add FigmaQmlUi
    import FigmaQmlInterface
    
    ...
    
    FigmaQmlUi {
        anchors.fill: parent
    }    
  3. Register singleton

    Call registerFigmaQmlSingleton before loading your UI.

    #include <QtGui>
    #include <QtQml>
    
    #include "FigmaQmlInterface/FigmaQmlInterface.hpp"
    
    int main(int argc, char** argv) {
        QGuiApplication app(argc, argv);
        QQmlApplicationEngine engine;
        FigmaQmlInterface::registerFigmaQmlSingleton(engine);
        engine.load("qrc:/qml/main.qml");
        return app.exec();
    }
    

Integrate for MCU project

  1. CMake

    • See also injecting source for loader above
    • Add FigmaQmlInterface into target_link_libraries
    target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE` FigmaQmlInterface)
  2. qmlproject file

    • Add import path to FigmaQmlInterface (the path is in the generated code, and depends Figma naming)
    importPaths: ["path_to/FigmaQmlInterface"] 
  3. In your application QML file

    • Import FigmaQmlInterface and add FigmaQmlUi
    import FigmaQmlInterface
    
    ...
    
    FigmaQmlUi {
        anchors.fill: parent
    }    

Run

  • FigmaQML can be run either in command line or as a gui application.
    • Command line support for Qt for MCU is under construction.
    • Maybe I will drop off the commandline support entirely as it is good to see results before export.
  • Gui application is interactive to see visuals and source code before saving.
  • Command line is for processing Figma documents to QML.
  • Basic Command line format is $figmaqml <options> TOKEN PROJECT QML_DIRECTORY
    • For options see --help
    • For MacOSX the commandline refers inside of application bundle: i.e. $ FigmaQML.app/Contents/MacOS/FigmaQML
  • FigmaQML can be run as a WebAssembly application.
    • There seems to be some occasional CORS issues, and I have no idea how to fix. If that is a problem, please use a native app!
    • The compiled (6.6.2) Qt WASM seems to have issues. Working on it.
    • Start FigmaQML
  • Other than Linux version may have a limited functionality.

Binaries

Build and deploy

  • Qt6.4 or newer
  • Python 3.8 (or later)
  • CMake 3.20 (or later)
  • For WebAssembly see Qt 6.4 WebAssembly
    • Qt5 compatibility library
  • For Windows 10:
    • Qt5 compatibility library
    • MSVC 19
    • MinGW TBC
    • OpenSSL binaries (prebuilt version within Qt)
  • Mac OSX
    • Qt5 compatibility library
  • Linux
    • Qt Serial port
    • Qt5 compatibility library
    • To prevent spellchecker and doxygen, define NO_DOC

Example

[QMQTTI] (https://github.com/mmertama/qmqttiapp) is an example application UI composed using Figma. It is a Messaging application on top of MQTT protocol. The UI is ugly, but its purpose is how easy it is update when FigmaQML is used to decouple visuals from functionality.

FAQ

  • Q: How FigmaQML compares to Qt Figma Bridge?
    • A: I see them as quite different thing:
      • Qt for Figma Bridge is a importer for Qt Design Studio that works with component visuals. Those components are then used to compose an application UI in Qt Creator in very traditional way. FigmaQML does not use Qt Design studio - it generates a FigmaQmlUi that is used in the application QML like any other QtQuick item and therefore IS the application UI visuals.
      • You can even use them together: use Qt Design Studio to create beautiful components. Then for FigmaQML set a UI element as placeholder (see asLoader), and then use FigmaQmlSingleton.setSource dynamically load that beautiful component to replace a placeholder.
      • FigmaQML supports both Qt Desktop and Qt for MCU.

Other info

Testing

There are few scripts in the test folder that are used for testing. Since the test data itself is under a personal Figma account, there are no automated tests provided along the FigmaQML sources. However if you have a good set of Figma documents available you can execute tests using next example:

 export IMAGE_COMPARE="python ../figmaQML/test/imagecomp.py"
 export IMAGE_THRESHOLD="0.90"
 token=123456-aaaabbbbb-cccc-dddd-8888-1234567890
 echo "Test time: $(date)" >> test_log.txt 
 {
 echo Test_no: 1
 ../figmaQML/test/runtest.sh ../figmaQML/Release/FigmaQML $token Nku226IVrvZtsRc71QJyWx
 if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then echo fail; exit; fi
.....
 echo Test_no: 3 
 ../figmaQML/test/runtest.sh ../figmaQML/Release/FigmaQML $token OZcdWgROy0Czk0JASRF21v "2-10"
 if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then echo fail; exit; fi
 echo Test_no: 4
 ../figmaQML/test/runtest_image.sh ../figmaQML/Release/FigmaQML "2-3"
 if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then echo fail; exit; fi
 echo Test_no: 5 
 ../figmaQML/test/runtest_image.sh ../figmaQML/Release/FigmaQML "2-4"
 if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then echo fail; exit; fi
 echo Test_no: 6 
 ../figmaQML/test/runtest.sh ../figmaQML/Release/FigmaQML $token bZDWbBfInVrD1ijuIJZD88WG
 if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then echo fail; exit; fi
.... 
 echo Test_no: done
 } 2> test_errors.txt | tee -a test_log.txt 
 
  • $token is your Figma user token.
  • Parameter after that is a test project token.
  • Optional third parameter is a Canvas-view to be tested (default is 1-1)
  • runtest.sh fetch data from Figma server and runs basic QML generation test on that
  • runtest_image let run additional image tests on data without further data retrieve. (Figma service has data quota)
  • image test compares Figma rendered Canvas-view and FigmaQML rendered canvas view (see IMAGE_COMPARE above) and provides fuzzy match value between 0 and 1.
  • Here I have been using value 0.9, "90% same"), (see IMAGE_THRESHOLD above) to pass the test.
  • Note: You may have to install SSIM_PIL from https://github.com/mmertama/SSIM-PIL.git until my change is accepted in.

Changes

  • 1.0.1
    • Qt5 may not build anymore, Qt 6.3 had some issues and maintaining those also on Qt 5.15 was too much work. The support for Qt6 is a bit half-hearted, as many Qt5 components are used - but some of those are not available yet (some coming Qt 6.5). But more troublesome issue is that Graphic effects are on Qt6 only available on commercial version. Therefore Qt5Compat until eternity or the issue changes.
    • On OSX Checkbox was not working correctly so I did a quick styling to fix it.
    • Some minor fixes to get rid of warnings.
    • Build script and README updates.
  • 2.0.0
    • WebAssembly support
    • Lot of fixes and refactoring code for the WebAssembly
  • 3.0.0
    • Qt for MCU support
    • Dynamic code support
    • Fixes
    • UI updates
  • 3.1.0
    • UI polish
    • Improved dynamic code support