Instance a collection of Widgets in Qt Designer without using copy/paste

I have a buttonGroup that contains several (6 - 10) buttons, complete with icons and tool tips. The group also includes a spin-box and label.

I want a widget with four of these groups, and up to two extra columns of the same group that sometimes get created dynamically.

I can get the four "instances" of the group in Qt Designer easily using copy/paste. But, I have to make any required changes on all four instances.

I read about integrating custom widgets into Qt designer. I suppose that will work, but it seems a bit complicated. Is there an easier or better way?

Thanks,

Dave Thomas

You can replace those widgets in Designer by placing a plain QWidget in the form, right-clicking it and promoting it to the class you implement elsewhere (code/Designer) that contains the real set of widgets. UIC will then replace calls to QWidget on the promoted entries with calls to your class.