Well... unfortunately this doesn't say much more than what you already told us. Believe me, I've seen thousands of Qt object construction snippets. I'm sure yours is as standard as any else and won't reveal any sensitive information. I'm not asking about any logic, just the user interface creation code. What is the base class of "documentView"? Also please use addWidget() instead of add() even if the latter compiles. Also why don't you get rid of the frame and use the custom widget approach I suggested earlier? It would make your problem disappear right away as Qt would build the proper layout code for you.