How to transfer drag.active between objects?

jebediahcrunk

Hi, for context

I have a grid full of "gateIcon" objects
I want to be able to click on these objects and drag them around ( if they are dropped in the right position, they stay in that position and a new gateicon component is dynamically created)
My initial problem was that I couldn't get the gateicons to be created in the same place they were originally which was obviously undesirable
Now, I have changed my approach:
Instead of moving the actual gateIcon object, I want to have a 'floatingIcon' object created in the exact same position (when gateIcon.onClicked() is called) and then move the floatingIcon (an Image object with a png) around, this seems like a better approach to me (?)

The issue I am having is that I cannot 'transfer' the drag property from the gateIcon to the floatingIcon. The floatingIcon is created just fine but I have to click twice to move it around which is not really what I want. How can I make it so that in one click I can press the gateIcon, create the floatingIcon and have the floatingIcon follow my mouse (drag it).

Here is the relevant parts of my code: (I have deleted all the irrelevant bits for clarity)
GateIcon.qml

import QtQuick.Controls 2.15
import Components

Rectangle {
    id: gateIcon
    signal createFloatingIcon()

    MouseArea {
        id: mouseArea

        onPressed: {
            if (!isInteractive) return;
            // drag.target: floatingIcon
            gateIcon.createFloatingIcon();
        }
    }

    Image {
        id: iconImage
        anchors.centerIn: parent
        width: parent.width * 0.9
        height: parent.height * 0.9
        visible: source !== ""
        fillMode: Image.PreserveAspectFit
    }
}

FloatingIcon.qml

import QtQuick 2.15

Image {
    id: floatingIcon
    width: 30
    height: 50
    source: ""
    visible: false
    z: 200

    property string gateType
    property var parentGrid
    property bool isDragging: false
    property real startX: 0
    property real startY: 0

    function startDragging(iconSource, type, initialX, initialY) {
        console.log("Floating icon initialized at:", initialX, initialY);
        source = iconSource;
        gateType = type;
        startX = initialX;
        startY = initialY;
        x = startX;
        y = startY;
        visible = true;
        isDragging = true;

        mouseArea.forceActiveFocus();
//I need something like this (that actually works)
        mouseArea.drag.start(); 
    }

    MouseArea {
        id: mouseArea
        anchors.fill: parent
        drag.target: floatingIcon
        cursorShape: Qt.ClosedHandCursor
        
        onReleased: {
            floatingIcon.isDragging = false;
            if (condition) {
//handle dropping
            } else {
                console.log("Invalid drop: Destroying floating icon", gateType);
            }

            floatingIcon.visible = false;
        }
    }
}

with

onCreateFloatingIcon: {
    let globalPos = gridIcon.mapToItem(root.contentItem, 0, 0);
    floatingGateIcon.startDragging(iconSource, gateType, globalPos.x, globalPos.y);
}

in main.qml

Thanks in advance for the help!