Must Q_PROPERTYs with user-defined C++ types be of pointer type?

Edwin Vane

Consider the following simple example:

namespace MyNamespace {
class MyPoint {
    Q_OBJECT
    Q_PROPERTY(float x READ CONSTANT);
    ...
};
class Circle {
    Q_OBJECT
    Q_PROPERTY(MyNamespace::MyPoint centre READ centre NOTIFY centreChanged);
    ...
};
}
Q_DECLARE_METATYPE(MyPoint);

An instance of Circle is set as a context property for some qml so it can be used:

Rectangle {
    x: circleProperty.centre.x
    y: circleProperty.centre.y
    ...
}

MyPoint is registered using qmlRegisterType<MyPoint>(...). However, this function only calls qRegisterMetaType for MyPoint* and QDeclarativeListProperty<MyPoint> so when I run my app, I get qml errors saying it doesn't know about the MyNamespace::MyPoint type.

The errors go away if I explicitly use qRegisterMetaType<MyPoint>("MyNamespace::MyPoint"); although now QtQuick won't read through the circleProperty.centre property access to get x. If I print circleProperty.centre it says QVariant(MyNamespace::MyPoint) which is fine but circleProperty.centre.x is undefined.

Given the behaviour of qmlRegisterType and the errors I see if I work around the behavior, it seems like what I'm trying to do with properties of C++ types without using pointers is not supported. Is that so?