QT load resource files for debugging - qt

Question

So I've created a qrc file and have a file at /stylesheets/main.qss.
I have stylesheet information in this main.qss file. My goal here is to have a qss file I can work out of and potentially hot reload over time. My issue is that when I debug there is no /stylesheets/main.qss in the debug build location. So it loads the file as an empty string, don't even get an exception. What am I missing?
main.qss
/*#MainBackgroundColor = rgb(40,40,40)*/
/*#MainBorderColor = rgb(0,102,255)*/
/*#MainTextColor = rgb(255,255,255)*/
*
{
color: rgb(255,255,255);
background-color: rgb(40,40,40);
}
QStatusBar
{
border-top: 3px solid rgb(0,102,255);
}
Loading the stylesheet
#include "mainwindow.h"
#include "ui_mainwindow.h"
MainWindow::MainWindow(QWidget *parent) :
QMainWindow(parent),
ui(new Ui::MainWindow)
{
//We want a frameless window.
setWindowFlags(Qt::FramelessWindowHint);
//Load the style sheet into the window
QFile File(":/stylesheets/main.qss");
File.open(QFile::ReadOnly);
QString stylesheet = QLatin1String(File.readAll());
//Setup the UI
ui->setupUi(this);
this->setStyleSheet(stylesheet);
}
MainWindow::~MainWindow()
{
delete ui;
}
resources.qrc
<RCC>
<qresource prefix="/">
<file>stylesheets/main.qss</file>
</qresource>
</RCC>
.pro file
#-------------------------------------------------
#
# Project created by QtCreator 2019-02-20T18:02:31
#
#-------------------------------------------------
QT += core gui
greaterThan(QT_MAJOR_VERSION, 4): QT += widgets
TARGET = SmartDraw
TEMPLATE = app
# The following define makes your compiler emit warnings if you use
# any feature of Qt which has been marked as deprecated (the exact warnings
# depend on your compiler). Please consult the documentation of the
# deprecated API in order to know how to port your code away from it.
DEFINES += QT_DEPRECATED_WARNINGS
# You can also make your code fail to compile if you use deprecated APIs.
# In order to do so, uncomment the following line.
# You can also select to disable deprecated APIs only up to a certain version of Qt.
#DEFINES += QT_DISABLE_DEPRECATED_BEFORE=0x060000 # disables all the APIs deprecated before Qt 6.0.0
CONFIG += c++11
SOURCES += \
main.cpp \
mainwindow.cpp \
stylesheetloader.cpp
HEADERS += \
mainwindow.h \
stylesheetloader.h
FORMS += \
mainwindow.ui
# Default rules for deployment.
qnx: target.path = /tmp/$${TARGET}/bin
else: unix:!android: target.path = /opt/$${TARGET}/bin
!isEmpty(target.path): INSTALLS += target
RESOURCES += \
resources.qrc
DISTFILES += \
stylesheets/main.qss
EDIT: Found the solution. Apparently Qt isn't very good about updating everything if you happen to have the pro file open. If something super obviously wrong happens like this you need to run Build->Clean All then Build->Run QMake to get everything stituated again.

Answer 1

What I do is keep the stylesheet file (*.qss) next to the app while debugging. Then load it in main.cpp and subscribe for changes using QFileSystemWatcher.
This way I can edit the *.qss file with a nice editor, like SublimeText, and every time I save it, I can see the changes inmediatly:
#include "mydialog.h"
#include <QApplication>
#include <QDebug>
#include <QFile>
#include <QTextStream>
#include <QSharedPointer>
#include <QFileSystemWatcher>
typedef QSharedPointer<QFileSystemWatcher> QWatcherPtr;
void setStyleSheet(QApplication &a, const QString &strPath, const bool &subscribe = false)
{
// set stylesheet
QFile f(strPath);
if (!f.exists())
{
qDebug() << "[ERROR] Unable to set stylesheet," << strPath << "file not found.";
}
else
{
// set stylesheet
f.open(QFile::ReadOnly | QFile::Text);
QTextStream ts(&f);
a.setStyleSheet(ts.readAll());
f.close();
// subscribe to changes (only once)
if (!subscribe)
{
return;
}
QWatcherPtr watcher = QWatcherPtr(new QFileSystemWatcher);
watcher->addPath(strPath);
QObject::connect(watcher.data(), &QFileSystemWatcher::fileChanged, &a,
[&a, watcher, strPath]()
{
setStyleSheet(a, strPath, false);
});
}
}
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
QApplication a(argc, argv);
// set stylesheet and subscribe to changes
setStyleSheet(a, "./style.qss", true);
MyDialog w;
w.show();
return a.exec();
}