How to write the scripts for Qt Installer - qt

I'm trying to write my first Qt installer and having trouble. In my installer, in one of the packages, I need to run an .exe file at the end of the installation and add an environment variable as well.
I think the way to do it is with the script option in the package.xml file but I don't know how to write that script, I cannot find a step by step explanation of how to do it anywhere.
Can someone help?

I have been recently suffering the same fate as yourself but have managed, for the most part, to achieve what you are trying to do from the Qt installer framework examples and documentation found here http://qt-project.org/doc/qtinstallerframework-1.5/index.html and http://doc.qt.io/qtinstallerframework/qtifwexamples.html.
The information provided on these pages is a little ambiguous but with a little experimentation you should be able to create the install script that you require.
The package.xml file you would like to implement the install script requires that you add a
<Script>installscript.qs</Script>
tag and that the installscript.qs its self should be located in the meta folder of that package. The installscript.qs will then contain, among a few other things, a
component.addOperation("Execute".....)
command which will execute your required .exe. The same process for the environment variable could be implemented using the execute operation to run a batch file which creates the variable on the users system.
I have been trying over the last few weeks to implement the custom operations detailed in the qt installer framework documentation but have so far been unsuccessful so if you make any progress in this area feel free to pass the information on ;)

Related

Qt Installer Framework - Update control script

The problem
I have a Qt IFW installer with an online repository, from which users fetch data to install and update the software.
My installer has a "root script" defined in config.xml:
<Installer>
<!-- ... -->
<ControlScript>controllerscript.qs</ControlScript>
</Installer>
Now I want to change the content of controllerscript.qs and deploy it on the online repository.
when a new user installs the software for the first time, it works as expected
when a user updates its software from a previous version using MaintenanceTool.exe, it does not get the update
Possible solution
I realized that when you create the installer, it generates a file named MaintenanceTool.dat which seems to contain controllerscript.qs (+ other things). I managed to manually copy that file and push it to the online repository (inside a package). That way, the maintenance tool is able to see the package update, and correctly gets the new MaintenanceTool.dat. After that, the maintenance tool is indeed using the new code from controllerscript.qs.
Question
Is there another (cleaner) way to achieve that?
If not, is it really safe to provide a manual update to MaintenanceTool.dat? That file contains many other things, so is there a risk to interfere with the rest?
Thanks,

How to get build environment and configuration parameters of the Qt library

There is a issue that is present with some very specific aspect of applications I build using a Qt library provided in repositories of the system I'm using; this issue isn't present with the same numerical build of Qt that I built myself on this exact system.
I would like to query all information about build environment of Qt, it's configuration flags, etc., anything that could help me determine the difference between two build of Qt library.
I've learned about config.summary file, that is present in mine qtbase sources, but there isn't a counterpart anywhere in the system for pre-built version (I have, besides headers, installed a sources and debug information for the qt library packages).
I also tried looking for some header files that could specify, for example, what features were enabled at the build time, but could't locate anything like that (mostly because I don't know the name or some example contents of such file so that I could search for it or grep it), so if there is indeed such file, please point me to it.
I think the best reply is to quote this answer from Qt mailing list
Unfortunately it isn't that easy to figure out but the data is
available; you just need to know from where to search it :D
Configure options can be found from (qtbase) build log, from qt5.git
integration. E.g for 5.6.3
here:https://testresults.qt.io/coin/integration/qt/qt5/tasks/1505476672
and for 5.9.5 here:
https://testresults.qt.io/coin/integration/qt/qt5/tasks/1523412986
And SW details here: https://wiki.qt.io/Qt_5.6_Tools_and_Versions &
https://wiki.qt.io/Qt_5.9_Tools_and_Versions
You can find the latest builds at https://testresults.qt.io/coin/?project=qt%2Fqt5
If you look inside the "Build" section you have all the system configurations Qt is built for (column "Target") and for each configuration the parameters (column "Configure Arguments").

Cannot find correct file called qtnetwork4.dll

Guys I've written app in qt and when trying to run it (double click on *.exe) I'm getting error that this application cannot start because qtnetwork4.dll isn't available. I've searched my drive and I found few files with this name (and copied one by one every time trying to run my app) but none of them seems to work. How can I solve it?
place into your *.exe - folder appropriate dll-s from %QT_PATH%\bin\
There is an app called Dependency Walker that will let you know what functions in qtnetwork4.dll are being used in your program. It can be found at the following:
http://www.dependencywalker.com/
All of the DLLs your program use will be from the same installation as the qmake.exe that is used to compile the program. If you are using Qt Creator you can see where the qmake.exe your using is located by going to:
tools->options->Qt4
Get the DLLs that are located at the path displayed here to make sure they will work with your program.
On windows, DLL are looked for in folder where executable lies, then using "PATH" environenment variable.
In your case, you want to put your dll along your executable, taking them from the sdk you're using to compile
The following page provides a lot of additional information on the subject (example, plugins, strategy for building installers)
To force using QtNetwork and linking it, you have to put
QT += network
in your poject file.
If you're sure you're not using it, you can use
QT -= network

macdeployqt on homebrew installed frameworks

I'm trying to deploy an application using macdeployqt. All Qt frameworks get copied correctly into the application bundle. The problem I encounter is that macdeployqt does not have write permissions on the copied frameworks which originally reside in /usr/local/lib. This is because I have installed qt using homebrew which seems to make install everything read only. My question is whether there is a better way to fix this issue then manually changing all permissions of the qt libraries inside /usr/local/lib so that I can use macdeployqt from within a qt .pro project. (I don't want to use macdeployqt manually with sudo or such)
The reason why I'm asking is because I am using many third party libraries in the project (they get copied ok etc.) which I need to update often through homebrew and thus have to redo the permission changing on them.
Thanks in advance!
Just in case someone finds this old post looking for info about macdeployqt:
Use a script to do macdeployqt in preference to scripting the macdeployqt commands in your .pro file. That will allow you to change the permissions on the files on the fly.
Here is [a snippet of] the script I use for one of my apps:
https://bugreports.qt-project.org/browse/QTBUG-23268
If you're on Windows and don't have bash, you can use perl or python. The script referenced above modifies the files on the fly to work around a bug - you can put anything you want here, including changing the permissions on the files.
Using a script also means that you have the flexibility to add commands later to do code-signing, packaging or whatever else you need.
The Qt .pro "scripting language" actually generates Makefile commands under the hood and can be quite obscure if you want to accomplish deployment tasks that relate to paths and sets of files.
Also you'll need to create an extra target or include it into your build target - either way the build process becomes more complex and more error prone.
Disclaimer: I worked on Qt for 8 years as a Senior Engineer for Nokia/Trolltech, and also have published a commercial cross-platform app using Qt.

Include another MSI file in my setup project

I'm trying to make a setup program for an ASP.NET web site. I need to make sure the target machine has sqlxml installed.
I must verify the target machine has the software installed, and if not, launch a .msi file either before or after the main installation.
I'm a complete newbie with setup projects, so maybe this is obvious, but after several hours browsing the web I haven't found a satisfactory solution. I've been reading about WiX, etc. but I'm looking (if possible) for a simple solution.
Thank you both!
I understand an installer can't run another one. I was thinking in a functionality similar to Prerequisites (in project properties). There I can check a component and it will be automatically installed if it isn't. I don't need to do anything else. But, the most important thing for me is that the installation won't run if it's not needed.
I also tried the .msm solution, but I couldn't find any. Maybe I can make one myself? I haven't tried it yet though.
Unfortunately, you can't run one installer from another, since only one can be running at a time. You need to chain them together and run one after the other. Google "msi chaining". This is often the reason why products like Visual Studio use an external setup.exe which then runs the installers one after the other.
Looks like you need to 'chain' the installs http://objectmix.com/xml-soap/84668-installing-sqlxml-net-app.html
You can get the redist here http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=51D4A154-8E23-47D2-A033-764259CFB53B&displaylang=en
CAn you add this as a pre-req for your install?
What are you using to build the create the install?
Edit:
I had a look to see how you can check of the SQLXML is installed and come across this:
http://www.tech-archive.net/Archive/SQL-Server/microsoft.public.sqlserver.xml/2005-04/msg00110.html
The system I am on just now has the following key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ SQLXMLX (note the X at the end), so you might need to do a bit more investigation in to what the actual key is.
I'm not familer with Visual Studio install authoring but if you can add an entry to the AppSearch and RegLocator tables you should be able to check for the existance of the registry key when the install starts. See here
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa371564(VS.85).aspx
The Reglocator table gives you the option to set a property with a value from the registry if found. You can then use this in the condition on a custom action.
A lot to put together, but I hope it move you in the right direction.
Brent's answer is correct. I would just add that, sometimes, you can find a "merge module" for the bits you depend on. That's a .msm file. You can certainly include 1 or more of those in your .msi file. I have no idea whether a merge module is available for SQLXML. Sorry.

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