How to get QtCreator to link incrementally with nmake? - qt

I used to develop in Visual Studio (2008) but almost completely switched to developing in QtCreator now, mainly due to Code Navigation, refactoring and Code Completion.
I'm using the win32-msvc2008 mkspec. So far I've managed to set up everything except for one thing:
Incremental Linking.
In my project file I added the line:
QMAKE_LFLAGS += /INCREMENTAL
and I get a linker line like
link /LIBPATH:"(...)" /NOLOGO /INCREMENTAL /DEBUG /MANIFEST (...)
However, it always tells me it cannot find the .exe or it was not built completely by the last incremental build, even if I only change a .cpp file, revert the change and save.
I've tried building with and without shadow build, and with nmake or jom, neither combination works.
Has anyone managed to get QtCreator to link incrementally with nmake?
PS: If I import the project file into Visual Studio using the Qt Plugin, incremental linking works perfectly.

Apparently qmake needs to generate the makefiles differently in order to make incremental linking work properly when you are using nmake.
I filed a bug request, if you're interested, here it is: https://bugreports.qt-project.org/browse/QTBUG-22718

Related

Unable to run qt-creator executable outside ide compiled in release mode

After switch to release mode to build a small project I have, when I try run it from inside the qt-creator ide, all goes fine. But when I go to the folder build-<project_name>-Desktop_Qt_5_14_1_MinGW_64_bit- Release and try run the executable generated in this directory, I got this error:
Anyone knows what the problem here? If it was some missing dll, I supose it will specify what dll was missing, right? Or I am mistaken?
update
After run windeployqt, this command found dependencies for my application, create some folders, but now I am getting tis error when try to run it:
update 2
after run the utilitary dependency walker, i got this errors on it:
I am using this build kit to build the project in qt-creator:
Here is all I know about Qt deployment & issues on Windows.
Check whether Release configuration of your project doesn't contain links to any debug versions of libraries.
Build your app in Release mode. Use Rebuild, If in doubt. See compile output window in the IDE, what paths it actually uses.
Use windeployqt tool to automatically copy all the necessary Qt dlls to the executable's folder. Be sure you are using windeployqt.exe from the correct folder. For example, currently I have one version of Qt framework, but two versions of windeployqt: for x86 and x64 compilers. In the case you have more than one version of Qt installed, you may have several versions of the tool.
.
C:\Qt\Qt5.14.1\5.14.1\msvc2017\bin\windeployqt.exe
C:\Qt\Qt5.14.1\5.14.1\msvc2017_64\bin\windeployqt.exe
Copy compiler libraries to the release folder. Make sure that you're copying libraries from the exact compiler you used to build.
Copy all necessary additional 3-rd party dynamic libraries. Make sure it is not debug versions.
If the problem persists, press Ctrl+C when the error message is active. It will copy all the text from the message box. Paste main part of the message to Google.
If the problem persists, open your .exe file in some dll-dependency viewer. Here is how I can see this in Lister. Be note that such a tool will show you not only missing dlls, but also a full path for each dll that your executable actually use. More power tool is Dependency Walker.
Make sure your application doesn't try to write something to a system protected folder, such as c:\Program Files\, without corresponding privileges.
If the problem still persists, simplify your project as much as possible. Run Release for an empty project. Than add modules, functionality and libraries step-by-step.
If everything is okay, test the application on a completely clean virtual machine.
Edit. I google your error text and what I found:
https://stackoverflow.com/a/52127944/
The problem was that windeployqt was unable to locate gcc for some
reason. I added it to my path from cmd with SET
PATH=%PATH%;C:\Qt\Tools\mingw530_32\bin. After I ran windeployqt
again, I did not have to copy libgcc_s_dw2-1.dll and
libwinpthread-1.dll over manually and it used the correct Qt5Core.dll,
since the application is now working fine.

how build the qt project itself using qtcreator

Update:
Because this was partly to have a project to code-browse the whole of qt, here is a much better way to do this: Code Browser by Woboq for C & C++
This even lets you browse into the includes outside the project like the system includes or the standard library.
Old Post:
My question is about Qt project in git://code.qt.io/qt/qt5.git repository. I checked out version 5.12.
My assumption is that qtcreator knows the qmake file but nothing about the configure command. Hence
I used the configure command to prepare the build in a shadow build directory
In QTCreator I opened qt.pro located in the git workspace
QTCreator opens the build settings dialog and I import them from the shadow build directory
Finally I click build in QTCreator.
But the compile window stalls when asking me for input. Qmake asks me about the licence type I want to choose. I had answered that already in the configure phase and even if I would agree to answer the question again, there is no prompt function in qtcreator's compile output window. Where did I go wrong?
If I forget about QTCreator and call make in the shadow build directory, then everything is build fine and without any licensing questions. When I then import the shadow build directory into a QTCreator, then I can build in QTCreator. But then I clicked Run qmake out of curiosity and I was back to square one, i.e. compile window asks me for input again and stops there forever.
Apart from my specific question I found no general documentation about building the qt libraries using QTCreator. I only find descriptions about compiling projects that use the Qt library.
Qt is not really meant to be compiled from within an IDE. However, this does not mean it's impossible to do. There are two ways to archive this:
First approach: Add the developer build as custom kit:
Run the configure script (and add the -developer-build option)
Open QtCreator and go to "Tools > Options > Kits"
Go to "Qt Versions" add press "Add" - select the qmake executable generated by the configure script. Then hit "Apply"
Go to "Kits" and press "Add" - Make shure to select the correct compilers and debugger and select the previously create "Qt Version". Press "Ok"
Open the top level .pro file in QtCreator and choose the previously created Kit. QtCreator will now use the correct qmake executable
This is the "proper" way to go. You can now use the project as any normal project, including changes to pro-files. Also, QtCreator now correctly detects the build directory, so you won't have to change that, even when opening one of the modules.
Second approach: Use as a normal project without qmake:
Run the configure script (and add the -developer-build option)
Run make qmake_all in the same terminal to let Qt prepare all makefiles, create headers etc.
Open the top level .pro file in QtCreator. You can choose any kit.
Go to Project > Your Kit > Build and disable the "qmake" step (the first of the default 2 steps)
Change the "build directory" to be wherever you built Qt - either a shadow build or the source directory
Hit Build and QtCreator will invoke make only, archieving the same behaviour as running make from the console.
This is kind of a workaround and I would not recommend using it for a full Qt build, unless the first approach does not work for you for whatever reason.
This can also be useful if you only want to make changes to a single Qt module, without compiling the whole Qt framework, i.e. you can clone one of the submodules and use your "existing" qmake on it instead of compiling QtBase (in that case, you skip step 4)
Final notice: When I tried opening the whole Qt-Project, QtCreator crashed on my system because the project was to big to handle. I would recommend you to only open one of the modules within the super repostitory, i.e. "qtbase", "qtdeclarative", etc.

Problems with QT 5 deployment

I've attempted to follow the instructions on deploying Qt to Windows, but I am stuck on step number 1. In it, it tells you to:
cd C:\path\to\Qt
configure -static any other options you need
Unfortunately, I can't get the Qt DOS prompt to recognize the "configure" command despite attempting to use it in virtually every folder under my Qt installation. Does anyone know where this command is store? Everything else about my project is working great with Visual Studio, but I just can't seem to figure out the deployment.
I've Googled the crap out of this and tried both the Qt and the regular Windows command prompts. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks
EDIT: For clarity, I have tried dragging all of the .dlls needed to run my program (by running it and finding the ones I get errors on), but all that happens is I stop getting errors when trying to run my app. If I double click it with the .dlls in the same folder, nothing happens at all.
Are you sure you need the static Qt build? Note that you must static build the actual Qt framework for that, and only after that you can build your application.
If yes, make sure you have the Qt source code, because configure is part of the source code of Qt, it's a tool that configure the Qt build.
The step refers to path of Qt Source directory e.g. C:\QtSDK\QtSources\\
As you can see in qt5 source tree there is a file configure.bat
You need to run that with static option, so it will configure Qt for static linking.
Then you need to re-build Qt to make your new configuration to take effect.

Compiling QT 5.0

I want to compile QT 5.0 similar to the package that is offer on http://qt-project.org/downloads for Visual Studio 2012.
I followed these instructions http://qt-project.org/wiki/Building-Qt-5-from-Git and they work pretty well, only problem is, if I rename the folder where I compiled QT (or move the folder someplace else), Visual Studio starts complaining when I try to build a QT Application, that it does not find debug information or platform is missing, is like somehow the compilation files embedded the full path inside them to look for dependencies instead of been relative paths.
The reasons I do not use the package provided for VS in the website is because I also need an x86 version of it.
Another problem I am facing is that the compilation folder has thousands of files that takes a long time to move or delete, in the package from the website there are not so many files.
Does anyone know what options I have to give QT when compiling it the first time?
I use “-debug_and_release -c++11 -opensource -nomake examples -nomake tests”
Thanks!
On VS there should be Qt5 menu. There must be something like Qt Options. From the Versions tab you must add the new path as a new version and probably remove the old path because it does not exist anymore. Probably you will also need to change the project's Qt version from the project's context menu. I don't have VS in front of me but according to my visual memory this should do the trick.

OpenGL Widget works in creator but black when launched from .exe

I have been working on a Qt OpenGL project for a bit now for some school work. I had to re-build Qt 5.0.1 for my windows machine so I could use OpenGL proper. At the end of this project I need to turn over the files and any executables, so I figured I could take the release .exe and stick it in a .zip for use.
I followed instructions online of making sure I place any needed .dll's into the .exe's dir. For my project there are 10:
icudt49, icuin49, icuuc49, libEGL, libGLESv2, Qt5Core, Qt5Gui, Qt5OpenGL and Qt5Widgets
I took these files all from:
C:\Qt\Qt5.0.1\5.0.1\msvc2010\bin
on my system.
Issue is the .exe will run and I get the UI and all. But the OpenGL scene is just black. I can still click objects in the scene, evidently zoom in and out and all that. I assume thats just the Qt translating the commands still. But nothing is visible. I'm unsure what the problem can be because it all works fine when launched from the creator.
EDIT: So, with all the dlls in the release folder, running the project from within creator will also have a black screen, when I remove them, it runs well. So perhaps one of the dll's is just wrong?
Also:
I looked online about publishing with Qt Creator and found not too much aid, said I should start from completely rebuilding Qt Creator staticly, but I'm sure the guide I had followed did this, however I still can't publish from the build menu, so I stuck with the above method.
I suggest, that you open every of the DDLs in your Zip file with Dependency Walker (http://www.dependencywalker.com/). It should display information about dependencies from one of your QtXXX.dll files to other files. If one of the dependencies is missing, you know where to look next. You can also try to open your executable with Dependency Walker. I haven't used the program for a long time so I don't remember if opening an executable is the only way it works. Anyway, here are the reasons why you might want to use the tool: http://www.dependencywalker.com/help/html/overview_1.htm
This question might also be helpful:
At least one module has an unresolved import due to a missing export function in an implicitly dependent module
Good luck!
So the ultimate issue was the use of the correct DLLs. Using something like DependenyWalker can help you to note which DLLs may be missing, however it did nothing in my case.
I had installed Qt once, and also rebuilt, uninstalled and re-installed it. However all the libraries it was calling from as no longer in C:\Qt\Qt5.0.1\5.0.1\msvc2010\bin as expected, it was calling from the github repository where I built it C:\Users\User\Documents\GitHub\qt5. Once this is sorted out, it still required a framework folder and then it works as expected.
1) Copy the correct DLL files to the release folder of the build.
2) Create a folder in the same dir as the .exe named "platforms". (Note: elsewhere has said create plugins>platforms, but this will not work with newer Qt versions)
3) From the same source you got the other DLLs, copy qwindows.dll to the platforms folder you created.
4) Run the executable and enjoy.
As long as the system you're running on is capable of your OpenGL structure, it should be fine.

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