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Please review the following information to ensure ** the GNU Free Documentation License version 1.3 requirements ** will be met: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl-1.3.html. ** ****************************************************************************/ // ********************************************************************** // NOTE: the sections are not ordered by their logical order to avoid // reshuffling the file each time the index order changes (i.e., often). // Run the fixnavi.pl script to adjust the links to the index order. // ********************************************************************** /*! \previouspage creator-project-managing.html \page creator-project-creating.html \nextpage creator-project-opening.html \title Creating Projects Creating a project enables you to: \list \li Group files together \li Add custom build steps \li Include forms and resource files \li Specify settings for running applications \endlist Setting up a new project in \QC is aided by a wizard that guides you step-by-step through the project creation process. The wizards prompt you to enter the settings needed for that particular type of project and create the necessary files for you. You can add your own custom wizards to standardize the way subprojects and classes are added to a project. Most \QC project wizards enable you to choose the build system to use for building the project: qmake, CMake, or Qbs. If you are not presented with a choice, the project is set up to use qmake. You can use wizards also to create plain C or C++ projects that use qmake, Qbs, or CMake, but do not use the Qt library. In addition, you can import projects as \e {generic projects} that do not use qmake, Qbs, or CMake. This enables you to use \QC as a code editor and to fully control the steps and commands used to build the project. You can install tools for \l{glossary-device}{devices} as part of Qt distributions. The \l{glossary-buildandrun-kit}{kits} and build and run settings for the installed device types are set up automatically. However, you might need to install and configure some additional software on the devices to be able to connect to them from the development PC. \include creator-projects-build-systems.qdocinc build systems \section1 Using Project Wizards In the first step, you select a template for the project. You can filter templates (1) to view only those that apply to a particular target platform. \image qtcreator-new-qt-quick-project-wizard.png Next, you select a location for the project and specify settings for it. When you have completed the steps, \QC automatically generates the project with required headers, source files, user interface descriptions and project files, as defined by the wizard. For example, if you choose to create a Qt Quick application, \QC generates a QML file that you can modify in the Design mode. \section1 Selecting Project Type You can use wizards to create following types of projects: \list \li Application (Qt Quick) \list \li Qt Quick Application - Empty Create an empty Qt Quick application that uses Qt Quick 2 types. You can build the application and deploy it to desktop, embedded, and mobile target platforms. \li Qt Quick Application - Scroll, Stack, or Swipe Create a Qt Quick application that uses \l{http://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qtquickcontrols2-index.html} {Qt Quick Controls} to implement a scrollable list (requires Qt 5.9 or later) or a set of pages with a stack-based or swipe-based navigation model (requires Qt 5.7 or later). \endlist \li Application (Qt) \list \li Qt Widgets Application Use \QD forms to design a Qt widget based user interface for the desktop and C++ to implement the application logic \li Qt Console Application Use a single main.cpp file \endlist \li Application (Qt for Python) \list \li Qt for Python Application - Empty, Window, Window (UI file), or Qt Quick Application (Empty) Create a \l{https://doc.qt.io/qtforpython/index.html} {Qt for Python} application that contains only the main code for a QApplication or an empty window with or without a widget-based UI. Alternatively, you can create an empty Qt Quick Application. \endlist \li Application (Qt for MCU) \list \li MCU Support Application Creates an application that uses a subset of QML and Qt Quick Controls (as supported by Qt for MCUs) that you can deploy, run, and debug on MCU boards. For more information, see \l {Connecting MCUs}. \endlist \li Libraries \list \li C++ Library Shared or static C++ library based on qmake \li Qt Quick 2 Extension Plugin C++ plugin that makes it possible to offer extensions that can be loaded dynamically into Qt Quick 2 applications by using the QQmlEngine class \li \QC Plugin \endlist \li Other Projects \list \li Auto Test Project Projects with boilerplate code for a Qt or Google test. For more information, see \l {Creating Tests}. \li Qt Quick UI Prototype Use a single QML file that contains the main view. You can review \l{Creating Qt Quick UI Projects}{Qt Quick UI prototypes} in a \l{Previewing QML Files}{preview tool} and you need not build them. Qt Quick UI prototypes cannot be deployed to embedded or mobile target platforms. For those platforms, create a Qt Quick application instead. \li Qt Custom Designer Widgets Custom \QD widget or widget collection \li Empty qmake Project Empty qmake project that is based on qmake but does not use any default classes \li Subdirs Project Subprojects that enable you to structure your qmake projects as a tree hierarchy \li Code Snippet Creates a qmake project from a code snippet. When fixing bug reports that contain a code snippet, you can place the code snippet into a project to compile and check it. \endlist \li Non-Qt Projects \list \li Plain C or C++ Application Plain C or C++ application that uses qmake, Qbs, or CMake but does not use the Qt library \li Nim or Nimble Applications (experimental) Nim or Nimble application that uses Nimble, but does not use the Qt library For more information, see \l {Setting Up Nimble}. \endlist \li Import Project \list \li Project from version control Import a project from a supported version control system. For more information on how version control systems are integrated in \QC, see \l{Using Version Control Systems} \li Import as qmake Project Import an existing project that does not use any of the supported build systems: qmake, Qbs, CMake, or Autotools. The wizard creates a qmake .pro file, which enables you to use \QC as a code editor and as a launcher for debugging and analysis tools. However, if you want to build the project, you might need to edit the generated .pro file. \li Import Existing Project Import an existing project that does not use any of the supported build systems: qmake, Qbs, CMake, or Autotools. This enables you to use \QC as a code editor \endlist \endlist To create a new project, select \uicontrol File > \uicontrol{New File or Project} and select the type of your project. The contents of the wizard dialogs depend on the project type and the \l{glossary-buildandrun-kit}{kits} that you select in the \uicontrol {Kit Selection} dialog. Follow the instructions of the wizard. For examples of creating different types of projects, see \l{Tutorials}. For more information about creating Qt Quick projects, see \l {Creating Qt Quick Projects}. \include creator-python-project.qdocinc python project wizards \section1 Adding Files to Projects You can use wizards also to add individual files to your projects. You can create the following types of files: \list \li C++ C++ class, source, or header files that you can use to write the application logic in both Qt Quick projects and Qt widget based projects \li Qt \list \li Qt item model source and header files that you can use to create classes derived from QAbstractItemModel, QAbstractTableModel, or QAbstractListModel. \li \QD forms and \QD form classes, which specify parts of user interfaces in Qt widget based projects \li Qt resource files, which allow you to store binary files in the application executable \li QML files, which specify items in Qt Quick projects. \uicontrol {QML File (Qt Quick 2)} creates a QML file that imports Qt Quick 2.0 and \uicontrol {Qt Quick UI File} creates an UI form (\e .ui.qml) and the corresponding QML file. \li JavaScript files that you can use to write the application logic in Qt Quick projects \endlist \li Models and state charts \list \li Universal Modeling Language (UML) style models with structured diagrams. However, the model editor uses a variant of UML and provides only a subset of properties for specifying the appearance of model elements. For more information, see \l {Modeling}. \li State Chart XML (SCXML) files that contain boilerplate code for state machines. You can use the classes in the \l {Qt SCXML} module to embed state machines created from the files in Qt applications. \endlist \li GLSL GLSL files that define fragment and vertex shaders in both Qt Quick projects and Qt widget based projects \li General \list \li Empty files \li Scratch buffers that use temporary files. You can create this type of files for temporarily storing information that you do not intend to save \endlist \li Java Java class files that you can use to create Java classes. \li Python Python class and source files that you can use to create Python classes and scripts with UTF-8 encoding. \li Nim (experimental) \list \li Nim script files. \li Nim source files with UTF-8 encoding. \endlist \endlist \section2 Creating C++ Classes The \uicontrol {C++ Class Wizard} allows you to create a C++ header and source file for a new class that you can add to a C++ project. Specify the class name, base class, and header and source files for the class. The wizard supports namespaces. To use a namespace, enter a qualified class name in the \uicontrol {Class name} field. For example: MyNamespace::MySubNamespace::MyClass. \image qtcreator-cpp-class-wizard.png "Enter Class Name dialog" The names of the header and source file are based on the class name. To change the default suffix of a file, select \uicontrol Tools > \uicontrol Options > \uicontrol {C++} > \uicontrol {File Naming}. \image qtcreator-options-cpp-files.png "File Naming tab in Options" In the \uicontrol {License template} field, you can use \l{Using Variables in Wizards}{predefined wizard variables} to specify the path and filename of the license to use in the source and header files. You can create your own project and class wizards. For more information, see \l{Adding New Custom Wizards}. \section2 Creating Resource Files \QC supports the \l{The Qt Resource System}{Qt Resource System}, which is a platform-independent mechanism for storing files in the application's executable. \image qtcreator-add-resource-wizard.png "New File or Project dialog" The wizard creates a resource collection file (.qrc) that you can manage in the resource editor. \image qtcreator-add-resource.png "Editing resource files" Select \uicontrol {Add Files} to locate and add individual files. By default, resources are accessible in the application under the same file name as they have in the source tree, with a \c{:/} prefix, or by a URL with a \c qrc scheme. To specify a path prefix for all files in the \c .qrc file, select \uicontrol {Add Prefix} and enter the prefix in the \uicontrol Prefix field. Some resources need to change based on the user's locale, such as translation files or icons. You can specify a locale in the \uicontrol Language field. Select \uicontrol Remove to remove the selected file from the resource collection. In the \uicontrol {Remove File} dialog, select the \uicontrol {Delete file permanently} check box to remove the file from the file system. To remove files that cannot be found in the file system, select \uicontrol {Remove Missing Files}. The above functions are also available in the context menu in the \uicontrol Projects view. \section2 Creating OpenGL Fragment and Vertex Shaders Qt provides support for integration with OpenGL implementations on all platforms, which allows you to display hardware accelerated 3D graphics alongside a more conventional user interface. For more information, see \l{Qt GUI}. You can use the QOpenGLShader class to compile OpenGL shaders written in the OpenGL Shading Language (GLSL) and in the OpenGL/ES Shading Language (GLSL/ES). QOpenGLShader and QOpenGLShaderProgram shelter you from the details of compiling and linking vertex and fragment shaders. You can use \QC code editor to write fragment and vertex shaders in GLSL or GLSL/ES. The code editor provides syntax highlighting and code completion for the files. \image qtcreator-new-opengl-file.png "New OpenGL file wizard" \section2 Displaying Additional File Types in Projects View \QC determines whether to display files from the project folder in the \uicontrol Projects view depending on the file type (.pro, .pri, .cpp, .h, .qrc, and so on). To display other types of files, edit the project file. Add filenames as values of the \c {DISTFILES} variable. You can also use wildcards. For example, the following code specifies that text files are displayed in the \uicontrol Projects view: \code DISTFILES += *.txt \endcode This also makes the files available in the \uicontrol Locator. \section1 Adding Subprojects to Projects In addition to Qt libraries, you can link your application to other libraries, such as system libraries or your own libraries. Further, your own libraries might link to other libraries. To be able to compile your project, you must add the libraries to your project. This also enables code completion and syntax highlighting for the libraries. The procedure of adding a library to a project depends on the build system that you use. When you create a new project, you can add it to another project as a subproject in the \uicontrol{Project Management} dialog. However, the root project must specify that qmake uses the \c subdirs template to build the project. To create a root project, select \uicontrol File > \uicontrol {New File or Project} > \uicontrol {Other Project} > \uicontrol {Subdirs Project} > \uicontrol Choose. On the \uicontrol Summary page, select \uicontrol {Finish & Add Subproject} to create the root project and to add another project, such as a C++ library. The wizard creates a project file (.pro) that defines a \c subdirs template and the subproject that you add as a value of the \l{Variables#subdirs} {SUBDIRS variable}. It also adds all the necessary files for the subproject. To create more subprojects, right-click the project name in the \uicontrol Projects view to open the context menu, and select \uicontrol {New Subproject}. Follow the steps in the \uicontrol {New Subproject} wizard to create a subproject. \image qtcreator-new-subproject.png To add an existing project as a subproject, select \uicontrol {Add Existing Projects} in the context menu. In the file browser dialog, locate your subproject. To remove subprojects, right-click the project name in the \uicontrol Projects view, and select \uicontrol {Remove Subproject} in the context menu. To specify dependencies, use the \uicontrol{Add Library} wizard. For more information, see \l{Adding Libraries to Projects}. \section1 Binding Keyboard Shortcuts to Wizards If you use a wizard regularly, you can bind a custom keyboard shortcut to it. Triggering this keyboard shortcut will directly open the wizard without the need to navigate to \uicontrol File > \uicontrol {New File or Project}. Keyboard shortcuts for wizards can be set in \uicontrol Tools > \uicontrol Options > \uicontrol Environment > \uicontrol Keyboard > \uicontrol Wizard. All wizard actions start with \uicontrol Impl there. \section1 Related Topics \list \li \l{Opening Projects} \li \l{Adding Libraries to Projects} \li \l{Adding New Custom Wizards} \li \l{Using Other Build Systems} \endlist */