path: root/doc/qtcreator/src/projects/creator-only/creator-projects-creating.qdoc

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/*!
    \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

*/