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/*!
\contentspage{index.html}{Qt Creator}
\page index.html
\nextpage creator-quick-tour.html
\title Qt Creator Manual
\section1 Version 1.3.80
The goal of Qt Creator is to provide a cross-platform, complete Integrated
Development Environment (IDE) to develop Qt projects. It is available for
the Linux, Mac OS X and Windows platforms.
\note Please report bugs and suggestions to the
\l{http://bugreports.qt.nokia.com}{Qt Bug Tracker}.
You can also join the Qt Creator mailing list. To subscribe,
send a message with the word \e subscribe to
\l{mailto:qt-creator-request@trolltech.com}
{qt-creator-request@trolltech.com}. For more information on Qt mailing
lists, visit \l{http://lists.trolltech.com}{http://lists.trolltech.com}.
\raw HTML
<img border="0" style="float:right;" src="images/qtcreator-screenshots.png" />
\endraw
\list
\o \l{A Quick Tour of Qt Creator}
\o \l{Creating a Project in Qt Creator}
\o \l{Writing a Simple Program with Qt Creator}
\o \l{The Code Editor}
\o \l{Navigating Around Your Code with Locator}
\o \l{Session Management in Qt Creator}
\o \l{Qt Version Management}
\o \l{Project Settings}
\o \l{CMake Support in Qt Creator}
\o \l{Support for Generic Projects in Qt Creator}
\o \l{External Libraries}
\o \l{Development of Qt for Symbian Based Applications}
\o \l{Qt Creator and Debugging}
\o \l{Qt Creator and Version Control Systems}
\o \l{Tips and Tricks}
\o \l{Keyboard Shortcuts}
\o \l{Glossary}
\o \l{Supported Platforms}
\o \l{Known Issues}
\o \l{Acknowledgements}
\endlist
*/
/*!
\contentspage index.html
\previouspage index.html
\page creator-quick-tour.html
\nextpage creator-creating-project.html
\title A Quick Tour of Qt Creator
The labeled screenshot below shows some of the components of Qt Creator, in
\gui Edit mode.
\image qtcreator-breakdown.png
\section1 The Mode Selectors
When working in Qt Creator, you can be in one of six modes: \bold Welcome,
\bold Edit, \bold Debug, \bold Projects, \bold Help, and \bold Output.
Mode selectors allow you to quickly switch between tasks: editing, browsing
the Qt Creator manual, setting up the build environment, etc. You can
activate a mode by either clicking on its mode selector, or using the
\l{keyboard-shortcuts}{corresponding keyboard shortcut}. Certain actions also
trigger a mode change, e.g., \gui{Debug}/\gui{Start debugging} switches
to the \gui Debug mode.
\list
\o \gui{Welcome mode} - Displays a welcome screen allowing you to quickly
load sessions or recent individual projects. This is the mode displayed
when Qt Creator is run without command line switches.
\o \gui{Edit mode} - Lets you edit both project and source files. A sidebar
on the left provides different views for navigating between files.
\o \gui{Debug mode} - Provides various ways to inspect the state of the
program while debugging. See \l{Qt Creator and Debugging} for a hands-on
description of how to use this mode.
\o \gui{Projects mode} - Lets you configure how projects can be built and
executed. Under the list of projects, there are tabs to configure the
build, run, and editor settings.
\o \gui{Help mode} - Shows all documentation registered by Qt Assistant,
such as the Qt library and Qt Creator documentation.
\o \gui{Output mode} - Lets you examine various data in detail, for example
build issues as well as compile and application output. This information
is also available in the output panes.
\endlist
\section1 The Output Panes
The task pane in Qt Creator can display one of four different panes:
\gui{Build Issues}, \gui{Search Results}, \gui{Application Output}, and
\gui{Compile Output}. These panes are available in all modes.
\section2 Build Issues
The \gui{Build Issues} pane provides a list of issues, e.g., error messages
or warnings that need to be fixed. It filters out irrelevant output from
the compiler and presents the issues in an organized way.
\image qtcreator-build-issues.png
\section2 Search Results
The \gui{Search Results} pane displays the results for global searches such
as searching within a current document, files on disk, or all projects. In
the screenshot below, we searched for all occurrences of \c{textfinder}
within the \c{"/TextFinder"} folder.
\image qtcreator-search-pane.png
\section2 Application Output
The \gui{Application Output} pane displays the status of a program when
it is executed, and the debug output, e.g., output from qDebug().
\image qtcreator-application-output.png
\section2 Compile Output
The \gui{Compile Output} pane provides all output from the compiler. In
other words, it is a more detailed version of information displayed in the
\gui{Build Issues}
\image qtcreator-compile-pane.png
\section1 Qt Help Integration
Qt Creator comes fully integrated with all of Qt's documentation and
examples via the Qt Help plugin. To view the documentation, switch
to the \gui{Help} mode. To obtain context sensitive help, move the text
cursor to a Qt class or function and press \key{F1}. The documentation
is displayed in a pane on the right, as shown in the screenshot
below. If there is enough vertical space, it is shown in the
fullscreen help mode.
\image qtcreator-context-sensitive-help.png
External documentation provided by the user can be used to augment or
replace the documentation shipped with Qt Creator and Qt.
\section1 Qt Designer Integration
Qt Creator is fully integrated with Qt Designer to help you design user
interface forms like you would with the standalone version. The Qt
Designer integration also includes project management and code completion.
For more information on Qt Designer, see
\l{http://doc.trolltech.com/designer-manual.html}{The Designer Manual}.
\image qtcreator-formedit.png
\section1 Keyboard Navigation
Qt Creator caters not only to developers who are used to using the mouse,
but also to developers who are more comfortable with the keyboard. A wide
range of \l{keyboard-shortcuts}{keyboard} and
\l{Navigating Around Your Code with Locator}{navigation} shortcuts
are available to help speed up the process of developing your application.
*/
/*!
\contentspage index.html
\previouspage creator-writing-program.html
\page creator-code-editor.html
\nextpage creator-navigation.html
\title The Code Editor
Qt Creator's code editor is designed to aid the developer in creating, editing,
and navigating code. It is fully equipped with syntax highlighting, code
completion, context sensitive help, and inline error indicators
while you are typing.
\section1 Code Editor Configuration
The screenshots below show the various dialogs within
which you can configure your editor.
\table
\row
\i \inlineimage qtcreator-texteditor-fonts.png
\row
\i \inlineimage qtcreator-texteditor-behavior.png
\row
\i \inlineimage qtcreator-texteditor-display.png
\row
\i \inlineimage qtcreator-texteditor-completion.png
\endtable
\section1 Code Completion
The completion popup shows possible completions to a certain statement.
These completions include classes, namespaces, functions, variables,
macros and keywords. Listed below are the icons used in the completion box
and their meaning.
\table
\row
\i \inlineimage completion/class.png
\i A class
\row
\i \inlineimage completion/enum.png
\i An enum
\row
\i \inlineimage completion/enumerator.png
\i An enumerator (value of an enum)
\row
\i \inlineimage completion/func.png
\i A function
\row
\i \inlineimage completion/func_priv.png
\i A private function
\row
\i \inlineimage completion/func_prot.png
\i A protected function
\row
\i \inlineimage completion/var.png
\i A variable
\row
\i \inlineimage completion/var_priv.png
\i A private variable
\row
\i \inlineimage completion/var_prot.png
\i A protected variable
\row
\i \inlineimage completion/signal.png
\i A signal
\row
\i \inlineimage completion/slot.png
\i A slot
\row
\i \inlineimage completion/slot_priv.png
\i A private slot
\row
\i \inlineimage completion/slot_prot.png
\i A protected slot
\row
\i \inlineimage completion/keyword.png
\i A keyword
\row
\i \inlineimage completion/macro.png
\i A macro
\row
\i \inlineimage completion/namespace.png
\i A namespace
\endtable
\section1 External Editor
To switch to an external editor, select \gui{Open in external editor} from the
\gui{Edit > Advanced} menu.
*/
/*!
\contentspage index.html
\previouspage creator-version-management.html
\page creator-project-pane.html
\nextpage creator-cmake-support.html
\title Project Settings
\table
\row
\i \note This page describes Qt Creator's support for \c qmake.
For information on CMake support, see
\l{CMake Support in Qt Creator}.
\endtable
To modify the project settings of your project, switch to the \gui{Projects}
mode by using the mouse or pressing \key{Ctrl+4}.
\image qtcreator-projectpane.png
The project pane is divided into two areas. The currently active settings are
displayed at the top. The active build and run configuration for all projects
can be changed there. The bottom area allows you to quickly get an overview
of the build, run and editor settings as well as the dependencies between your
projects. It also allows you to edit those settings.
\section1 Build Settings
Build configurations allow you to quickly switch between different build
settings. By default, Qt Creator creates a \bold{debug} and a
\bold{release} build configuration. Both of these configurations use the
\l{glossary-default-qt}{default Qt version}. Action items to create, clone,
or delete build configurations can be found at the top. You can have as
many build configurations as necessary. To edit settings, click on the
\gui{Show Details} button. Here you can specify which
\l{glossary-project-qt}{Qt version} to use to build your project, or whether
to \l{glossary-shadow-build}{shadow build} the project, for instance.
\image qtcreator-ppbuildsettings.png
The build system of Qt Creator is built on top of \c qmake and \c make. The
settings for \c qmake and \c make can be changed. Qt Creator runs the
make command using the correct Qt version.
In the \bold{Build Environment} section you can specify the environment used
for building. By default, the environment in which Qt Creator was started
is used and modified to include the Qt version. Depending on the selected
Qt version, Qt Creator automatically sets the necessary environment
variables.
\section1 Run Settings
\image qtcreator-pprunsettings.png
Qt Creator automatically creates run configurations for your project.
These run configurations derive their executable
from the parsed .pro files. You can also create \bold{custom executable}
run configurations where you can freely set the executable to be run.
\section1 Dependencies
If you have multiple projects loaded in your session, you can configure
dependencies between them. This affects the build order of your
projects. To do this:
\list 1
\o Select the project for which you want to configure the dependencies.
\o Go to the \bold{Dependencies} section.
\o Check the checkboxes to select other projects as dependencies.
\endlist
\note This is unrelated to the dependencies inside a qmake project.
*/
/*!
\contentspage index.html
\previouspage creator-session.html
\page creator-version-management.html
\nextpage creator-project-pane.html
\title Qt Version Management
Qt Creator allows you to use multiple versions of Qt installed on your hard
disk and switch between them easily.
Qt Creator automatically detects if \c qmake is in the environment variable
\c PATH. This \l{glossary-system-qt}{version of Qt} is referred to as
\bold{Qt in PATH}. If you use only one version of Qt and it is
already in your path and correctly set up for command line usage, you do
not need to manually configure your Qt version.
Otherwise, you can add your Qt version in
\gui{Tools > Options... > Qt Versions} on Windows and Linux or
in \gui{Qt Creator > Preferences... > Qt Versions} on Mac OS X.
The detailed settings depend on your operating system and on the targeted
tool chain.
\table
\row
\i \image qtcreator-qt4-qtversions.png
\i \bold{Linux and Mac OS X}
On Linux and Mac OS X, set the \gui{path to QMake}
to the \c qmake binary of the Qt installation. If a Qt is
found in the \c PATH environment variable, it shows up
automatically as \gui{Qt in PATH}.
On both platforms, the platform's GNU Compiler Collection (GCC)
is used to compile Qt. On Mac OS, the GCC compiler is part of XCode.
On Linux, the Intel Compiler (ICC) is supported as a drop-in replacement
for GCC.
\row
\i \image qtcreator-qt4-qtversions-win-mingw.png
\i \bold{Windows and MinGW}
If you are on the Windows platform and used MinGW
to compile Qt, you need to tell Qt Creator
where MinGW is installed. This is done by setting the
\gui{MinGW directory}.
\row
\i \image qtcreator-qt4-qtversions-win-msvc.png
\i \bold{Microsoft Visual C++}
If your Qt version is compiled with Microsoft Visual C++'s
compiler, Qt Creator automatically sets the correct
environment variables for compilation. The \gui{MSVC}
drop-down box indicates the internal version number of the
installed Microsoft Visual C++ tool chains:
\list
\o \bold{7.1}: Visual Studio 2003
\o \bold{8.0}: Visual Studio 2005
\o \bold{9.0}: Visual Studio 2008
\endlist
If you are using the \c{Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008}
instead of Visual Studio, it identifies as version 9.0.
\row
\i \image qtcreator-qt4-qtversions-win-symbian.png
\i \bold{Symbian}
If you are using Qt for Symbian and your S60 SDK is registered
with \c devices.exe, Qt Creator detects the Qt version
automatically.
It is shown in the \bold{Auto-detected} section in the options
dialog.
You can also manually add Qt for Symbian versions. In this case
you need to tell Qt Creator the path to the S60 SDK
it is supposed to use with these Qt installations.
Add the path to your Carbide C++ install, version 2.0
or later, if you want to build for the emulator
(\c WINSCW tool chain).
If you want to use \c GCCE to build for your device,
you might need to add the path to the
\c{CSL ARM Toolchain} directory (\gui{CSL/GCCE Directory}),
if the compiler is not found in the \c PATH environment
variable.
\endtable
\note By default, projects are compiled with the
\l{glossary-default-qt}{default Qt version}. You can override this in the
\gui{build configuration}.
*/
/*!
\contentspage index.html
\previouspage creator-quick-tour.html
\page creator-creating-project.html
\nextpage creator-writing-program.html
\title Creating a Project in Qt Creator
\table
\row
\i \inlineimage qtcreator-new-project.png
\i \bold{Creating a new project}
To create a new project, select \gui{New Project} from the \gui{File} menu.
You can create one of the following three projects:
\list
\o Qt4 Console Application
\o Qt4 Gui Application
\o C++ Library
\endlist
In this example, we select a \e{Qt4 Gui Application} and click on \gui{OK}.
\row
\i \inlineimage qtcreator-intro-and-location.png
\i \bold{Setting the project name and location}
Next, we set the project's name and its path. Click on the \gui{Choose...}
button to browse and select your path.
Ideally, the path should not contain spaces or special characters.
\row
\i \inlineimage qtcreator-select-modules.png
\i \bold{Selecting the necessary Qt modules}
Check the check box for each Qt module you want to include into
your project.
Since we started a Qt4 Gui Application, the QtCore and QtGui modules are
set by default, but you are free to add more.
\row
\i \inlineimage qtcreator-class-info.png
\i \bold{Specifying class information}
Specify the name of the class you want to create. The
\e{Header file}, \e{Source file} and \e{Form file} fields update
automatically according to the class name you choose.
Remember to select the base class for your class, either a
QWidget, QDialog or QMainWindow, from the drop-down list.
\row
\i \inlineimage qtcreator-new-project-summary.png
\i \bold{Creating the project}
Finally, review the files that will be created for you. To generate your project,
click on \gui{Done}.
\endtable
*/
/*!
\contentspage index.html
\previouspage creator-creating-project.html
\page creator-writing-program.html
\nextpage creator-code-editor.html
\title Writing a Simple Program with Qt Creator
\table
\row
\o \note This tutorial assumes that the user has experience in writing
basic Qt applications, designing user interfaces with Qt Designer
and using the Qt Resource System.
\endtable
In this example, we describe the steps involved in using Qt Creator
to create a small Qt program, Text Finder. Inspired by the QtUiTools'
\l{http://doc.trolltech.com/uitools-textfinder.html}{Text Finder}
example, we write a similar but simplified version of it, as shown
below.
\image qtcreator-textfinder-screenshot.png
\section1 Setting Up Your Environment
Once you have installed Qt Creator, it detects automatically if Qt's
location is in your \c PATH variable. If not, please follow the
instructions in \l{Qt Version Management}.
\section1 Setting Up the Project
We begin with a Qt4 Gui Application project generated by Qt Creator. The
\l{Creating a Project in Qt Creator} document describes this process in
detail. Remember to select QWidget as the Text Finder's base class. If
your project is not yet loaded, load it by selecting \gui{File} > \gui{Open}.
In your project, you have the following files:
\list
\o \c{textfinder.h}
\o \c{textfinder.cpp}
\o \c{main.cpp}
\o \c{textfinder.ui}
\o \c{textfinder.pro}
\endlist
The \c{.h} and \c{.cpp} files come with the necessary boiler plate code.
The \c{.pro} file is also complete.
\section1 Filling in the Missing Pieces
We begin by designing the user interface and then move on to filling
in the missing code. Finally, we add the find functionality.
\section2 The User Interface
To begin designing the user interface, double-click on the
\c{textfinder.ui} file in the \gui{Project Explorer}. This launches the
integrated Qt Designer.
Design the form below with:
\list
\o \l{http://doc.trolltech.com/qlabel.html}{QLabel}
\o \l{http://doc.trolltech.com/qlinedit.html}{QLineEdit} (named lineEdit)
\o \l{http://doc.trolltech.com/qpushbutton.html}{QPushButton} (named findButton)
\o \l{http://doc.trolltech.com/qtextedit.html}{QTextEdit} (named textEdit)
\endlist
\image qtcreator-textfinder-ui.png
We recommend that you use a \l{http://doc.trolltech.com/qgridlayout.html}{QGridLayout}
to lay out the label, the line edit and the push button.
The grid layout and the text edit can then be added to a
\l{http://doc.trolltech.com/qvboxlayout.html}{QVBoxLayout}.
If you are new to designing forms with \QD, see the
\l{http://doc.trolltech.com/designer-manual.html}{Qt Designer Manual}.
\section2 The Header File
The \c{textfinder.h} file already has the necessary #includes, a
constructor, a destructor, and the \c{Ui} object. We need to add a private
slot, \c{on_findButton_clicked()}, to carry out our find operation. We
also need a private function, \c{loadTextFile()}, to read and display the
contents of our input text file in the
\l{http://doc.trolltech.com/qtextedit.html}{QTextEdit}. This is done with
the following code:
\snippet examples/textfinder/textfinder.h 0
\note The \c{Ui::TextFinder} object is already provided.
\section2 The Source File
Now that our header file is complete we move on to our source file,
\c{textfinder.cpp}. We begin by filling in the functionality to load a
text file. This is described in the code snippet below:
\snippet examples/textfinder/textfinder.cpp 0
Basically, we load a text file using
\l{http://doc.trolltech.com/qfile.html}{QFile}, read it with
\l{http://doc.trolltech.com/qtextstream.html}{QTextStream}, and
then display it on \c{textEdit} with
\l{http://doc.trolltech.com/qtextedit.html#plainText-prop}{setPlainText()}
which requires adding the following additional #includes to textfinder.cpp:
\snippet examples/textfinder/textfinder.cpp 1
For the \c{on_findButton_clicked()} slot, we extract the search string and
use the \l{http://doc.trolltech.com/qtextedit.html#find}{find()} function
to look for the search string within the text file. This is described in
the code snippet below:
\snippet examples/textfinder/textfinder.cpp 2
Once we have both of these functions complete, we call \c{loadTextFile()} in
our constructor.
\snippet examples/textfinder/textfinder.cpp 3
The \c{on_findButton_clicked()} slot is called automatically in
the uic generated \c{ui_textfinder.h} file by this line of code:
\code
QMetaObject::connectSlotsByName(TextFinder);
\endcode
\section2 The Resource File
We require a resource file (\c{.qrc}) within which we embed the input
text file. This can be any \c{.txt} file with a paragraph of text.
To add a resource file:
\list 1
\o Right-click on \gui{Resource Files} in the \gui{Project Explorer}.
\o Select \gui{Add New File...}.
\endlist
The wizard dialog below is displayed.
\image qtcreator-add-resource-wizard.png
\list 3
\o Enter "textfinder" in the \gui{Name} field. Use the given \gui{Path}.
\o Click on \gui{Continue}.
\endlist
This page is displayed:
\image qtcreator-add-resource-wizard2.png
\list 5
\o Choose to which project you want to add the new file. Select "TextFinder"
as the \gui{Project}.
\o Make sure that \gui{Add to Project} is checked.
\o Click on \gui{Done}.
\endlist
Your resource file is now displayed in the resource editor.
\list 8
\o Select \gui{Add} > \gui{Add Prefix} from the drop-down list. The prefix we
require is a slash (\c{/}).
\o Select \gui{Add} > \gui{Add File} from the drop-down list.
\o Locate the text file you are going to use. We use \c{input.txt}.
\endlist
Once the resource file has been successfully added, the following is displayed:
\image qtcreator-add-resource.png
\section1 Compiling and Running your Program
Now that you have all the necessary files, click the \inlineimage qtcreator-run.png
button to compile your program.
*/
/*!
\contentspage index.html
\previouspage creator-debugging.html
\page creator-version-control.html
\nextpage creator-tips.html
\title Qt Creator and Version Control Systems
\table
\caption Version control systems supported by Qt Creator
\row
\i \bold{git}
\i \l{http://git-scm.com/}
\i
\row
\i \bold{Subversion}
\i \l{http://subversion.tigris.org/}
\i
\row
\i \bold{Perforce}
\i \l{http://www.perforce.com}
\i Server version 2006.1 and later
\row
\i \bold{CVS}
\i \l{http://www.cvshome.org}
\i
\endtable
\section1 Setting Up Version Control Systems
Qt Creator uses the version control system's command line clients to
access your repositories. To set it up, you must ensure that these command
line clients can be located via the \c{PATH} environment variable.
To specify the path to the command line client's executable, go to the settings
pages in \gui{Tools} > \gui{Options...}.
\section1 Setting Up Common Options
The \gui{Version Control > Common} settings page features common settings for
version control systems, such as commit message line wrapping and checking
options.
\gui{Submit message checking script} is a script or program that can be
used to perform checks on the submit message before submitting. The submit
message is passed in as the script's first parameter. If there is an error,
the script should output a message on standard error and return a non-zero
exit code.
\gui{User/alias configuration file} takes a file in mailmap format that
lists user names and aliases. For example:
\code
Jon Doe <Jon.Doe@company.com>
Hans Mustermann <Hans.Mustermann@company.com> hm <info@company.com>
\endcode
Notice that the second line specifies the alias \e{hm} and the
corresponding email address for \e{Hans Mustermann}. If the user/alias
configuration file is present, the submit editor displays a context
menu with \gui{Insert name...} that pops up a dialog letting the user
select a name.
\gui{User field configuration file} is a simple text file consisting of
lines specifying submit message fields that take user names, for example:
\code
Reviewed-by:
Signed-off-by:
\endcode
These fields appear below the submit message. They provide completion
for the aliases/public user names specified in the
\e{User/alias configuration file} as well as a button that opens the
aforementioned user name dialog.
\section1 Using Version Control Systems
The version control sub-menus are in \gui{Tools} menu. The version control system
managing the current project is displayed here.
Each version control system adds a pane to the \gui{Application Output}
panes within which itlogs the commands it executes, prepended by a
timestamp and the relevant output.
\image qtcreator-vcs-pane.png
\section2 Addings Files
When you create a new file or a new project, the wizard displays a page
asking whether the files should be added to a version control system.
This happens when the parent directory or the project is already
under version control and the system supports the concept of adding files,
e.g., \bold{Perforce} and \bold{Subversion}. Alternatively, you can
add files later by using the version control tool menus.
With \bold{git}, there is no concept of adding files. Instead, all modified
files must be \e{staged} for a commit.
\section2 Viewing Diff Output
All version control systems provide menu options to \e{diff} the current
file or project: to compare it with the latest version stored in the
repository and to display the differences. In Qt Creator, a diff is
displayed in a read-only editor. If the file is accessible, you can
double-click on a selected diff chunk and Qt Creator opens an editor
displaying the file, scrolled to the line in question.
\image qtcreator-vcs-diff.png
\section2 Annotating Files
Annotation views are obtained by selecting \gui{Annotate} or \gui{Blame}.
This displays the lines of the file prepended by the change identifier
they originate from. Clicking on the change identifier shows a detailed
description of the file.
\section2 Committing Changes
Once you have finished making changes, you can submit them to the version
control system by choosing \gui{Commit} or \gui{Submit}. Qt Creator
displays a commit page containing a text editor, where you can enter your
commit message, and a checkable list of modified files to be included.
When you are done, click on \gui{Commit} to start committing. In addition,
there is a \gui{Diff Selected Files} button that brings up a diff view of the
files selected in the file list. Since the commit page is just another
editor, you can go back to it by closing the diff view. Alternatively, you
can view it from the editor combo box showing the \gui{Opened files}.
\image qtcreator-vcs-commit.png
\section2 Viewing Versioning History and Change Details
The versioning history of a file is displayed by selecting
\gui{Log} (for \bold{git}) or \gui{Filelog} (for \bold{Perforce} and
\bold{Subversion}). Typically, the log output contains the
date, the commit message, and a change or revision identifier.
Click on the identifier to display a description of the change including the diff.
\image qtcreator-vcs-log.png
\image qtcreator-vcs-describe.png
\section2 Using git-specific Menu Entries
The git sub-menu contains additional entries:
\table
\row
\i \gui{Stash}
\i Stash local changes prior to executing a \bold{pull}.
\row
\i \gui{Pull}
\i Pull changes from the remote repository. If there are locally
modified files, you are prompted to stash those changes.
\row
\i \gui{Branches...}
\i Displays the branch dialog showing the local branches at the
top and remote branches at the bottom. To switch to the local
branch, double-click on it. Double-clicking on a remote
branch first creates a local branch with the same name that
tracks the remote branch, and then switches to it.
\image qtcreator-vcs-gitbranch.png
\endtable
*/
/*!
\contentspage index.html
\previouspage creator-code-editor.html
\page creator-navigation.html
\nextpage creator-session.html
\title Navigating Around Your Code with Locator
With Qt Creator, navigating to different locations in your project or on
your disk, e.g., files, classes, methods, etc., is simple using
\gui Locator -- a smart line edit at the bottom left in Qt Creator
window.
\image qtcreator-locator.png
For example, to open your project's \c{main.cpp} file:
\list 1
\o Click on \gui Locator or press \key{Ctrl+K} (Mac OS X: \key{Cmd+K}).
\o Type in the file name.
\o Press \key Return.
\endlist
The file opens in the editor.
You can also type part of a file name and use the wildcard characters
\c{*} and \c{?} to match \e{any} number of \e{any} characters. A list
of files matching your criteria is displayed.
\gui Locator allows you to navigate files both on disk and in other
"locations", which are organized with \bold{Filters}. There are
filters for:
\list
\o Files anywhere on your hard disk (browsing through the file system)
\o Files from a subdirectory structure defined by you
\o Files mentioned in your \c{.pro} files, such as source, header
resource, and \c{.ui} files
\o Any open document
\o Class and method definitions in your project or anywhere referenced
from your project
\o Help topics, including Qt's documentation
\o Specific line in the document displayed on your editor
\endlist
Some of these filters require you to activate them by typing an assigned
\e prefix. This prefix is usually a single character followed by
\key{Space}. For example, to jump to the definition of the class
\l{http://doc.trolltech.com/qdatastream.html}{QDataStream}, activate
\gui Locator. Then type a colon (\key{:}) followed by a \key{Space} and
the class name.
Below is a full list of \l{http://doc.trolltech.com/qdatastream.html}
{QDataStream} related output:
\image qtcreator-navigate-popup.png
Filters can be added to provide quick navigation around files in a
subdirectory structure defined by you. This way, you can acccess files you
need that are not directly mentioned in your project.
\list 1
\o Click the button \image qtcreator-locator-magnify.png
\o Select \gui{Configure...} from the menu displayed:
\image qtcreator-locator-customize.png
\o To create a new filter, select \gui Add from the \gui Configure...
dialog (\gui Options on Mac Os X).
\o In the \gui{Filter Configuration} dialog below:
\list
\o Give your filter a name.
\o Select your preferred directories.
\o Set file patterns with a comma separated list.
\o Specify a prefix string.
\endlist
\image qtcreator-navigate-customfilter.png
\o Close the dialog.
\endlist
\gui Locator searches the directories you selected for files matching
your file patterns. Information is cached. To update the cached information:
\list 1
\o Click the button \image qtcreator-locator-magnify.png again.
\o Select \gui Refresh.
\endlist
The following table lists available filters:
\table
\header
\o Function
\o Key Combination
\o Screenshot
\row
\o Go to a line in the current document.
\o Ctrl+K, l, Space, and the line number
\o \image qtcreator-locator-line.png
\row
\o Go to a symbol definition.
\o Ctrl+K, :, Space, and the function name
\o \image qtcreator-locator-symbols.png
\row
\o Go to a help topic.
\o Ctrl+K, ?, Space, and the topic
\o \image qtcreator-locator-help.png
\row
\o Go to an opened document.
\o Ctrl+K, o, Space, and the document name
\o \image qtcreator-locator-opendocs.png
\row
\o Go to a file in the file system (browse the file system).
\o Ctrl+K, f, Space, and the file name
\o \image qtcreator-locator-filesystem.png
\row
\o Go to a file in any project currently loaded.
\o Ctrl+K, a, Space, and the function name
\o \image qtcreator-locator-files.png
\row
\o Go to a file in the current project.
\o Ctrl+K, p, Space, and the function name
\o \image qtcreator-locator-current-project.png
\row
\o Go to a class definition.
\o Ctrl+K, c, Space, and the class name
\o \image qtcreator-locator-classes.png
\row
\o Go to a method definition.
\o Ctrl+K, m, Space, and the class name
\o \image qtcreator-locator-methods.png
\endtable
\note By default, if you press \key{Ctrl+K} and do not use a prefix to
specify a filter, three filters are enabled: \c{o}, \c{l}, and \c{a}.
\note On Mac OS X, press \key{Cmd+K} instead of \key{Ctrl+K}.
*/
/*!
\contentspage index.html
\previouspage creator-navigation.html
\page creator-session.html
\nextpage creator-version-management.html
\title Session Management in Qt Creator
In Qt Creator, a session is a collection of:
\list
\o Open projects with their dependencies
\o Open editors
\o Breakpoints and watches
\o Bookmarks
\endlist
When you run Qt Creator, you enter a default session. You can create a new
session using the \gui{Session Manager...} option, available in the
\gui{File > Session} menu.
\image qtcreator-session-manager.png
To switch between sessions, select \gui{File > Session}. If you do not
create and select any session, Qt Creator always uses the default
session.
\image qtcreator-session-menu.png
When you launch Qt Creator, a list of your sessions is
displayed on the \gui{Welcome screen}.
\image qtcreator-welcome-session.png
*/
/*!
\contentspage index.html
\previouspage creator-qt-for-symbian.html
\page creator-debugging.html
\nextpage creator-version-control.html
\title Qt Creator and Debugging
\section1 About Debugging with Qt Creator
Qt Creator does not have its own debugger. Instead, it provides a graphical
frontend to various debugger engines:
\table
\header
\o Platform
\o Compiler
\o Debugger Engine
\row
\o Linux, Unixes, Mac OS
\o gcc
\o GNU Symbolic Debugger (gdb)
\row
\o Windows/MinGW
\o gcc
\o GNU Symbolic Debugger (gdb)
\row
\o Windows
\o Microsoft Visual C++ Compiler
\o Debugging Tools for Windows/Microsoft Console Debugger (CDB)
\endtable
The frontend allows you to:
\list
\o Go through a program line-by-line or instruction-by-instruction.
\o Interrupt running programs.
\o Set breakpoints.
\o Examine the contents of the call stack, local and global variables, etc.
\endlist
Qt Creator displays the raw information provided by the engine
in a clear and concise manner. This simplifies the debugging process.
Qt Creator comes with generic IDE functionality: stack view, views for locals and
watchers, registers, etc. In addition, Qt Creator includes features to make
debugging Qt-based applications easy. The debugger frontend understands the
internal layout of several Qt classes such as QString, the QTL containers,
and most importantly QObject (and classes derived from it), as well as
most containers of the C++ Standard Library. Therefore, the debugger can
present their contents in a useful way.
\section1 Debugger Engine Installation Notes
\table
\header
\o Debugger engine
\o Notes
\row
\o Gdb
\o Requires gdb version 6.8 on Linux. On Mac OS X, please install the latest available Xcode
available for your OS version.
\row
\o Debugging tools for Windows
\o Using this engine requires you to install the
\e{Debugging tools for Windows}
\l{http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/debugging/installx86.Mspx}{32-bit}
or
\l{http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/debugging/install64bit.Mspx}{64-bit}
package (Version 6.11.1.404 for the 32-bit or the 64-bit version of Qt Creator, respectively),
which is freely available for download from the
\l{http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx}
{Microsoft Developer Network}.
The pre-built \e{Qt SDK for Windows} makes use
of the library if it is present on the system. When building Qt
Creator using the Microsoft Visual C++ Compiler, the
\c{"%ProgramFiles%\Debugging Tools for Windows"} path is
checked to ensure that all required header files are there.
\endtable
\section1 Interaction with the Debugger
In \gui Debug mode, several dock widgets are used to interact with the
program you are debugging. The frequently used dock widgets are visible by
default; the rarely used ones are hidden. To change the default settings,
select \gui Debug and then select \gui View.
\image qtcreator-debug-view.png
Here, you can lock or unlock the location of your views as well as display
or hide them. Among the views you can display are \gui Breakpoints,
\gui Stack, \gui Thread, \gui Modules, \gui Registers, \gui Disassembler,
and \gui Debugger. The position of your dock widgets is saved for future
sessions.
\section2 Usage of the Debugger
To start a program under the debugger's control, select the \gui{Debug}
menu and \gui{Start Debugging}, or press \key{F5}. Qt Creator
checks whether the compiled program is up-to-date, rebuilding it if
necessary. The debugger then takes over and starts the program.
\note Starting a program in the debugger can take a considerable amount of
time, typically in the range of several seconds to minutes if complex
features (like QtWebKit) are used.
Once the program starts running, it behaves and performs as usual.
The user can interrupt a running program by selecting
\gui {Interrupt} from the \gui{Debug} menu. The program is automatically
interrupted as soon as a breakpoint is hit.
Once the program stops, Qt Creator:
\list
\o Retrieves data representing the call stack at the program's current
position.
\o Retrieves the contents of local variables.
\o Examines \gui Watchers.
\o Updates the \gui Registers, \gui Modules, and \gui Disassembler
views.
\endlist
You can use the debugger views to examine the data in more detail.
To finish debugging, press \key{Shift+F5}. A line of code can be executed
as a whole with \key F10; to step into a function or a sub-function, use
\key F11. Alternatively, you can continue running the program with \key F5.
It is also possible to continue executing the program until the current
function completes or jump to an arbitrary position in the current
function.
\section2 Breakpoints
Breakpoints are shown in the \gui{Breakpoints} view which is enabled
by default. This view is also accessible when the debugger and the program
being debugged is not running.
A breakpoint represents a position or sets of positions in the code that,
when executed, interrupts the program being debugged and passes the
control to the user. The user is then free to examine the state of the
interrupted program, or continue execution either line-by-line or continuously.
Typically, breakpoints are associated with a source code file and line, or
the start of a function -- both are allowed in Qt Creator.
Also, the interruption of a program by a breakpoint can be restricted with
certain conditions.
You can set a breakpoint:
\list
\o At a particular line you want the program to stop -- click on the
left margin or press \key F9 (\key F8 for Mac OS X).
\o At a function that you want the program to interrupt -- enter the
function's name in \gui{Set Breakpoint at Function...} in
\gui Debug menu.
\endlist
You can remove a breakpoint:
\list
\o By clicking on the breakpoint marker in the text editor.
\o By selecting the breakpoint in the breakpoint view and pressing
\key{Delete}.
\o By selecting \gui{Delete Breakpoint} from the breakpoint's context
menu in the \gui Breakpoints view.
\endlist
Breakpoints can be set and deleted before the program has actually started
running or while it is running under the debugger's control. Also,
breakpoints are saved together with a session.
\section2 Stack
When the program being debugged is interrupted, Qt Creator displays the
nested function calls leading to the current position as a \e call stack
trace. This stack trace is built up from \e{call stack frames}, each
representing a particular function. For each function, Qt Creator tries
to retrieve the file name and line number of the corresponding source
file. This data is shown in the \gui Stack view.
\image qtcreator-debug-stack.png
Since the call stack leading to the current position may originate or go
through code for which no debug information is available, not all stack
frames have corresponding source locations. These frames are
grayed out in the \gui Stack view.
If you click on a frame with a known source location, the text editor
jumps to the corresponding location and updates the \gui{Locals and Watchers}
view, making it seem like the program was interrupted before entering the
function.
\section2 Threads
If a multi-threaded program is interrupted, the \gui Thread view or the
combobox named \gui Thread in the debugger's status bar can be used to
switch from one thread to another. The \gui Stack view adjusts itself
accordingly.
\section2 Modules View and Source Files View
These views display the debugger's idea of the components of the
application. By default, both views are hidden.
\section2 Disassembler View and Registers View
By default, both \gui Disassembler and \gui Registers view are hidden.
The \gui Disassembler view displays disassembled code for the current
function; the \gui Registers view displays the current state of the CPU's
registers. Both views are useful for low-level commands such as
\gui{Step Single Instruction} and \gui{Step Over Single Instruction}.
\section2 Locals and Watchers
Whenever a program stops under the control of the debugger, it retrieves
information about the topmost stack frame and displays it in the
\gui{Locals and Watchers} view. This typically includes information about
parameters of the function in that frame as well as the local variables.
Compound variables of struct or class type are displayed as
"expandable" in the view. Click on the "+" to expand the entry and show
all members. Together with the display of value and type, the user can
examine and traverse the low-level layout of an object's data.
\table
\row
\i \bold{Note:}
\row
\i Gdb, and therefore Qt Creator's debugger works for optimized
builds on Linux and Mac OS X. However, optimization may lead
to re-ordering of instructions or sometimes even complete
removal of some local variables. In this case, the
\gui{Locals and Watchers} view may show unexpected data.
\row
\i The debug information provided by gcc does not include enough
information about the time when a variable is initialized.
Therefore, Qt Creator can not tell whether the contents of a
local variable contains "real data", or "initial noise". If a
QObject appears uninitialized, its value is reported as
"out of scope". However, not all uninitialized objects can be
recognized as such.
\endtable
The \gui{Locals and Watchers} view also provides access to the most
powerful feature of the debugger: comprehensive display of data belonging
to Qt's basic objects. To enable this feature, select \gui{Use
debugging helper} from the \gui Debug menu.The
\gui{Locals and Watchers} view is re-organized to provide a high-level
view of the objects. For example, in case of QObject, instead of displaying
a pointer to some private data structure, you see a list of children,
signals and slots.
Similarly, instead of displaying many pointers and integers, Qt Creator's
debugger displays the contents of a QHash or QMap in an orderly manner.
Also, the debugger displays access data for QFileInfo and provides
access to the "real" contents of QVariant.
The \gui{Locals and Watchers} view can be used to change the contents of
variables of simple data types such as \c int or \c float when the program
is interrupted. To do so, click on the \gui Value column, modify the value
with the inplace editor, and hit \key Enter (or \key Return).
\note The set of watched items is saved in your session.
\section1 Debugging Helper Library with C++
While debugging, Qt Creator dynamically loads a helper library into your
program. This helper library enables Qt Creator to pretty print Qt and STL
types. The Qt SDK package already contains a prebuilt debugging helper
library. To create an own debugging helper library, select \gui{Options}
from the \gui{Tools} menu, and go to the \gui{Qt4 > Qt Versions} pane. As
the internal data structures of Qt can change between versions, the debugging
helper library is built for each Qt version.
\section1 Debugging Helper Library with Python
Using a gdb version that has Python scripting available it is possible to
use Debugging Helpers also for user defined types. All that is needed is
to define one Python function per user defined type in .gdbinit.
The function's name has to be qdump__NS__Foo where NS::Foo is the class
or class template to be examined. Nested namespaces are possible.
Qt Creator's debugger integration will call this function whenever it
wants to display an object of this type. The function gets passed two
parameters, 'd' of type 'Dumper', and 'item' of type 'Item'. The function
itself has to feed the Dumper object with certain information that
are used to build up the object and it's children's display in the
Locals-and-Watchers view.
Example:
\code
def qdump__QVector(d, item):
d_ptr = item.value["d"]
p_ptr = item.value["p"]
alloc = d_ptr["alloc"]
size = d_ptr["size"]
check(0 <= size and size <= alloc and alloc <= 1000 * 1000 * 1000)
check(d_ptr["ref"]["_q_value"] > 0)
innerType = item.value.type.template_argument(0)
d.putItemCount(size)
d.putNumChild(size)
if d.isExpanded(item):
p = gdb.Value(p_ptr["array"]).cast(innerType.pointer())
d.beginChildren([size, 2000], innerType)
for i in d.childRange():
d.safePutItem(Item(p.dereference(), item.iname, i))
p += 1
d.endChildren()
\endcode
\section2
The 'Item' Python class is a thin wrapper around values corresponding to one
line in the Locals-and-Watchers view. Its members are the following:
\list
\o \gui{__init__(self, value, parentiname, iname, name = None)} - A
constructor. The object's internal name is created by concatenating
\a parentiname and \a iname. If \c None is passed as \a name, a
serial number is used.
\o \gui{value} - An object of type gdb.Value representing the value to
be displayed.
\o \gui{iname} - The internal name of the object, i.e. a dot-separated
list of identifiers, corresponding to the position of the object's
representation in the view.
\o \gui{name} - An optional name. If given, it will be used in the
\gui{name} column of the view. If not, a simple number in brackets
will be used instead.
\endlist
\section2
For each line in the Locals and Watcher view, a string like the following
needs to be created and channeled to Creator's debugger plugin.
\code
"{iname='some internal name',
addr='object address in memory',
name='contents of the name column',
value='contents of the value column',
type='contents of the type column',
numchild='number of children', // zero/nonzero is sufficient
childtype='default type of children', // optional
childnumchild='default number of grandchildren', // optional
children=[ // only needed if item is expanded in view
{iname='internal name of first child',
... },
{iname='internal name of second child',
... },
...
]}"
\endcode
While in theory, this string can be build up entirely manually, it is
easier to employ the 'Dumper' Python class for that purpose. It contains
a complete framework to take care of the 'iname' and 'addr' fields,
to handle children of simple types, references,
pointers, enums, known and unknown structs as well as some
convenience method to handle common situations.
The 'Dumper' members are the following:
\list
\o \gui{__init__(self)} - Initializes the output to an empty string and
empties the child stack.
\o \gui{put(self, value)} - Low level method to directly append to the
output string.
\o \gui{putCommaIfNeeded(self)} - Appends a comma if the current output
ends in '}', '"' or ']' .
\o \gui{putField(self, name, value)} - Appends a comma if needed, and a
name='value' field.
\o \gui{beginHash(self)} - Appends a comma if needed and a '{', marking
the begin of a set of fields.
\o \gui{endHash(self)} - Appends a '}', marking the end of a set of
fields.
\o \gui{beginItem(self, name)} - Starts writing a field by writing \c {name='}.
\o \gui{endItem(self)} - Ends writing a field by writing \c {'}.
\o \gui{beginChildren(self, numChild_ = 1, childType_ = None, childNumChild_ = None)}
- Starts writing a list of \a numChild children, with type
\a childType_ and \a childNumChild grandchildren each. If \a numChild_
is a list of two integers, the first one specifies the actual number
of children and the second the maximum number of children to print.
\o \gui{endChildren(self)} - Ends writing a list of children.
\o \gui{childRange(self)} - Return the range of children specified in
\c beginChildren.
\o \gui{putItemCount(self, count)} - Appends a field \c {value='<%d items'}
to the output.
\o \gui{putEllipsis(self)} - Appends fields
\c {'{name="<incomplete>",value="",type="",numchild="0"}'}. This is
automatically done by \c endChildren if the number of children to
print is smaller than the number of actual children.
\o \gui{putName(self, name)} - Appends a \c {name='...'} field.
\o \gui{putType(self, type)} - Appends a field \c {type='...'} unless the
\a type coincides with the parent's default child type.
\o \gui{putNumChild(self, numchild)} - Appends a field \c {numchild='...'}
unless the \a numchild coincides with the parent's default child numchild
value.
\o \gui{putValue(self, value, encoding = None)} - Append a file \c {value='...'},
optionally followed by a field \c {valueencoding='...'}. The \a value
needs to be convertiable to a string entirely consisting of
alphanumerical values. The \a encoding parameter can be used to
specify the encoding in case the real value had to be encoded in some
way to meet the alphanumerical-only requirement.
Currently the following encodings are supported:
\list
\o 0: unencoded 8 bit data, interpreted as Latin1.
\o 1: base64 encoded 8 bit data, used for QByteArray,
double quotes will be added.
\o 2: base64 encoded 16 bit data, used for QString,
double quotes will be added.
\o 3: base64 encoded 32 bit data,
double quotes will be added.
\o 4: base64 encoded 16 bit data, without quotes (see 2)
\o 5: base64 encoded 8 bit data, without quotes (see 1)
\o 6: %02x encoded 8 bit data (as with \c QByteArray::toHex),
double quotes will be added.
\o 7: %04x encoded 16 bit data (as with \c QByteArray::toHex),
double quotes will be added.
\endlist
\o \gui{putStringValue(self, value)} - Encodes a QString and calls
\c putValue with the correct \a encoding setting.
\o \gui{putByteArrayValue(self, value)} - Encodes a QByteArray and calls
\c putValue with the corrent \a encoding setting.
\o \gui{isExpanded(self, item)} - Checks whether the item with the
internal name \c item.iname is expanded in the view.
\o \gui{isExpandedIName(self, iname)} - Checks whether the item with the
internal name \c iname is expanded in the view.
\o \gui{putIntItem(self, name, value)} - Equivalent to
\code
self.beginHash()
self.putName(name)
self.putValue(value)
self.putType("int")
self.putNumChild(0)
self.endHash()
\endcode
\o \gui{putBoolItem(self, name, value)} - Equivalent to
\code
self.beginHash()
self.putName(name)
self.putValue(value)
self.putType("bool")
self.putNumChild(0)
self.endHash()
\endcode
\o \gui{pushOutput(self)} - Moves output string to a safe location
from with it will be send to the frontend even if further operations
raise exception.
\o \gui{putCallItem(self, name, item, func)} -
Uses gdb to call the function \a func on the value specified by
\a {item.value} and output the resulting item. This function is
not available when debugging core dumps and it is not available
on the Symbian platform due to restrictions imposed by AppTRK.
\o \gui{putItemHelper(self, item)} - The "master function", handling
basic types, references, pointers and enums directly, iterates
over base classes and class members of compound types and calls
\c qdump__* functions whenever appropriate.
\o \gui{putItem(self, item)} - Equivalent to
self.beginHash()
self.putItemHelper(item)
self.endHash()
\o \gui{safePutItemHelper(self, item)} - Calls \c putItemHelper(self, item).
If an exception is raised, catch it, and replace all output produced by
\c putItemHelper by \code
self.putName(item.name)
self.putValue("<invalid>")
self.putType(str(item.value.type))
self.putNumChild(0)
self.beginChildren()
self.endChildren() \endcode
\o \gui{safePutItem(self, item)} - Equivalent to
self.beginHash()
self.safePutItemHelper(item)
self.endHash()
\endlist
\section1 Walkthrough for the Debugger Frontend
In our \l{Writing a Simple Program with Qt Creator}{TextFinder} example, we
read a text file into QString and then display it with QTextEdit.
Suppose you want to look at this QString, \c{line}, and see what
data it actually stores. Follow the steps described below to place a
breakpoint and view the QString object's data.
\table
\row
\i \inlineimage qtcreator-setting-breakpoint1.png
\i \bold{Setting a Breakpoint}
\list 1
\o Click in between the line number and the window border on the line
where we invoke \l{http://doc.trolltech.com/qtextedit.html#plainText-prop}{setPlainText()}
to set a breakpoint.
\o Select \gui{Start Debugging} from the \gui{Debug} menu or press \key{F5}.
\endlist
\row
\i \inlineimage qtcreator-setting-breakpoint2.png
\i \bold{Viewing and removing breakpoints}
Breakpoints are visible in the \gui{Breakpoints} view in
\gui{Debug} mode. To remove a breakpoint, right-click on
it and select \gui{Delete breakpoint} from the context menu.
\row
\i \inlineimage qtcreator-watcher.png
\i \bold{Viewing Locals and Watchers}
To view the contents of \c{line}, go to the \gui{Locals and
Watchers} view.
\endtable
Suppose we modify our \c{on_findButton_clicked()} function to move back to
the start of the document and continue searching once the cursor hits the
end of the document. Adding this functionality can be done with the code
snippet below:
\code
void TextFinder::on_findButton_clicked()
{
QString searchString = ui->lineEdit->text();
QTextDocument *document = ui->textEdit->document();
QTextCursor cursor = ui->textEdit->textCursor();
cursor = document->find(searchString, cursor,
QTextDocument::FindWholeWords);
ui->textEdit->setTextCursor(cursor);
bool found = cursor.isNull();
if (!found && previouslyFound) {
int ret = QMessageBox::question(this, tr("End of Document"),
tr("I have reached the end of the document. Would you like "
"me to start searching from the beginning of the document?"),
QMessageBox::Yes | QMessageBox::No, QMessageBox::Yes);
if (ret == QMessageBox::Yes) {
cursor = document->find(searchString,
QTextDocument::FindWholeWords);
ui->textEdit->setTextCursor(cursor);
} else
return;
}
previouslyFound = found;
}
\endcode
However, if you compile and run this code, the application does not work
correctly due to a logic error. To locate this logic error, step
through the code using the following buttons:
\image qtcreator-debugging-buttons.png
*/
/*!
\contentspage index.html
\previouspage creator-project-pane.html
\page creator-cmake-support.html
\nextpage creator-generic-projects.html
\title CMake Support in Qt Creator
Since Qt Creator 1.1, support for \c CMake project files is available.
Qt Creator 1.3 supports the Microsoft Toolchain if the CMake version
is at least 2.8.
\section1 Opening CMake Projects
To open a \c CMake project, select \gui Open from the \gui File menu and
select the \c{CMakeLists.txt} file from your \c CMake project. A wizard
guides you with the rest of the process. If the \c CMake project does
not have an in-place build, Qt Creator lets you specify the directory in
which the project is built (\l{glossary-shadow-build}{shadow build}).
\image qtcreator-cmake-import-wizard1.png
The screenshot below shows how you can specify command line arguments to
\c CMake for your project.
\image qtcreator-cmake-import-wizard2.png
Normally, there is no need to pass any command line arguments for projects
that are already built, as \c CMake caches that information.
\section1 Building CMake Projects
Qt Creator builds \c CMake projects by running \c make, \c mingw32-make, or
\c nmake depending on your platform. The build errors and warnings are
parsed and displayed in the \gui{Build Issues} output pane.
By default, Qt Creator builds the \e{all} target. You can specify which
targets to build in \gui{Project} mode, under \gui{Build Settings}.
\image qtcreator-cmake-build-settings.png
Qt Creator supports multiple build configurations. Also, the build
directory can be modified after the initial import.
\section1 Running CMake Projects
Qt Creator automatically adds \gui{Run Configurations} for all targets
specified in the \c CMake project file.
Known issues for the current version can be found
\l{Known Issues of version 1.3.80}{here}.
*/
/*!
\contentspage index.html
\previouspage creator-cmake-support.html
\page creator-generic-projects.html
\nextpage creator-external-library-handling.html
\title Support for Generic Projects in Qt Creator
Since Qt Creator 1.1, generic projects are supported in addition to
\c qmake projects. In other words, you can import existing projects that do
not use \c qmake or \c CMake and Qt Creator ignores your build
system.
This feature lets you use Qt Creator as a code editor. You can change the
way your project is built by modifying the \c make command under
\gui{Build Settings} in the \gui{Projects} mode.
For a generic project, you have to manually specify which files belong to
your project and which include directories/defines you want to pass to your
compiler.
\section1 Specifying Files
The list of files for a generic project is specified in the \c{.files}
file. When you first create a generic project, Qt Creator adds any
files it recognizes to your project. To add or remove files later,
edit the \c{.files} file in Qt Creator. Your project tree is refreshed
when you save this file. You can also add or remove files from the context
menu in the project tree.
If you frequently need to update the \c{.files} file, we recommend the use
of a small script that updates the files for you. If the
file is modified externally, Qt Creator must be restarted for the changes
to take effect.
\section1 Specifying Include Paths
The include paths are specified in the \c{.includes} file, one include
path per line. The paths can be either absolute or relative to the
\c{.includes} file.
\section1 Specifying Defines
The defines are specified in the \c{.config} file. This file is a regular
C++ file, prepended to all your source files when they are being parsed.
However, you should only use it to add lines like the following:
\code
#define NAME value
\endcode
\section1 Creating a Run Configuration
Qt Creator cannot automatically determine which executable it should run.
To set up a custom executable run configuration in the \gui Projects mode,
use the \bold{Add} button. Here you can specify the name, executable, and
some optional arguments. By default, the working directory is
\c{$BUILDDIR} which should work fine.
*/
/*!
\contentspage index.html
\previouspage creator-external-library-handling.html
\page creator-qt-for-symbian.html
\nextpage creator-debugging.html
\title Development of Qt for Symbian Based Applications
Qt Creator 1.3 comes with preliminary support for development of
applications using Qt for the Symbian Platform.
\e{Note that this is highly experimental, and not intended for production use.
The primary aim is to allow Symbian developers to familiarize themselves with Qt Creator
and provide feedback that helps us improve Symbian support in future versions of
Qt Creator.}
Please provide us with feedback, using the mailing list or IRC, as described on the
\l{http://qt.gitorious.org/qt-creator/pages/Home}{Qt Creator Development Wiki}.
\section1 Getting Started with Symbian Based Applications
You need the following software installed on your PC.
Only Windows development is supported.
\list
\o \l{http://www.forum.nokia.com/main/resources/tools_and_sdks/S60SDK/}
{S60 Platform SDK 3rd Edition FP1 or higher}
\o \l{http://www.forum.nokia.com/main/resources/technologies/openc_cpp/}
{Open C/C++ v1.6.0 or higher} (Install this to all S60 SDKs you plan to use Qt with.
This is included in the Qt for Symbian binary installers.)
\o Either the GCCE ARM Toolchain that is included in the S60 Platform SDKs, or
RVCT 2.2 [build 686] or later (which is not available free of charge)
(Your environment needs to find the compiler in the PATH.)
\o Qt for Symbian 4.6.0, installed into the S60 SDKs you want to use
\endlist
For deploying and running applications on the device, you need the following:
\list
\o The Nokia USB drivers that come e.g. with PC Suite
\o The \l{http://tools.ext.nokia.com/trk/}{App TRK} application for your device
\endlist
Running Qt based applications on real devices requires the following packages to be installed on
your device. The packages can be found in the S60 SDK where you installed Open C/C++:
\list
\o nokia_plugin\\openc\\s60opencsis\\pips_s60_\<version\>.sis
\o nokia_plugin\\openc\\s60opencsis\\openc_ssl_s60_\<version\>.sis
\o nokia_plugin\\opencpp\\s60opencppsis\\stdcpp_s60_\<version\>.sis
\endlist
If you want to run your applications in the Symbian emulator, you also need to install
Carbide.c++ v2.0.0 or higher.
\section1 Setting Up Qt Creator
When you run Qt Creator after installing the S60 Platform SDK and Qt for Symbian,
the installed SDKs and their corresponding Qt versions are automatically detected.
For each detected S60 SDK with Qt, a special entry is made in the Qt version management
settings \gui{Tools > Options... > Qt4 > Qt Versions}.
\e{Note that if you manually add a Qt version for Symbian, you must
also manually specify the S60 SDK to use for this version.}
\image qtcreator-qt4-qtversions-win-symbian.png
If you want to run your applications in the Symbian emulator, you need to point Qt Creator
to the Metrowerks Compiler that you want to use, by setting the \gui{Carbide Directory}
of the Qt version to the corresponding Carbide.c++ installation directory.
You can check what S60 SDKs and corresponding Qt versions are found in the
\gui{Tools > Options... > Qt4 > S60 SDKs} preference page.
\image qtcreator-qt4-s60sdks.png
\section1 Building Your Project
After installing all the prerequisites and checking the setup in Qt Creator as described
above, you need to set up your project.
\e{Note that the only supported build system for Qt for Symbian applications in Qt Creator
is qmake.}
Before you can build your project for the Symbian platform, you need to create build
configurations for it.
Open \gui{Projects mode} and make sure that your project is selected for editing in
\gui{Edit Project Settings for Project ...}. Add debug and release build configurations
for the Symbian target by selecting the corresponding Qt version from the build configuration
\gui{Add} menu.
\image qtcreator-symbian-add-buildconfiguration.png
The created build configurations default to using the GCCE tool chain. If you want to build
for the device using RVCT, or for the Symbian emulator using WINSCW, select \gui{Show Details}
and change the tool chain in the \gui{General} section of the build configuration settings.
Now you can switch to building your project for the device by selecting one of the
new build configurations as the active configuration at the top of \gui{Projects mode}.
\image qtcreator-symbian-change-buildconfiguration.png
\section1 Running Your Project
\section2 Running Your Project in the Emulator
Similar to the build configuration setup for your project, you need to create a run
configuration for running your project in the Symbian emulator:
\list 1
\o Switch to \gui{Projects mode}.
\o Select \gui{Run Settings} > \gui{Add > YourApplication in Symbian Emulator}
\endlist
\image qtcreator-symbian-add-run-in-emulator.png
To start your project in the emulator, select this run configuration as the active configuration
at the top of \gui{Projects mode} window and press the run button.
\image qtcreator-symbian-change-run-in-emulator.png
\section2 Running Your Project on the Device
To run your project on a real Symbian device, just add another run configuration in
\gui{Projects mode} via \gui{Run Settings} > \gui{Add > YourApplication on Symbian Device}.
\image qtcreator-symbian-add-runconfiguration.png
\image qtcreator-symbian-details-runconfiguration.png
In the details of the run configuration you can specify a certificate to use, and
select one of the devices that you have currently attached to your computer.
The only connection mode supported at the moment is USB in \e{PC Suite} mode.
For actually running your application on the device, you need to set the device run configuration
as the active configuration at the top of \gui{Projects mode}.
Start the \gui{App TRK} application on your device and press the run button to create
a package for your application, deploy, install and run it automatically on your device.
\image qtcreator-symbian-change-runconfiguration.png
\section2 Troubleshooting
When something goes wrong, check the following:
\list
\o Did you build your application with a Qt version for Symbian?
\o Are the settings for the Qt version you use to build your project correct? Check the
path to the S60 SDK. Check also whether you need to specify the path to your compiler tool chain.
\o Is the emulator/device run configuration selected as the active run configuration?
\o Did you build using the right toolchain, i.e. WINSCW for running in the emulator,
GCCE or RVCT for running on the device?
\o If the emulator process could not be started, try closing Qt Creator and starting the
application directly from your file manager. Having done this, Qt Creator should be
able to run your projects in the emulator.
\o Is the device connected via USB in \e{PC Suite} mode?
\o Is App TRK running on the device, using the USB connection, and does it have status
\e{connected}?
\o Is your device detected and selected in the run configuration details?
\endlist
If neither of this helps to solve your problem, search the qt-creator@trolltech.com
mailing list archives or provide feedback to us via the methods described on the
\l{http://qt.gitorious.org/qt-creator/pages/Home}{Qt Creator Development Wiki}.
*/
/*!
\contentspage index.html
\previouspage creator-generic-projects.html
\page creator-external-library-handling.html
\nextpage creator-qt-for-symbian.html
\title External Libraries
The ability to recognize external libraries is not only important for the
underlying build system, but also for Qt Creator itself. This ability
allows Qt Creator to support code completion and syntax highlighting for
external libraries as if they were part of the current project or the Qt
library.
The procedure of adding a library to a project depends on the type of
project, which influences the build system used. The following sections
describe the procedure required for each project type.
\section1 QMake Projects (the default)
Open your project file (\c{.pro}) from the \gui{Projects} pane. Then,
follow the guidelines in the
\l{http://doc.trolltech.com/latest/make-project-files.html#declaring-other-libraries}
{Declaring other Libraries} section of the Qt documentation.
Syntax completion and highlighting work once your project successfully builds
and links against the external library.
\section1 CMake Projects
In CMake, libraries are usually detected using the \c{FIND_PACKAGE()}
macro. A couple of them are already being shipped with CMake, they can be
found in the \c{Modules} directory of your CMake installation. If you
provide libraries on your own, you need to provide your own
\c{FindFoo.cmake} file. Refer to the
\l{http://vtk.org/Wiki/CMake_FAQ#Writing_FindXXX.cmake_files}{CMake FAQ}
for details.
As with \c qmake projects, syntax completion and highlighting work
once you successfully build and link against the external library.
\section1 Generic Projects
If you import a project using the \e{Generic Projects} function, Qt Creator
creates a file called \c{<projectname>.includes} in your project root
directory. This file contains all project subdirectories for which Qt Creator
found relevant headers. Add your include paths here.
Note that in \gui{Generic Project} mode, Qt Creator does not modify any project
settings.
*/
/*!
\contentspage index.html
\previouspage creator-version-control.html
\page creator-tips.html
\nextpage creator-keyboard-shortcuts.html
\title Tips and Tricks
\bold{Quickly Switching between Modes}
You can quickly switch between modes by pressing \key{Ctrl+1},
\key{Ctrl+2}, and so on.
\bold{Keyboard Shortcuts}
Qt Creator provides a lot of useful keyboard shortcuts. Some useful
shortcuts are listed \l{Keyboard Shortcuts}{here}.
\bold{Running Qt Creator from the command line}
You can start Qt Creator from a command prompt with the name of an existing
session or \c{.pro} file by giving the name as argument on the command
line.
\bold{Show and hide the sidebar}
You can show and hide the the sidebar in \gui Edit and \gui Debug mode by
clicking on the corresponding icon, or by pressing \key{Alt+0} (Mac OS X:
\key{Cmd+0}).
\bold{Display signals and slots}
If you have an instance of a class that is derived from QObject, and you
would like to find all other objects connected to one of your object's
slots using Qt's signals and slots mechanism -- you can enable
\gui{Use Custom Display for Qt Objects} feature under the \gui Debug menu.
In the \gui{Locals and Watchers} view, expand the object's entry and open
the slot in the \e slots subitem. The objects connected to this slot are
shown as children of the slot. This method works with signals too.
\bold{Display low level data}
If special debugging of Qt objects fails due to data corruption within the
debugged objects, you can switch the debugging helpers off in the
\gui{Debugger > Debugging Helper} options dialog.
This makes the low-level structures visible again.
*/
/*!
\contentspage index.html
\previouspage creator-tips.html
\page creator-keyboard-shortcuts.html
\nextpage creator-glossary.html
\title Keyboard Shortcuts
Qt Creator provides various keyboard shortcuts to aid in the development
process. These shortcuts are listed in the table below:
\table
\header
\o Function
\o Key Combination
\row
\o Activate \gui Welcome mode
\o Ctrl + 1
\row
\o Activate \gui Edit mode
\o Ctrl + 2
\row
\o Activate \gui Debug mode
\o Ctrl + 3
\row
\o Activate \gui Projects mode
\o Ctrl + 4
\row
\o Activate \gui Help mode
\o Ctrl + 5
\row
\o Activate \gui Output mode
\o Ctrl + 6
\row
\o Find
\o Ctrl + F
\row
\o Find next
\o F3
\row
\o Go back to the code editor (\gui Edit mode: The first press
gives the editor focus, without closing secondary windows; the
second press closes all secondary windows. \gui Debug mode or
\gui Help mode: Switch to \gui Edit mode.)
\o Esc
\row
\o Go to a line
\o Ctrl + L
\row
\o Navigate between pages
\o Alt + Left, Alt + Right
\row
\o Start debugging
\o F5
\row
\o Stop debugging
\o Shift + F5
\row
\o Toggle code declaration and definition
\o F2
\row
\o Toggle header file and source file
\o F4
\row
\o Toggle Sidebar
\o Alt + 0 / Cmd + 0
\row
\o Toggle \gui{Build Issues} pane
\o Alt + 1 / Cmd + 1
\row
\o Toggle \gui{Search Results} pane
\o Alt + 2 / Cmd + 2
\row
\o Toggle \gui{Application Output} pane
\o Alt + 3 / Cmd + 3
\row
\o Toggle \gui{Compile Output} pane
\o Alt + 4 / Cmd + 4
\endtable
The table below lists keyboard shortcuts supported by the code editor.
\table
\row
\i Block navigation
\i To navigate between blocks, e.g., from one \bold{\{} to another
\bold{\}}, press \key{Ctrl+[} and \key{Ctrl+]}.
\row
\i Block selection
\i To select the current block, press \key{Ctrl+U}. Pressing
\key{Ctrl+U} again extends the selection to the parent block.
To deselect, press \key{Ctrl+Shift+U}.
\row
\i Moving lines up and down
\i Press \key{Ctrl+Shift+Up} and \key{Ctrl+Shift+Down}
\row
\i Completion
\i Press \key{Ctrl+Space}
\row
\i Indenting Blocks
\i Press \key{Ctrl+I}
\row
\i Collapse
\i Press \key{Ctrl+\<}
\row
\i Commenting or uncommenting blocks
\i Press \key{Ctrl+\/}
\row
\i Delete a line
\i Press \key{Shift+Del}
\row
\i Switch between header file and source file
\i Press \key{F4}.
\row
\i Increasing and decreasing font size
\i Press \key{Ctrl+Scroll Wheel}
\row
\i Follow symbols under the cursor
\i Press \key{F2} and \key{Shift+F2}. This feature works with
namespaces, classes, methods, variables, include statements,
and macros.
\endtable
*/
/*!
\contentspage index.html
\previouspage creator-keyboard-shortcuts.html
\page creator-glossary.html
\nextpage creator-supported-platforms.html
\title Glossary
\table
\header
\o Term
\o Meaning
\row
\o
\raw HTML
Qt in PATH
\endraw
\target glossary-system-qt
\o This is the Qt
version for the \c qmake command found in your \c PATH
environment variable.
This is likely to be the system's Qt version.
\row
\o
\raw HTML
Default Qt
\endraw
\target glossary-default-qt
\o The version of Qt configured in \gui{Tools > Options... > Qt 4
> Default Qt Version}. This is the Qt version used by your
new projects. It defaults to the Qt in PATH.
\row
\o
\raw HTML
Project Qt
\endraw
\target glossary-project-qt
\o The version of Qt configured in \gui{Build&Run > Build
Settings > Build Configurations}. This is the Qt version that
is actually used by a particular project. It defaults to
Default Qt.
\row
\o
\raw HTML
Shadow build
\endraw
\target glossary-shadow-build
\o Shadow building means building a project in a separate
directory, the \e{build directory}. The build directory is
different from the source directory. One of the benefits of
shadow building is that it keeps your source directory clean.
Shadow building is the best practice if you need many build
configurations for a single set of source.
\endtable
*/
/*!
\contentspage index.html
\previouspage creator-glossary.html
\page creator-supported-platforms.html
\nextpage creator-known-issues.html
\title Supported Platforms
Qt Creator is available in binary packages for the following platforms:
\list
\o Windows XP Service Pack 2
\o Windows Vista
\o (K)Ubuntu Linux 7.04 32bit and 64 bit
\o Mac OS 10.4 and later
\endlist
\note Building Qt Creator itself from source requires \bold{Qt 4.6.0} or later.
On Windows, MinGW 4.4 or Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 or later are required for compiling
Qt Creator itself.
*/
/*!
\contentspage index.html
\previouspage creator-supported-platforms.html
\page creator-known-issues.html
\nextpage creator-acknowledgements.html
\title Known Issues
There are some known issues with Qt Creator.
The development team is aware of them, there is no need to report them as bugs.
\section1 Known Issues of Version 1.3.80
\list
\o Debugging Helper does not work while performing On-Device Debugging.
\o QML Preview (Run Project) only works if built against Qt with
Declarative UI.
\o Setting breakpoints in code that is compiled into the binary more
than once does not work.
\o On Linux and Windows, installing Qt with one user account and
then using it with another requires other users to manually set
the Qt version. On Windows, setting the MinGW location is
required as well. The same applies to the location of GDB for Symbian.
A workaround is to copy %APPDATA%/Nokia/qtcreator.ini (Windows) or
$HOME/.config/Nokia/QtCreator.ini (Linux) from the directory
of the user who installed Qt Creator to the other user.
This issue does not exist on Mac OS X.
\endlist
\section1 Known Issues of Version 1.2.0 and 1.2.1
\list
\o Gdb on Windows may not work if the 'Embassy \reg Security Center' software
by 'Wave \reg Systems' is installed and active (causing crashes in \c{vxvault.dll)}).
\o Only simple data types (POD) work in the Watch Window of CDB.
\o Qt Creator uses SQLite for storing some of its settings. SQLite is
known to have problems with certain NFS servers (most notably the
nfs-user-server 2.2beta), since they can lock up the application
when it tries to lock the database. If your home directory is on an
NFS share and you encounter this issue, one option would be to
switch to the nfs-kernel-server, or create a symlink so that the
settings are stored locally.
\endlist
\section1 Known Issues of Version 1.1.0
\list
\o Paths or file names containing spaces or special characters, e.g.,
colons, dollar signs, hash marks etc. may cause problems. This
is because some of the tools Qt Creator uses in the background have
restrictions on the characters allowed in file and directory names.
To be on the safe side, we recommend creating projects and project
items with names consisting of plain characters, numbers,
underscores, and hyphens.
\o \c{.pro} files are reformatted if files have been added or removed.
Whitespace is not preserved.
\o There is no IDE support for adding files to include (\c .pri) files.
\o There is no IDE support for adding/removing sub-projects. Project
hierarchies (SUBDIRS template) have to be created manually.
\o The file system sidebar does not update automatically. As a
workaround, switch to another directory and then back.
\o Loading KDE4 designer plugins breaks the style in KDE < 4.2.1
due to a bug in KDE.
\o The DEFINES and INCLUDES set in \c{.pro} files are not dealt with
on a file-specific level. Because of this, handling of DEFINES has
been disabled completely. Also the \c{.qmake.cache} is not being
parsed. In general, the \c{.pro} file parser is incomplete and
problems are still to be expected.
\o Code completion for generated UI header files is updated only
after a build.
\o Code completion does not support typedefs for nested classes.
\o There is a kernel bug essentially making debugging unreliable on
2.6.24 kernels for i386 (which is, unfortunately, the default on
Ubuntu 8.04). See
\l{https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gdb/+bug/230315/} for
details. The only solution to this problem is to boot another
kernel.
\o Gdb may take long to load debugging symbols, especially from large
libraries like \c libQtWebKit. Starting the debugging module can
take up to several minutes without visible progress.
\o Setting breakpoints in files that do not have unique absolute
paths may fail. For example, remounting parts of a file system
using the --bind mount option.
\o There is no syntax highlighting for \c CMake project files.
\o Project files included from \c{CMakeLists.txt} are not shown in the
navigation tree.
\o Using the Visual Studio Compiler with \c CMake is not supported.
\o Creating new \c CMake projects with Qt Creator is not supported.
\o Having more than one build directory for \c CMake is not supported.
\o Changing the build directory for \c CMake after the initial import
is disabled.
\endlist
*/
/*!
\contentspage index.html
\previouspage creator-known-issues.html
\page creator-acknowledgements.html
\title Acknowledgements
\section1 Third-party Components
Qt Creator contains the following third-party components:
\list
\o \bold{Open Source front-end for C++ (license MIT)}, enhanced for use in
Qt Creator.\br
Roberto Raggi <roberto.raggi@gmail.com>\br
QtCreator/src/shared/cplusplus
\endlist
*/