[Interest] QML-plugins problems, pragmatic development questions

[Charley Bay]

I'm having a lot of trouble importing my C++ plugins into my QML files
(Win7, Qt5.1.1).  With many configurations that I think "should" work, the
"import MyPlugin 1.0" within a QML file generates the runtime error message
(at the `qmlscene` command line, or within QtCreator):

module "MyPlugin" is not installed


Even though it would be great if I understood why my plugins won't load, my
question(s) are strictly "pragmatic" as it relates to C++Plugin/QML
development.

I understand "deployment" is different from "development", and I understand
some people have various issues with "QML-deployment-on-Win7" when it works
for them during "development" (e.g., success only when running from within
QtCreator, or only when running on the development machine with explicitly
installed Qt).

QUESTION:  How are you doing your plugin development -- What is your
configuration across QtCreator projects?

For example, I ASSUME I should run something like:

*- [QtCreator Instance #1] with the "MyPlugin" project

*- [QtCreator Instance #2] with the "MyQmlApp" that loads the "MyPlugin"
binaries

*- [BONUS] [QtCreator Instance #3] with shared-lib ("MyTypes.DLL") that is
loaded by "MyPlugin" binaries in [QtCreator Instance #1]

What is the reasonable way for the "MyQmlApp" project to successfully load
the binary output from the "MyPlugin" project?  (Where is the
common-configuration so they can reference build products across projects?)
 Do I somehow configure them to reference binaries across projects (into
the "Debug" or "Release" sub-dirs), or do I "deploy" them to a common
location, and their binary references are only as it relates to
"deployed-configurations"?  (...which seems like more work during
development iteration, as it adds an extra "deployment" step after each
build step?)

And, do people typically load "debug-versions" of their "plugins", when
those are loaded into "debug-versions" of their
"MyQmlApp-with-C++-compiled-code.exe"?  (How do you handle the additional
level of indirection when you C++ plugin loads other C++ DLLs, and it would
be nice to step into debug versions of those DLLs?)

Regarding "why won't my plugins load?":

Ideally, what I'd like is something like the "Creating C++ Plugins for QML"
page at:
http://qt-project.org/doc/qt-5.1/qtqml/qtqml-modules-cppplugins.html , but
with a lot more specific details about *where* files are located (in what
directories), exactly what they look like and how they are found, based on
what "com.mycompany.mystuff" namespaces (at least a couple levels as
examples), and similarly with "plugins" at these different namespace-levels
(since the docs recommend that typically only a single plugin is identified
with a single `qmldir` file, due to the costly load-time).

An aside:  I agree with this thread on qt-project.org that deploying QML
plugins on Win7 is, "too difficult":
http://qt-project.org/forums/viewthread/25714

It seems reasonable that this would be a "solved-problem" in Qt5.1, and
could be codified into a more detailed tutorial that is very specific about
where files are, and how they are found.

Thanks for suggestions!

--charley
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