[Qt-creator] User settings file and collaborative work

[Barbara Post]

>Hi Barbara,

Hi Tobias,

>
>> I think of basic project situation which I work with right now:
>>
>> -  I develop a custom Qt plugin
>> -  I have to copy my dll to a specific folder for execution by a 
>> plugins host
>
>That is a task the build system should handle (via "make install" or similar that should then go into the deploy configuration).

OK, I meant during development and local testing by developer.

>> -  An environment variable is used for base path of commands
> > configured in build/run settings
>
>Who sets this variable?

Every developer.

>
>> So if anyone else works on project it would be fine that:
>>
>> - when reconfiguring project since his/her kit is slightly different 
>> from
> >   mine, all the other things are kept
> >   (build/run custom commands). I didn't verify what happens
>
>If the kits are identical (incl. the Id, which you can set via the sdktool only!), then this should work using the .shared files. So let's concentrate on the case where the kits differ.
>
>Currently we have a kit id in the .user file and nothing else. So there is no way to know what a kit looked like that somebody else referenced in a .user file. Adding that information is not of course possible though.
>
>Let's assume we had full information on the kits that were used by the instance that wrote the .user file. How can we decide which of our kits are the best match to those found in the .user file?
>
>Which of our kits are "slightly different" (as in we want to copy the settings from the .user file) and which are "completely different" (as in we want to forget those settings) compared to those found in a .user file?
>
>Is a Qt 5.0.0 windows MSVC2012 kit "slightly different" (as in we want to copy settings) from a desktop Qt 4.8.5 windows MSVC2012 kit?
>
>What about Qt 5.2.1 for blackberry and a Qt 5.2.1 for ubuntu phone kit?
>
>Qt 5.2.1 on the Mac and Qt 5.2.0 on Linux?
>
>Qt 5.2.1 windows MSVC2012 and Qt 5.2.1 windows mingw?

I totally agree, kits cannot be guessed nor shared, only customized build/run commands.

>
>> - timestamp change wouldn't be effective so often, only when there
> >    are modifications, this would be better when
> >    working with version control.
>
>Do not check in .user files into your version control system. Use .shared files for those settings that can be shared. This currently does
>*not* include the kits though.
>

Totally agree.

>> So my suggestion is to move commands to another file than the user
> > settings, surely in a custom syntax in .pro file.
>
>Like the .shared file?

Totally right.

>
>Creator supports several build systems, so I would really appreciate not mixing our settings into the build system files. We would need to have several sets of code to put that information into the build systems and to retrieve it again.
>
> > This way we could
> > also have build/run commands way more flexible (use of environment  > variables, not just elimited to sourceDir andbuildDir).
>
>Creator actually does support quite a bit more than that.
>
>> And keep other things in .pro.user that would be safely ignored by
> > version control without loosing information.
>>
>> This idea came to me immediately after playing with build/run 
>> settings,
> > I told myself, duh this is not as convenient as in Visual Studio  > (where I daily practice C#).
>
>You are probably right, but this cross-platform thing makes this whole thing a bit harder. Of course that is no excuse not to do the right thing(TM).
>

I agree, I don't know much anyways, just beginner thoughts.

>Best Regards,
>Tobias
>

Best regards,

Barbara