[Qt-creator] Building QtCreator 3.1.1 from the zip in QtProjects Downloads

[Henry Skoglund]

Hi,

first, sorry didn't mean to insult (it was late and maybe I had too much 
coffee). Looking forward to use the new stuff in 5.3, like being able to 
target XP more easily by adding -platform xp to my .pro files
( http://qt-project.org/forums/viewthread/42576 )

Anyway, what I did was download the QtCreator 3.1.1 source zip and tried 
to build it in Release mode using MSVC2012 32-bit on my Win7 64-bit SP1 
by opening qtctreator.pro in QtCreator 3.1.1/Qt 5.3.

After just a few minutes it stops with:
Error: dependent 
'..\..\..\..\..\..\..\qt-creator-opensource-src-3.1.1\src\shared\qbs\src\lib\corelib\buildgraph\abstractcommandexecutor.cpp' 
does not exist.

To get past this, open src/libs in the project tree, rightclick on 
corelib and select Build "corelib". Then resume building qtcreator.pro.

Next error will be:
Error: dependent 
'..\..\..\..\..\..\..\..\qt-creator-opensource-src-3.1.1\src\shared\qbs\src\plugins\scanner\cpp\CPlusPlusForwardDeclarations.h' 
does not exist.

And the cure is more or less the same, rightclick on "plugins" in 
libs/src and select Build "plugins".

A few more of these cycles and you will have a QtCreator 3.1.1 built 
with Qt 5.3. However because I want my plugin to fit in the existing 
QtCtreator 3.1.1 that comes with 5.3 online installer, even though the 
QtCtreator build is successful it's of no use because I need to build it 
with Qt 5.2.1.

Note: I know since 5.1, I can build my plugin with MSVC 2012 even though 
QtCtreator is built with MSVC 2010, that works. But as you say, the 
plugins need to match the Qt version because of binary compatibility.

The only reason I was posting this was because in Qt 5.1, 5.2 and 5.2.1 
I could download the qtcreator's source zip, open qtcreator.pro, hit 
ctrl-shift-B and then I build my plugin and it would work just fine. 
I.e. QtCreator could be built with the same new version of Qt that it 
came bundled with. But this time around, things got complicated, First 
that right-click hunting and pecking for a successful qtctreator.pro 
build, then discovering it was all for naught and that I need to build 
QtCreator 3.1.1 with Qt 5.2.1.

So I thought if it was mentioned on the Downloads page, then Qt needs to 
be built with 5.2.1, it could save time for someone else :-)

Rgrds Henry
P.S. While writing this, QtCtreator 3.1.1 built without problems on my 
MBP with Xcode 5.1.1/clang-64 and Qt 5.3. So perhaps those build errors 
occurs only in Windows (haven't tried MinGW or Linux GCC yet).



On 2014-05-21 08:02, Ziller Eike wrote:
>> ________________________________________
>> From: qt-creator-bounces+eike.ziller=digia.com at qt-project.org [qt-creator-bounces+eike.ziller=digia.com at qt-project.org] on behalf of Henry Skoglund [fromqt at tungware.se]
>> Sent: 21 May 2014 02:47
>> To: qt-creator at qt-project.org
>> Subject: [Qt-creator] Building QtCreator 3.1.1 from the zip in QtProjects       Downloads
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> just installed Qt 5.3, then I downloaded the source zip of QtCreator's
>> 3.1.1. I need to build it, so I can compile my Wordstar-flavored editor
>> plugin for QtCreator (maybe I'm giving away my age here).
>>
>> Opened qtcreator.pro in QtCreator and hit ctrl-shift-B. Brewed some
>> fresh coffee and expected the usual half hour. But, it stopped after
>> only a few minutes, a dependent .cpp file wasn't found. Wtf? Wondered
>> what tosser had uploaded this?
>
> So, what was the actual error message? What was the kit used to build Qt Creator?
> On what platform are you actually on? Insulting doesn't help. Qt Creator 3.1.1
> sources should be buildable with Qt 5.3. That is completely independent from the Qt version
> Qt Creator was built with (you can even build Qt Creator still with Qt4 and compile your
> applications against Qt5 with it).
>
>> Then after looking around I saw that QtCreator 3.1.1 is built with Qt
>> 5.2.1!! (And I couldn't reuse my old plugin dll from 5.2.1, QtCreator
>> said: failed dependency for plugin core 3.0.1.)
>
> That doesn't have to do much with Qt versions either. The failed dependency is because
> Qt Creator is not binary compatible between minor versions:
> http://doc-snapshot.qt-project.org/qtcreator-extending/coding-style.html#binary-and-source-compatibility
> so you cannot use plugins compiled against Qt Creator 3.0 in 3.1.
>
>> So, uninstall 5.3 and reinstall 5.2.1. Opened 3.1.1's qtcreator.pro
>> again. Sure thing, half an hour later, I have a new QtCreator 3.1.1
>> build. Built my plugin with 5.2.1. Uninstalled 5.2.1 and installed 5.3.
>> Now I can work again :-)
>>
>> Reason I'm mailing, would it be possible to include a note of this fact
>> somewhere on the Downloads page? Maybe we can save time for some other
>> poor fellow trying to build 3.1.1 with Qt 5.3.
>>
>> Rgrds Henry
>> Note: It was possible to build 3.1.1 with Qt 5.3 but that's another story.
>
> I thought that was exactly what you tried to do.
>
> Br, Eike
>