/*! \contentspage{index.html}{Qt Creator} \page index.html \nextpage creator-quick-tour.html \title Qt Creator Manual \section1 Version 1.1.80 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 Qt Software task tracker at http://www.qtsoftware.com/developer/task-tracker. You can also join the qt-creator@trolltech.com mailing list. To subscribe, send a message with the word \e subscribe to qt-creator-request@trolltech.com. For more information on Qt mailing lists, visit http://lists.trolltech.com \image qtcreator-screenshots.png \table \row \o Qt Creator includes a wide range of useful features. Among them are: \list 1 \o \bold{Smart Code Editor}: The code editor provides syntax highlighting as well as code completion. \o \bold{Qt4 Project Generating Wizard}: This wizard allows the user to generate a project for a console application, a GUI application, or a C++ library. \o \bold{Qt Help Integration}: Qt's entire documentation can be accessed easily by clicking on the \gui{Help} button. \o \bold{Qt Designer Integration}: User interface forms can be designed within Qt Creator. Simply double-click on a \c{.ui} file within the \gui{Project Explorer} to launch the integration. \o \bold{Locator}: A powerful navigation tool that lets the user locate files and classes using minimal keystrokes. \o \bold{Support for qmake's .pro file format}: The project's \c{.pro} file is used as a project description file. \o \bold{Debugging Interface}: Applications can be debugged within Qt Creator using a graphical frontend to the GNU symbolic debugger (GDB) and the Microsoft Console Debugger (CDB). \endlist \endtable To learn more about the Qt Creator, click on one of the links below: \list \o \l{A Quick Tour of Qt Creator} \o \l{Creating a Project in Qt Creator} \o \l{The Code Editor} \o \l{Build Settings} \o \l{Qt Version Management} \o \l{Writing a Simple Program with Qt Creator} \o \l{Qt Creator and Version Control Systems} \o \l{Navigating Quickly Around Your Code with Locator} \o \l{Debugging with Qt Creator} \o \l{CMake Support in Qt Creator} \o \l{Support for Generic Projects in Qt Creator} \o \l{Handling External Libraries} \o \l{Tips and Tricks} \o \l{Keyboard Shortcuts} \o \l{Glossary} \o \l{Supported Platforms} \o \l{Known Issues of Version 1.1.80} \o \l{Acknowledgements} \endlist */ /*! \contentspage index.html \page creator-quick-tour.html \nextpage creator-code-editor.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 shortcut}. Certain actions also trigger a mode change, e.g., \gui{Debug}/\gui{Start Debugging} will switch to the \gui Debug mode. \list \o \gui{Welcome Mode} - Displays a welcome screen allowing you to quickly load recent sessions or individual projects. This is the mode you will see if 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 to navigate between files. \o \gui{Debug Mode} - Provides various ways to inspect the state of the program while debugging. See \l{Debugging With Qt Creator} 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 any 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 {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 collects them 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 the program when it is executed and debug output, e.g., output from qDebug(). \image qtcreator-application-output.png \section2 Compile The \gui{Compile Output} pane provides all the output from the compiler. In other words, it is a more verbose version of information displayed in the \gui{Build Issues} \image qtcreator-compile-pane.png \section1 Session Management in Qt Creator In Qt Creator, a session is a collection of loaded projects, opened files, editor settings, and so on. When you run Qt Creator, you have 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 will always use the default session. \image qtcreator-session-menu.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, you can switch to the \gui{Help} mode. To obtain context sensitive help, move your text cursor to a Qt class or function and press \key{F1}. The documentation will be displayed within a panel on the right, as shown in the screenshot below. External Documentation provided by the user can be used to augment or replace the documentation shipped with Qt Creator and Qt. \image qtcreator-context-sensitive-help.png \section1 Qt Designer Integration Qt Creator is fully integrated with Qt Designer to help you design user interface forms just like you would with the standalone version. The Qt Designer integration also includes project management and code completion. For more information on Qt Designer, you can refer to \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 Quickly Around Your Code with Locator}{navigation} shortcuts are available to help speed up the process of developing your application. */ /*! \contentspage index.html \previouspage creator-quick-tour.html \page creator-code-editor.html \nextpage creator-build-settings.html \title The Code Editor Qt Creator's code editor is designed to aid the developer to create, edit, and navigate code. It is fully equipped with syntax highlighting, code completion, context sensitive help, as well as inline error indicators while you are typing. The screenshots below show the various dialogs within which you can configure your editor. \table \row \i \inlineimage qtcreator-texteditor-fonts.png \i \inlineimage qtcreator-texteditor-behavior.png \row \i \inlineimage qtcreator-texteditor-display.png \i \inlineimage qtcreator-texteditor-completion.png \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{\}} , use \key{Ctrl+[} and \key{Ctrl+]}. \row \i Block selection \i To select a current block, use \key{Ctrl+U}. Pressing \key{Ctrl+U} again extends the selection to the parent block. To deselect, use \key{Ctrl+Shift+U}. \row \i Moving lines up and down \i Use \key{Ctrl+Shift+Up} and \key{Ctrl+Shift+Down} \row \i Completion \i Use \key{Ctrl+Space} \row \i Indenting Blocks \i Use \key{Ctrl+I} \row \i Collapse \i Use \key{Ctrl+\<} \row \i Commenting or uncommenting blocks \i Use \key{Ctrl+\/} \row \i Delete a line \i Use \key{Shift+Del} \row \i Switch between header file and source file \i Use \key{F4}. \row \i Increasing and decreasing font size \i Use \key{Ctrl+Scroll Wheel} \row \i Follow symbols under the cursor \i Use \key{F2} and \key{Shift+F2}. This feature works with namespaces, classes, methods, variables, include statements, and macros. \row \i Switch to an external editor \i Select \gui{Open in external editor} from the \gui{Edit -> Advanced} menu. \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 */ /*! \contentspage index.html \previouspage creator-code-editor.html \page creator-build-settings.html \nextpage creator-version-management.html \title Build 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 build settings of your project, switch to the \gui{Projects} mode using the mouse or with \key{Ctrl+4}. \image qtcreator-buildsettingstab.png Action items to create, clone, or delete build configurations can be found at the bottom of the dialog. You can have as many build configurations as needed. By default Qt Creator creates a \bold{debug} and \bold{release} build configuration. Both these configurations use the \l{glossary-default-qt}{Default Qt Version}. In the tree on the left, a list of build configurations and their settings are displayed. The screenshot above shows the \bold{debug} and \bold{release} configurations and their corresponding settings: \bold{Build Environment} and \bold{Build Steps}. When you select a build configuration in the tree, a configuration page for general build settings will be displayed. Here you can specify which \l{glossary-project-qt}{Qt version} to use to build your project, whether to \l{glossary-shadow-build}{shadow build} the project, for instance. \image qtcreator-buildenvironment.png In the \bold{Build Environment} page 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 will automatically set the necessary environment variables. \image qtcreator-buildsteps.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 in the \bold{Build Settings} page. Qt Creator will run the make command using the correct Qt version. \section1 Dependencies If you have multiple projects loaded in your session, you can configure dependencies between them. This will affect the build order of your projects. To do this, go the the \bold{Dependencies} tab after selecting the project for which you want to configure the dependencies, and then use the checkboxes to check which of the other projects is a dependency. */ /*! \contentspage index.html \previouspage creator-build-settings.html \page creator-version-management.html \nextpage creator-creating-project.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{Auto-detected Qt}. If you intend to use only one version of Qt - 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}. If you are on the Windows platform and use MinGW to compile Qt, you need to tell Qt Creator where MinGW is installed. This is done by setting the \gui{MinGW Directory} under \gui{Tools -> Options... -> Qt4 -> Qt Versions -> MinGw Directory}. If your Qt version is compiled with Microsoft Visual C++'s compiler, Qt Creator will automatically set the correct environment variables for compilation. \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-version-management.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 \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{...} 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} Click on the check boxes of each Qt Module you would like to include in your project. Since we started a Qt4 Gui Application, the Core and Gui modules are set, 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 would like to create. The \e{Header file}, \e{Source file} and \e{Form file} fields will update automatically according to your choice of class name. You also have to select the base class for your class, either a QWidget, QDialog or QMainWindow, from the drop down box. \row \i \inlineimage qtcreator-new-project-summary.png \i \bold{Creating the Project} Finally, review the files that will be created for you. Click \gui{Done} and your project will be generated. \endtable */ /*! \contentspage index.html \previouspage creator-creating-project.html \page creator-writing-program.html \nextpage creator-version-control.html \title Writing a Simple Program with Qt Creator \table \row \o \note This tutorial assumes that the user has experience writing basic Qt applications, designing user interfaces with Qt Designer and using the Qt Resource System. \endtable In this example, we will describe the steps involve 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 will 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 will automatically detect if Qt's location is in your \c PATH variable. If Qt's location is not in your \c PATH, you can set it in one of the following ways, depending on your platform: \list \o On Windows and Linux: in the \gui{Tools} menu, under \gui{Options}. \o On Mac OS X: in \gui{Preferences}, under \gui{Qt4}. \endlist \note If you use Visual Studio to compile Qt, all environment variables set in Visual Studio will be set for Qt Creator as well. \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, you can load it by selecting \gui{Open} from the \gui{File} menu. In your project you will 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 will begin by designing the user interface and then move on to filling in the missing code. Finally, we will add the find functionality. \section2 Designing the User Interface To begin designing the user interface, double-click on the \c{textfinder.ui} file in your \gui{Project Explorer}. This will launch the integrated Qt Designer. \image qtcreator-textfinder-ui.png Design the form above using a \l{http://doc.trolltech.com/qlabel.html} {QLabel}, \l{http://doc.trolltech.com/qlinedit.html}{QLineEdit} (named lineEdit), \l{http://doc.trolltech.com/qpushbutton.html}{QPushButton} (named findButton), and a \l{http://doc.trolltech.com/qtextedit.html}{QTextEdit} (named textEdit). We recommend that you use a QGridLayout to lay out the \l{http://doc.trolltech.com/qlabel.html}{QLabel}, \l{http://doc.trolltech.com/qlinedit.html}{QLineEdit} and \l{http://doc.trolltech.com/qpushbutton.html}{QPushButton}. The \l{http://doc.trolltech.com/qtextedit.html}{QTextEdit} can then be added to a \l{http://doc.trolltech.com/qvboxlayout.html}{QVBoxLayout}, along with the \l{http://doc.trolltech.com/qgridlayout.html}{QGridLayout}. If you are new to designing forms with \QD, you can take a look at the \l{http://doc.trolltech.com/designer-manual.html}{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. The code snippet below describes this: \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. The code snippet below further describes it: \snippet examples/textfinder/textfinder.cpp 2 Once we have both these functions complete, we call \c{loadTextFile()} in our constructor. \snippet examples/textfinder/textfinder.cpp 3 The \c{on_findButton_clicked()} slot will be called automatically due to this line of code: \code QMetaObject::connectSlotsByName(TextFinder); \endcode in the uic generated \c{ui_textfinder.h} file. \section2 The Resource File We require a resource file (\c{.qrc}) within which we will embed the input text file. This can be any \c{.txt} file with a paragraph of text. To add a resource file, right click on \gui{Resource Files} in the \gui{Project Explorer} and select \gui{Add New File...}. You will see the wizard dialog displayed below. \image qtcreator-add-resource-wizard.png Enter "textfinder" in the \gui{Name} field and use the given \gui{Path}. Then, click \gui{Continue}. \image qtcreator-add-resource-wizard2.png On this page you can choose to which project you want to add the new file. Make sure that \gui{Add to Project} is checked and "TextFinder" is selected as the \gui{Project}, and click \gui{Done}. Your resource file will now be displayed with the Resource Editor. Click on the \gui{Add} drop down box and select \gui{Add Prefix}. The prefix we require is just a slash (\c{/}). Click \gui{Add} again but this time, select \gui{Add File}. Locate the text file you are going to use, we use \c{input.txt}. \image qtcreator-add-resource.png The screenshot above shows what you can expect to see once you have added the resource file successfully. \section1 Compiling and Running Your Program Now that you have all the necessary files, you can compile your program by clicking on the \inlineimage qtcreator-run.png button. */ /*! \contentspage index.html \previouspage creator-writing-program.html \page creator-version-control.html \nextpage creator-navigation.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/} \row \i \bold{Subversion} \i \l{http://subversion.tigris.org/} \row \i \bold{Perforce} \i \l{http://www.perforce.com} \endtable \section1 Setup 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. You can specify the path to the command line client's executable in the settings pages that can be found under \gui{Options...} in the \gui{Tools} menu. \section1 Usage You can find the version control menu entries in a sub-menu of the \gui{Tools} menu. The version control system displayed here is the system that manages the current project. Each version control system adds a pane to the \gui{Application Output} panes within which it will log 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 wizards will display page requesting whether the files should be added to a version control system. This depends on whether 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 also add files later on 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 - comparing with the latest version stored in the repository and displaying 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 will open an editor displaying the file, scrolled to the line in question. \image qtcreator-vcs-diff.png \section2 Viewing Versioning History and Change Details The versioning history of a file can be displayed by selecting the \gui{Log} (for \bold{git}) or \gui{Filelog} (for \bold{Perforce} and \bold{Subversion}) option. Typically, the log output will contain the date, the commit message, and a change or revision identifier. If you click on the identifier, a description of the change including the diff will be displayed. \image qtcreator-vcs-log.png \image qtcreator-vcs-describe.png \section2 Annotating Files Annotation views are obtained by selecting \gui{Annotate} or \gui{Blame}. This will display 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 will display 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 \gui{Commit} to start committing. In addition, there is a \gui{Diff selected} 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 Menu Entries Specific to git 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 will be 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, simply double-click on it. Double-clicking on a remote branch will first create a local branch with the same name that tracks the remote branch, and then switch to it. \image qtcreator-vcs-gitbranch.png \endtable \section2 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 Hans Mustermann hm \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 will display a context menu with \gui{Insert name...} that will pop 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 will 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. */ /*! \contentspage index.html \previouspage creator-version-control.html \page creator-navigation.html \nextpage creator-debugging.html \title Navigating Quickly 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 trivial using \gui Locator -- a smart line edit at the bottom left of Qt Creator's window. \image qtcreator-locator.png Suppose you would like to open your project's \c{main.cpp} file, click on \gui Locator or use \key{Ctrl+K}, type in the file name and then press \key Return. The file will be opened 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 all files matching your criteria will be displayed. \gui Locator not only allows you to navigate files on disk but also other "locations", which are organized with \bold{Filters}. Currently 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, and, \o a 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}, type: \key{Ctrl+K} to activate \gui Locator. Then type colon (\key{:}) followed by \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. Click on \image qtcreator-locator-magnify.png and choose \gui{Configure...} from the menu displayed. \image qtcreator-locator-customize.png This displays the \gui Preferences dialog (\gui Options on Mac Os X) for navigation filters. Click \gui Add to create a new filter. In the \gui{Filter Configuration} dialog below, give your filter a name, select your preferred directories, set file patterns with a comma separated list, and specify a prefix string. \image qtcreator-navigate-customfilter.png After closing this dialog, \gui Locator will search the directories you selected for files matching your file patterns, and the information will be cached. Click \gui Refresh from the menu above to update the cached information. The following table lists the filters currently available: \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 will be enabled: \c{o}, \c{l}, and \c{a}. */ /*! \contentspage index.html \previouspage creator-navigation.html \page creator-debugging.html \nextpage creator-cmake-support.html \title Debugging with Qt Creator \section1 Introduction 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 step through a program line-by-line or instruction-by-instruction, interrupt running programs, set breakpoints, examine the contents of the call stack, local and global variables, etc. Within Qt Creator, the raw information provided by the engine is displayed in a clear and concise manner, simplifying the process of debugging. In addition to generic IDE functionality: stack view, views for locals and watchers, registers, etc, Qt Creator comes with additional features to make debugging Qt-based applications easy. The debugger frontend knows about the internal layout of several Qt classes such as QString, the QTL containers, and most importantly QObject (and classes derived from it). Therefore, it is able to present Qt's data clearly. \section1 Debugger Engine Installation Notes \table \header \o Debugger Engine \o Notes \row \o Debugging Tools for Windows \o Using this engine requires you to install the \e{Debugging Tools for Windows} 32-bit package (Version 6.10), which is freely available for download from the \l{http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx} {Microsoft Developer Network} or directly from \l{http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/debugging/installx86.Mspx} {Microsoft}. The pre-built \e{Qt SDK for Windows} will make 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 will be checked to ensure that all required header files are there. \endtable \section1 Interacting 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 Disassembler, \gui Modules, \gui Registers, \gui Debugger, \gui Stack, and \gui Thread. The position of your dock widgets will be saved for future sessions. \section2 Breakpoints Breakpoints are shown in the \gui{Breakpoints} view which is enabled by 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 passing the control to the user. The user is then free to examine the state of the interrupted program, or continue execution line-by-line or continuously. Typically, breakpoints are associated with a source code file and line, or the start of a function -- both 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...} under the \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 Running To start a program under the debugger's control, select the \gui{Debug} menu and \gui{Start Debugging}, or simply press \key{F5}. Qt Creator then 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 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 as usual; performance-wise as well. 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 execute a function or a sub-function, use \key F11. Alternatively, you can continue running the program with \key F5. It is possible to continue executing your program until the current function completes or jump to an arbitrary position in the current function. \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 will try to retrieve the file name and line number of the corresponding source files. 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 will have corresponding source locations. These frames will be grayed out in the \gui Stack view. If you click on a frame with a known source location, the text editor will jump to the corresponding location and update 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 will adjust itself accordingly. \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 will be displayed as "expandable" in the view. C lick 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 will be 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 Custom Display for Qt Objects} from the \gui Debug menu.The \gui{Locals and Watchers} view will be 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 will see a list of children, signals and slots. Similarly, instead of displaying many pointers and integers, Qt Creator's debugger will display the contents of a QHash or QMap in an orderly manner. Also, the debugger will display access data for QFileInfo and provide 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 within your session. \section2 Modules By default, the \gui Modules view is hidden as it is only useful with the experimental delayed loaing of debug information feature. You can turn this feature on by selecting \gui{Fast Debugger Start} With this feature, debug information from the Qt library itself is not loaded when the application starts up, thereby reducing the startup times for some applications. You can then use the \gui Modules view to manually load this information, if required. \note In this scenario, some breakpoints may not be triggered by the debugger. \section2 Disassembler View and Registers View By default, both the \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}. \section1 Debugging Helper Library 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 a debugging helper library, select the \gui{Options} from the \gui{Tools} menu, and go to the \gui{Qt/Qt Versions} pane. As the internal layout of qt can change between versions, the debugging helper library is built for each Qt version. \section1 A Walkthrough for the Debugger Frontend In our \l{Writing a Simple Program with Qt Creator}{TextFinder} example, we read a text file into a QString and then display it with a QTextEdit. Suppose, you would like 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} First, we set a breakpoint on the line where we invoke \l{http://doc.trolltech.com/qtextedit.html#plainText-prop}{setPlainText()} by clicking between the line number and the window border. Then, select \gui{Start Debugging} from the \gui{Debug} menu or press \key{F5}. \endtable Breakpoints are visible in the \gui{Breakpoints} view, shown below, in \gui{Debug} mode. If you wish to remove a breakpoint, simply right-click on it and select \gui{Delete breakpoint} from the context menu. \image qtcreator-setting-breakpoint2.png To view the contents of \c{line}, take a look at the \gui{Locals and Watchers} view. \image qtcreator-watcher.png 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 will not work correctly due to a logic error. To locate this logic error, you can step through the code using the following buttons: \image qtcreator-debugging-buttons.png */ /*! \contentspage index.html \previouspage creator-debugging.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. \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 will guide 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 (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 or \c mingw32-make, 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 1.1.80}{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 will simply ignore your build system. This feature lets you use Qt Creator as a code editor. You can build your project by modifying the \c make command in the \gui{Project Settings} page. */ /*! \contentspage index.html \previouspage creator-generic-projects.html \page creator-external-library-handling.html \nextpage creator-tips.html \title Handling External Libraries Knowing external libraries is not only important for the underlying build system, but also for Qt Creator itself. This way, it can support code completion and syntax highlighting for external libraries as if they were part of the current project or the Qt library. The way to add a library to the project depends on the project type, which influcences the build system used. The following sections describe the the procedure required for each project type. \section1 QMake Projects (the default) Open your your (ending in \c{.pro}) file from the \gui{Projects} pane, which will now show up in the editor. Follow the description in the \l{http://doc.qtsoftware.com/latest/make-project-files.html#declaring-other-libraries} {Declaring other Libraries} section of the Qt documentation. If your project does sucessfully build and link against the external library, syntax completion and highlighting should also work. \section1 CMake Projects In CMake, libaries 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 will 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 qmake project, syntax completion and highlighting should work if you can sucessfully build and link against the external library. \section1 Generic Projects If you import a project using the \e{Generic Projects} function, Qt Creator will create a file called \c{.includes} in your project root directory. It will contain all project subdirectories it that was able to find relevant header files in. Simply add your include pathes there. Note that in Generic Project mode, Qt Creator will refrain from touching any project settings, so the above is merely a hint for the code completion and the syntax highlighter. */ /*! \contentspage index.html \previouspage creator-external-library-handling.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 can be found \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}. \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 exposed 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 special debugging off in the \gui{Debug} menu. This will make 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 Side Bar \o Alt + 0 \row \o Toggle \gui{Build Issues} pane \o Alt + 1 \row \o Toggle \gui{Search Results} pane \o Alt + 2 \row \o Toggle \gui{Application Output} pane \o Alt + 3 \row \o Toggle \gui{Compile Output} pane \o Alt + 4 \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 System Qt \endraw \target glossary-system-qt \o The version of Qt installed on your system. This is the Qt version for the \c qmake command found in your \c PATH. \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 System Qt. \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 5.04 \o (K)Ubuntu Linux 7.04 32bit and 64 bit \o Mac OS 10.4 and later \endlist \note Building the sources requires \bold{Qt 4.5.0} or later. */ /*! \contentspage index.html \previouspage creator-supported-platforms.html \page creator-known-issues.html \nextpage creator-acknowledgements.html \title Known Issues of Version 1.1.80 There are some known issues with Qt Creator 1.1.80. The development team is aware of those, there is no need to report them as bug. \list \o Paths or file names containing spaces or special characters, e.g., colons, dollar signs, hash marks etc. may cause difficulties. 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 unsupported. \o Creating new \c CMake projects with Qt Creator is unsupported. \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 \br QtCreator/src/shared/cplusplus \endlist */