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Basic question: Including headers with INCLUDEPATH doesn't work

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  • mrjjM mrjj

    Hi

    • Why do I not have to include QWidget.cpp, QApplication.cpp and so on when including such standard headers?

    You should not have to include any standard Qt cpp files. the .H is enough.
    but if you write .pro file BY HAND make sure u include
    TEMPLATE = app
    and stuff like
    QT += core gui
    Else it wont link Qt to it!!

    --

    #include <libA.h>

    test::test() // <-- error here
    {
    }

    --

    Is the file
    libA.cpp IN THE SAME FOLDER as main.cpp ?

    B Offline
    B Offline
    Binary91
    wrote on last edited by Binary91
    #5

    @mrjj said in Basic question: Including headers with INCLUDEPATH doesn't work:

    You should not have to include any standard Qt cpp files. the .H is enough.

    Yeah but why do I have to with my own headers? Is there a list of pre-defined standard headers and their corresponding sources so compiler/linker knows that automatically? If yes, couldn't that list be extended by own headers/sources?

    but if you write .pro file BY HAND make sure u include
    TEMPLATE = app
    and stuff like
    QT += core gui
    Else it wont link Qt to it!!

    I do not create the whole project file by myself, QtCreator does that so all that stuff is included.

    Is the file
    libA.cpp IN THE SAME FOLDER as main.cpp ?

    Nope, should it? I thought that exactly this could be avoided by setting an INCLUDEPATH, isn't it? I thought that after setting this path, the compiler/linker knows where to search for those headers, otherwise this INCLUDEPATH doesn't have any sense or am I missing something?

    jsulmJ mrjjM 2 Replies Last reply
    0
    • B Binary91

      Hi and thank you for your post.

      Yes, it should be ":" instead, that was not the problem.

      You say, I still have to include the source files (cpp).

      Two questions to that:

      1. Why do I not have to include QWidget.cpp, QApplication.cpp and so on when including such standard headers?

      2. Well, I did include the source files, set INCLUDEPATH to the directory where my header files are located, included them via #include directive in the source files (as I would do with a standard header file), built the project again and still get those errors.

      When I follow thoses errors in QtCreator, I see that they all point to the corresponding source file, like for example:
      project file:

      INCLUDEPATH += C:/Qt/lib/headers
      
      SOURCES += main.cpp \
      libA.cpp \
      libB.cpp
      
      HEADERS += main.h
      

      main.h:

      #include <libA.h>
      #include <libB.h>
      

      libA.h

      class test
      {
        test();
        ~test();
      };
      

      libA.cpp

      #include <libA.h>
      
      test::test() // <-- error here
      {
      }
      
      test::~test()  // <-- error here
      {
      }
      

      As you can see, the problem is that including the header (path should be known because I set it with INCLUDEPATH) into its corresponding source file (which I manually included in my project file).

      Can you imagine what's wrong with that?

      jsulmJ Offline
      jsulmJ Offline
      jsulm
      Lifetime Qt Champion
      wrote on last edited by
      #6

      @Binary91 said in Basic question: Including headers with INCLUDEPATH doesn't work:

      error here

      What is the error?
      If it is something like "multiple definition" or "redefinition", then your header file probably does not contain "include guard", see here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Include_guard

      https://forum.qt.io/topic/113070/qt-code-of-conduct

      1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • B Binary91

        @mrjj said in Basic question: Including headers with INCLUDEPATH doesn't work:

        You should not have to include any standard Qt cpp files. the .H is enough.

        Yeah but why do I have to with my own headers? Is there a list of pre-defined standard headers and their corresponding sources so compiler/linker knows that automatically? If yes, couldn't that list be extended by own headers/sources?

        but if you write .pro file BY HAND make sure u include
        TEMPLATE = app
        and stuff like
        QT += core gui
        Else it wont link Qt to it!!

        I do not create the whole project file by myself, QtCreator does that so all that stuff is included.

        Is the file
        libA.cpp IN THE SAME FOLDER as main.cpp ?

        Nope, should it? I thought that exactly this could be avoided by setting an INCLUDEPATH, isn't it? I thought that after setting this path, the compiler/linker knows where to search for those headers, otherwise this INCLUDEPATH doesn't have any sense or am I missing something?

        jsulmJ Offline
        jsulmJ Offline
        jsulm
        Lifetime Qt Champion
        wrote on last edited by
        #7

        @Binary91 said in Basic question: Including headers with INCLUDEPATH doesn't work:

        Yeah but why do I have to with my own headers?

        Because those are yours and you have to care about them. How should the build system know?
        You don't have to include any Qt cpp files simply because you link your application against already build Qt libraries.
        If you add QT+= gui you tell qmake to link your application against QT GUI libraries.

        https://forum.qt.io/topic/113070/qt-code-of-conduct

        B 1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • jsulmJ jsulm

          @Binary91 said in Basic question: Including headers with INCLUDEPATH doesn't work:

          Yeah but why do I have to with my own headers?

          Because those are yours and you have to care about them. How should the build system know?
          You don't have to include any Qt cpp files simply because you link your application against already build Qt libraries.
          If you add QT+= gui you tell qmake to link your application against QT GUI libraries.

          B Offline
          B Offline
          Binary91
          wrote on last edited by
          #8

          @jsulm said in Basic question: Including headers with INCLUDEPATH doesn't work:

          @Binary91 said in Basic question: Including headers with INCLUDEPATH doesn't work:

          Yeah but why do I have to with my own headers?

          Because those are yours and you have to care about them. How should the build system know?
          You don't have to include any Qt cpp files simply because you link your application against already build Qt libraries.
          If you add QT+= gui you tell qmake to link your application against QT GUI libraries.

          Ah that makes sense! So "gui" or "core" are libs that include the source code of the headers that I include? That sounds logically!

          But I still do not know why my source files should be in the same directory as my headers when I use relative paths, because I set an INCLUDEPATH so compiler/linker should know where to search for it or am I wrong?

          1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • B Binary91

            @mrjj said in Basic question: Including headers with INCLUDEPATH doesn't work:

            You should not have to include any standard Qt cpp files. the .H is enough.

            Yeah but why do I have to with my own headers? Is there a list of pre-defined standard headers and their corresponding sources so compiler/linker knows that automatically? If yes, couldn't that list be extended by own headers/sources?

            but if you write .pro file BY HAND make sure u include
            TEMPLATE = app
            and stuff like
            QT += core gui
            Else it wont link Qt to it!!

            I do not create the whole project file by myself, QtCreator does that so all that stuff is included.

            Is the file
            libA.cpp IN THE SAME FOLDER as main.cpp ?

            Nope, should it? I thought that exactly this could be avoided by setting an INCLUDEPATH, isn't it? I thought that after setting this path, the compiler/linker knows where to search for those headers, otherwise this INCLUDEPATH doesn't have any sense or am I missing something?

            mrjjM Offline
            mrjjM Offline
            mrjj
            Lifetime Qt Champion
            wrote on last edited by mrjj
            #9

            @Binary91 said in Basic question: Including headers with INCLUDEPATH doesn't work:

            Nope, should it?

            Well it dont matter where it is, BUT you say it is in same folder!
            So it cant find them and hence it dont like your test::test() as it never saw the .cpp file.

            also INCLUDEPATH is for .H files and NOT .cpp files!

            SOURCE is for .cpp files and iy MUST be correct path

            like where where my xml lib is somewhere else
            SOURCES += main.cpp
            Configuration.cpp
            Forms/AbstractForm.cpp \ <<<--------------- in a sub folder called Forms
            Forms/ConfigurationForm.cpp
            Forms/DefaultFormFooter.cpp \
            ../../Common/XML/pugixml-1.5/src/pugixml.cpp \

            Look at the pugixml.cpp, here i tell it to go back 2 folders and into Common

            So when you say

            SOURCES += main.cpp \ CORRECT
            libA.cpp \ WRONG. AS ITS NOT THERE
            libB.cpp Also wrong ?

            B 1 Reply Last reply
            3
            • mrjjM mrjj

              @Binary91 said in Basic question: Including headers with INCLUDEPATH doesn't work:

              Nope, should it?

              Well it dont matter where it is, BUT you say it is in same folder!
              So it cant find them and hence it dont like your test::test() as it never saw the .cpp file.

              also INCLUDEPATH is for .H files and NOT .cpp files!

              SOURCE is for .cpp files and iy MUST be correct path

              like where where my xml lib is somewhere else
              SOURCES += main.cpp
              Configuration.cpp
              Forms/AbstractForm.cpp \ <<<--------------- in a sub folder called Forms
              Forms/ConfigurationForm.cpp
              Forms/DefaultFormFooter.cpp \
              ../../Common/XML/pugixml-1.5/src/pugixml.cpp \

              Look at the pugixml.cpp, here i tell it to go back 2 folders and into Common

              So when you say

              SOURCES += main.cpp \ CORRECT
              libA.cpp \ WRONG. AS ITS NOT THERE
              libB.cpp Also wrong ?

              B Offline
              B Offline
              Binary91
              wrote on last edited by
              #10

              @mrjj said in Basic question: Including headers with INCLUDEPATH doesn't work:

              @Binary91 said in Basic question: Including headers with INCLUDEPATH doesn't work:

              Nope, should it?

              Well it dont matter where it is, BUT you say it is in same folder!
              So it cant find them and hence it dont like your test::test() as it never saw the .cpp file.

              also INCLUDEPATH is for .H files and NOT .cpp files!

              SOURCE is for .cpp files and iy MUST be correct path

              like where where my xml lib is somewhere else
              SOURCES += main.cpp
              Configuration.cpp
              Forms/AbstractForm.cpp
              Forms/ConfigurationForm.cpp
              Forms/DefaultFormFooter.cpp \
              ../../Common/XML/pugixml-1.5/src/pugixml.cpp \

              Look at the pugixml.cpp, here i tell it to go back 2 folders and into Common

              So when you say

              SOURCES += main.cpp \ CORRECT
              libA.cpp \ WRONG. AS ITS NOT THERE
              libB.cpp Also wrong ?

              Yep I know that know and already fixed this. But I don't know why I have to set the full path of the header files after setting INCLUDEPATH?!

              That is how my project file looks like now:

              INCLUDEPATH += C:/Qt/lib/headers
              
              SOURCES += main.cpp \
              C:/Qt/lib/sources/libA.cpp \
              C:/Qt/lib/sources/libB.cpp
              
              HEADERS += main.h
              

              It still throws these errors...
              When I include those headers manually like I did with the sources, everything works fine. BUT I thought that I could avoid this with INCLUDEPATH...

              1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • mrjjM Offline
                mrjjM Offline
                mrjj
                Lifetime Qt Champion
                wrote on last edited by mrjj
                #11

                Well normally you do not need to do so...

                INCLUDEPATH += ../../Common/CONET
                ../../Common/XML/pugixml-1.5/src/ \

                the pugixml.h is in the src and i can just use
                it like
                #include "pugixml.h"

                B 1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • mrjjM mrjj

                  Well normally you do not need to do so...

                  INCLUDEPATH += ../../Common/CONET
                  ../../Common/XML/pugixml-1.5/src/ \

                  the pugixml.h is in the src and i can just use
                  it like
                  #include "pugixml.h"

                  B Offline
                  B Offline
                  Binary91
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #12

                  @mrjj
                  What could cause that problems then? Do I have to change some build settings in QtCreator?

                  I mean, there is no error in the code, because after manually adding those headers to the project , like:

                  HEADERS += C:/Qt/lib/headers/libA.h
                  

                  works without problems.
                  BUT something like this:

                  HEADERS += libA.h
                  

                  also doesn't work!

                  I don't know what could be wrong. INCLUDEPATH does have an effect to QtCreator, because when I try to include one of my own headers, it searches and autofills the name of the header file. So QtCreator searches for those files in the INCLUDEPATH I set, but it can't combine them when trying to build the project...

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • mrjjM Offline
                    mrjjM Offline
                    mrjj
                    Lifetime Qt Champion
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #13

                    No, it works that way. pr default. Nothing I have seen in Creator adjust that.
                    Only thing that can go wrong is path is invalid ( on windows, spaces in path can be issue)

                    HEADERS += libA.h

                    Will work if the libA.h is in the same folder as the .pro file
                    Else its FALSE and will not work.

                    B 1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • mrjjM mrjj

                      No, it works that way. pr default. Nothing I have seen in Creator adjust that.
                      Only thing that can go wrong is path is invalid ( on windows, spaces in path can be issue)

                      HEADERS += libA.h

                      Will work if the libA.h is in the same folder as the .pro file
                      Else its FALSE and will not work.

                      B Offline
                      B Offline
                      Binary91
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #14

                      @mrjj
                      I found out that the problem only appears to a few header files!

                      I include 3 headers, each declaring a subclass of a standard Qt class:

                      INCLUDEPATH += C:/Qt/lib/headers
                      
                      HEADERS += main.h
                      
                      SOURCES += main.cpp \
                      myQLineEdit.cpp \
                      myQPushButton.cpp \
                      myQString.cpp
                      

                      The errors appear to the functions defined in the source files myQLineEdit.cpp and myQPushButton.cpp, but NOT in myQString.cpp!

                      I think I got the problem!! In myQLineEdit and myQPushButton class, I do have a Q_OBJECT. Can this cause the problems??

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • mrjjM Offline
                        mrjjM Offline
                        mrjj
                        Lifetime Qt Champion
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #15

                        Q_OBJECT is used by a tool called moc.exe to help make signals and slot possible
                        It should not to anything with regards to include files. :)
                        As far as I have ever seen.

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        2
                        • B Offline
                          B Offline
                          Binary91
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #16

                          that is really annoying..
                          Why do those undefind reference errors appear to some of my source files but not to all of them?
                          Don't know where to search for an answer now

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • B Offline
                            B Offline
                            Binary91
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #17

                            By the way:
                            the problem really is Q_OBJECT...

                            I just wrote "Q_OBJECT" into the myQString class and look what happened: undefined reference vtable ... in myQString.cpp!

                            So Q_OBJECT makes the problems why I have to add all headers to the project! How can I avoid this?

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • mrjjM Offline
                              mrjjM Offline
                              mrjj
                              Lifetime Qt Champion
                              wrote on last edited by mrjj
                              #18

                              when u add Q_OBJECT, please run qmake!

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              2
                              • B Offline
                                B Offline
                                Binary91
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #19

                                I already tried that.
                                Building, running
                                Building, qmake, running
                                qmake, running
                                qmake, building, running

                                None of the above ways succeded

                                mrjjM 1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • B Binary91

                                  I already tried that.
                                  Building, running
                                  Building, qmake, running
                                  qmake, running
                                  qmake, building, running

                                  None of the above ways succeded

                                  mrjjM Offline
                                  mrjjM Offline
                                  mrjj
                                  Lifetime Qt Champion
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #20

                                  @Binary91
                                  then please as last test
                                  Complete delete the build folder.

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • B Offline
                                    B Offline
                                    Binary91
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #21

                                    tried that, two.

                                    Deleted everything but my project file and the sources/headers. Didn't work :-(

                                    Is it possible that qmake ignores INCLUDEPATH?

                                    mrjjM 1 Reply Last reply
                                    1
                                    • B Binary91

                                      tried that, two.

                                      Deleted everything but my project file and the sources/headers. Didn't work :-(

                                      Is it possible that qmake ignores INCLUDEPATH?

                                      mrjjM Offline
                                      mrjjM Offline
                                      mrjj
                                      Lifetime Qt Champion
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #22

                                      @Binary91
                                      Well anything seems possible with your setup. :)
                                      Q_OBJECT should not bork anything.

                                      Im out of ideas :)

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • B Offline
                                        B Offline
                                        Binary91
                                        wrote on last edited by Binary91
                                        #23

                                        Well, I'll post the whole project file, its headers and sources and maybe you can copy/paste it and try to run it with?

                                        If it works, then it is a setting problem. If not, something with my include logic doesn't work.

                                        project file:

                                        #-------------------------------------------------
                                        #
                                        # Project created by QtCreator 2016-11-17T15:45:17
                                        #
                                        #-------------------------------------------------
                                        
                                        QT       += core gui
                                        
                                        greaterThan(QT_MAJOR_VERSION, 4): QT += widgets
                                        
                                        TARGET = CourseCalculator
                                        TEMPLATE = app
                                        
                                        INCLUDEPATH += C:/Qt/lib/headers
                                        
                                        HEADERS  += main.h
                                        
                                        SOURCES += main.cpp
                                                   C:/Qt/lib/sources/myQString.cpp \
                                                   C:/Qt/lib/sources/myQLineEdit.cpp \
                                                   C:/Qt/lib/sources/myQPushButton.cpp
                                        
                                        

                                        main.cpp:

                                        // main.cpp
                                        
                                        #include "main.h"
                                        
                                        int main(int argc, char *argv[])
                                        {
                                          QApplication applicationApp(argc, argv);
                                          clsWindowMain windowMain;
                                        
                                          QTimer::singleShot(0, &windowMain, SLOT(slotStart()));
                                          int ret = applicationApp.exec();
                                          return ret;
                                        }
                                        
                                        main.h:
                                        

                                        // main.h

                                        #ifndef MAIN_H
                                        #define MAIN_H
                                        
                                        #include <QApplication>
                                        #include <QTimer>
                                        #include <QWidget>
                                        #include <QDialog>
                                        
                                        #endif // MAIN_H
                                        

                                        myQLineEdit.h:

                                        // myQLineEdit.h
                                        
                                        #ifndef MYQLINEEDIT_H
                                        #define MYQLINEEDIT_H
                                        
                                        #include <QDebug>
                                        #include <QLineEdit>
                                        #include <QMessageBox>
                                        #include <QDir>
                                        
                                        
                                        // forward declaration
                                        
                                        class myQLineEdit;
                                        
                                        
                                        // declaration
                                        
                                        class myQLineEdit : public QLineEdit
                                        {
                                          Q_OBJECT
                                        
                                          // .. properties
                                        
                                          public:
                                            myQLineEdit(QWidget* widgetParent = 0);
                                            ~myQLineEdit();
                                        
                                            // .. more methods
                                        };
                                        
                                        #endif
                                        
                                        

                                        myQLineEdit.cpp:

                                        // myQLineEdit.cpp
                                        
                                        #include <myQLineEdit.h> // absolute path or absolute path with whitespaces also doesn't work
                                        
                                        
                                        // ----- constructors -----
                                        
                                        myQLineEdit::myQLineEdit(QWidget* widgetParent) : QLineEdit(widgetParent)
                                        {
                                           // stuff
                                        }
                                        

                                        Is that compilable for you?

                                        mrjjM 1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • B Binary91

                                          Well, I'll post the whole project file, its headers and sources and maybe you can copy/paste it and try to run it with?

                                          If it works, then it is a setting problem. If not, something with my include logic doesn't work.

                                          project file:

                                          #-------------------------------------------------
                                          #
                                          # Project created by QtCreator 2016-11-17T15:45:17
                                          #
                                          #-------------------------------------------------
                                          
                                          QT       += core gui
                                          
                                          greaterThan(QT_MAJOR_VERSION, 4): QT += widgets
                                          
                                          TARGET = CourseCalculator
                                          TEMPLATE = app
                                          
                                          INCLUDEPATH += C:/Qt/lib/headers
                                          
                                          HEADERS  += main.h
                                          
                                          SOURCES += main.cpp
                                                     C:/Qt/lib/sources/myQString.cpp \
                                                     C:/Qt/lib/sources/myQLineEdit.cpp \
                                                     C:/Qt/lib/sources/myQPushButton.cpp
                                          
                                          

                                          main.cpp:

                                          // main.cpp
                                          
                                          #include "main.h"
                                          
                                          int main(int argc, char *argv[])
                                          {
                                            QApplication applicationApp(argc, argv);
                                            clsWindowMain windowMain;
                                          
                                            QTimer::singleShot(0, &windowMain, SLOT(slotStart()));
                                            int ret = applicationApp.exec();
                                            return ret;
                                          }
                                          
                                          main.h:
                                          

                                          // main.h

                                          #ifndef MAIN_H
                                          #define MAIN_H
                                          
                                          #include <QApplication>
                                          #include <QTimer>
                                          #include <QWidget>
                                          #include <QDialog>
                                          
                                          #endif // MAIN_H
                                          

                                          myQLineEdit.h:

                                          // myQLineEdit.h
                                          
                                          #ifndef MYQLINEEDIT_H
                                          #define MYQLINEEDIT_H
                                          
                                          #include <QDebug>
                                          #include <QLineEdit>
                                          #include <QMessageBox>
                                          #include <QDir>
                                          
                                          
                                          // forward declaration
                                          
                                          class myQLineEdit;
                                          
                                          
                                          // declaration
                                          
                                          class myQLineEdit : public QLineEdit
                                          {
                                            Q_OBJECT
                                          
                                            // .. properties
                                          
                                            public:
                                              myQLineEdit(QWidget* widgetParent = 0);
                                              ~myQLineEdit();
                                          
                                              // .. more methods
                                          };
                                          
                                          #endif
                                          
                                          

                                          myQLineEdit.cpp:

                                          // myQLineEdit.cpp
                                          
                                          #include <myQLineEdit.h> // absolute path or absolute path with whitespaces also doesn't work
                                          
                                          
                                          // ----- constructors -----
                                          
                                          myQLineEdit::myQLineEdit(QWidget* widgetParent) : QLineEdit(widgetParent)
                                          {
                                             // stuff
                                          }
                                          

                                          Is that compilable for you?

                                          mrjjM Offline
                                          mrjjM Offline
                                          mrjj
                                          Lifetime Qt Champion
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #24

                                          @Binary91
                                          would be very much easier if you zipped folder and shared via dropbox or g drive as
                                          copy paste to real files again is very error prone and time consuming :)

                                          1 Reply Last reply
                                          0

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