Basic question: Including headers with INCLUDEPATH doesn't work

mrjj

@Binary91
well a zipped project is ultra small. so delete/remove something for a moment and it should have space :)

btw: G Drive is 15 GB but the client is nowhere near as nice as dropbox.

jsulm

@Binary91 If you derive from Qt classes which are derived from QObject then you need to include the generated moc_ files.
For example in myQLineEdit.cpp add

#include "moc_myQLineEdit.cpp"

Binary91

but from where do I get this moc file?
If I try to include, compiler gives me an error that it can not find such file or directory

btw:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/whqdkcat767224t/test.zip?dl=0

jsulm

@Binary91 You should read the Qt documentation. The moc_ files are generated for you using moc tool. Take a look at the build directory.

jsulm

@Binary91 Why do you have a main.h? This is quite unusual.

jsulm

@Binary91 For QApplication you need QT += gui, else you should use QCoreApplication.

Buckwheat

@jsulm , why would you include the MOC files? I "never" include the MOC files in my source because they get generated, compiled, and linked after the normal build. The only generated file I would include is the ui_NameOfForm.h file created when using the form designer. And, only in the CPP for the UI class.

@Binary91 , I am sure it was explained that INCLUDEPATH tells qmake where to find common include files. I use it for 3rd party libraries or pre-built packages I developed for Qt (I treat them like 3rd party libraries). And, as I know you know... always run qmake after changing a PRO file.

There is one curious item I have found about QtCreator though... if you are using static libraries (even if your dependencies are setup) and make a change to a CPP file in the library... Press build-all and it will build the library and NOT re-link the application or shared library that depends on that static library. Kind of annoying but I just get around it!

Binary91

I know what moc files are, but they were not permanently created by QtCreator (not in my build folder).
But can you tell me why I should have to generate them and manually include them when it works to simply add the headers to the project?
I mean, I wanted to reduce work by using INCLUDEPATH and NOT adding all the included headers.
Generating moc files and manually adding them is not reducing but increasing work.

Also I do not understand why I should include them when I don't need it if I add the headers directly...

jsulm

@Binary91 Where is myudp.cpp ?

jsulm

@jsulm With some fixes I can build your project.
pro file:

QT       += core network

QT       -= gui

TARGET = test
CONFIG   += console
CONFIG   -= app_bundle

TEMPLATE = app

INCLUDES += lib/headers/myQLineEdit.h

SOURCES += main.cpp \
    #myudp.cpp

#HEADERS += \
#    myudp.h

main.cpp

#include <QCoreApplication>

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
  QCoreApplication applicationApp(argc, argv);
  //clsWindowMain windowMain;

  //QTimer::singleShot(0, &windowMain, SLOT(slotStart()));
  int ret = applicationApp.exec();
  return ret;
}

jsulm

@Binary91 Where I did say you have to create moc_ files manually?
They are generated for you. And they are completely unrelated to your problem!

Binary91

It's getting strange now :-D

What is a myudp.cpp ?? I didn't ever used this...

@jsulm
But you are including the header directly now. That is exaclty what I tried to avoid...

Why is main.h unusual? I think using headers as a bundle of #include directives for my purposes is the correct way, so in the source file, there only exists one #include directive to its corresponding header file. Not good?

jsulm

@Binary91 That is what you uploaded:

SOURCES += main.cpp \
    myudp.cpp

main.h is unusual because there is no need for it. You only need a header file if you need to include some functionality provided in one source code file in another one. Where do you want to include main.h and why (and please do not say in main.cpp, because there is no need to do it this way)?
I will try to change your project to use INCLUDEPATH.

jsulm

@Binary91 It builds here if I do:

QT       += core network

QT       -= gui

TARGET = test
CONFIG   += console
CONFIG   -= app_bundle

TEMPLATE = app

#INCLUDES += lib/headers/myQLineEdit.h
INCLUDEPATH += lib/headers

SOURCES += main.cpp

Binary91

I really don't know from where this "myudp.cpp" comes. Maybe a de-zipping error. That should mean "lib/sources/myQLineEdit.cpp"

Yeah this way its getting built on my computer as well, but there you manually added the header file to the project:
INCLUDES += ...
or
HEADERS +=...

That is what I try to avoid by using INCLUDEPATH. That was what the discussion is all about...

jsulm

@Binary91 Where did I add the header file manually?
I commented out the old line, please take a look again:

QT       += core network

QT       -= gui

TARGET = test
CONFIG   += console
CONFIG   -= app_bundle

TEMPLATE = app

#INCLUDES += lib/headers/myQLineEdit.h <-- this line is commented out
INCLUDEPATH += lib/headers

SOURCES += main.cpp

Binary91

but where is the myQLineEdit.cpp ?
You just added the main.cpp. The error occures in myQLineEdit.cpp, because it holds methods of myQLineEdit class in myQLineEdit.h that has a Q_OBJECT within...

jsulm

@Binary91 Your project is really broken:

QT       += core network

QT       += gui widgets

TARGET = test
CONFIG   += console
CONFIG   -= app_bundle

TEMPLATE = app

HEADERS += lib/headers/myQLineEdit.h
INCLUDEPATH += lib/headers

SOURCES += main.cpp \
    lib/sources/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
}

myQLineEdit::~myQLineEdit()
{

}

#include "../build-test-Desktop-Debug/moc_myQLineEdit.cpp"

Without HEADERS moc_ file is not generated and the header file is not shown in QtCreator, so you should use HEADERS.

jsulm

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

#include "../build-test-Desktop-Debug/moc_myQLineEdit.cpp"

you can change it to:

#include "moc_myQLineEdit.cpp"

It builds now on my machine.

jsulm

@Buckwheat You need to include moc_ files for your own classes which are derived from QObject (directly or indirectly).