Qt Programming Language

Allanis · wrote on 26 Sept 2017, 21:55

@Allanis said in Qt Programming Language:

@Annabelle Sorry, I was at work when I made my initial response to this thread. A more elaborate answer for you follows as I take it you are beginning in Qt and it may be difficult for you to look up resources.

Given the scope of your project I think it will suffice to use a simple Qmake project file such as:

myapp.pro
TEMPLATE = app

QT += widgets

SOURCES += main.cpp \
    MainWindow.cpp \
    SpouseWidget.cpp

HEADERS += \
    MainWindow.h \
    SpouswWidget.h

OTHER_FILES += \
    anyotherfile.png
You may need to make changes to this in order to fit the needs of your project, but this should be a good enough example for you.

Once you have this in place, you can open up your favorite Command Line Interface (eg. cmd.exe for Windows).

Type:
qmake myapp.pro
make
Your compiler will generate a binary file for your application at this point.

I hope this helps,
Have fun.

Allanis · 26 Sept 2017, 23:47

The above was posted four days ago. You have not compiled and tested your program at all?

Annabelle · 27 Sept 2017, 08:20

@Allanis said in Qt Programming Language:

The above was posted four days ago. You have not compiled and tested your program at all?

No I haven't compiled and tested my program yet. I'm still writing up the code. I'm wondering if there's a .chm help file out there, which will list all the available possibilities for parameters like buttons, checkboxes, radiobuttons, tooltips, infotips, comboboxes, and edit boxes (both single line and multi line).

Allanis · wrote on 27 Sept 2017, 08:20

@Annabelle I struggled to find a .chm for you. But the best place you can look for help with the SDK is the official documentation: http://doc.qt.io/qt-5/

Check out:
http://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qtwidgets-module.html
You will find what you need in relation to Radio Buttons, tooltips etc..

Sunfluxgames · 27 Sept 2017, 19:54

@Annabelle My suggestion would be to start small. Split your project up into small pieces rather than look at it as a whole. I would use a Qwizard and make pages with the ability to select options and those options give out the results you are looking for.

I would get some Ebooks on C++ and learn the basics. Start with console applications and learn the basics of what you are trying to do. Make a text story with options and results base on what is written in the command prompt. Little stuff like this will help you understand the basics of programming.

When it comes to QT your gonna have to learn it from the ground up. Learn about the main..

"You can't put the cart before the horse"

Annabelle · wrote on 27 Sept 2017, 19:54

@Sunfluxgames said in Qt Programming Language:

@Annabelle My suggestion would be to start small. Split your project up into small pieces rather than look at it as a whole. I would use a Qwizard and make pages with the ability to select options and those options give out the results you are looking for.

I would get some Ebooks on C++ and learn the basics. Start with console applications and learn the basics of what you are trying to do. Make a text story with options and results base on what is written in the command prompt. Little stuff like this will help you understand the basics of programming.

When it comes to QT your gonna have to learn it from the ground up. Learn about the main..

"You can't put the cart before the horse"

So for example, in the Wedding Elements Page of the wizard, there are checkboxes with different titles, and I want to give a description of what each title means. Would I give it as a "QToolTip", or a "QWhatsThis"? The following is an example in HTML of one of the Checkboxes. The part that says "<span Data-tooltip" is the part where I need help converting to Qt, and is the part where I'm confused on which widget to choose, either QToolTip or QWhatsThis.

							<label class="checkbox">
								<span data-tooltip="It is required by law that a wedding ceremony include a Declaration of Intent to marry between the two individuals electing to join in the marriage contract." This can be in the form of an "I Do", where the minister/officiant asks questions to the soon-to-be married couple beginning with "Do you", and in turn, the couple answers "I do". Or it can be in the form of an "I Will", where the minister/officiant asks questions to the soon-to-be married couple beginning with "Will you", and in turn, the couple answers "I will.".>
									<input checked="checked" value="declarationOfIntent" id="elements-declaration-of-intent" type="checkbox">
									Declaration of Intent
								</span>
							</label>

mrdebug · 28 Sept 2017, 02:34

It is incredible how many people are helping Annabelle.... But why?

Annabelle · 28 Sept 2017, 04:00

@mrdebug

@mrdebug said in Qt Programming Language:

It is incredible how many people are helping Annabelle.... But why?

What makes you ask why? Is it because I'm confused on whose advice to take? There are so many answers, I can't seem to tell which one to choose first. I mean, one wants me to make wizard pages. One wants me to use the Qt Creator to make the program, when my screenreader can't access it. one wants me to look at books that are most likely either only available as a physical print copy, or as a format which can't be read by my screenreader. One tells me I should go to outside sources other than the Qt website to find answers. Now my mind is in a whirlpool!

ambershark · 28 Sept 2017, 05:00

@Annabelle Definitely don't use Qt Creator. If your screen reader doesn't support it that will just make things a lot harder.

I have written Qt apps for about 16 years and never used Qt Creator. You definitely don't need it.

As for what you need.. You said you need to be able to compile on the command line. Doing this is quite easy with Qt. First answer a couple questions for me and I can give you a complete step by step on how to get a program building. Once you can build a simple program, then you can worry about what goes into it like wizards and such.

What operating system are you using?
What compiler are you using? If windows is it visual studio or mingw? If linux it will probably be gcc, and if osx it will probably be clang. So mostly I just need to know in case of using windows.

@mrdebug We're all helping because it is very inspiring to see someone who is blind trying to learn and do something so sight oriented. The challenge she faces seems almost insurmountable to me. I am willing to help everyone on these forums but some people just deserve that extra attention. :)

Annabelle · wrote on 28 Sept 2017, 05:00

@ambershark said in Qt Programming Language:

@Annabelle Definitely don't use Qt Creator. If your screen reader doesn't support it that will just make things a lot harder.

I have written Qt apps for about 16 years and never used Qt Creator. You definitely don't need it.

As for what you need.. You said you need to be able to compile on the command line. Doing this is quite easy with Qt. First answer a couple questions for me and I can give you a complete step by step on how to get a program building. Once you can build a simple program, then you can worry about what goes into it like wizards and such.

What operating system are you using?

What compiler are you using? If windows is it visual studio or mingw? If linux it will probably be gcc, and if osx it will probably be clang. So mostly I just need to know in case of using windows.

@mrdebug We're all helping because it is very inspiring to see someone who is blind trying to learn and do something so sight oriented. The challenge she faces seems almost insurmountable to me. I am willing to help everyone on these forums but some people just deserve that extra attention. :)

I think the compiler I have is Mingw.
On one machine, I have Windows XP 32 Bit (I haven't upgraded that machine to Windows 7 64 Bit, as it would be $787 for a whole new machine, money I don't have right now.) On the machine on which I'm making my program's code, I have Windows 7 64 Bit.

ambershark · wrote on 28 Sept 2017, 08:32

Ok so for mingw/windows you will need to open a command prompt, press window+r and type cmd then press enter.

Once in the command prompt cd to your code directory.

Then, if you do not have a project file, *.pro, you can create one with qmake -project. This will create a <name of your directory>.pro file for you.

You can then edit that file to include other sources and add QT options and CONFIG options.

Then just run qmake and then finally mingw32-make to build your project.

You will need to make sure that your environment path has the path to qmake and mingw32-make. I prefer to use an msys environment for my qmake/make since I'm a linux user and it is bash like. That's probably a bit much for first time though, so stick with the command prompt for now.

J.Hilk · 28 Sept 2017, 17:23

Additionally to what @ambershark said,
You should between the step qmake -project and qmake change your directory to a so called Shadow-Build Folder otherwise the commands qmake and make will create a big mess in your project folder.
They will automatically create a whole lot of files and directories, that are not neccessary for your creation of the app, but the compiler will need those.

Annabelle · 28 Sept 2017, 21:02

@J.Hilk said in Qt Programming Language:

Additionally to what @ambershark said,
You should between the step qmake -project and qmake change your directory to a so called Shadow-Build Folder otherwise the commands qmake and make will create a big mess in your project folder.
They will automatically create a whole lot of files and directories, that are not neccessary for your creation of the app, but the compiler will need those.

"Shadow Build folders"? What are those?

SGaist · 29 Sept 2017, 00:50

It's a folder outside of the sources of your application, usually at the same level:

--Code
----MyCoolProject
----build-mycoolproject

ambershark · wrote on 28 Sept 2017, 21:02

@Annabelle Basically they keep your source directories clean without putting a bunch of object files, libs, exes, etc into your source dirs.

I would have mentioned that, as it is a much better way to keep your source clean instead of relying on make clean and make distclean.

Annabelle · 29 Sept 2017, 05:13

@SGaist said in Qt Programming Language:

It's a folder outside of the sources of your application, usually at the same level:
--Code
----MyCoolProject
----build-mycoolproject

So for example, if I want to build my Ceremony Script Generator after writing all the codes for each page, I would write:

--Code
----CeremonyScriptGenerator
----build-ceremonyscriptgenerator

ambershark · wrote on 29 Sept 2017, 05:13

@Annabelle Yes that would work. Remember shadow build directories can literally be anywhere. I tend to have mine inside my project in a dir called build, but it can literally be any directory that you like. The purpose is just to keep your code clean. It lets you delete the build directory at any time to clean up without affecting your code.

Annabelle · 29 Sept 2017, 22:27

If I ever uninstall Qt Creator, is there a way to install just the Mingw compiler? Or can Mingw and Qt be accessed directly through the Command Prompt?

mrjj · wrote on 29 Sept 2017, 22:27

@Annabelle
Hi
Creator is just an editor and can be uninstalled while keeping the mingw compiler and
Qt framework.
You can compile from command prompt yes.

To uninstall Creator, you can use the maintenance tool.
It is located in the root of the Qt folder. Normally c:\Qt
the tool is called MaintenanceTool.exe
Im not sure it works with a screen reader though.

That said, it only saves you around 400 mb.

Annabelle · 30 Sept 2017, 09:02

I've successfully uninstalled QT Creator, but unfortunately the Mingw compiler is gone, too. Is there a way to get the Mingw compiler separately?