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Forum Update on Monday, May 27th 2025

Qt Creator launch: app not closing and/or "Press <RETURN> to close this window..." missing

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  • M massimo.cristofolini

    @JKSH said in Qt Creator launch: app not closing and/or "Press <RETURN> to close this window..." missing:

    Look at your .pro file. Does it have the line CONFIG += console?

    Yep.

    Here is the .pro file

    QT -= gui
    
    CONFIG += c++11 console
    CONFIG -= app_bundle
    
    # The following define makes your compiler emit warnings if you use
    # any feature of Qt which as been marked deprecated (the exact warnings
    # depend on your compiler). Please consult the documentation of the
    # deprecated API in order to know how to port your code away from it.
    DEFINES += QT_DEPRECATED_WARNINGS
    
    # You can also make your code fail to compile if you use deprecated APIs.
    # In order to do so, uncomment the following line.
    # You can also select to disable deprecated APIs only up to a certain version of Qt.
    #DEFINES += QT_DISABLE_DEPRECATED_BEFORE=0x060000    # disables all the APIs deprecated before Qt 6.0.0
    
    SOURCES += main.cpp
    
    

    main.cpp source code

    #include <QCoreApplication>
    
    int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    {
      QCoreApplication a(argc, argv);
    
      if(argc != 2)
      {
        printf("Usage:\n");
        printf("  %s <your_name>\n", argv[0]);
        return 1;
      }
    
      printf("Hello %s!\n", argv[1]);
    
      return a.exec();
    }
    
    

    If I provide a command line argument, I get the "Hello ....!" output, exec() is called and the terminal get stuck.
    NOTE: the software won't exit both when run via Qt Creator AND standalone via terminal. No good... Looks more like a Qt related problem than a Qt Creator one.

    If I don't provide an input argument, the software exits before calling exec(). Running from Qt Creator I don't get the "Press <RETURN> to close this window..." and the terminal closes automatically, without letting me see the "Usage" message (too fast).
    (Obviously, I don't get the "Press <RETURN> to close this window..." when running from terminal; but that's not an expected behaviour.)

    JKSHJ Offline
    JKSHJ Offline
    JKSH
    Moderators
    wrote on last edited by
    #4

    @massimo.cristofolini said in Qt Creator launch: app not closing and/or "Press <RETURN> to close this window..." missing:

    NOTE: the software won't exit both when run via Qt Creator AND standalone via terminal. No good... Looks more like a Qt related problem than a Qt Creator one.

    a.exec() blocks until QCoreApplication::quit() is called, so I'm not surprised that it gets stuck.

    If I don't provide an input argument, the software exits before calling exec(). Running from Qt Creator I don't get the "Press <RETURN> to close this window..." and the terminal closes automatically, without letting me see the "Usage" message (too fast).
    (Obviously, I don't get the "Press <RETURN> to close this window..." when running from terminal; but that's not an expected behaviour.)

    I'm not sure what's happening here, sorry.

    I've updated to Qt Creator 4.5.0 too, but I still get "Press <RETURN> to close this window..." for console applications that I run from Qt Creator. I used Qt 5.9.0 (MinGW 5.3.0) and Qt 5.10.0 (MSVC 2015).

    Does this happen on a different computer for you?

    Qt Doc Search for browsers: forum.qt.io/topic/35616/web-browser-extension-for-improved-doc-searches

    M 1 Reply Last reply
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    • JKSHJ JKSH

      @massimo.cristofolini said in Qt Creator launch: app not closing and/or "Press <RETURN> to close this window..." missing:

      NOTE: the software won't exit both when run via Qt Creator AND standalone via terminal. No good... Looks more like a Qt related problem than a Qt Creator one.

      a.exec() blocks until QCoreApplication::quit() is called, so I'm not surprised that it gets stuck.

      If I don't provide an input argument, the software exits before calling exec(). Running from Qt Creator I don't get the "Press <RETURN> to close this window..." and the terminal closes automatically, without letting me see the "Usage" message (too fast).
      (Obviously, I don't get the "Press <RETURN> to close this window..." when running from terminal; but that's not an expected behaviour.)

      I'm not sure what's happening here, sorry.

      I've updated to Qt Creator 4.5.0 too, but I still get "Press <RETURN> to close this window..." for console applications that I run from Qt Creator. I used Qt 5.9.0 (MinGW 5.3.0) and Qt 5.10.0 (MSVC 2015).

      Does this happen on a different computer for you?

      M Offline
      M Offline
      massimo.cristofolini
      wrote on last edited by massimo.cristofolini
      #5

      @JKSH said in Qt Creator launch: app not closing and/or "Press <RETURN> to close this window..." missing:

      a.exec() blocks until QCoreApplication::quit() is called, so I'm not surprised that it gets stuck.

      I'm pretty sure that an empty Qt Console template program had always exited without needing to call quit(). Can you kindly test this?

      @JKSH said in Qt Creator launch: app not closing and/or "Press <RETURN> to close this window..." missing:

      I'm not sure what's happening here, sorry.

      I've updated to Qt Creator 4.5.0 too, but I still get "Press <RETURN> to close this window..." for console applications that I run from Qt Creator. I used Qt 5.9.0 (MinGW 5.3.0) and Qt 5.10.0 (MSVC 2015).

      Does this happen on a different computer for you?

      On a non-updated system everything is fine. I'll update it and see qhat happens.
      I'll also test the Qt Console template "auto-quit" on another system.

      1 Reply Last reply
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      • M Offline
        M Offline
        massimo.cristofolini
        wrote on last edited by
        #6

        Tested the previously attached project.

        Qt Creator 4.2.2 on Windows, Qt 5.7.0 MSVC2015 32 bit:

        • no command argument passed (no exec() called), launched from Qt Creator: program exits with "Press <RETURN> to close this window..."
        • command argument passed (exec() called), launched from Qt Creator: sw locks
        • command argument passed (exec() called), launched from terminal: sw locks

        Qt Creator 4.2.1 on Linux, Qt 5.9.1 GCC 64 bit:

        • no command argument passed (no exec() called), launched from Qt Creator: program exits with "Press <RETURN> to close this window..."
        • command argument passed (exec() called), launched from Qt Creator: sw locks
        • command argument passed (exec() called), launched from terminal: sw locks

        Looks like you're right about the fact that one need to call quit(). I'm still quite sure about a different behavior for older Qt versions. Whatever...

        Regarding the "Press <RETURN> to close this window...", with these older Qt Creator version I got the line. I'll try updating Qt Creator on a PC and see what happens.

        1 Reply Last reply
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        • M Offline
          M Offline
          massimo.cristofolini
          wrote on last edited by
          #7

          I've just updated the previously mentioned Windows system with Qt Creator 4.5.0, still Qt 5.7.0 MSVC2015 32 bit (NOTE: same behavior with Qt 5.7.0 MSVC2015 64 bit).
          I've lost the "Press <RETURN> to close this window..." at the end of debug.

          BUT! I've just noticed that if I Run from Qt Creator instead of Start Debugging, I get the "Press <RETURN> to close this window..." line.
          Looks like something related to the debugger.
          Interesting thing, after updating Qt Creator I couldn't run the debugger from the IDE, and an error message informed me to reinstall "CDB Debugger Support". After reinstalling (actually, just installing; the component wasn't checked) I can run the debugger, but no "Press <RETURN> to close this window..." line.
          A solution -could- be to reinstall Qt from fresh. But that's quite annoying... Also, I'm not sure it will actually fix the problem.

          Any idea?

          1 Reply Last reply
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          • M Offline
            M Offline
            massimo.cristofolini
            wrote on last edited by
            #8

            Back to the topic after the winter break.

            I've reinstalled a fresh Qt develop environent on Windows. Awfully, the behavior is still the same. With MSVC compiler (and debugger), no "Press <RETURN> to close this window..." line.
            I've noticed that with MinGW I get the "Press <RETURN> to close this window..." line.

            Given the fact that MinGW is behaving as expected, the fact that the previous test on Linux worked was due to the compiler/debugger more than the Qt version (MinGW is a "Windowized g++")
            I suppose that the "CDB Debugger Support" componet installed with the new versions of Qt is screwing some things, and the "Press <RETURN> to close this window..." line won't be displayed no more.

            Is there anyone that can confirm this behavior?
            And anyone else that knows how to fix it? :)

            1 Reply Last reply
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            • mrjjM Offline
              mrjjM Offline
              mrjj
              Lifetime Qt Champion
              wrote on last edited by
              #9

              Hi
              Not sure if we think about the same command prompt, but ill just mentioned it anyway

              alt text

              Try flipflop it.

              1 Reply Last reply
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              • M Offline
                M Offline
                massimo.cristofolini
                wrote on last edited by
                #10

                Yep, I'm talking about that command promt.
                The "Run in terminal" checkbox is checked. No better result by unchecking/rechecking/whatever.
                From your screenshot, it looks like you are using the last version of Qt libraries (Qt 5.10.0), but an old version of Qt Creator, am I right? As said in my first messages, with older version of Qt Creator (and Qt libs) everything behaved as expected.
                If someone can kindly test the last release of Qt+Qt Creator with MSVC compiler/debugger and report their results I'll be very thankful!

                mrjjM 1 Reply Last reply
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                • M massimo.cristofolini

                  Yep, I'm talking about that command promt.
                  The "Run in terminal" checkbox is checked. No better result by unchecking/rechecking/whatever.
                  From your screenshot, it looks like you are using the last version of Qt libraries (Qt 5.10.0), but an old version of Qt Creator, am I right? As said in my first messages, with older version of Qt Creator (and Qt libs) everything behaved as expected.
                  If someone can kindly test the last release of Qt+Qt Creator with MSVC compiler/debugger and report their results I'll be very thankful!

                  mrjjM Offline
                  mrjjM Offline
                  mrjj
                  Lifetime Qt Champion
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #11

                  @massimo.cristofolini
                  Hi
                  its the Creator that comes with
                  Qt5.10. Im just using the classic theme.
                  Ill check exact version when possible.

                  1 Reply Last reply
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                  • M Offline
                    M Offline
                    massimo.cristofolini
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #12

                    Fooled by the picture.
                    Uhm... so it actually looks like I'm the only unlucky guy that's experiencing this behavior.
                    Another test I can make is to install the last version of Qt on a clean Windows system. Will take a while...

                    mrjjM 1 Reply Last reply
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                    • M massimo.cristofolini

                      Fooled by the picture.
                      Uhm... so it actually looks like I'm the only unlucky guy that's experiencing this behavior.
                      Another test I can make is to install the last version of Qt on a clean Windows system. Will take a while...

                      mrjjM Offline
                      mrjjM Offline
                      mrjj
                      Lifetime Qt Champion
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #13

                      Hi
                      If it works with mingw compiler, then it sounds like something with VS compiler ?

                      M 1 Reply Last reply
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                      • mrjjM mrjj

                        Hi
                        If it works with mingw compiler, then it sounds like something with VS compiler ?

                        M Offline
                        M Offline
                        massimo.cristofolini
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #14

                        @mrjj I agree. But since I've started experiencing this behavior just after Qt upgrade, on 2 systems, I have to say that both MSVC and Qt have something to do with it.

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

                          Hi
                          Im on Creator 5.10 with vs 2015
                          Maybe delete .user file and set compiler again ?
                          Or test with default empty project and set Run in terminal.

                          1 Reply Last reply
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                          • M Offline
                            M Offline
                            massimo.cristofolini
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #16

                            As said in the first post, this happens with the default and almost-default console project.
                            Tried to delete .user file of an existing project: no luck.
                            Tried creating a new project again: still no luck.

                            mrjjM 1 Reply Last reply
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                            • M massimo.cristofolini

                              As said in the first post, this happens with the default and almost-default console project.
                              Tried to delete .user file of an existing project: no luck.
                              Tried creating a new project again: still no luck.

                              mrjjM Offline
                              mrjjM Offline
                              mrjj
                              Lifetime Qt Champion
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #17

                              @massimo.cristofolini

                              Ok. i really dont know how it can "fall off"
                              I have not heard about this before.

                              it DOES run the qcreator_process_stub.exe ?
                              (as seen in my image - caption)

                              M 1 Reply Last reply
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                              • mrjjM mrjj

                                @massimo.cristofolini

                                Ok. i really dont know how it can "fall off"
                                I have not heard about this before.

                                it DOES run the qcreator_process_stub.exe ?
                                (as seen in my image - caption)

                                M Offline
                                M Offline
                                massimo.cristofolini
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #18

                                @mrjj Now THAT was the right question!
                                Running a MinGW project opens the executable in qcreator_process_stub.exe.
                                Running from a MSVC runs the actual executable (the window title is the executable full path).
                                The Run Settings for both configurations (MinGW and MSVC (x86 and x64)) looks identical to me; both have "Run in terminal" checked, ... Maybe I have to look in the Run Environment section, since both are set to "use Build Environment", but maybe the environment variables differ for the two configrurations.
                                Any other hint about where to look at?

                                mrjjM 1 Reply Last reply
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                                • M massimo.cristofolini

                                  @mrjj Now THAT was the right question!
                                  Running a MinGW project opens the executable in qcreator_process_stub.exe.
                                  Running from a MSVC runs the actual executable (the window title is the executable full path).
                                  The Run Settings for both configurations (MinGW and MSVC (x86 and x64)) looks identical to me; both have "Run in terminal" checked, ... Maybe I have to look in the Run Environment section, since both are set to "use Build Environment", but maybe the environment variables differ for the two configrurations.
                                  Any other hint about where to look at?

                                  mrjjM Offline
                                  mrjjM Offline
                                  mrjj
                                  Lifetime Qt Champion
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #19

                                  @massimo.cristofolini

                                  Hi. i didnt find anything else to check with this.
                                  I find it odd if u delete .user file and select compiler how
                                  "run in terminal" can do differently. very odd.

                                  aha_1980A 1 Reply Last reply
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                                  • mrjjM mrjj

                                    @massimo.cristofolini

                                    Hi. i didnt find anything else to check with this.
                                    I find it odd if u delete .user file and select compiler how
                                    "run in terminal" can do differently. very odd.

                                    aha_1980A Offline
                                    aha_1980A Offline
                                    aha_1980
                                    Lifetime Qt Champion
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #20

                                    @mrjj said:

                                    Hi. i didnt find anything else to check with this.
                                    I find it odd if u delete .user file and select compiler how
                                    "run in terminal" can do differently. very odd.

                                    Very odd could mean it's a bug. I didn't find something like this problem in the bug database yet.

                                    @massimo-cristofolini: So you could report this issue at bugreports.qt.io

                                    Qt has to stay free or it will die.

                                    1 Reply Last reply
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                                    • M Offline
                                      M Offline
                                      massimo.cristofolini
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #21

                                      Done
                                      https://bugreports.qt.io/browse/QTCREATORBUG-19633

                                      1 Reply Last reply
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