QMake project dependencies not detecting changes in static libs

SGaist

Hi,

If memory serves well, it should be PRE_TARGETDEPS that you are looking for.

alik_co

PRE_TARGETDEPS is not helping so far. With project files shown below, even with "rebuild" of MyDll, MyStaticLib doesn't get built. And with any source changes in MyStaticLib, MyDll doesn't get rebuilt either. Here is what I have:

**.\MyStaticLib\MyStaticLib.pro**
TARGET = MyStaticLib
TEMPLATE = lib
CONFIG += staticlib
CONFIG -= qt
SOURCES += ...
HEADERS += ...

**.\MyDll\MyDll.pro**
TARGET = MyDll
TEMPLATE = lib
CONFIG -= qt
INCLUDEPATH += ../MyStaticLib
SOURCES += ...
HEADERS += ...
PRE_TARGETDEPS += ../MyStaticLib
LIBS += -lMyStaticLib

Is there something I'm not doing right?

SGaist

If memory serves well, you need to list the actual library not the project.

alik_co

No luck with this experiment either. Building MyDll doesn't trigger building MyStaticLib, and I'm getting "dependent D:\ROOT\output\bin\x64\Debug\MyStaticLib.lib does not exist". But if I build MyStaticLib explicitly, then MyDll builds OK.
BTW, adding TARGET.depends makes no difference either.
Note that I'm placing all generated files (objs, libs, bins) outside of the source tree. Is there a chance that qmake dependency tracking system assumes default locations for the generated files?

**.\MyStaticLib\MyStaticLib.pro**
TARGET = MyStaticLib
TEMPLATE = lib
CONFIG += staticlib
CONFIG -= qt
SOURCES += ...
HEADERS += ...

**.\MyDll\MyDll.pro**
TARGET = MyDll
TEMPLATE = lib
CONFIG -= qt
INCLUDEPATH += ../MyStaticLib
SOURCES += ...
HEADERS += ...
PRE_TARGETDEPS += D:\ROOT\output\bin\x64\Debug\MyStaticLib.lib
TARGET.depends += ../MyStaticLib
LIBS += -lMyStaticLib

SGaist

There's no reason for the build of MyDLL to trigger other builds unless you are using a SUBDIRS project where you explicitly state the dependencies between projects.

alik_co

Thanks! Full list of dependencies in the top level project did enable changes detection in the static library.

** MyProject.pro **
TEMPLATE = subdirs
SUBDIRS += MyStaticLib \
           MyDLL       \
           MyApp
MyDLL.depends = MyStaticLib
MyApp.depends = MyDLL

One problem remains: how to get full path to the static lib binary when we have only project name. I have $${DESTDIR}, but I don't know how to get output file name (MyStaticLib.lib vs libMyStaticLib.a)

BTW, inability to get full path to the TARGET output file is a big issue for writing QMAKE_POST_LINK. I'm using workaround by manually adding "lib" prefix and file extension depending on platform, but this is definitely a limitation.

Thanks again,

mchinand

I find the dependency handling between sub-projects better/easier with CMake over qmake's .pro projects.

SGaist

The OUT_PWD variable allows you to get the path to where you will find the build artifacts.

alik_co

There is no problem with the output directory, the problem is with the file name.
Project MyStaticLib produces MyStaticLib.lib on Windows, and libMyStaticLib.a on Linux and Mac.
Project MyDLL produces MyDLL.dll on Windows, libMyDLL.so.1.0.0 on Linux, libMyDLL.1.0.0.dylib on Mac.
Is there a way to get these names without ugly workaround of manually adding prefix and extensions?

alik_co

@mchinand Transition to CMake is in future plans. Right now we need to deal with QMake.

SGaist

If memory serves well, you can use qtLibraryTarget(your_library_name)

alik_co

qtLibraryTarget doesn't work for me as expected (in Qt 6.3)

**.\MyStaticLib\MyStaticLib.pro**
TARGET = MyStaticLib
TEMPLATE = lib
CONFIG += staticlib
CONFIG -= qt
SOURCES += ...
HEADERS += ...
message($$qtLibraryTarget($$TARGET))

While running qmake, I'm getting (on Windows)

Project MESSAGE: MyStaticLib
Project MESSAGE: MyStaticLibd
Project MESSAGE: MyStaticLib

SGaist

Do you have the same result with Qt 5 ?

alik_co

I don't have Qt5 installed anymore. And frankly, it's irrelevant - we're not moving the project back to Qt5 just for this.

mchinand

Have you tried using QMAKE_EXTENSION_SHLIB and QMAKE_EXTENSION_STATICLIB?

alik_co

@mchinand QMAKE_EXTENSION_STATICLIB could help, but it's defined only in context of MyStaticLib project, while I need it in context of another project that references MyStaticLib through PRE_TARGETDEPS.
Is there any way to export a variable from a project and make it visible on SUBDIRS level? export(variable) didn't work for me.
QMAKE_EXTENSION_SHLIB is less useful since in returns "so" and "dylib", while actual extensions are ".so.1.0.0" and ".1.0.0.dylib". So you still have to have platform specific hacks, which diminishes the whole purpose of this variable.

alik_co

Thanks @SGaist and @mchinand for the detailed discussion, let's wrap this up.

Summary

PRE_TARGETDEPS helps detect changes in static libraries.
QMake implements MyModule .depends, but it's missing MyModule. target_full_path which makes it inconvenient to use PRE_TARGETDEPS, and especially QMAKE_POST_LINK. Some platform specific hacks are necessary.

Working solution
Here is an example of a complete solution which detects source changes in all modules, including static libraries. The solution uses a project wide hack, which is not that bad after all.

=== ./.qmake.conf ===
#
# QMake will find .qmake.conf automatically.
#
PROJECT_ROOT = $$PWD


=== ./static_libs.conf ===
#
# Assumes DESTDIR is configured project-wide so all binaries are written to one place.
#
windows {
    MyStaticLib_FULL_PATH = $$shell_path($$DESTDIR/MyStaticLib.lib)
    # ... Other static libraries in the project
} else {
    MyStaticLib_FULL_PATH = $$shell_path($$DESTDIR/libMyStaticLib.a)
    # ... Other static libraries in the project
}


=== ./MyStaticLib/MyStaticLib.pro ===
TARGET = MyStaticLib
TEMPLATE = lib
CONFIG += staticlib
SOURCES += ...
HEADERS += ...


=== ./MySharedLib/MySharedLib.pro ===
TARGET = MySharedLib
TEMPLATE = lib
INCLUDEPATH += ../MyStaticLib
SOURCES += ...
HEADERS += ...
win32:DEF_FILE = MySharedLib.def
LIBS += -lMyStaticLib
#
# NOTE the below 2 lines.
#
include($$PROJECT_ROOT/static_libs.conf)
PRE_TARGETDEPS += MyStaticLib_FULL_PATH


=== ./MyApp/MyApp.pro ===
TARGET = MyApp
TEMPLATE = app
INCLUDEPATH += ../MySharedLib
SOURCES += ...
HEADERS += ...
LIBS += -lMySharedLib


=== ./MyProject.pro ===
TEMPLATE = subdirs
SUBDIRS += MyStaticLib \
           MySharedLib \
           MyApp
MySharedLib.depends = MyStaticLib
MyApp.depends = MySharedLib