@Wieland Thanks for the reference - that has worked for me. Also, thanks for the Qbs information - i hadn't seen this before but will look into it @SGaist - thanks for the info I had previously tried something similar but I think it may have been the escaping of quotes which caught me out.

AFAIK, no. However I'd recommend to rather have a comms.pri file that you include in your application .pro file that will do that.