<![CDATA[Where does the Qt sqlite plugin look for extension libraries]]>I have made the appropriate modification as found in this thread to enable the Qt sqlite plugin to load extensions. However, when I run SELECT load_extension('spatialite_mod'), I now get the error The specified module could not be found

On a Windows Qt installation, where do I need to put the spatialite_mod.dll file so that it can be found a runtime? I have already tried putting it in the binary directory without any success.

]]>https://forum.qt.io/topic/100380/where-does-the-qt-sqlite-plugin-look-for-extension-librariesRSS for NodeSun, 19 Jul 2026 09:03:03 GMTTue, 05 Mar 2019 16:13:52 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Where does the Qt sqlite plugin look for extension libraries on Wed, 06 Mar 2019 03:01:36 GMT]]>This turned out to be a multi-part problem.

The answer to the original question is that Qt looks for the libraries in the working directory (QDir::currentPath()) and in the Windows PATH.

Part 1:

On Windows, the specified module could not be found error also can mean that one of mod_spatialite.dll dependencies was not found. In my case, I had forgotten to move these dependencies to the same directory as mod_spatialite.dll. They include:

  • libgcc_s_dw2-1.dll
  • libstdc++-6.dll
  • libsqlite3-0.dll
  • libxml2-2.dll
  • zlib1.dll
  • libfreexl-1.dll
  • libgeos_c-1.dll
  • libgeos-3-5-0.dll
  • libiconv-2.dll
  • liblzma-5.cll
  • libproj-9.dll

Part 2:

The libgcc_s_dw2-1.dll and libstdc++-6.dll libraries shipped with libspatialite do not work with Windows 10. Read more about this here and here. They would crash the program when loaded. The fix for me was to grab the same libraries from my Qt installation at C:\Qt\5.11.3\mingw53_32.

]]>https://forum.qt.io/post/515564https://forum.qt.io/post/515564Wed, 06 Mar 2019 03:01:36 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Where does the Qt sqlite plugin look for extension libraries on Wed, 06 Mar 2019 20:08:57 GMT]]>Thanks for the detailed feedback !

]]>https://forum.qt.io/post/515772https://forum.qt.io/post/515772Wed, 06 Mar 2019 20:08:57 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Where does the Qt sqlite plugin look for extension libraries on Wed, 06 Mar 2019 03:01:36 GMT]]>This turned out to be a multi-part problem.

The answer to the original question is that Qt looks for the libraries in the working directory (QDir::currentPath()) and in the Windows PATH.

Part 1:

On Windows, the specified module could not be found error also can mean that one of mod_spatialite.dll dependencies was not found. In my case, I had forgotten to move these dependencies to the same directory as mod_spatialite.dll. They include:

  • libgcc_s_dw2-1.dll
  • libstdc++-6.dll
  • libsqlite3-0.dll
  • libxml2-2.dll
  • zlib1.dll
  • libfreexl-1.dll
  • libgeos_c-1.dll
  • libgeos-3-5-0.dll
  • libiconv-2.dll
  • liblzma-5.cll
  • libproj-9.dll

Part 2:

The libgcc_s_dw2-1.dll and libstdc++-6.dll libraries shipped with libspatialite do not work with Windows 10. Read more about this here and here. They would crash the program when loaded. The fix for me was to grab the same libraries from my Qt installation at C:\Qt\5.11.3\mingw53_32.

]]>https://forum.qt.io/post/515564https://forum.qt.io/post/515564Wed, 06 Mar 2019 03:01:36 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Where does the Qt sqlite plugin look for extension libraries on Tue, 05 Mar 2019 20:43:03 GMT]]>Can you provide a minimal compilable example ?
This way we may also test on our end to find out.

]]>https://forum.qt.io/post/515510https://forum.qt.io/post/515510Tue, 05 Mar 2019 20:43:03 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Where does the Qt sqlite plugin look for extension libraries on Tue, 05 Mar 2019 20:36:38 GMT]]>What about relative to your driver? I see that they get the driver from the DB object so my guess is either relative to the driver or the .db file.

For example when running through the qt creator IDE it should look at the folder which contains the sql drivers(unless you have put your dependencies in your local build folder).

On my Qt version 5.12.0 64 bit mingw that folder is located here: C:\Qt\5.12.0\mingw73_64\plugins\sqldrivers

Did you try that?

I tried googling a bit and only see code examples but no statements on WHERE the extension should be placed...

]]>https://forum.qt.io/post/515508https://forum.qt.io/post/515508Tue, 05 Mar 2019 20:36:38 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Where does the Qt sqlite plugin look for extension libraries on Tue, 05 Mar 2019 20:23:39 GMT]]>@MrShawn Yes, I tried that. I also tried one directory higher since that is what QDir::currentPath() returns when called immediately before the load_extension call.

]]>https://forum.qt.io/post/515503https://forum.qt.io/post/515503Tue, 05 Mar 2019 20:23:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Where does the Qt sqlite plugin look for extension libraries on Tue, 05 Mar 2019 20:16:42 GMT]]>Did you place it in the application directory folder?

]]>https://forum.qt.io/post/515502https://forum.qt.io/post/515502Tue, 05 Mar 2019 20:16:42 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Where does the Qt sqlite plugin look for extension libraries on Tue, 05 Mar 2019 19:56:02 GMT]]>Yes, I have tried both of these options as well as adding ".dll" to the end.

]]>https://forum.qt.io/post/515495https://forum.qt.io/post/515495Tue, 05 Mar 2019 19:56:02 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Where does the Qt sqlite plugin look for extension libraries on Tue, 05 Mar 2019 19:40:38 GMT]]>Hi,

Did you try to pass the full file path ?

Or if you have it one the same folder as your application, "./name.dll".

]]>https://forum.qt.io/post/515488https://forum.qt.io/post/515488Tue, 05 Mar 2019 19:40:38 GMT