Cannot build with cmake, qtcreator and MSVC 2019

Kiruahxh

Hello,

I just wanted to try the new QtCreator cmake support; I have Visual Studio 2019 installed with its C++ compiler.
I am testing with the latest tools (Windows 10, Qt 5.15.1, VS 2019 16.7.6, Qt creator 4.13.2).
However, I am not able to build a freshly created "Qt widgets application" project.

CMake is well detected (initially QtCreator wanted to use by default an old version of CMake installed on my system and crashed: but why ??).
My Qt kit seems to be okay, but I don't manage to find a working CMake generator.
I chose Visual Studio 16 2019 and build the project, I have the following error message :
MSBUILD : error MSB1009: Le fichier projet n'existe pas. (the project file doesn't exists)
Commutateur : all.vcxproj

If I just execute CMake, a build directory is created with "ALL_BUILD.vcxproj" and "untitled5.vcxproj" files, but no "all.vcxproj" file...

I don't know which generator should work on my system (none work for now), and why the "visual studio 2019" generator doesn't work...
Please help!

JohanSolo

You should show us your CMakeLists.txt file... is there a top-level project defined?

Kiruahxh

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5)

project(test_c_make LANGUAGES CXX)

set(CMAKE_INCLUDE_CURRENT_DIR ON)

set(CMAKE_AUTOUIC ON)
set(CMAKE_AUTOMOC ON)
set(CMAKE_AUTORCC ON)

set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 11)
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)

# QtCreator supports the following variables for Android, which are identical to qmake Android variables.
# Check http://doc.qt.io/qt-5/deployment-android.html for more information.
# They need to be set before the find_package(Qt5 ...) call.

#if(ANDROID)
#    set(ANDROID_PACKAGE_SOURCE_DIR "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/android")
#    if (ANDROID_ABI STREQUAL "armeabi-v7a")
#        set(ANDROID_EXTRA_LIBS
#            ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/path/to/libcrypto.so
#            ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/path/to/libssl.so)
#    endif()
#endif()

find_package(QT NAMES Qt6 Qt5 COMPONENTS Widgets REQUIRED)
find_package(Qt${QT_VERSION_MAJOR} COMPONENTS Widgets REQUIRED)

if(ANDROID)
  add_library(test_c_make SHARED
    main.cpp
    mainwindow.cpp
    mainwindow.h
    mainwindow.ui
  )
else()
  add_executable(test_c_make
    main.cpp
    mainwindow.cpp
    mainwindow.h
    mainwindow.ui
  )
endif()

target_link_libraries(test_c_make PRIVATE Qt${QT_VERSION_MAJOR}::Widgets)

SGaist

Hi,

How old were these versions of CMake ?
Do they appear in your PATH ?

Kiruahxh

I still have another CMake installation in C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community\Common7\IDE\CommonExtensions\Microsoft\CMake\CMake\bin
It is 32 bits version 3.17 (very close to the 34bits, 3.18 version shipped with QtCreator).
In fact I don't have this entry in the PATH environment variable window of Windows. But I have it in QtCreator in the project view...
This CMake installation is not even listed in tools > options > kits > CMake.

Kiruahxh

The microsoft CMake doesn't seem to be called.
If I run CMake manually from the Qt console, I have the same error:

"C:\Qt\Tools\CMake_64\bin\cmake.exe" --build . --target all
MSBUILD : error MSB1009: Project file does not exist
Commutateur : all.vcxproj

However, if I change the target it succeeds:

"C:\Qt\Tools\CMake_64\bin\cmake.exe" --build . --target ALL_BUILD

So, if I go to project tab > build > ALL_BUILD, it compiles fine.
I also managed to make Ninja build work. Fine!

I don't know CMake enough: is ALL_BUILD a standard target ?
I am using a QtCreator generated CMakeLists.txt.

JohanSolo

IIRC ALL_BUILD is a standard target when you create a solution from cmake. Now, did you produced NMake makefiles ? Because I don't see any Release/Debug switch (default is Debug IIRC).
Since the --target comes after the . in the call, it is directly forwarded to the actual build engine, and therefore must be a target, hence the search for all.vcxproj. From the command-line, if you want to build everything, just call cmake --build ., the default behaviour is to build everything.

Kiruahxh

With "Visual Studio 16 2019" generator, QtCreator tries to use the all target by default (which doesn't exists) instead of ALL_BUILD.
With "Ninja" generator, QtCreator uses the all target by default which is OK.
When in debug mode, QtCreator doesn't use a Release/Debug switch (but doesn't need to...).

In my opinion, QtCreator shouldn't propose the all target with "Visual Studio 16 2019" generator, since it doesn't exists

Kiruahxh

I installed other Visual C++ extensions from Visual Studio installer (MFC & memory sanitizer), and I cannot build with CMake again.


Running C:\Qt\Tools\CMake_64\bin\cmake.exe -S C:/dev/untitled3 -B C:/Users/Nicolas/AppData/Local/Temp/QtCreator-VjKhJz/qtc-cmake-hherMDxz in C:\Users\Nicolas\AppData\Local\Temp\QtCreator-VjKhJz\qtc-cmake-hherMDxz.
-- Selecting Windows SDK version 10.0.17763.0 to target Windows 10.0.18363.
CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:3 (project):
  Failed to run MSBuild command:

    C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Community/MSBuild/Current/Bin/MSBuild.exe

  to get the value of VCTargetsPath:

    Microsoft (R) Build Engine version 16.7.0+b89cb5fde pour .NET Framework
    Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. Tous droits rÃ©servÃ©s.
    
    La gÃ©nÃ©ration a dÃ©marrÃ© 30/10/2020 00:41:15.
    Projet "C:\Users\Nicolas\AppData\Local\Temp\QtCreator-VjKhJz\qtc-cmake-hherMDxz\CMakeFiles\3.18.3\VCTargetsPath.vcxproj" sur le noud 1 (cibles par dÃ©faut).
    C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community\MSBuild\Current\Bin\Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(3293,5): error MSB4184: impossible d'Ã©valuer l'expression "[System.IO.Path]::Combine(obj\<unsupported>\Debug\, .NETFramework,Version=v4.0.AssemblyAttributes.cpp)". CaractÃ¨res non conformes dans le chemin d'accÃ¨s. [C:\Users\Nicolas\AppData\Local\Temp\QtCreator-VjKhJz\qtc-cmake-hherMDxz\CMakeFiles\3.18.3\VCTargetsPath.vcxproj]
    GÃ©nÃ©ration du projet "C:\Users\Nicolas\AppData\Local\Temp\QtCreator-VjKhJz\qtc-cmake-hherMDxz\CMakeFiles\3.18.3\VCTargetsPath.vcxproj" terminÃ©e (cibles par dÃ©faut) -- Ã‰CHEC.
    
    Ã‰CHEC de la build.
    
    "C:\Users\Nicolas\AppData\Local\Temp\QtCreator-VjKhJz\qtc-cmake-hherMDxz\CMakeFiles\3.18.3\VCTargetsPath.vcxproj" (cible par dÃ©faut) (1) ->
      C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community\MSBuild\Current\Bin\Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets(3293,5): error MSB4184: impossible d'Ã©valuer l'expression "[System.IO.Path]::Combine(obj\<unsupported>\Debug\, .NETFramework,Version=v4.0.AssemblyAttributes.cpp)". CaractÃ¨res non conformes dans le chemin d'accÃ¨s. [C:\Users\Nicolas\AppData\Local\Temp\QtCreator-VjKhJz\qtc-cmake-hherMDxz\CMakeFiles\3.18.3\VCTargetsPath.vcxproj]
    
        0 Avertissement(s)
        1 Erreur(s)
    Temps Ã©coulÃ© 00:00:00.08
    
  Exit code: 1

-- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!
See also "C:/Users/Nicolas/AppData/Local/Temp/QtCreator-VjKhJz/qtc-cmake-hherMDxz/CMakeFiles/CMakeOutput.log".
CMake process exited with exit code 1.
Elapsed time: 00:00.

impossible d'Ã©valuer l'expression "[System.IO.Path]::Combine(obj<unsupported>\Debug, .NETFramework,Version=v4.0.AssemblyAttributes.cpp)". CaractÃ¨res non conformes dans le chemin d'accÃ¨s.
= cannot evaluate expression XXX. Invalid caracters in the access path.

It seems that command line encoding errors prevents the build to succeed.
I see no difference wether I check "Force UTF-8 MSVC compiler output".

Kiruahxh

Okay, found it.

The error is with the "<unsupported>" keyword that should not be here.
In tools > options > Kits > Desktop Qt XXX > CMake Generator > Platform & Toolset, the string "<unsupported>" has appeared.
These fields should be cleared.
These fields content has been automatically copied to : project tab > CMake > Initial CMake parameters ; fields -A<unsupported> and -T<unsupported> that should be removed.
Once the fields are cleared, I have to do :

Compile > Clear CMake configuration
Compile > Execute CMake
Build All Projects
If a build error happens (non existing project file or target) : project tab > build steps > build > targets > choose the right target
Build All Projects

Then it works, with encoding errors but it builds normally! (enjoy)

I opened new tickets in the Qt bug tracker :