Debug_and_release: how to get rid of autogenerated debug/release folders

sayezz

Hey,
my Project structure looks like this:

My qmake.pro looks like this:
@
CONFIG += thread build_all warn_on debug_and_release
HEADERS + = ...
SOURCES += ...

CONFIG(debug, debug|release){
...
}
CONFIG(release, debug|release){
...
}
@

everything works fine, the only problem ist that qmake generates a debug and release folder. Both of the folder i dont use. Its only a cosmetic issue. After running "qmake" my structure looks like this:

| - debug*
| - release*
| makefile
| makefile.Debug
| makefie.Release
| qmake.pro@

how can i get rid of these two folders?

Thanks!

Regards

miroslav

You should not get rid of them, really. When switching between debug and release builds, the object files will be put in the respective folders. Otherwise the builds would overwrite each others outputs, or worse, you will get mixed objects linked, leading to all kinds of trouble.

sayezz

I have a debug and release folder under build/:
@
build
| - debug
| - release
@

all my files are in these two folders. That works fine.

But qmake generates also two folders "debug" and "release" in the "/" hirarchy, so that my structure looks like:
@
build
| - debug
| - release
debug
release
@

i do not need the generated debug and release folder because all my files are send to the /build/debug and /build/release folder.

Its only a cosmetic issue.

miroslav

It is probably something in your top-level .pro file that makes qmake think you will generate files from there. Is it a pure TARGET = subdirs .pro file?

qmake should not create these folders for SUBDIRS targets. Maybe you can move the current .pro file to the modules/ level or below, and use a SUBDIRS .pro file at the top?

sayezz

I dont get your idea. Should i use two .pro files?

My qmake.pro looks like this:

@
CONFIG += thread build_all warn_on debug_and_release grouped
TEMPLATE = lib
..

CONFIG(debug, debug|release){
DESTDIR = build/debug
OBJECTS_DIR = buildr/debug
TARGET= ProjectName_debug
}

CONFIG(release, debug|release){
DESTDIR = build/release
OBJECTS_DIR = build/release
TARGET= ProjectName_release
}
@

Whats wrong with my qmake.pro file?

Thanks!

miroslav

So, there is nothing wrong with your .pro file. But I guess that QMake generates those folders where ti thinks temporary files will be created. It is generally possible to use multiple .pro files that follow the directory structure (search for TEMPLATE=subdirs). If you split up that .pro file so that the current one sits with the sources and headers, the debug and release folders should only be generated there.

sayezz

is there a possibillity to achieve this with only one .pro file?

I do not want to have several .pro files. i would like that the whole configuration stays in one file, so that a person have only to edit one file.

this bevhaivior with the generated folders is only then, when i use the "debug_and_release" flag in CONFIG +=

Maybe i just shouldnt use this flag ?

Thanks

JamesBrown147

Hi there!

I have the same problem here. Did you find a solution?

My qmake also generates die release/debug folders and it seems that I can't do nothing about it.

Thanks!

JamesBrown147

oh, I just found the solution!

If you set the MOC_DIR variable, then qmake does not generate the folders. My code looks like this now:

DESTDIR = bin/debug
OBJECTS_DIR = bin/debug
MOC_DIR = bin/debug

miroslav

@JamesBrown147: Watch out, these directories will now be used for debug and release builds, unless you added logic around it.

xenotrax

I got the same problem. :-( (error only on Windows no problems with Fedora )

QDir::currentPath() is
C:\Qt\ding\build-poppi-Desktop_Qt_5_3_MSVC2013_64bit-Debug

but the real exe is in
C:\Qt\ding\build-poppi-Desktop_Qt_5_3_MSVC2013_64bit-Debug\debug

automatic created folders are
C:\Qt\ding\build-poppi-Desktop_Qt_5_3_MSVC2013_64bit-Debug\debug
C:\Qt\ding\build-poppi-Desktop_Qt_5_3_MSVC2013_64bit-Debug\release

C:\Qt\ding\build-poppi-Desktop_Qt_5_3_MSVC2013_64bit-Release\debug
C:\Qt\ding\build-poppi-Desktop_Qt_5_3_MSVC2013_64bit-Release\release

DanWatkins

This post is deleted!

Mozi

@sayezz @xenotrax
Hi! If you are using Windows, please see this: c++ - Qt Creator creates both a debug and a release folder inside the designated debug folder - Stack Overflow

CONFIG -= debug_and_release debug_and_release_target

Putting this line into the .pro file solves my problem.

You can add a test about the platform to confirm that only Qt (qmake) on Windows will change this configuration, like this:

win32 {
    message($$CONFIG)
    CONFIG -= debug_and_release debug_and_release_target
    message($$CONFIG)
}

edit on 2/8/2020:

Add CONFIG -= debug_and_release is enough.

aha_1980 · edit on 2/8/2020:

Hi @Mozi,

debug_and_release is only set on Windows, so no need for a scope.

And you need to make sure to use shadow-building if you disable that! The reason this variable is set by default is that on Windows it's impossible to mix debug and release objects.

If that is ok for you, you can savely disable that variable (like I do), as it makes the whole handling more easy.

Regards

Mozi

Hi @aha_1980 ,
Thanks for your reply.
I noticed that the Shadow build feature is enabled by default, so I can remove debug_and_release safely.
https://doc.qt.io/qtcreator/creator-build-settings.html#qmake-build-configuration

Mozi

This post is deleted!

Mozi

And, @aha_1980 ,

on Windows it's impossible to mix debug and release objects.

I cannot get the point, could you please explain a little more?
Thanks.

aha_1980

@Mozi The MSVC compiler uses different runtime libs for debug and release builds. Mixing them, e.g. using a debug DLL with a release program may crash.

Things are different for the MinGW compiler though, which is the reason Qt 5.14 is compiled without debug_and_release on this platform.

Regards

Mozi

Hi @aha_1980 .
There are some new problems but it may be off-topic. Thanks for your previous reply.

When debug_and_release was removed, the flag build_pass was removed too. And I discovered that build_pass will affect the windeployqt target's behavior. Here is a code snippet of windeployqt.prf from Qt 5.14.1.

# Extra target for running windeployqt
qtPrepareTool(QMAKE_WINDEPLOYQT, windeployqt)
build_pass {
    #...
    windeployqt.target = windeployqt
    windeployqt.commands = $$QMAKE_WINDEPLOYQT $$WINDEPLOYQT_OPTIONS -list target $$WINDEPLOYQT_TARGET > $$WINDEPLOYQT_OUTPUT
    
    windeployqt_clean.commands = if exist $$WINDEPLOYQT_OUTPUT for /f %i in ($$WINDEPLOYQT_OUTPUT) do $$QMAKE_DEL_FILE %~fi && $$QMAKE_DEL_DIR %~pi
    #...
} else {
    windeployqt.CONFIG += recursive
    windeployqt_clean.CONFIG += recursive
}
QMAKE_EXTRA_TARGETS += windeployqt windeployqt_clean

The problem, makes me confused, is the relationship between the CONFIGs mentioned above. If there is no debug_and_release flag, windeployqt will do nothing. I know I can add build_pass to CONFIG manually, but... What's the original purpose of this design?

Moreover, I found that if I use default CONFIG (contains debug_and_release and debug_and_release_target) with windeployqt, make windeployqt will complain about no release target exists (under debug mode) or no debug target exists (under release mode), and the process will stop. Is this by design? And what's the reason?

Thanks!
Regards

aha_1980

Hi @Mozi,

for which compiler is that? MSVC or MinGW?

Anyway, I can't answer these questions, I'm not that deep in qmake. You might want to ask these questions on the Qt Interest mailing list, where more developers might be able to help you.

Regards