VTK not being recognized in QML

[Amirreza Taghizadeh]

Hello,

I've been struggling to include VTK into QML. I have installed VTK 9.3 through ninja, following the Kitware's gitlab docs. I also have set env variables QML_IMPORT_PATH and QML_IMPORT_PATH to VTKInstallation/lib/qml/vtk-9.3. Everything seems to be working, except QTCreator not identifying VTK qml Components

Here is my CmakeLists.txt:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.16)

project(hii VERSION 0.1 LANGUAGES CXX)

set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
find_package(Qt6 6.5 REQUIRED COMPONENTS Quick OpenGL)
find_package(VTK REQUIRED)
include(${VTK_USE_FILE})

qt_standard_project_setup(REQUIRES 6.5)

qt_add_executable(apphii
    main.cpp
)
qt_add_qml_module(apphii
    URI hii
    VERSION 1.0
    QML_FILES
        Main.qml
)
set_target_properties(apphii PROPERTIES
    WIN32_EXECUTABLE TRUE
)
target_link_libraries(apphii
    PRIVATE Qt6::Quick
    ${QT_LIBRARIES}
    ${OPENGL_LIBRARIES}
    ${VTK_LIBRARIES}
)
include(GNUInstallDirs)
install(TARGETS apphii
    BUNDLE DESTINATION .
    LIBRARY DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR}
    RUNTIME DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR}
)

Now, my Main.qml contains these VTK lines:

import VTK 9.3  # imports just fine!
...
VTKRenderWindow { # Unknown Component (M300)
      id: vtkwindow
      width: 400
      height: 400
    }

The code runs without any problems, nonetheless the qtcreator doesn't seem to recognize the module's components.
BTW, the directory VTKInstallation/lib/qml/vtk-9.3 contains qmldir and plugins.qmltypes:
qmldir file:

import QtQuick.tooling 1.2

// This file describes the plugin-supplied types contained in the library.
// It is used for QML tooling purposes only.
//
// This file was auto-generated by:
// 'qmlplugindump -output $qmldir/VTK.9.1/plugins.qmltypes VTK 9.1 $qmldir'

Module {
    dependencies: ["QtQuick 2.0"]
    Component {
        name: "QQuickVTKInteractiveWidget"
        prototype: "QObject"
        exports: ["VTKWidget 9.1"]
        exportMetaObjectRevisions: [0]
        Property { name: "enabled"; type: "bool" }
        Signal {
            name: "enabledChanged"
            Parameter { name: "e"; type: "bool" }
        }
        Method {
            name: "sync"
            Parameter { name: "ren"; type: "vtkRenderer"; isPointer: true }
        }
    }
    Component {
        name: "QQuickVTKRenderItem"
        defaultProperty: "data"
        prototype: "QQuickItem"
        exports: ["VTKRenderItem 9.1"]
        exportMetaObjectRevisions: [0]
        Property { name: "renderWindow"; type: "QQuickVTKRenderWindow"; isPointer: true }
        Method { name: "sync" }
        Method { name: "init" }
        Method { name: "paint" }
        Method { name: "cleanup" }
    }
    Component {
        name: "QQuickVTKRenderWindow"
        defaultProperty: "data"
        prototype: "QQuickItem"
        exports: ["VTKRenderWindow 9.1"]
        exportMetaObjectRevisions: [0]
        Method { name: "sync" }
        Method { name: "init" }
        Method { name: "paint" }
        Method { name: "cleanup" }
        Method { name: "renderNow" }
        Method { name: "render" }
    }
}

plugins.qmltypes file:

import QtQuick.tooling 1.2

// This file describes the plugin-supplied types contained in the library.
// It is used for QML tooling purposes only.
//
// This file was auto-generated by:
// 'qmlplugindump -output $qmldir/VTK.9.1/plugins.qmltypes VTK 9.1 $qmldir'

Module {
    dependencies: ["QtQuick 2.0"]
    Component {
        name: "QQuickVTKInteractiveWidget"
        prototype: "QObject"
        exports: ["VTKWidget 9.1"]
        exportMetaObjectRevisions: [0]
        Property { name: "enabled"; type: "bool" }
        Signal {
            name: "enabledChanged"
            Parameter { name: "e"; type: "bool" }
        }
        Method {
            name: "sync"
            Parameter { name: "ren"; type: "vtkRenderer"; isPointer: true }
        }
    }
    Component {
        name: "QQuickVTKRenderItem"
        defaultProperty: "data"
        prototype: "QQuickItem"
        exports: ["VTKRenderItem 9.1"]
        exportMetaObjectRevisions: [0]
        Property { name: "renderWindow"; type: "QQuickVTKRenderWindow"; isPointer: true }
        Method { name: "sync" }
        Method { name: "init" }
        Method { name: "paint" }
        Method { name: "cleanup" }
    }
    Component {
        name: "QQuickVTKRenderWindow"
        defaultProperty: "data"
        prototype: "QQuickItem"
        exports: ["VTKRenderWindow 9.1"]
        exportMetaObjectRevisions: [0]
        Method { name: "sync" }
        Method { name: "init" }
        Method { name: "paint" }
        Method { name: "cleanup" }
        Method { name: "renderNow" }
        Method { name: "render" }
    }
}

Would someone please why QTCreator doesn't know about the components?

Thank you very much in advance

Regards

[Anumas]

Hmm, have you tried resetting the QML/JS model? Tools -> QML/JS -> Reset Code Model

[Amirreza Taghizadeh]

@Anumas Thanks for the response. I tried it but unfortunately it didn't solve the issue.

[Michael Banucu Kapp-Niles]

I have the same problem.

My environment variables:

VTK_DIR=C:/dev/github/VTK/build
QML_IMPORT_PATH=C:/dev/github/VTK/build/lib/qml/Debug
QT_DEBUG_PLUGINS=1
QML_IMPORT_TRACE=1
PATH=C:/dev/github/VTK/build/bin/Debug

CMakeLists.txt

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.16)

project(SphereView VERSION 0.1 LANGUAGES CXX)

set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)

set(QML_IMPORT_PATH C:/dev/github/VTK/build/lib/qml/${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE} CACHE STRING  "" FORCE)
find_package(VTK REQUIRED COMPONENTS
    GUISupportQtQuick
)
find_package(Qt6 6.5 REQUIRED COMPONENTS Quick)

qt_standard_project_setup(REQUIRES 6.5)

qt_add_executable(appSphereView
    main.cpp
)

qt_add_qml_module(appSphereView
    URI SphereView
    VERSION 1.0
    QML_FILES
        Main.qml
        SOURCES vtkitem.h vtkitem.cpp
)

# Qt for iOS sets MACOSX_BUNDLE_GUI_IDENTIFIER automatically since Qt 6.1.
# If you are developing for iOS or macOS you should consider setting an
# explicit, fixed bundle identifier manually though.
set_target_properties(appSphereView PROPERTIES
#    MACOSX_BUNDLE_GUI_IDENTIFIER com.example.appSphereView
    MACOSX_BUNDLE_BUNDLE_VERSION ${PROJECT_VERSION}
    MACOSX_BUNDLE_SHORT_VERSION_STRING ${PROJECT_VERSION_MAJOR}.${PROJECT_VERSION_MINOR}
    MACOSX_BUNDLE TRUE
    WIN32_EXECUTABLE TRUE
)

target_link_libraries(appSphereView
    PRIVATE Qt6::Quick
    ${VTK_LIBRARIES}
)

include(GNUInstallDirs)
install(TARGETS appSphereView
    BUNDLE DESTINATION .
    LIBRARY DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR}
    RUNTIME DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR}
)

Main.qml

import QtQuick 2.15
import QtQuick.Controls 2.15
import QtQuick.Window 2.15
import VTK 9.4
import com.example.sphereview 1.0

ApplicationWindow {
    visible: true
    width: 800
    height: 600
    title: qsTr("VTK Sphere App")
    color: palette.window

    SystemPalette {
        id: palette
        colorGroup: SystemPalette.Active
    }

    VTKRenderWindow {
        id: vtkwindow
        width: 800
        height: 600
    }

    VtkItem {
        objectName: "SphereView"
        anchors.fill: parent
        renderWindow: vtkwindow
    }
}

vtkitem.h

// vtkitem.h
#ifndef VTKITEM_H
#define VTKITEM_H

#include <QQuickVTKRenderItem.h>
#include <vtkActor.h>
#include <vtkPolyDataMapper.h>
#include <vtkSphereSource.h>
#include <vtkNew.h>

class VtkItem : public QQuickVTKRenderItem
{
    Q_OBJECT
public:
    VtkItem(QQuickItem* parent = nullptr);

private:
    vtkNew<vtkActor> actor;
    vtkNew<vtkPolyDataMapper> mapper;
    vtkNew<vtkSphereSource> sphere;
};

#endif // VTKITEM_H

vtkitem.cpp

// vtkitem.cpp
#include "vtkitem.h"

VtkItem::VtkItem(QQuickItem* parent)
    : QQuickVTKRenderItem(parent)
{
    sphere->SetRadius(5.0);
    mapper->SetInputConnection(sphere->GetOutputPort());
    actor->SetMapper(mapper);
    renderer()->AddActor(actor);
    renderer()->ResetCamera();
    renderer()->SetBackground(0.5, 0.5, 0.7);
    renderer()->SetBackground2(0.7, 0.7, 0.7);
    renderer()->SetGradientBackground(true);
}

main.cpp

#include <QGuiApplication>
#include <QQmlApplicationEngine>
#include <vtkitem.h>

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    QQuickVTKRenderWindow::setupGraphicsBackend();
    QGuiApplication app(argc, argv);

    QQmlApplicationEngine engine;

    // Register the custom VTK item with QML
    qmlRegisterType<VtkItem>("com.example.sphereview", 1.0, 0, "VtkItem");

    QObject::connect(
        &engine,
        &QQmlApplicationEngine::objectCreationFailed,
        &app,
        []() { QCoreApplication::exit(-1); },
        Qt::QueuedConnection);
    engine.loadFromModule("SphereView", "Main");

    return app.exec();
}