11.5 GB of tools which do... nothing?
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Hi,
I tried QtSDK 4.7.x and now 4.8.1 (on fresh computer with MS Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit, MS VS 2010 Pro, PB 12.5, java 6 and 7, eclipse, NetBeans 7). It looks pretty... when after installation user launch IDE. And... the end.
Even first of examples (Toys: Clocks Example) works only when is run from IDE, but not works from exe. when I tried change some options in Build Settings (Crtl+5), add bins folders to path environment variable, I'v got messages that during make 'xcopy' cannot be found (i typed in command window xcopy and it runs [?!]). Better, after removing changes from path and setting back configuration in Build Settings example stopped work even from IDE (only one way to ressurect it was deleting all new files which Qt created in example folder to reset it).
I tried find some tips in documentation, but there isn't any valuable about configuration of this environment. Only about application development, etc.
So... just take into account even MS VS Express Editions. You can install it, open some example, build and... run from EXE (even if someone don't know syntax of language C++, C#, VB...).
Android - download SDK, install open eclipse, add plug-ins, open example, build, run... works (even without java knowledge). Dev-C++, lcc-win - the same. So working with these tools is like working with language - thy only help to make something easier, faster, etc.And what about Qt? It seems that language syntax is nothing against knowledge of configuration of this SOMETHING which eats 11.5 GB of HDD.
I am in amazement looking on applications created in Qt - they seems be very simple, but how they was deployed? Magic.Apple has the bigest amount of applications, Android almost similar (maybe even more now). Nokia Store looks like little kiosk in comparison with big shopping centrs. Why? Because using Qt is horrible (maybe it's a tool for extreme linux fans, who like typing kilometers of characters in console).
Finally I have question:
Maybe someone know some link to something like "step-by-step: how to create and deploy simple "Hello Kitty!" application using Qt Creator on windows runnable from EXE file (and what runtime libraries are needed)".Thanks in advance.
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I'm not too up-to-date on Windows, and it's been a few years since I tried any Qt example.
But here you go:
(once you've got your code) qmake <yourproject>.pro
nmake
then copy the libs to the folder where exe is (depends on which modules are defined in .pro file, but usually those are QtCore.dll QtGui.dll QtNetwork.dll, located in <your SDK installation>/Desktop/4.8.0/gcc/lib. Path given from memory, might look a bit different in reality, especially on a platform as strange as Windows tends to be).
Hope this helps. I've tried to make it short, if anything is missing, ask.
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I'm surprised with this 11GB by the way... My installation takes 2GB.
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Hi,
Thanks for responce.
I found "Run qmake" in Build menu. But still I don't know how (and from which directory) run nmake.
Tip with copy dll files from Desktop\Qt\4.8.1\msvc2010 sub directory is helpful (at least I have pure empty white window on the screen, so it is some kind of progress).
(after few tries I decided install QtSDK with all possible options, which was available in setup program, so it takes 11.5 GB on HDD). -
I thought you were referring to building from terminal (cmd.exe). If so, qmake and nmake should be run in the same directory, that is the folder where .pro file is located.
As for running from Qt creator: you need to click the "Run" button (lower left part of the screen). This triggers a build, but Creator provides all necessary environment switches. So it would run from creator, but not from exe, due to environment change. To make exe runnable, because of some Windows issues, one has to copy the DLLs by hand. Apart from Qt dlls I've mentioned before, I think you would also need some MSVC-ones. But if Windows does not find a dll, it usually displays a message box with the title of missing library.
As I've said, though, I don't need examples anymore, and it's been a few years since I've tried them. It might well be that they are simply broken/ buggy. From what I see what happens during Qt5 development that is now going with full steam, 1st priority is to get all the libraries into good shape, add new APIs, fix regressions and bugs, then goes documentation... examples are hardly ever mentioned (quite understandably, in my opinion).