QtCreator - Compiling Issue - External source files

[Blacktempel]

I have a Qt project, accessing another cross-platform (boost) project on my disc. Adding the header includes does not seem to cause any problem.

#include "../../Visual Studio 2015/Projects/..." //Header file down the road

Adding existing source files to the sources folder in my Qt Project works also without a problem, the files are found and I can open them. But these source files are not compiled, as a linker error clearly states (IMO).

LNK1104: cannot open file 'debug\Error.obj'

Copying the content of (here Error.cpp) the source file in a new file in the Qt-Project directory and adding it solves the problem, though that would mean having to copy each time I pull the other project's changes with git or make changes myself. That misses the purpose of including external source files.

I have already asked this question on stackoverflow without much luck. One suggestion was to create a ".pri" file and include this file in the Qt-project's ".pro" file. The best I got out of this was a change of the linker error from 1104 to 1181, both unable to open the ".obj" file.

Has someone experienced this behaviour before or has a hint to a possible solution ?

[JKSH]

Hi @Blacktempel, and welcome to the Qt Dev Net!

The correct way to link to external libraries is described at http://doc.qt.io/qt-5/third-party-libraries.html. In a nutshell, you should set the INCLUDEPATH and LIBS variables in your *.pro file.

@Blacktempel said:

#include "../../Visual Studio 2015/Projects/..." //Header file down the road

After you set INCLUDEPATH, you don't need such a long #include line anymore.

[Blacktempel]

Hello @JKSH,

thank you for your answer. This is no library, these are just external source files which have to be compiled together with my Qt-project. The boost headers and libs are already correctly included. Setting the INCLUDEPATH variable only changes the length of the header include and source file include in the *.pro file.
Trying to set the correct path to the boost-directories root directory and adding the source files with a "short path" results in a failure to find the files at all, which is... a little strange but I was already there. (Paths are correct)
If I use the "long" path, the files are found, but not compiled.

INCLUDEPATH += //all other include paths \
               "../../Visual Studio 2015/Projects/ProjectDir/"

SOURCES += //all other sources \
           Shared/Net/Error.cpp
//or using 
           ProjectDir/Net/Error.cpp

results in "Failure to find: %filenameWithShortPath%".

[JKSH]

Hi @Blacktempel,

I see, I misread your original post.

One suggestion was to create a ".pri" file and include this file in the Qt-project's ".pro" file. The best I got out of this was a change of the linker error from 1104 to 1181, both unable to open the ".obj" file.

What happens if you try this solution again, after moving/copying the external source files to a path that does not contain any spaces?

[Blacktempel]

Hi @JKSH,

changing the include in the *.pro file to a path without spaces seemed to work, thank you.
As test I copied the project to C:

//This apparently works and source files are compiled.
include(C:/ProjDir/ProjName.pri)
//This works too, but the source files are not being compiled.
include("../../Visual Studio 2015/Projects/ProjDir/ProjName.pri")

Is that an existing bug in "include" ?
Is there currently no way to include external source files where the path has space[s] in it ?

[JKSH]

@Blacktempel said:

Is that an existing bug in "include" ?
Is there currently no way to include external source files where the path has space[s] in it ?

I'm not sure; I have never used the include() function with space-containing paths.

You can ask the Qt engineers by subscribing to the Interest mailing list and posting there.