Folder structure of Qt SDK

[piotr.dobrogost]

Do you know any resource describing in detail Qt SDK folder structure?

For example, I'm wondering why some of dll files are in c:\qt\2009.03\bin and in c:\qt\2009.03\qt\bin at the same time? Having the same name they have different sizes (QtCore4 - 2*016*256 bytes in the first folder and 2*730*496 bytes in the second folder). What's the difference between dll files with the same names in both folders?

SDK default installation path is c:\qt\2009.03 and qt ends up being installed in c:\qt\2009.03\qt. Shouldn't qt be rather installed in let's say c:\qt-4.5.2 instead? Can I split SDK's qt from the rest of SDK and point SDK to the new location of qt?

Thanks in advance for all replays.

[wysota]

One is the Qt tree, the other is Qt Creator tree. Qt Creator is compiled against the bleeding-edge version of Qt that is not stable enough to be released so two versions of Qt are needed - one for Creator itself and the other for your applications.

[piotr.dobrogost]

QtCreator is apparently compiled with Visual Studio (on Windows), and I think the qt framework libs are compiled with MinGW.
Is this true?

Wouldn't this be more in line with Windows tradition to put Qt Creator and its dependencies in Program Files folder?

Wouldn't this be more logical to put framework in its canonical place c:\qt-version ?

[wysota]

QtCreator is apparently compiled with Visual Studio (on Windows), and I think the qt framework libs are compiled with MinGW.
Is this true?

No. Take a look that the "bin" directory contains the mingw runtime dll. At least my version does

Wouldn't this be more in line with Windows tradition to put Qt Creator and its dependencies in Program Files folder?

Let no-one stop you from doing that. Currently the SDK is practically a drop-in installation but if you want to complicate things, please do. It should work just fine.

Wouldn't this be more logical to put framework in its canonical place c:\qt-version ?

What is "canonical" about C:\qt-version? I don't think messing the root of C drive by default is a good idea.

[piotr.dobrogost]

It should have been c:\qt\version instead of c:\qt-version

[wysota]

I still see nothing "canonical" in it In general there is no rule where Qt should be placed.

[piotr.dobrogost]

I guess c:\qt\version is the default installation folder of qt framework (qt-win-opensource-4.5.2-mingw.exe)

I moved qt from c:\qt\2009.03\qt to c:\qt\4.5.2 and everything else to c:\program files\Qt SDK. Now in Qt Creator in Tools/Options/Qt4/Qt Versions when I'm choosing c:\qt\4.5.2 as a new path to qt framework I get "The Qt Version c:\qt\4.5.2 is not installed. Run make install". Running make install gives "Nothing to do in `install'". How can I fix this?

[jpn]

I moved qt from c:\qt\2009.03\qt to c:\qt\4.5.2

I'm afraid you cannot move a Qt installation like that because qmake knows the installation directory. What does "qmake -v" output?

[wysota]

I guess c:\qt\version is the default installation folder of qt framework (qt-win-opensource-4.5.2-mingw.exe)

Default doesn't mean "canonical".

I moved qt from c:\qt\2009.03\qt to c:\qt\4.5.2 and everything else to c:\program files\Qt SDK.

That's probably a bad idea as J-P already noticed. If you want to do such things it's probably better to download Creator and Qt as two separate packages (instead of the SDK which is a sum of the two mentioned bundles) and install them in their final destinations in the first place.

By the way, Piotr - please adjust your mail server, we're getting bounces from it.

<xx@xxx.dobrogost.pl>: host dobrogost.pl[89.161.204.73] said: 553
sorry.... we don't relay a mail... nie dostarczamy poczty z nie naszych
adresow email... (in reply to RCPT TO command)

[piotr.dobrogost]

I'm afraid you cannot move a Qt installation like that because qmake knows the installation directory. What does "qmake -v" output?

>qmake -v
QMake version 2.01a
Using Qt version 4.5.2 in C:\Qt\4.5.2\lib

[piotr.dobrogost]

That's probably a bad idea as J-P already noticed.

I think it's a good idea, actually.
Let's treat it as an exercise, can we?

If you want to do such things it's probably better to download Creator and Qt as two separate packages (instead of the SDK which is a sum of the two mentioned bundles) and install them in their final destinations in the first place.

There should be nothing magical about moving a product which is thought of as drop-in installation according to your own words

Do you have any information on where and how is configuration of qt framework stored so that I could update it after moving qt?

[piotr.dobrogost]

I'm afraid you cannot move a Qt installation like that because qmake knows the installation directory.

How could qmake know the installation directory?

[piotr.dobrogost]

I installed qt-win-opensource-4.5.2-mingw.exe in c:\qt\4.5.2 folder.
Now Qt Creator doesn't complain when I set qt's folder to c:\qt\4.5.2
Side note: I still would like to know where and how is configuration of qt framework stored so that I could update it manually after moving qt to another place?

Now, when I try to build a project I get the following error

Running build steps for project qt_test...
Starting: C:/Qt/4.5.2/bin/qmake.exe D:/projects/qt-test/qt_test.pro -spec C:/Qt/2009.03/qt/mkspecs/win32-g++ -r CONFIG+=debug_and_release
Failure to read QMAKESPEC conf file c:/Qt/2009.03/qt/mkspecs/win32-g++\qmake.conf.

I have QMAKESPEC environment variable set properly to c:/qt/4.5.2/mkspecs/win32-g++\qmake.conf

The question is why does Qt Creator still have the old path to spec?

[wysota]

I think it's a good idea, actually.

It's not but have it your way...

Let's treat it as an exercise, can we?

Be my guest.

There should be nothing magical about moving a product which is thought of as drop-in installation according to your own words

It's practically a drop-in installation. There is nothing magical apart the need to patch paths in qmake and a bunch of other files which is exactly what the "installer" does.

Do you have any information on where and how is configuration of qt framework stored so that I could update it after moving qt?

It's embedded into qmake binary. You'd have to patch it or rebuild qmake with the proper paths. Which is one of the reasons for such things not being good ideas.

How could qmake know the installation directory

I guess I already answered that...

[piotr.dobrogost]

It's the first drop-in installation I see that remembers, in binary file (sic!), where it was installed and thus can't be freely moved...

Could you please comment on my post #13?
http://www.qtcentre.org/forum/p-fold...stcount13.html

[wysota]

Could you please comment on my post #13?

I already did - the path is hardcoded into qmake so that you can have different installations of Qt and switch them by activating different qmakes.

Correct me if I'm wrong but you are passing an invalid path to -spec and expect it to work, right?

[piotr.dobrogost]

I already did - the path is hardcoded into qmake so that you can have different installations of Qt and switch them by activating different qmakes.

Bizzare way of customization I have to admin.
Why to hardcode any path?
Couldn't just qmake read specific environment variable?
Wouldn't that be more flexible solution?

Correct me if I'm wrong but you are passing an invalid path to -spec and expect it to work, right?

No. I can't change -spec parameter direclty from within Qt Creator. I thought it would have been taken from QMAKESPEC environment variable so I set it properly to c:/qt/4.5.2/mkspecs/win32-g++\qmake.conf However this doesn't change anything; Qt Creator still shows old, wrong path to the specification file.

[wysota]

Bizzare way of customization I have to admin.
Why to hardcode any path?
Couldn't just qmake read specific environment variable?
Wouldn't that be more flexible solution?

It does read environment variables. But in case one isn't provided it can either refuse to cooperate or do something useful. It does something useful. Unfortunately Windows doesn't support links in its filesystem as this would be even simpler.

No. I can't change -spec parameter direclty from within Qt Creator. I thought it would have been taken from QMAKESPEC environment variable so I set it properly to c:/qt/4.5.2/mkspecs/win32-g++\qmake.conf However this doesn't change anything; Qt Creator still shows old, wrong path to the specification file.

Well... works for me (note the last part) when I set the specs manually:

Starting: /usr/bin/qmake /home/(...)/appserver.pro -r CONFIG+=debug -spec bogusspec

Still doing things properly is probably a better idea. I don't know why you're so eager to separate the installation into two parts when there is one that is already separated and would work perfectly fine for you.

[piotr.dobrogost]

Can you take a look at Projects/Build Settings/Build Steps settings in creator and tell me where the value of -spec parameter is taken from?

[wysota]

It's taken from qmake -query QMAKE_MKSPECS but I'd advise to take the source code of Creator and check that our yourself.