Update Qt library/creator; using old projects? (Mac)

[badmilk101]

Note: I am still very much a beginner when it comes to programming and using programming tools. My OS is Mac OS X 10.8.4.

For the past couple years, I had used Qt Creator 1.?.? based on the Qt 4.6.? library to create some very basic programs (think "Hello World", Tic-Tac-Toe", etc.). [question marks are there because I don't recall the versions exactly].

I recently found the need to use a more recent version of the Qt library (version 4.8). I downloaded and installed Qt libraries 4.8.5 for Mac (but not the debug libraries). I then downloaded Qt Creator 2.7.1 for Mac and dragged it to my Applications folder, which replaced [deleted] my previous version of Qt Creator.

I have tried various settings for "configure project" for my old projects, but I can't get any of them to compile. They all give errors referencing a "version 4.6", which seems bad. Here is the type of thing I get...

17:28:09: Starting: "/usr/bin/qmake" /Users/my_username/Qt_stuff/NNNcube2/NNNcube2.pro -r CONFIG+=x86_64 -spec /usr/local/Qt4.6/mkspecs/macx-g++
Failure to read QMAKESPEC conf file /usr/local/Qt4.6/mkspecs/macx-g++/qmake.conf.
Error processing project file: /Users/my_username/Qt_stuff/NNNcube2/NNNcube2.pro
17:28:09: The process "/usr/bin/qmake" exited with code 3.
Error while building/deploying project NNNcube2 (kit: Qt 4.8.4 in PATH (System))
When executing step 'qmake'

1. Did I update Qt Creator & Qt library incorrectly? If so, what should I have done?

2. Am I naive/ignorant to think that I should be able to update from 4.6 to 4.8 without too many issues? Should I have instead tried to keep my old instance of Qt Creator (w/4.6 lib.) and created a new instance of Qt creator (w/4.8 lib.)?

3. What should I do now to remedy the situation (to be able to use my old projects)? None are terribly important, but it would be nice to have them.

Thanks!

[ChrisW67]

Your Qt Creator is still running a Qt 4.6 version of qmake (from /usr/local/bin) but Qt 4.6 is at least partly missing. You should be running qmake from the Qt 4.8 install. Have a look at the Qt Creator Tools Options, Build & Run to configure a Kit that uses the new Qt, and use that to build your program.

Make sure you do a complete clean build using the new tool chain.

[badmilk101]

Thanks for the reply, Chris.

Qt4.6 is missing from /usr/local/, which is what the error is telling me, I think. Qt4.8 *is* in /usr/local/, so I'm guessing it removed Qt4.6 when I installed the new library. (Interestingly, Qt4.5 is also there ... hmm).

I didn't notice this before, but under Build & Run > Kits, with Qt 4.8.4 chosen, the default path listed for "Qt mkspec:" was /usr/local/Qt4.6/mkspecs/macx-g++

I changed this path by replacing the "4.6" with "4.8", but it didn't seem to do anything; here is what I get when I try to make clean:

21:50:32: Starting: "/usr/bin/make" clean
make: *** No rule to make target `/usr/local/Qt4.6/mkspecs/macx-g++/qmake.conf', needed by `Makefile'. Stop.
21:50:32: The process "/usr/bin/make" exited with code 2.

I've looked around in the Build & run preferences, but I can't seem to find any other mention of version 4.6 to correct.

Added after 26 minutes:

Update: I think I figured it out.

I was looking at "Build & Run > Kits" found via *preferences*. This is a good thing, I think, because I probably needed to change what I changed.

However, apparently I also needed to update paths found in the expandable "details" sections found in Build & Run: Build Settings after clicking on the Projects icon (located on the left in my Mac version of Qt Creator 2.7.1).

Thanks for helping to point me in the right direction!