Some advice on how to structure this program?

[mrwooster]

Thanks for all the help but I am still having issues and its driving me nuts....

as I understand it the libXXX.a file is the library containing all the classes and functions... I found http://doc.trolltech.com/4.5/qmake-v...ence.html#libs and its helped me out a bit but I still cant get it to work

In my .pro file of the GUI app I have LIBS += -L"C:/Documents and Settings/......../c++/disspertionLib/release" -ldisspertionLib

the folder release contains all the .o and libxxx.a files

but I am still getting errors:

mainwindow.cpp:7:24: coordinate.h: No such file or directory
mainwindow.cpp:8:25: boundaryMap.h: No such file or directory
mainwindow.cpp:9:22: particle.h: No such file or directory
mainwindow.cpp: In member function `void MainWindow:n_btnGo_clicked(bool)':
mainwindow.cpp:53: error: `boundaryMap' was not declared in this scope
mainwindow.cpp:53: error: expected `;' before "bound"
mainwindow.cpp:55: error: `Particle' was not declared in this scope

etc......


btw... how do I include the library in my code? At the moment I still have
#include "coordinate.h"
#include "boundaryMap.h"
#include "particle.h"

which were the origional names of the files before I put them into the library... do these still stay the same or do I need to change them?

Thanks again

[yogeshgokul]

btw... how do I include the library in my code? At the moment I still have

You have to update INCLUDEPATH variable in .pro file.
For example, your header files are in XXX folder.
Write this line in your .pro file:

INCLUDEPATH += XXX

INCLUDEPATH += XXX

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Then your GUI program will be able to locate your header files.

Using Static Libs Example:
Suppose:
I have 2 libs testLib1 and testLib2.
These files are in user/local/libs.
And header files of these libs are in user/local/headers.

This is how my GUI application .pro file will look like.

INCLUDEPATH +=  [B]user/local/headers[/B]
LIBS += -L[B]user/local/libs[/B]
LIBS += -l[B]testLib1[/B] -l[B]testLib2[/B]

INCLUDEPATH +=  [B]user/local/headers[/B]
LIBS += -L[B]user/local/libs[/B]
LIBS += -l[B]testLib1[/B] -l[B]testLib2[/B]

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[mrwooster]

Ah... thank you... I have finally managed to get it to compile and run.

I created a folder libs and libs/headers to put the files in and it compiles and runs correctly....

However, if I make any changes to disspertionLib then I have to re-compile my GUI program to get it to accept the changes.... is there any way around this? Or would that mean having to use dynamic linking?

BTW.. thanks for you help.... its been really great!

[yogeshgokul]

However, if I make any changes to disspertionLib then I have to re-compile my GUI program to get it to accept the changes.... is there any way around this? Or would that mean having to use dynamic linking?

You are right. if you are working with static libs, then you have to re-compile user program also. Otherwise go for dynamic lib. But in dynamic libs, there are many more issues, like exporting, importing, symbol resolution, library loading.

[mrwooster]

AH!!!!! Finally!! It is working as I wanted it....

This is how I did it:

I removed the CONFIG += staticlib from the .pro file of my library.... this then compiled it into a dll..... not a .a file

I placed the disspertion.dll in a folder named libs and the header files in libs/headers

the .pro file for my GUI looks like this:

INCLUDEPATH = "C:/........./c++/libs/headers"
LIBS += -L"C:/........./c++/libs"
LIBS += -ldisspertionLib

And it compiles fine.

I then copied the disspertionLib.dll into the folder containing the .exe of the GUI application and it runs fine....

If I change anything in disspertionLib and re-compile the dll.... I just copy it back into the directory of the GUI .exe and the changes are shown when I run the GUI without having to re-compile it....

Seems to work fine.... is this an acceptable way of doing it? I had the impression that implementing .dll s was supposed to be much more complicated?

[yogeshgokul]

You can do one more thing.
Set the TARGETPATH of your dll's .pro file. Then it will automatically generate dll in your exe path. So you doesn't need to copy and paste again and again.

[mrwooster]

Thanks... thats a good idea....

Just out of interest... how come I can use a dll like this? I thought that a dll required a much more complicated setup procedure and calling functions from dlls required setting up pointers etc... and using the windows API?

Ty

[yogeshgokul]

how come I can use a dll like this? I thought that a dll required a much more complicated setup procedure and calling functions from dlls required setting up pointers etc... and using the windows API?
Ty

This is a big topic, please google some docs for dynamic libraries. There is adequate information available.
QLibrary is used to load DLLs and resolve any symbol from DLL.