building qt project using visual studio - c++

I have build a Qt project (qwt) using the vs2013 compiler in Qt creator. When I open the .pro file and look at the build steps I see:
qmake: qmake.exe qwt.pro -r -spec win32-msvc2013
Make: nmake.exe in C:\qwt-6.1.2
When I build the project, all goes fine and the project is build without errors. So far so good.
However when I try to build this project using the command line I get errors during the nmake step. I have used the same commands as above (and I'm sure that I'm using the same versions of qmake/nmake).
...\QtCore\qglobal.h(38) : fatal error C1083: Cannot open include
file: 'stddef.h': No such file or directory
My question is, what does Qt do more so that the project does build in Qt creator and not from the command prompt? And how can I copy this behaviour in the command prompt? I'm doing this so I can make a batch file that builds the project (on a machine that does not have Qt creator installed).

In order to use the Visual Studio compilation environment from the command-line you need to call the vcvars batch script to set up the paths correctly.
Either call the vcvars64.bat in the C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\VC\bin\amd64 folder (that is for VS2013, you can replace the "12.0" with whatever visual studio version you have).
Or the vcvars32.bat in the C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\VC\bin folder.
Or use the vcvarsall.bat x86 or vcvarsall.bat x64 calls for the script in C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\VC
Alternatively Visual Studio creates shortcuts in the start-menu called along the lines of VS2013 x64 Native Tools Command Prompt which call those scripts.

It's likely to be that Qt Creator has added additional variables into the build environment, which are not presented when you try to compile manually through cmd.
If you look within Qt Creator under the Projects section there's Build information. Expand the Build Environment information and check to see if there's anything in there different to your machines global environment settings.

Related

Change Platform Toolset when compiling from CMD

I would like to compile a C++ program via Visual Studio command line tools. I would like to target the executable for 32 bit Windows XP. Tried compiling it the usual way, using x86 Native Tools Command Prompt for VS 2019, but it doesn't work on Windows XP, though runs fine on my Windows 10 machine.
Steps I take:
Open x86 Native Tools Command Prompt for VS 2019.
cd to the project directory. There I'll have 2 folders sources and headers, which shall contain .cpp and .h files respectively.
Execute command cl sources\*.cpp /EHsc /D_WIN32_WINNT=0x050103 /I headers /I <path to boost> /link /libpath <path to boost>\boost_1_77_0\bin\x86\lib\libboost_program_options-vc142-mt-s-x32-1_77.lib /out:exec_xp.exe (the project uses the boost library).
Tried this, but it doesn't work. /D \"_USING_V110_SDK71_\" seems to do nothing, and the /SUBSYSTEM:WINDOWS,5.01 piece isn't recognized by the compiler.
I have learnt from this Microsoft page that we should install deprecated Toolset to compile for WinXP. I went ahead to Visual Studio Installer and installed the C++ Windows XP Support for VS 2017 (v141) tools [Deprecated], as said in the tutorial.
But what now? How can I use this Toolset? I can't find it anywhere on my computer, let alone use it! Visual Studio Installer says it's located under C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\BuildTools, but it's too vague.
UPD:
Tried with msbuild /p:PlatformToolset=v141_xp, getting this error:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community\MSBuild\Microsoft\VC\v160\Microsoft.CppBuild.targets(439,
5): error MSB8020: The build tools for v141_xp (Platform Toolset = 'v141_xp') cannot be found. To build using the v141_
xp build tools, please install v141_xp build tools. Alternatively, you may upgrade to the current Visual Studio tools
by selecting the Project menu or right-click the solution, and then selecting "Retarget solution"
Which suggests, the compiler doesn't see the v141_xp toolset. I wonder why? It's installed for sure, I did it via the Visual Studio Installer.
I suggest you could try to set the PlatformToolset property:
msbuild myProject.vcxproj /p:PlatformToolset=…
For more details, I suggest you could refer to the Doc:MSBuild command-line reference

How can I import a CLion C++ project into Visual Studio?

It seems like this should be easy and I've spent hours trying to find this answer online but haven't had any luck.
I can open the CLion folder path in Visual Studio, but that option doesn't give me the usual options to build and start the project. To do that, I need to open CLion as a Project/Solution, but I can't seem to do this.
My professor requires that my C++ code be executable in Visual Studio, but I prefer CLion. So I've done all my work in CLion and want to test that it runs in Visual Studio. How can I import my CLion project?
Thanks!
The link provided describes Visual Studio's CMake integration, which (similar to CLion) will install a version of CMake that Visual Studio will use. These instructions are pretty thorough and should provide everything needed to get your CMake project working in Visual Studio.
Now, you probably have two versions of CMake installed on your machine, one that came with CLion and one that came with Visual Studio. I would recommend installing the latest version of CMake on your machine separately, and configuring both Visual Studio and CLion to use that version instead. However, this is probably getting outside the scope of your immediate problem.
As you follow the Microsoft's instructions for "CMake projects in Visual Studio", you mentioned receiving the error:
1> [CMake] CMake Error at C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.17/Modules/CMakeDetermineSystem.cmake:173 (file):
1> [CMake] file failed to open for writing (No such file or directory):
This looks like a permissions issue, specifically while running CMake within Visual Studio, so be sure you have read/write access to all the files in your project, and the CMake packages in your Visual Studio installation. Hopefully, this doesn't require you re-install Visual Studio in another location on your machine, or run Visual Studio with elevated privileges, but perhaps that is necessary.
If you decide to install CMake separately, the instructions would be the following:
Install the latest CMake on your machine (somewhere you have adequate permissions), and ensure it is available in your Path environment variable. You can verify this by running cmake -version from the command line to see it is the version you just installed.
Using Windows command prompt, navigate to your CMake project directory (containing the top-level CMakeLists.txt file), and run the following:
mkdir build
cd build
cmake -G "Visual Studio 16 2019" -A x64 ..
You may run -A Win32 with the cmake command instead if your project is a 32-bit build.
Open the .sln Visual Studio Solution file that was generated in the build directory. Once, the Solution is loaded in Visual Studio, you can build the project (CTRL + SHIFT + B).

Qt Windows x64 build succeeds in IDE but not on the command line

I have a Qt project I'm trying to automate. On Windows I build for both 32-bit and 64-bit platforms. I am using Visual Studio 2013. I have the following Qt Kits installed: Desktop Qt 5.5.1 MSVC2013 32bit, and Desktop Qt 5.5.1 MSVC2013 64bit. All four versions (32-bit debug and release, and 64-bit debug and release) can be built and run without any trouble from the IDE. Unfortunately, building from the command line fails with this error:
fatal error LNK1112: module machine type 'X86' conflicts with target machine type 'x64'
My command-line system, intended for eventual use in a batch file, and run in my project directory, is:
pushd Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\VC\bin
call vcvars32.bat
popd
md build64
cd build64
G:\Qt\5.5\msvc2013_64\bin\qmake.exe -spec win32-msvc2013 -o Makefile ..\Maps.pro
G:\Qt\Tools\QtCreator\bin\jom.exe -f Makefile.Release
I use this command in a command window (after setting up the path using vcvars32 so that the Visual Studio tools like nmake, rc and link can be found) and get the error. Note that the command-line method works perfectly for my 32-bit build.
The qmake command line I use is copied from the one recorded in a comment in the Makefile created by the IDE, which claims it is the command used to create that makefile. I know that the "-spec win32-msvc2013" option looks strange, but it works when the IDE uses it.
The jom command line I use is the one used by the IDE, as logged by the Compile Output window.
The only thing I can think of is that Qt sets up some 'magic' environmental variables which I don't know about.
[Yes, I have googled very extensively and looked at other questions and answers here, and can't find anything that fits this case.]
This code
pushd Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\VC\bin
vcvars32.bat
popd
sets up environment for building for 32-bit architecture. Run vcvars32.bat from different directory (I think it should have amd64 in its name, don't have Windows computer at the moment so can't say the exact directory name, but you'll figure out).
Or do
pushd "<DRIVE>:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio <Version>\Common7\Tools"
vsvars32 x64
popd
Update for VS2017:
For 64-bit architecture use this command:
"<DRIVE>:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\<Version>\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvars64.bat"
and for 32 bits:
"<DRIVE>:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2017\<Version>\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvars32.bat"

How to build a QT-project in visual studio from command line

I am trying to automate the build process for one of my QT-project. I used the following command in my batch file for non-QT projects
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe" "myproject.sln" /build "Debug|x64" /projectconfig Debug
but it is not working for my QT project. Am I missing something?
Here is an example on how to do that (command by command):
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\VC\vcvarsall.bat" x86
cd <my_project_directory>
qmake
nmake
The first command sets up the environment for using Visual Studio tools.
Second command changes the current directory to one where your Qt project file is (you have to have one).
Third command runs Qt's qmake.exe utility to generate make files.
And finally nmake will build your project.
However, if you don't use Qt project files and have only VisualStudio solution, you can use MSBuild utility, like:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\VC\vcvarsall.bat" x86
MSBuild your_solution.sln /p:Configuration=Debug
You can also set additional environment variables, such as QTDIR if it does not find your Qt installation.
If somebody finds this question looking for an answer on how to automate the build process of a QT project, and wants to do it using a BATCH file as the original question states, here is the BATCH script that I used to automate my building process:
#echo off
call "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community\VC\Auxiliary\Build\vcvarsall.bat" x86
cd %path_to_your_repo%
nmake /f Makefile.Release clean && qmake.exe %path_to_your_.pro% -spec win32-msvc "CONFIG+=qtquickcompiler"
nmake qmake_all
nmake -f Makefile.Release
It is important to call the vcvarsall.bat the first thing, as this will set the environment for all visual studio tools. Also make sure to launch it with call, if you just start the batch file as in #vahancho's answer it will stop your script after executing vcvarsall.bat.
The clean step is not necessary but it is a good practice to use it before building.
It is important to select the -spec and CONFIG (if any) during the qmake step, as this will allow you to select the compiler and required configuration if you are using some extra QT configuration.

Building Visual Studio 2008 solution from command line

I'm trying to automate the building process for a certain open source project. It will do an update on the SVN directory, use CMake to get a .sln file, and build that. I can successfully do this manually, and do svn and cmake from a batch script, but Now I need to build the solution.
A quick google search revealed:
devenv /build release /project <projname> <solutionfile>.sln
However, that uses the latest version of visual studio (Visual Studio Professional 2011), while the .sln file generated is for Visual C++ Express 2008. I have both versions installed on my computer. Is there a devenv I can use for Visual C++ Express 2008? Or is there a commandline argument to specify which version to use?
UPDATE
I tried using msbuild, but that didn't seem to like building .vcproj files directly, and I didn't want to build ALL the project files by having it build the .sln file. I ended up using this:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\VC\vcpackages\vcbuild.exe" <myproj>.vcproj "Release|Win32"
I think you are using the wrong tool to build this. Rather than trying to drive the IDE from the command line you should simply use msbuild.
msbuild.exe projectname.proj /property:Configuration=Release
In order to set your environment up for the specific version of MSVC you need to call the vcvar.bat file from that specific version. This will set up the necessary environment variables needed by the build tools.
For Visual Studio Express 2008 the IDE is called VCExpress.exe. Also you should probably specify the full path of the program when you have two versions installed:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Common7\IDE\VCExpress.exe /build release /project <projname> <solutionfile>.sln