Setting up a C++/QT project on eclipse under Mac OS X

The compile steps with Qt4 are:

qmake -project [generates a .pro file based on the files you have in the root directory]
qmake [genrates the Makefile from the .pro file]
make [gnu make that uses the Makefile to generate your project as a *.app folder]

To get eclipse to follow this chain I did

Fire up eclipse and choose File->New->C++ Project
Uncheck 'use default location' and browse to the root of your code tree
Enter a Project name e.g. ChhobiQT
Pick Empty Project (leave MavOSX GCC as is)
At this stage eclipse will find your files/subdirectories and try and compile and probably give you an error. Ignore this smart ass behavior or uncheck Project->Build automatically
Project->Properties (If this is grayed out, make sure to click and highlight ChhobiQT)
->C/C++ Build : Uncheck 'Generate Makefiles automatically'
'Build directory' set it to the variable ${project_loc}
Run->External Tools Dialog
Under program create a new entry and set:
Name : qmake1
Location : location of qmake on your system e.g. /usr/local/Trolltech/Qt-4.4.0/bin/qmake
Working directory : ${project_loc}
Arguments : -project
This 'External program' will enable you to generate a *.pro file when you need it
Make an identical entry but name is qmake2 and make Arguments blank
This entry will let you generate a Makefile when you add files to the project
Now click Run->External Tools->qmake1 and then qmake2
Hit F5 to refresh the Project explorer
You should see a .pro file and a Makefile
Project->Build Project
You should now have a *.app file
Run->Run
Your application should now run

Each time you add a new file to the configuration you need to rerun qmake -project and qmake.

Note on Code Completion:
Go to Project->Properties->C/C++ General->Paths and Symbols
In the GNU C++ tab add the following paths (depending on the version of QT)
/usr/local/Trolltech/Qt-4.4.1/include
/usr/local/Trolltech/Qt-4.4.1/include/QtGui
/usr/local/Trolltech/Qt-4.4.1/include/QtSql (if you use sql)

The rebuild code index
This will take care of code competion and things like Q_OBJECT being not recognized

A note on Python's exit() and errors

Python's context managers are a very neat way of handling code that needs a teardown once you are done. Python objects have do have a destructor method ( __del__ ) called right before the last instance of the object is about to be destroyed. You can do a teardown there. However there is a lot of fine print to the __del__ method. A cleaner way of doing tear-downs is through Python's context manager , manifested as the with keyword. class CrushMe: def __init__(self): self.f = open('test.txt', 'w') def foo(self, a, b): self.f.write(str(a - b)) def __enter__(self): return self def __exit__(self, exc_type, exc_val, exc_tb): self.f.close() return True with CrushMe() as c: c.foo(2, 3) One thing that is important, and that got me just now, is error handling. I made the mistake of ignoring all those 'junk' arguments ( exc_type, exc_val, exc_tb ). I just skimmed the docs and what popped out is that you need to return True or...

affixa = the new gattach

gattach was a handy tool to use for webmail clients like gmail. I couldn't find it anymore, but then from this discussion I found out that gattach is now affixa.

Store numpy arrays in sqlite

Use numpy.getbuffer (or sqlite3.Binary ) in combination with numpy.frombuffer to lug numpy data in and out of the sqlite3 database: import sqlite3, numpy r1d = numpy.random.randn(10) con = sqlite3.connect(':memory:') con.execute("CREATE TABLE eye(id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, desc TEXT, data BLOB)") con.execute("INSERT INTO eye(desc,data) VALUES(?,?)", ("1d", sqlite3.Binary(r1d))) con.execute("INSERT INTO eye(desc,data) VALUES(?,?)", ("1d", numpy.getbuffer(r1d))) res = con.execute("SELECT * FROM eye").fetchall() con.close() #res -> #[(1, u'1d', <read-write buffer ptr 0x10371b220, size 80 at 0x10371b1e0>), # (2, u'1d', <read-write buffer ptr 0x10371b190, size 80 at 0x10371b150>)] print r1d - numpy.frombuffer(res[0][2]) #->[ 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0.] print r1d - numpy.frombuffer(res[1][2]) #->[ 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0.] Note that for work where data ty...

Aaron TraasSeptember 1, 2008 at 10:54 AM
I'm just tinkering with Qt for the Mac. I'm having some trouble... qmake does not generate a makefile; instead it generates a .xcodeproj file. Any clues on how I can get it to use Makefiles under MacOS X?
UnknownSeptember 1, 2008 at 1:13 PM
try
qmake -spec macx-g++ -macx file.pro
AnonymousFebruary 12, 2009 at 4:35 AM
THANKS THANKS THANKS!!! :-)
you saved me a lot of pain
marco
AnonymousApril 22, 2009 at 11:28 AM
Hi.

I have followed your steps and I get a working .app file and the app works fine. BUT I don't get code completion in Eclipse. I have no error highlights but some q_object highlights.

Any Ideas?

Using cdt 5.0.2.

thanks
Kaushik GhoseApril 22, 2009 at 2:03 PM
Hi,

I'm assuming you did the last step at the end. You will have to tailor the paths to your local install of QT. And (**this is important**) QT should be compiled with symbols on. For some reason the actual install of QT I use 4.4.4 does not work, I link to an older version 4.4.1 I forget exactly what it is, but I think you have to **configure as debug** which generates symbol tables. I don't know enough about the internals to explain the mechanism.

Best
-K
AnonymousApril 29, 2009 at 3:39 AM
thanks, it works!
AnonymousFebruary 11, 2012 at 5:31 AM
HI,

First of all thanks for creating this helpful document.

I have follow your steps but when qmake1 command to create .pro file i found the below error.

ERROR :
make: *** No rule to make target `all'. Stop.

While someone please guid me to solve this issue.
AnonymousMay 29, 2013 at 5:31 PM
This is the first tutorial that actually works. Under Linux too. Thanks!

Assorted Experience

Search This Blog