Creating Projects

Creating a project enables you to:

• Group files together
• Add custom build steps
• Include forms and resource files
• Specify settings for running applications

When you set up a new project in Qt Creator, a wizard guides you step-by-step through the process. The wizard templates prompt you to enter the settings that you need for that particular type of project and create the necessary files for you. You can add your own custom wizards to standardize the way of adding subprojects and classes to a project.

Most Qt Creator project wizards enable you to choose the build system to use for building the project: qmake, CMake, or Qbs. If you do not get to choose, the project uses qmake as the build system.

You can use wizards also to create plain C or C++ projects that use qmake, Qbs, or CMake, but do not use the Qt library.

In addition, you can import projects as generic projects that do not use qmake, Qbs, or CMake. This enables you to use Qt Creator as a code editor and to fully control the steps and commands used to build the project.

You can install tools for devices as part of Qt distributions. The installers create kits and specify build and run settings for the installed device types. However, you might need to install and configure some additional software on the devices to be able to connect to them from the development PC.

Selecting the Build System

You can use several build systems to build your projects:

• qmake is a cross-platform system for build automation that helps simplify the build process for development projects across different platforms. qmake automates the generation of build configurations so that you need only a few lines of information to create each configuration. Qt installers install and configure qmake. To use one of the other supported build systems, you need to set it up.
• CMake is an alternative to qmake for automating the generation of build configurations. For more information, see Setting Up CMake.
• Meson is a fast and user-friendly open-source build system that aims to minimize the time developers spend writing or debugging build definitions and waiting for the build system to start compiling code. For more information, see Setting Up Meson.
• Qbs is an all-in-one build tool that generates a build graph from a high-level project description (like qmake or CMake do) and executes the commands in the low-level build graph (like make does). For more information, see Setting Up Qbs.

To export a project to some other build system, such as Microsoft Visual Studio, select Build > Run Generator, and select a generator in the list. Qt Creator generates the build files, such as .vcxproj, in the project's build directory. The tool that you use to build the project (qmake or CMake) provides the generators. Their availability depends on the version of the build tool, host platform, and properties of the host system. Also, a JSON compilation database generator is available if the Clang Code Model plugin is enabled (default).

To change the location of the project directory, and to specify settings for building and running projects, select Edit > Preferences > Build & Run > General.

Specify build and run settings for different target platforms, in the Projects mode. For more information on the options you have, see Specifying Build Settings.

Using Project Wizards

To create a new project, select File > New Project and select the type of your project. The contents of the wizard dialogs depend on the project type and the kits that you select in the Kit Selection dialog. Follow the instructions of the wizard.

In the first step, you select a template for the project. You can filter templates (1) to view only those that apply to a particular target platform.

Next, you select a location for the project and specify settings for it.

When you have completed the steps, Qt Creator automatically generates the project with required headers, source files, user interface descriptions and project files, as defined by the wizard.

For example, if you choose to create a Qt Quick application, Qt Creator generates a QML file that you can modify in the Edit mode.

Selecting Project Type

The following table lists the types of wizard templates that you can use for creating projects. The New Project dialog shows detailed information about each project wizard template.

The following video shows how to create a Qt Widgets application project:

For examples of creating different types of projects, see Tutorials.

For more information about creating Qt Quick projects, see Creating Qt Quick Projects.

Creating Widget-Based Qt for Python Applications

The Qt for Python Application wizards generate a .pyproject file that lists the files in the Python project and a .py file that has some boilerplate code. In addition, the widget-based UI wizard creates a .ui file that has a Qt Designer form, and the Qt Quick Application wizard creates a .qml file that imports Qt Quick controls.

The .pyproject files are JSON-based configuration files that replace the previously used .pyqtc configuration files. You can still open and use .pyqtc files, but we recommend that you choose .pyproject files for new projects.

The Window UI wizard enables you to create a Python project that has the source file for a class. Specify the PySide version, class name, base class, and source file for the class.

The wizard adds the imports to the source file for access to the QApplication, the base class you selected in the Qt Widgets module, and Qt UI tools:

import sys

from PySide6.QtWidgets import QApplication, QWidget

Once you generate the Python code from the UI file, you can import the class:

from ui_form import Ui_Widget

The wizard also adds a main class with the specified name that inherits from the specified base class:

class Widget(QWidget):
    def __init__(self, parent=None):
        super().__init__(parent)

The following lines in the main class instantiate the generated Python class from your UI file, and set up the interface for the current class.

self.ui = Ui_Widget()
self.ui.setupUi(self)

Next, the wizard adds a main function, where it creates a QApplication instance. As Qt can receive arguments from the command line, you can pass any arguments to the QApplication object. Usually, you do not need to pass any arguments, and you can use the following approach:

if __name__ == "__main__":
    app = QApplication(sys.argv)

Next, the wizard instantiates the MainWindow class and shows it:

widget = Widget()
widget.show()
...

Finally, the wizard calls the app.exec() method to enter the Qt main loop and start executing the Qt code:

sys.exit(app.exec())

You can now modify the boilerplate code in the Edit mode to develop your Python application. Always regenerate the Python code after modifying a UI file.

Open the .ui file in the Design mode to create a widget-based UI in Qt Designer.

The Window wizard adds similar code to the source file, without the UI bits.

The Empty wizard adds similar code to the source file, but it does not add any classes, so you need to add and instantiate them yourself.

For more information about the Qt for Python - Qt Quick Application - Empty wizard, see Qt Quick Based Python Applications.

For examples of creating Qt for Python applications, see Qt for Python Examples and Tutorials.

Specifying Project Contents

A project can have files that should be:

• Compiled or otherwise handled by the build
• Installed
• Not installed, but included in a source package created with make dist
• Not installed, nor be part of a source package, but still be known to Qt Creator

Qt Creator displays all files that you declare to be part of the project by the project files in the Projects view. It sorts the files into categories by file type (.cpp, .h, .qrc, and so on). To display additional files, edit the project file. Alternatively, you can see all the files in a project directory in the File System view.

Declaring files as a part of the project also makes them visible to the locator and project-wide search.

CMake Projects

When using CMake, you can specify additional files for a project by either adding them as sources or installing them.

In the CMakeLists.txt file, define the files as values of the target_sources command using the PRIVATE property, for example.

You can prevent CMake from handling some files, such as a .cpp file that should not be compiled. Use the set_property command and the HEADER_FILE_ONLY property to specify such files. For example:

set_property(SOURCE "${files}" PROPERTY HEADER_FILE_ONLY ON)

Alternatively, to install the files, use the install command with the FILES or DIRECTORY property.

qmake Projects

Use the following variables in the .pro file:

• SOURCES and HEADERS for files to compile
• INSTALLS for files to install
• DISTFILES for files to include in a source package
• OTHER_FILES for files to manage with Qt Creator without installing them or including them in source packages

For example, the following value includes text files in the source package:

DISTFILES += *.txt

Adding Subprojects to Projects

In addition to Qt libraries, you can link your application to other libraries, such as system libraries or your own libraries. Further, your own libraries might link to other libraries. To be able to compile your project, you must add the libraries to your project. This also enables code completion and syntax highlighting for the libraries. The procedure of adding a library to a project depends on the build system that you use.

CMake Projects

You can add CMakeLists.txt files to any project by using the add_subdirectory command. The files can define complete projects that you include into the top-level project or any other CMake commands.

qmake Projects

When you create a new project and select qmake as the build system, you can add it to another project as a subproject in the Project Management dialog. However, the root project must specify that qmake uses the subdirs template to build the project.

To create a root project, select File > New Project > Other Project > Subdirs Project > Choose.

On the Summary page, select Finish & Add Subproject to create the root project and to add another project, such as a C++ library.

The wizard creates a project file (.pro) that defines a subdirs template and the subproject that you add as a value of the SUBDIRS variable. It also adds all the necessary files for the subproject.

To create more subprojects, right-click the project name in the Projects view to open the context menu, and select New Subproject. Follow the steps in the New Subproject wizard to create a subproject.

To add an existing project as a subproject, select Add Existing Projects in the context menu. In the file browser dialog, locate your subproject.

To remove subprojects, right-click the project name in the Projects view, and select Remove Subproject in the context menu.

To specify dependencies, use the Add Library wizard. For more information, see Adding Libraries to Projects.

Binding Keyboard Shortcuts to Wizards

If you use a wizard regularly, you can bind a custom keyboard shortcut to it. Triggering this keyboard shortcut directly opens the wizard, so you do not need to navigate to File > New File or New Project.

Set keyboard shortcuts for wizards in Edit > Preferences > Environment > Keyboard > Wizard. All wizard actions start with Impl there.

Related Topics

• Creating Files
• Opening Projects
• Adding Libraries to Projects
• Adding New Custom Wizards
• Build Systems