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Building Qt Quick Ultralite from sources
This topic provides instructions to build the full Qt Quick Ultralite from sources, or only the platform library against the Qt Quick Ultralite evaluation packages.
Prerequisites
- Qt for MCUs SDK
- Qt Creator v13.0.0 or newer
- CMake 3.21.1 or newer
- Ninja 1.10.0 or newer
- Qt 6.2.4 (only needed for Desktop platform)
Note: Ensure that you have also installed all the prerequisites listed in the getting started section for your specific board.
Command line setup
To get started from the command line, ensure that the following environment variables are set:
- Add the CMake and Ninja tools to your system
PATH
. If you installed these tools using Qt Online Installer, they are installed under<QT_INSTALL_PATH>\Tools
.
QUL_ROOT
and QUL_TOOLS
are used in the command line examples below as if they were set as environment variables. For example:
export QUL_ROOT=$HOME/Qt/QtMCUs/2.8.1 export QUL_TOOLS=$HOME/Qt/Tools/QtMCUs
set QUL_ROOT=C:\Qt\QtMCUs\2.8.1 set QUL_TOOLS=C:\Qt\Tools\QtMCUs
To modify the Qt Quick Ultralite Desktop platform, set the QT_ROOT
environment variable.
export QT_ROOT=$HOME/Qt/QtMCUs/6.2.4/<COMPILER>
set QT_ROOT=C:\Qt\6.2.4\<COMPILER>
where, <COMPILER>
matches the development toolchain in your host environment (msvc2019_64
, mingw_64
, or gcc_64
).
Qt 6.2.4 is the default version used by QulPackage. Change QT_ROOT
to match the desired Qt version installed on your host environment.
Building Qt Quick Ultralite from sources
If your license provides access to the Qt Quick Ultralite sources, use these commands to build it.
Target Hardware
For example, the following builds Qt Quick Ultralite for NXP i.MX RT1050 on bare metal:
cd $QUL_ROOT mkdir build cd build mkdir -p .cmake/api/v1/query && touch .cmake/api/v1/query/codemodel-v2 cmake .. -G "Ninja" -DQul_ROOT=$QUL_ROOT -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=MinSizeRel -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=../lib/cmake/Qul/toolchain/armgcc.cmake -DQUL_TARGET_TOOLCHAIN_DIR=$QUL_TOOLS/arm_gcc_12_3_1 -DQUL_BOARD_SDK_DIR=$QUL_TOOLS/NXP/SDK_2_15_000_EVKB-IMXRT1050 -DQUL_GENERATORS=../lib/cmake/Qul/QulGenerators.cmake -DQUL_PLATFORM=MIMXRT1050-EVK-baremetal cmake --build .
cd %QUL_ROOT% mkdir build cd build mkdir .cmake\api\v1\query && echo . > .cmake\api\v1\query\codemodel-v2 cmake .. -G "Ninja" -DQul_ROOT=%QUL_ROOT% -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=MinSizeRel -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=..\lib\cmake\Qul\toolchain\armgcc.cmake -DQUL_TARGET_TOOLCHAIN_DIR=%QUL_TOOLS%\arm_gcc_12_3_1 -DQUL_BOARD_SDK_DIR=%QUL_TOOLS%\NXP\SDK_2_15_000_EVKB-IMXRT1050 -DQUL_GENERATORS=..\lib\cmake\Qul\QulGenerators.cmake -DQUL_PLATFORM=MIMXRT1050-EVK-baremetal cmake --build .
To build for a different hardware platform, update the CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE
, QUL_TARGET_TOOLCHAIN_DIR, QUL_PLATFORM, and QUL_BOARD_SDK_DIR CMake variables accordingly. The value for the QUL_PLATFORM
variable must be a combination of <BOARD-NAME>
and <OS>
. The following is a list of all the possible values that you can use:
TVIIC2D4M-baremetal
TVIIC2D4MLITE-baremetal
TVIIC2D6M-baremetal
TVIIC2D6MDDR-baremetal
EK-RA6M3G-baremetal
EK-RA6M3G-freertos
MIMXRT1050-EVK-baremetal
MIMXRT1050-EVK-freertos
MIMXRT1060-EVKB-baremetal
MIMXRT1064-EVK-baremetal
MIMXRT1064-EVK-freertos
MIMXRT1170-EVKB-freertos
RH850-D1M1A-baremetal
RH850-D1M1A-autosar
STM32F769I-DISCOVERY-baremetal
STM32F769I-DISCOVERY-freertos
STM32H750B-DISCOVERY-baremetal
STM32F469I-DISCOVERY-baremetal
Note: The value for CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE
can be for GreenHills, IAR, or Arm GCC as shown in the earlier example.
Once Qt Quick Ultralite is built successfully, build one of the supported demos/examples using it and flash the resulting binary to the target hardware.
cmake --build . --target flash_<DEMO_OR_EXAMPLE_NAME>
Where, DEMO_OR_EXAMPLE_NAME
is the name of a supported demo or an example.
Note: You can also use the flash_<DEMO_OR_EXAMPLE_NAME>_and_bootloader
target to flash the bootloader with the demo/example.
Desktop
Qt 6.2.4 is the default version used by QulPackage. Change QT_ROOT
to match the desired Qt version installed on your host environment.
The following builds Qt Quick Ultralite for the Desktop target:
cd $QUL_ROOT mkdir build cd build mkdir -p .cmake/api/v1/query && touch .cmake/api/v1/query/codemodel-v2 cmake .. -G "Ninja" -DQul_ROOT=$QUL_ROOT -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DQUL_GENERATORS=../lib/cmake/Qul/QulGenerators.cmake -DQUL_PLATFORM=Qt -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=$QUL_ROOT/bin cmake --build .
cd %QUL_ROOT% mkdir build cd build mkdir .cmake\api\v1\query && echo . > .cmake\api\v1\query\codemodel-v2 cmake .. -G "Ninja" -DQul_ROOT=%QUL_ROOT% -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DQUL_GENERATORS=..\lib\cmake\Qul\QulGenerators.cmake -DQUL_PLATFORM=Qt -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=%QUL_ROOT%\bin cmake --build .
Note: In a Qt Quick Ultralite project, CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE
is set to MinSizeRel
by default. MinSizeRel
is the build type used for the prebuilt platform libraries shipped with Qt Quick Ultralite. To change the build type (to Release
for example), invoke CMake with the -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
option. For more information, see CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE.
Building Qt Quick Ultralite platform library against the evaluation packages
With the evaluation version of Qt Quick Ultralite you can modify and rebuild the platforms that are already shipped together with Qt Quick Ultralite. For example, port to a slightly different board configuration.
For instructions on how to create your own platform library for a custom hardware platform, refer to the Qt Quick Ultralite Platform Porting Guide.
Note: We recommend you to take backup of your existing Qt for MCUs version that is being used, before modifying the sources or installing a custom built platform library. This approach enables you to restore the original version in case there are issues with the custom-built version.
Target Hardware
The following commands build the Qt Quick Ultralite platform library, using NXP i.MX RT1050 on bare metal as reference platform:
cd $QUL_ROOT mkdir build cd build cmake .. -G "Ninja" -DQul_ROOT=$QUL_ROOT -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=MinSizeRel -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=$QUL_ROOT/lib/cmake/Qul/toolchain/armgcc.cmake -DQUL_TARGET_TOOLCHAIN_DIR=$QUL_TOOLS/arm_gcc_12_3_1 -DQUL_BOARD_SDK_DIR=$QUL_TOOLS/NXP/SDK_2_15_000_EVKB-IMXRT1050 -DQUL_PLATFORM=MIMXRT1050-EVK-baremetal -DQUL_BUILD_DEMOS=off -DQUL_BUILD_EXAMPLES=off -DQUL_BUILD_FRAMEWORK=off -DQUL_GENERATORS=$QUL_ROOT/lib/cmake/Qul/QulGenerators.cmake cmake --build .
cd %QUL_ROOT% mkdir build cd build cmake .. -G "Ninja" -DQul_ROOT=%QUL_ROOT% -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=MinSizeRel -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=%QUL_ROOT%\lib\cmake\Qul\toolchain\armgcc.cmake -DQUL_TARGET_TOOLCHAIN_DIR=%QUL_TOOLS%\arm_gcc_12_3_1 -DQUL_BOARD_SDK_DIR=%QUL_TOOLS%\NXP\SDK_2_15_000_EVKB-IMXRT1050 -DQUL_PLATFORM=MIMXRT1050-EVK-baremetal -DQUL_BUILD_DEMOS=off -DQUL_BUILD_EXAMPLES=off -DQUL_BUILD_FRAMEWORK=off -DQUL_GENERATORS=%QUL_ROOT%/lib/cmake/Qul/QulGenerators.cmake cmake --build .
To update the Qt Creator integration to use the custom built platform library, set these two environment variables:
CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX
to Qt for MCUs install directory. It should match the Qt for MCUs version set in the Edit > Preferences > Devices > MCU option in Qt Creator.QUL_VERSION
to the corresponding version number. For example, if Qt Creator is configured to useC:\Qt\QtMCUs\<VERSION>
, where<VERSION>
is the directory containing the Qt Quick Ultralite version you are using (for example 2.8.1).
After setting these variables, use the following commands to configure and install the platform library:
export QUL_VERSION=<VERSION> cd $QUL_ROOT mkdir build cd build cmake .. -G "Ninja" -DQul_ROOT=$QUL_ROOT -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=MinSizeRel -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=../lib/cmake/Qul/toolchain/armgcc.cmake -DQUL_PLATFORM=MIMXRT1050-EVK-baremetal -DQUL_TARGET_TOOLCHAIN_DIR=$QUL_TOOLS/arm_gcc_12_3_1 -DQUL_BOARD_SDK_DIR=$QUL_TOOLS/NXP/SDK_2_15_000_EVKB-IMXRT1050 -DQUL_BUILD_DEMOS=off -DQUL_BUILD_EXAMPLES=off -DQUL_BUILD_FRAMEWORK=off -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$QUL_ROOT -DQUL_VERSION=$QUL_VERSION -DQUL_GENERATORS=$QUL_ROOT/lib/cmake/Qul/QulGenerators.cmake cmake --build . cmake --install .
set QUL_VERSION=<VERSION> cd %QUL_ROOT% mkdir build cd build cmake .. -G "Ninja" -DQul_ROOT=%QUL_ROOT% -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=MinSizeRel -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=..\lib\cmake\Qul\toolchain\armgcc.cmake -DQUL_PLATFORM=MIMXRT1050-EVK-baremetal -DQUL_TARGET_TOOLCHAIN_DIR=%QUL_TOOLS%\arm_gcc_12_3_1 -DQUL_BOARD_SDK_DIR=%QUL_TOOLS%\NXP\SDK_2_15_000_EVKB-IMXRT1050 -DQUL_BUILD_DEMOS=off -DQUL_BUILD_EXAMPLES=off -DQUL_BUILD_FRAMEWORK=off -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=%QUL_ROOT% -DQUL_VERSION=%QUL_VERSION% -DQUL_GENERATORS=%QUL_ROOT%/lib/cmake/Qul/QulGenerators.cmake cmake --build . cmake --install .
Desktop
The following commands build and install a custom Qt platform library (desktop simulator).
export QUL_VERSION=<VERSION> cd $QUL_ROOT mkdir build cd build cmake .. -G "Ninja" -DQul_ROOT=$QUL_ROOT -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DQUL_BUILD_FRAMEWORK=OFF -DQUL_BUILD_TOOLS=OFF -DQUL_BUILD_TESTS=OFF -DQUL_BUILD_EXAMPLES=OFF -DQUL_BUILD_DEMOS=OFF -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$QUL_ROOT -DQUL_VERSION=$QUL_VERSION -DQUL_GENERATORS=$QUL_ROOT/lib/cmake/Qul/QulGenerators.cmake -DQUL_PLATFORM=Qt -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=$QUL_ROOT/bin;$QT_ROOT cmake --build . cmake --install .
set QUL_VERSION=<VERSION> cd %QUL_ROOT% mkdir build cd build cmake .. -G "Ninja" -DQul_ROOT=%QUL_ROOT% -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DQUL_BUILD_FRAMEWORK=OFF -DQUL_BUILD_TOOLS=OFF -DQUL_BUILD_TESTS=OFF -DQUL_BUILD_EXAMPLES=OFF -DQUL_BUILD_DEMOS=OFF -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=%QUL_ROOT% -DQUL_VERSION=%QUL_VERSION% -DQUL_GENERATORS=%QUL_ROOT%/lib/cmake/Qul/QulGenerators.cmake -DQUL_PLATFORM=Qt -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=%QUL_ROOT%\bin;%QT_ROOT% cmake --build . cmake --install .
Building applications using a custom built Qt Quick Ultralite
This section describes how to build an application using a custom-built Qt Quick Ultralite.
The following step-by-step instructions guide you build and install Qt Quick Ultralite, and use it to build an application:
- Set up your development environment for the chosen target. as per the instructions in the Getting started topic.
- Set environment variables according to chosen target and toolchain. For example, following are the commands for MIMXRT1170-EVKB with the ARM GCC toolchain. To build for another platform or toolchain, modify the
QUL_PLATFORM_NAME
,QUL_BOARD_SDK_DIR
,CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE
,QUL_TARGET_TOOLCHAIN_DIR
, andFREERTOS_DIR
environment variables accordingly. TheFREERTOS_DIR
parameter can be dropped if you are not building for the FreeRTOS platform.export QUL_PLATFORM_NAME=mimxrt1170-evkb-freertos export QUL_BOARD_SDK_DIR=$QUL_TOOLS/NXP/SDK_2_14_0_MIMXRT1170-EVKB export CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=$QUL_ROOT/lib/cmake/Qul/toolchain/armgcc.cmake export QUL_TARGET_TOOLCHAIN_DIR=$QUL_TOOLS/arm_gcc_12_3_1 export FREERTOS_DIR=$QUL_TOOLS/NXP/SDK_2_14_0_MIMXRT1170-EVKB/rtos/freertos/freertos-kernel
set QUL_PLATFORM_NAME=mimxrt1170-evkb-freertos set QUL_BOARD_SDK_DIR=%QUL_TOOLS%\NXP\SDK_2_14_0_MIMXRT1170-EVKB set CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=%QUL_ROOT%\lib\cmake\Qul\toolchain\armgcc.cmake set QUL_TARGET_TOOLCHAIN_DIR=%QUL_TOOLS%\arm_gcc_12_3_1 set FREERTOS_DIR=%QUL_TOOLS%\NXP\SDK_2_14_0_MIMXRT1170-EVKB\rtos\freertos\freertos-kernel
- If you built and installed the platform library as described in the previous section, follow instructions in step 4 to build your application.
Otherwise, this step guides you build Qt Quick Ultralite from the modified sources and install it to a custom location. Before you begin, copy the Qt for MCUs version that you used to build the customized version. This ensures that the customized version also includes the host tools (qmltocpp, qmlinterfacegenerator, and so on) and the CMake configuration. The following example show how to build and install a customized version to
QUL_INSTALL_DIR
. The build is done in the directory defined byQUL_BUILD_DIR
.export QUL_VERSION=2.8.1 export QUL_INSTALL_DIR=some/path/custom_qul export QUL_BUILD_DIR=some/path/custom_qul_build mkdir -p $QUL_INSTALL_DIR cp -r $QUL_ROOT/* $QUL_INSTALL_DIR mkdir -p $QUL_BUILD_DIR cd $QUL_BUILD_DIR cmake $QUL_ROOT -DQul_ROOT=$QUL_ROOT -G "Ninja" -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$QUL_INSTALL_DIR -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=MinSizeRel -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=$CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE -DQUL_TARGET_TOOLCHAIN_DIR=$QUL_TARGET_TOOLCHAIN_DIR -DQUL_BOARD_SDK_DIR=$QUL_BOARD_SDK_DIR -DQUL_PLATFORM=$QUL_PLATFORM_NAME -DQUL_BUILD_DEMOS=OFF -DQUL_BUILD_EXAMPLES=OFF -DQUL_GENERATORS=$QUL_ROOT/lib/cmake/Qul/QulGenerators.cmake -DFREERTOS_DIR=$FREERTOS_DIR -DQUL_VERSION=$QUL_VERSION cmake --build . cmake --install . # Before the next step, update QUL_ROOT and CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE to point to your custom version export QUL_ROOT=$QUL_INSTALL_DIR export CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=$QUL_INSTALL_DIR/lib/cmake/Qul/toolchain/armgcc.cmake
set QUL_VERSION=2.8.1 set QUL_INSTALL_DIR=some\path\custom_qul set QUL_BUILD_DIR=some\path\custom_qul_build mkdir %QUL_INSTALL_DIR% xcopy %QUL_ROOT% %QUL_INSTALL_DIR% /e /y /q mkdir %QUL_BUILD_DIR% cd %QUL_BUILD_DIR% cmake %QUL_ROOT% -DQul_ROOT=%QUL_ROOT% -G "Ninja" -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=%QUL_INSTALL_DIR% -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=MinSizeRel -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=%CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE% -DQUL_TARGET_TOOLCHAIN_DIR=%QUL_TARGET_TOOLCHAIN_DIR% -DQUL_BOARD_SDK_DIR=%QUL_BOARD_SDK_DIR% -DQUL_PLATFORM=%QUL_PLATFORM_NAME% -DQUL_BUILD_DEMOS=OFF -DQUL_BUILD_EXAMPLES=OFF -DQUL_GENERATORS=%QUL_ROOT%/lib/cmake/Qul/QulGenerators.cmake -DFREERTOS_DIR=%FREERTOS_DIR% -DQUL_VERSION=%QUL_VERSION% cmake --build . cmake --install . rem Before the next step, update QUL_ROOT and CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE to point to your custom version set QUL_ROOT=%QUL_INSTALL_DIR% set CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=%QUL_INSTALL_DIR%/lib/cmake/Qul/toolchain/armgcc.cmake
- Use the custom-built Qt Quick Ultralite to build your application, by setting
QUL_ROOT
to the directory where it is installed. Since the installation step will not installQulGenerators.cmake
,QUL_ROOT_ORIGINAL
needs to point to the original Qt Quick Ultralite installation folder.# You can use the minimal example from the SDK. export APP_DIR=some/path/custom_app export QUL_ROOT=some/path/custom_qul export QUL_ROOT_ORIGINAL=some/path/original_qul mkdir $APP_DIR cd $APP_DIR mkdir build cd build cmake .. -G "Ninja" -DQul_ROOT=$QUL_ROOT -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=MinSizeRel -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=$CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE -DQUL_TARGET_TOOLCHAIN_DIR=$QUL_TARGET_TOOLCHAIN_DIR -DQUL_GENERATORS=$QUL_ROOT_ORIGINAL/lib/cmake/Qul/QulGenerators.cmake -DQUL_PLATFORM=$QUL_PLATFORM_NAME -DQUL_BOARD_SDK_DIR=$QUL_BOARD_SDK_DIR cmake --build . cmake --build . --target flash_<TARGET_NAME>
rem You can use the minimal example from the SDK. set APP_DIR=some\path\custom_app set QUL_ROOT=some\path\custom_qul set QUL_ROOT_ORIGINAL=some\path\original_qul mkdir %APP_DIR% cd %APP_DIR% mkdir build cd build cmake .. -G "Ninja" -DQul_ROOT=%QUL_ROOT% -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=MinSizeRel -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=%CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE% -DQUL_TARGET_TOOLCHAIN_DIR=%QUL_TARGET_TOOLCHAIN_DIR% -DQUL_GENERATORS=%QUL_ROOT_ORIGINAL%/lib/cmake/Qul/QulGenerators.cmake -DQUL_PLATFORM=%QUL_PLATFORM_NAME% -DQUL_BOARD_SDK_DIR=%QUL_BOARD_SDK_DIR% cmake --build . cmake --build . --target flash_<TARGET_NAME>
Note: In a Qt Quick Ultralite project, CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE
is set to MinSizeRel
by default. MinSizeRel
is the build type used for the prebuilt platform libraries shipped with Qt Quick Ultralite. To change the build type (to Release
for example), invoke CMake with the -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
option. For more information, see CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE.
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