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qmake Command Reference

About This Reference

This reference is a detailed index of all commandline options, configurations and internal variables used by the qmake cross-platform makefile generation utility.

For a higher level introduction to using qmake see the qmake User's Guide.

Command Line Options

Syntax

qmake [options] files

Options

The following options can be specified on the command line to qmake:

QMake supports two different modes of operation. The first mode (and default) is makefile generation, in this mode qmake will take a .pro file and turn it into a proper system Makefile. This is the mode documented in this guide, however there is an additional mode in qmake to generate .pro files from source code.

To toggle between these modes you must specify in the first argument what mode you want, if no mode is specified qmake will assume you want makefile mode, the available mode switches are:

Makefile Mode

In Makefile mode QMake will generate a makefile. Additionally you may supply the following arguments in this mode:

The files argument can be a list of one or more project files, separated by spaces. You may also pass qmake assignments on the commandline here and they will be processed before all files specified, for example:

qmake -makefile -unix -o Makefile "CONFIG+=test" test.pro

This will generate a Makefile from test.pro, with Unix pathnames, however many of these arguments aren't necesary as they are the default:

qmake "CONFIG+=test" test.pro

Projectfile Mode

In Projectfile mode QMake will generate a project file. Additionally you may supply the following arguments in this mode:

The files argument can be a list of files or directories, if a directory is specified this will be included in the DEPENDPATH and relevant code from there will be included in the generated project file, if a file is given it will go into the correct variable depending on extention (ie .ui files go into INTERFACES, .cpp files go into SOURCES, etc).

System Variables

For a higher level introduction to qmake variables and how they are used, see the qmake User's Guide.

Frequently Used System Variables

The following variables are recognized by qmake and are used most frequently when creating project files.

CONFIG

The CONFIG variable specifies project configuration and compiler options. The values will be recognized internally by qmake and have several special meaning. They are as follows.

These CONFIG values control compilation flags:

These options define the application/library type:

The CONFIG variable will also be checked when resolving scope. You may assign anything to this variable.

For example:

CONFIG += qt console newstuff
...
newstuff {
        SOURCES += new.cpp
        HEADERS += new.h
}

DEFINES

qmake adds the values of this variable as compiler C preprocessor macros (-D option).

For example:

 
DEFINES += USE_MY_STUFF QT_DLL

DEF_FILE

win32/app only.

Specifies a .def file to be included in the project.

DESTDIR

Specifies where to put the target file.

For example:

 
  DESTDIR = ../../lib

Also see this note.

DLLDESTDIR

###

Also see this note.

HEADERS

Defines the header files for the project.

qmake will generate dependancy information (unless -nodepend is specified on the command line) for the specified headers. qmake will also automatically detect if moc is required by the classes in these headers, and add the appropriate dependancies and files to the project for generating and linking the moc files.

For example:

HEADERS = myclass.h \
          login.h \
          mainwindow.h

See also SOURCES.

INCLUDEPATH

This variable specifies the #include directories which should be searched when compiling the project. Use ';' or space as a the directory separator.

For example:

  INCLUDEPATH = c:\msdev\include d:\stl\include

INTERFACES

This variable specifies the .ui files (see the Designer) to be processed through uic before compiling. All dependancies, headers and source files required to build these .ui files will automatically be added to the project.

For example:

INTERFACES = mydialog.ui \
             mywidget.ui \
             myconfig.ui

LEXSOURCES

This variable contains a list of lex source files. All dependancies, headers and source files will automatically be added to the project for building these lex files.

For example:

LEXSOURCES = lexer.l

LIBS

This variable contains a list of libraries to be linked into the project.

For example:

unix:LIBS += -lmath -L/usr/local/lib
win32:LIBS += c:\mylibs\math.lib

MOC_DIR

This variable specifies the directory where all intermediate moc files (see meta object compiler) should be placed.

For example:

unix:MOC_DIR = ../myproject/tmp
win32:MOC_DIR = c:\myproject\tmp

Also see this note.

OBJECTS_DIR

This variable specifies the directory where all intermediate object should be placed.

For example:

unix:OBJECTS_DIR = ../myproject/tmp
win32:OBJECTS__DIR = c:\myproject\tmp

Also see this note.

OBJMOC

This variable is set by qmake if files can be found that contain the Q_OBJECT. OBJMOC contains the name of all intermediate moc object files. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

REQUIRES

This is a special variable processed by qmake. If the contents of this variable do not appear in CONFIG by the time this variable is assigned to then a minimal makefile will be generated that states what dependancies (the values assigned to REQUIRES) were missing.

SOURCES

This variable contains the name of all source files in the project.

For example:

SOURCES = myclass.cpp \
          login.cpp \
          mainwindow.cpp

See also HEADERS

SRCMOC
###

SUBDIRS

This variable, when used with the 'subdir' TEMPLATE contains the names of all subdirectories to be built by the project.

For example:

SUBDIRS = kernel \
          tools

TARGET
This contains the name of the project target.

For example:

TEMPLATE = app
TARGET = myapp
SOURCES = main.cpp

The above project file would produce an executable named 'myapp' on unix and 'myapp.exe' on windows.

TEMPLATE

This variable contains the name of the template to use when generating the project. The allowed values are:

For example:

TEMPLATE = lib
SOURCES = main.cpp
TARGET = mylib

VERSION

This variable contains the version number of the library, is the 'lib' TEMPLATE is specified.

YACCSOURCES

This variable contains a list of yacc source files to be included in the project. All dependancies, headers and source files will automatically be included in the project.

For example:

YACCSOURCES = moc.y

Rarely Used System Variables

The following variables are also recognized by qmake but are either internal or very rarely used.

DESTDIR_TARGET

###

Also see this note.

DSP_TEMPLATE

LEXIMPLS

This variable contains a list of lex implementation files. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

LEXOBJECTS

This variable contains the names of intermediate lex object files.The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake and rarely needs to be modified.

MAKEFILE

This variable specifies the name of the makefile which qmake should use when outputting the dependancy information for building a project. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

MAKEFILE_GENERATOR

This variable contains the name of the makefile generator to use when generating a makefile. The value of this variable is typically handled internally by qmake and rarely needs to be modified.

OBJECTS

This variable is generated from SOURCES. The extension of each source file will been replaced by .o (Unix) or .obj (Win32). The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

PRECOMPH

This variable contains a list of header files that require some sort of precompilation step (such as with moc). The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE

This variable contains the name of the qmake program itself and is placed in generated makefiles. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKESPEC

This variable contains the name of the qmake configuration to use when generating makefiles. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified. Use the QMAKESPEC environment variable instead.

QMAKE_ABSOLUTE_SOURCE_PATH

###

QMAKE_AIX_SHLIB

If not empty. this variable tells qmake to generate the TARGET as an AIX shared library.

QMAKE_APP_FLAG

This variable is empty unless the 'app' TEMPLATE is specified. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified. Use the following instead:

app {
        #conditional code for 'app' template here
}

QMAKE_APP_OR_DLL

This variable is empty unless the 'app' or 'dll' TEMPLATE is specified. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_AR_CMD

unix only

This variable contains the command for invoking the program which creates, modifies and extracts archives. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_CFLAGS_DEBUG

This variable contains the flags for the C compiler in debug mode.The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_CFLAGS_MT

This variable contains the compiler flags for creating a multi-threaded program. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_CFLAGS_MT_DBG

This variable contains the compiler flags for creating a debug multi-threaded program. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_CFLAGS_MT_DLL

This variable contains the compiler flags for creating a multi-threaded dll. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_CFLAGS_MT_DLLDBG

This variable contains the compiler flags for creating a debug multi-threaded dll. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_CFLAGS_RELEASE

This variable contains the compiler flags for creating a non-debug program. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_CFLAGS_SHLIB

This variable contains the compiler flags for creating a shared library. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_CFLAGS_THREAD

This variable contains the compiler flags for creating a threaded program. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_CFLAGS_WARN_OFF

This variable is not empty if the warn_off TEMPLATE option is specified.

QMAKE_CFLAGS_WARN_ON

This variable is not empty if the warn_on TEMPLATE option is specified.

QMAKE_CLEAN

###

QMAKE_CXXFLAGS_DEBUG

This variable contains the c++ compiler flags for creating a debug program. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_CXXFLAGS_MT

This variable contains the c++ compiler flags for creating a multi-threaded program. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_CXXFLAGS_MT_DBG

This variable contains the c++ compiler flags for creating a debug multi-threaded program. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_CXXFLAGS_MT_DLL

This variable contains the c++ compiler flags for creating a multi-threaded dll. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_CXXFLAGS_MT_DLLDBG

This variable contains the c++ compiler flags for creating a multi-threaded debug dll. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_CXXFLAGS_RELEASE

This variable contains the c++ compiler flags for creating a non-debug program. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_CXXFLAGS_SHLIB

This variable contains the c++ compiler flags for creating a shared library. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_CXXFLAGS_THREAD

This variable contains the c++ compiler flags for creating a threaded program. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_CXXFLAGS_WARN_OFF

This variable contains the c++ compiler flags for suppressing compiler warnings. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_CXXFLAGS_WARN_ON

This variable contains the c++ compiler flags for generating compiler warnings. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_EXTENTION_SHLIB

###

QMAKE_FAILED_REQUIREMENTS

###

QMAKE_FILETAGS

###

QMAKE_HPUX_SHLIB

unix only

If not empty. this variable tells qmake to generate the TARGET as an HPUX shared library.

QMAKE_HPUX_SHLIBS

unix only
If not empty. this variable tells qmake to generate the TARGET as an HPUX shared library.

QMAKE_INCDIR

###

QMAKE_INCDIR_OPENGL

This variable contains the location of OpenGL header files. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_INCDIR_QT

This variable contains the location of all known header files paths. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_INCDIR_THREAD

This variable contains the location of all known header files paths when building threaded programs. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_INCDIR_X11

unix only

This variable contains the location of X11 header files paths. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_LFLAGS_CONSOLE

This variable contains link flags when building console programs.The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_LFLAGS_CONSOLE_ANY

This variable contains link flags when building console programs.The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_LFLAGS_CONSOLE_DLL

This variable contains link flags when building console programs.The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_LFLAGS_DEBUG

This variable contains link flags when building debug programs.The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_LFLAGS_PLUGIN

This variable contains link flags when building plugins. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_LFLAGS_QT_DLL

This variable contains link flags when building programs that use the Qt library built as a dll. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_LFLAGS_RELEASE

This variable contains link flags when building release programs. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_LFLAGS_SHAPP

###

QMAKE_LFLAGS_SHLIB

This variable contains link flags when building shared libraries The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_LFLAGS_SONAME
###

QMAKE_LFLAGS_THREAD

This variable contains link flags when building threaded projects. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_LFLAGS_WINDOWS

This variable contains link flags when building windows projects. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_LFLAGS_WINDOWS_ANY

This variable contains link flags when building windows projects. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_LFLAGS_WINDOWS_DLL

This variable contains link flags when building windows dll projects. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_LIBDIR

This variable contains the location of all known library directories.The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_LIBDIR_FLAGS

###?

This variable contains the location of all library directory flags.The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_LIBDIR_OPENGL

This variable contains the location of the OpenGL library directory.The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_LIBDIR_QT

This variable contains the location of the Qt library directory.The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_LIBDIR_X11

This variable contains the location of the X11 library directory.The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_LIBS

This variable contains all project libraries.The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_LIBS_CONSOLE

###

QMAKE_LIBS_OPENGL

This variable contains all OpenGL libraries.The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_LIBS_OPENGL_QT

This variable contains all OpenGL Qt libraries.The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_LIBS_QT

This variable contains all Qt libraries.The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_LIBS_QT_DLL

This variable contains all Qt dll libraries.The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_LIBS_QT_OPENGL
###

QMAKE_LIBS_QT_THREAD

###

QMAKE_LIBS_RT
###

QMAKE_LIBS_RTMT

###

QMAKE_LIBS_THREAD
###

QMAKE_LIBS_WINDOWS

This variable contains all windows libraries.The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_LIBS_X11

This variable contains all X11 libraries.The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_LIBS_X11SM

This variable contains all X11 session management libraries. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_LIB_FLAG
###

QMAKE_LINK_SHLIB_CMD

This variable contains the command to execute when creating a shared library. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_LN_SHLIB

This variable contains the command to execute when creating a link to a shared library. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_MAKEFILE

This variable contains the name of the makefile to create. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_MAX_FILES

###

QMAKE_MOC_SRC

This variable contains the names of all moc source files to generate and include in the project. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

QMAKE_NOFORCE
###

QMAKE_QMAKE

###

QMAKE_QT_DLL
###

QMAKE_RUN_CC
###

QMAKE_RUN_CC_IMP
###

QMAKE_RUN_CXX

###

QMAKE_RUN_CXX_IMP
###

QMAKE_TARGET

This variable contains the name of the project target. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

RC_FILE
###

RES_FILE

###

SUBLIBS

###

TARGET_EXT
###

TARGET_x

###

TARGET_x.y.z
###

UICIMPLS
###

UICOBJECTS

###

VER_MAJ

This variable contains the major version number of the library, if the 'lib' TEMPLATE is specified.

VER_MIN

This variable contains the minor version number of the library, if the 'lib' TEMPLATE is specified.

VER_PAT

This variable contains the patch version number of the library, if the 'lib' TEMPLATE is specified.

YACCIMPLS

This variable contains a list of yacc source files. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

YACCOBJECTS

This variable contains a list of yacc object files. The value of this variable is typically handled by qmake or qmake.conf and rarely needs to be modified.

* For all project files that specify a directory and are interpreted by qmake (DESTDIR, OBJECTS_DIR, MOC_DIR, etc) the directory will be created when qmake is called, ie before the 'make' command is specified. This is to assure portablity.

Functions

For a higher level introduction to using qmake functions see the qmake User's Guide.

qmake recognizes the following functions:

include( filename )

This function will include the contents of filename into the current project at the point it was included. The function succeeds if filename was included, otherwise it fails. You can check the return value of this function using a scope.

For example:

include( shared.pri )
OPTIONS = standard custom
!include( options.pri ) {
        message( "No custom build options specified" )
        OPTIONS -= custom
}

contains( variablename, value )

This function will succeed if the variable variablename contains the value value. You can check the return value of this function using a scope.

For example:

contains( drivers, network ) {
        # drivers contains 'network'
        message( "Configuring for network build..." )
        HEADERS += network.h
        SOURCES += network.cpp
}

count( variablename, number )

This function will succeed if the variable variablename contains number elements, otherwise it will fails. You can check the return value of this function using a scope.

For example:

MYVAR = one two three
count( MYVAR, 3 ) {
        # always true
}

isEmpty( variablename )

This function will succeed if the variable variablename is empty (same as count(variable, 0)).

system( command )

This function will execute string in a secondary shell and will succeed if the command exits with a exit status of 1.You can check the return value of this function using a scope.

For example:

  system(ls /bin):HAS_BIN=FALSE

message( string )

This function will always succeed, and will display the given string to the user.

error( string )

This function will never return. It will display the given string to the user, and then exit qmake. This function should only be used for very fatal configurations

For example:

  release:debug:error(You can't have release and debug at the same time!)

Environment Variables and Configuration

For a higher level introduction to using qmake environment variables and configuration options see the qmake User's Guide.

QMAKESPEC

qmake requires a platform and compiler description file which contains many default values used to generate appropriate makefiles. The standard Qt distribution comes with many of these files, located in the 'mkspecs' subdirectory of the Qt installation.

The QMAKESPEC environment variable can contain any of the following:

Note: the QMAKESPEC path will automatically be added to the INCLUDEPATHS system variable.

Cache File

The cache file (mentioned above in the options) is a special file qmake will read to find settings not specified in the qmake.conf file, the .pro file, or the command line. If neither -path nor -nocache are specified qmake will try to find a file called .qmake.cache in parent directories. If it fails to find this file it will silently ignore this step of processing.


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Qt version 3.0.0-beta1-beta1