qt-creator/doc/src/projects/creator-projects-compilers.qdoc

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/*!
    \contentspage index.html
    \previouspage creator-project-qmake.html
    \page creator-tool-chains.html
    \nextpage creator-run-settings.html

    \title Adding Compilers

    Qt is supported on a variety of 32-bit and 64-bit platforms, and can
    usually be built on each platform with GCC, a vendor-supplied compiler, or
    a third party compiler. In \QC, a \l{glossary-buildandrun-kit}{kit}
    specifies the compiler and other necessary tools for building and running an
    application on a particular platform.

    \QC automatically detects the compilers that are registered by your system
    or by an SDK. You can add compilers to build applications by using other
    compilers or by using additional versions of the automatically detected
    compilers:

    \list

        \o  GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) is a compiler for Linux and
            Mac OS X.

        \o  MinGW (Minimalist GNU for Windows) is a native software port of GCC
            and GNU Binutils for use in the development of native Microsoft
            Windows applications on Windows. MinGW is
            distributed together with \QC and Qt SDK for Windows.

        \o  Linux ICC (Intel C++ Compiler) is a group of C and C++ compilers
            for Linux.

        \o  Clang is a C, C++, Objective C, and Objective C++ front-end for the
            LLVM compiler for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.
    \endlist

    To build an application using GCC, MinGW, or Clang, specify the path
    to the directory where the compiler is located and select
    the application binary interface (ABI) version from the list of available
    versions. You can also create a custom ABI definition.

    You specify the compiler to use for each kit in \gui Tools >
    \gui Options > \gui {Build & Run} > \gui Kits.

    To add compilers:

    \list 1

        \o  Select \gui {Tools > Options > Build & Run > Compilers > Add} and
            select a compiler in the list.

            \image qtcreator-toolchains.png

            To clone the selected compiler, select \gui {Clone}.

        \o  In the \gui Name column, double-click the name to change it.

        \o  In the \gui{Compiler path} field, enter the path to the directory
            where the compiler is located.

            The other settings to specify depend on the compiler.

    \endlist

    \section2 Troubleshooting MinGW Compilation Errors

    If error messages displayed in the \gui {Compile Output} pane contain
    paths where slashes are missing (for example, C:QtSDK),
    check your PATH variable. At the command line, enter the following commands:

    \code
        where sh.exe
        where make.exe
        where mingw32-make.exe
    \endcode

    If these commands show paths, they have been added to the global PATH
    variable during the installation of a tool chain based on Cygwin or MinGW,
    even though this is against Windows conventions.

    To keep working with the third-party tool chain, create a new shell link
    that adds the required paths (as Visual Studio and Qt do). The shell link
    must point to cmd.exe, as illustrated by the following example:

    \c {C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /K C:\path_to\myenv.bat}

    where the /K parameter carries out the command specified in the bat file.

    Create the myenv.bat file at \e path_to, which should be in a convenient
    location. In the file, specify the paths to the tool chains. For example,

    \c  {set PATH=C:\path1;C:\path2;%PATH%}

    where \e path1 and \e path2 are paths to the tool chains.

    Finally, remove the paths from the global PATH, reboot the computer, and
    run the \c where commands again to verify that the global PATH is now clean.

    You can use the shell link to run the tools in the third-party tool chains.

*/