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

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/*!
    \contentspage {Qt Creator Manual}
    \previouspage creator-project-qmake.html
    \page creator-tool-chains.html
    \nextpage creator-debuggers.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 an application
    for and running it on a particular platform.

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

    \list

        \li GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) is a compiler for Linux and
            \macos.

        \li 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 installers for Windows.

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

        \li Clang is a C, C++, Objective C, and Objective C++ front-end for the
            LLVM compiler for Windows, Linux, and \macos.

        \li Nim is the Nim Compiler for Windows, Linux, and \macos.

        \li QCC is the interface for compiling C++ applications for QNX.

    \endlist

    To build an application using GCC, MinGW, Clang, or QCC, 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.
    For QCC, also specify the path to the QNX Software Development Platform (SDP).

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

    To add C or C++ compilers:

    \list 1

        \li Select \uicontrol Tools > \uicontrol Options >
            \uicontrol {Build & Run} > \uicontrol Compilers > \uicontrol Add,
            then select a compiler in the list, and then select \uicontrol C or
            \uicontrol C++ to add a C or C++ compiler.

            \image qtcreator-toolchains.png

            To clone the selected compiler, select \uicontrol Clone.

        \li In the \uicontrol Name field, enter a name for the compiler to
            identify it in \QC.

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

        \li In the \uicontrol {Platform codegen flags} field, check the flags passed
            to the compiler that specify the architecture on the target
            platform.

        \li In the \uicontrol {Platform linker flags} field, check the flags passed to
            the linker that specify the architecture on the target platform.
            The linker flags are used only when building with Qbs.

            The other settings to specify depend on the compiler.

        \li In the \uicontrol ABI field, provide an identification for the
            target architecture. This is used to warn about ABI mismatches
            within the kits.

    \endlist

    \section1 Adding Nim Compilers

    To build an application using the Nim Compiler, select  \uicontrol Tools >
    \uicontrol Options > \uicontrol {Build & Run} > \uicontrol Compilers >
    \uicontrol Add > \uicontrol Nim, and specify the path to the directory where
    the compiler is located.

    \section1 Adding Custom Compilers

    To add a compiler that is not listed above or a remote compiler, use the
    \uicontrol Custom option and specify the paths to the directories where the
    compiler and make tool are located and options for the compiler.

    \image creator-compilers-custom.png

    To add other compilers:

    \list 1

        \li Select \uicontrol Tools > \uicontrol Options > \uicontrol {Build & Run} >
            \uicontrol Compilers > \uicontrol Add > \uicontrol Custom >
            \uicontrol C or \uicontrol C++.

        \li In the \uicontrol Name field, enter a name for the compiler.

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

        \li In the \uicontrol {Make path} field, enter the path to the directory where
            the make tool is located.

       \li  In the \uicontrol ABI field, specify the ABI version.

        \li In the \uicontrol {Predefined macros} field, specify the macros that the
            compiler enables by default. Specify each macro on a separate line,
            in the following format: MACRO[=value].

        \li In the \uicontrol {Header paths} field, specify the paths to directories
            that the compiler checks for headers. Specify each path on a
            separate line.

        \li In the \uicontrol {C++11 flags} field, specify the flags that turn on
            C++11 support in the compiler.

        \li In the \uicontrol {Qt mkspecs} field, specify the path to the directory
            where mkspecs are located. Usually, the path is specified relative
            to the Qt mkspecs directory.

        \li In the \uicontrol {Error parser} field, select the error parser to use.
            Select \uicontrol Custom, and then select \uicontrol {Customer Parser Settings}
            to specify settings for a custom parser:

            \image qtcreator-custom-parser.png

            The custom error parser enables you to capture errors and warnings separately.
            You can configure the error parser in the \uicontrol Error tab and the warning
            parser in the \uicontrol Warning tab:

            \list 1

                \li In the \uicontrol {Error message capture pattern} field, specify
                    a regular expression to define what is an error. The custom
                    parser matches the compile output line by line against the
                    regular expression and displays errors in the \uicontrol Issues
                    output pane. Create regular expression groups that contain
                    the file name, line number and error message.

                \li In the \uicontrol {Capture Positions} field, map the regular
                    expression groups to \uicontrol {File name}, \uicontrol {Line number},
                    and \uicontrol Message.

                \li In the \uicontrol {Capture Output Channels} field, specify whether
                    messages from standard output, standard error, or both channels
                    should be captured.

                \li In the \uicontrol {Test} group, you can test how the message that
                    you enter in the \uicontrol {Error message} field is matched when
                    using the current settings.

            \endlist

    \endlist

    \section1 Troubleshooting MinGW Compilation Errors

    If error messages displayed in the \uicontrol {Compile Output} pane contain
    paths where slashes are missing (for example, \c {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.

*/