qt-creator/doc/src/widgets/qtdesigner-plugins.qdoc

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/*!
    \contentspage index.html
    \previouspage creator-using-qt-designer.html
    \page adding-plugins.html
    \nextpage creator-usability.html

    \title Adding Qt Designer Plugins

    You can use Qt APIs to create plugins that extend Qt applications.
    This enables you to add your own widgets to \QD.
    The most flexible way to include a plugin with an application is to compile
    it into a dynamic library that is shipped separately, and detected and
    loaded at runtime.

    The applications can detect plugins that are stored in the standard plugin
    subdirectories. For more information on how to create and locate plugins
    and to change the default plugin path, see \l{How to Create Qt Plugins}.

    For more information about how to create plugins for \QD, see
    \l{http://qt-project.org/doc/qt-4.8/designer-using-custom-widgets.html}
    {Using Custom Widgets with Qt Designer}.

    \section1 Locating Qt Designer Plugins

    \QD fetches plugins from the standard locations and loads the plugins
    that match its build key. \QD is delivered both as a standalone application
    and as part of the SDK, where it is integrated into \QC. The correct folder
    to place the plugins depends on which one you use.

    The integrated \QD fetches plugins from the \c {%SDK%\bin\designer} folder
    on Windows and Linux. For information about how to configure plugins on
    Mac OS, see \l{Configuring Qt Designer Plugins on Mac OS}.

    To check which plugins
    were loaded successfully and which failed, choose \gui{Tools > Form Editor >
    About Qt Designer Plugins}.

    The standalone \QD is part of the Qt library used for building projects,
    located under \c {%SDK%\qt}. Therefore, it fetches plugins from the
    following folder: \c {%SDK%\qt\plugins\designer}. To check which plugins
    were loaded successfully and which failed, choose \gui{Help >
    About Plugins}.

    \section2 Configuring Qt Designer Plugins on Mac OS

    On the Mac, a GUI application must be built and run from a bundle. A bundle
    is a directory structure that appears as a single entity when viewed in the
    Finder. A bundle for an application typcially contains the executable and
    all the resources it needs.

    \QC uses its own set of Qt Libraries located in the bundle, and therefore,
    you need to configure the \QD plugins that you want to use with \QC.
    Fore more information about how to deploy applications on Mac OS, see
    \l{http://qt-project.org/doc/qt-4.8/deployment-mac.html}
    {Deploying an Application on Mac OS X}.

    The following example illustrates how to configure version 5.2.1 of the
    \l{http://qwt.sourceforge.net/}{Qwt - Qt Widgets for Technical Applications}
    library for use with \QC:

    \list 1

        \o  To check the paths used in the Qwt library, enter the following
            \c otool command:

            \snippet examples/doc_src_plugins.qdoc 0

            The output for Qwt 5.2.1 indicates that the plugin uses Qt core
            libraries (QtDesigner, QtScript, QtXml, QtGui and QtCore) and
            libqwt.5.dylib:

            \snippet examples/doc_src_plugins.qdoc 1


        \o  You must copy the \QD plugin and the Qwt library files to the
            following locations:

            \list

                \o  \c {libqwt_designer_plugin.dylib} to
                    \c {QtCreator.app/Contents/MacOS/designer}

                \o \c {libqwt.*.dylib} to \c {QtCreator.app/Contents/Frameworks}

            \endlist

            Enter the following commands:

            \snippet examples/doc_src_plugins.qdoc 4

        \o  Enter the following \c otool command to check the libraries that are
            used by the Qwt library:

            \snippet examples/doc_src_plugins.qdoc 2

            The command returns the following output:

            \snippet examples/doc_src_plugins.qdoc 3

        \o  Enter the following \c install_name_tool command to fix the
            references of the libraries:

            \snippet examples/doc_src_plugins.qdoc 5

    \endlist

    \section1 Matching Build Keys

    The \QC that is included in pre-built SDK packages on Windows is built with
    the Microsoft Visual Studio compiler, whereas the version of Qt shipped for
    building applications is configured and built to use the MinGW/g++ compiler.
    Plugins built by using this version of Qt cannot be loaded by \QC because
    the build-keys do not match. The plugins can only be used in the standalone
    version of \QD. Choose \gui{Help > About \QC} to check the Qt version \QC
    was built with.

    To use \QD plugins that were built for the shipped Qt version, make sure
    that \QC is built with the same compiler by either recompiling \QC using
    MinGW or recompiling Qt with Microsoft Visual Studio, depending on which
    configuration you want to use for your applications.

*/