// Copyright (C) 2024 The Qt Company Ltd. // SPDX-License-Identifier: LicenseRef-Qt-Commercial OR GFDL-1.3-no-invariants-only /*! //! [converting-ui-projects-to-applications] \1 projects are useful for creating user interfaces. To use them for application development in Qt Creator you have to add: \list \li A project configuration file (\c CMakeLists.txt or a \c .pro file) \li C++ code (\c .cpp) \li Resource files \li Code needed for deploying applications to \l{glossary-device} {devices} \endlist For more information about integrating QML and C++, see \l{Overview - QML and C++ Integration}. \note Since \QDS 2.3.0, \QDS project wizard templates generate projects that can be built with CMake. You can open the \c CMakeLists.txt project file in Qt Creator to continue developing the project. \target wizard-template-note \note Since \QDS 3.9.0, \QDS project wizard templates generate projects that automatically check out and build the Qt Quick Studio Components from \l{https://code.qt.io/cgit/qt-labs/qtquickdesigner-components.git/} {Qt Code Review}, using CMake. To turn off this feature, use the option \c BUILD_QDS_COMPONENTS in the CMake configuration. \if defined(qtcreator) For more information about using \QDS to create projects, see \l{\QDS documentation}. \endif To use qmake as the build system, use a Qt Creator wizard template to create a Qt Quick application that is built using the qmake build system and then copy the source files from the Qt UI Quick project to the application project. You can use the \c RESOURCES option in the project configuration file to automatically add all the QML files and related assets to a \l{The Qt Resource System}{Qt resource collection file (\c .qrc)}. However, large files should be included as external binary resources instead of compiling them into the binary. The wizard automatically adds the \c QML_IMPORT_PATH option to the project file for specifying the required \l{QML Import Path}{QML import path}. The path is only needed if more than one subdirectory has QML files. Then you can use the \l QQuickView class in the main C++ source file to show the main QML file when the application starts. \if defined(qtcreator) The \e {Qt Quick Studio Components} module is installed when you install \QDS. If you use Qt Quick Studio Components or Effects from the module in a project that you want to edit in Qt Creator, you have to build the module and install it to your Qt to be able to build your project. For more information, see \l{Adding Qt Quick Studio Components to Qt Installations}. The \l{Qt Quick Timeline} module is installed when you install \QDS. If you only install Qt Creator and Qt, remember to also select the Qt Quick Timeline module for installation. If your Qt is older than 5.14, you must build the Qt Quick Timeline module and install it to your Qt to be able to build your project. \section1 Converting into qmake Projects To convert a project that has a \c .qmlproject file to one that has a \c .pro file: \list 1 \li Select \uicontrol File > \uicontrol {New Project} > \uicontrol {Application (Qt)} > \uicontrol {Qt Quick Application} > \uicontrol Choose. \li In the \uicontrol {Build system} field, select \l qmake as the build system to use for building and running the project, and then select \uicontrol Next (or \uicontrol Continue on \macos). \li Follow the instructions of the wizard to create the project. \li In the file explorer, copy the source files from the Qt Quick UI project directory to a subdirectory in the application project directory. For the purpose of these instructions, the directory is called \c qml. \li Open the application project file, and edit the value of the \c RESOURCES option to add the following line: \badcode RESOURCES += \ $$files(qml/*) \endcode \li Also edit the value of the \c QML_IMPORT_PATH option to specify the QML import path: \badcode QML_IMPORT_PATH = qml/imports \endcode Where \c {qml/imports} is the import path. \li Go to \uicontrol Build, and select \uicontrol {Run qmake} to apply the \c RESOURCES option to the build configuration. \li Open the \c {main.cpp} file and replace the QQmlApplicationEngine object with a QQuickView object: \quotefromfile progressbar/main.cpp \skipto QQuickView view; \printuntil view.show() Where \c {qrc:/qml/imports} is the import path and \c {qrc:/qml/ProgressBar.ui.qml} is the path to and the name of the main QML file in the Qt Quick UI project. \li Go to \uicontrol Build, and select \uicontrol Run to build and run your project. \note If you get error messages related to modules, perfom the steps described in \l{Adding Qt Quick Studio Components to Qt Installations}. \endlist For example, if you copy the source files of the \e ProgressBar example from your \QDS installation (located in the \c{\share\qtcreator\examples\ProgressBar} directory) to an empty Qt Quick application project and make the necessary changes, the \c {main.cpp} file should look as follows: \quotefile progressbar/main.cpp \endif \if defined(qtdesignstudio) If you only install Qt Creator and Qt, remember to also select the Qt Quick Timeline module for installation. \endif \section1 Handling Large Data Files Graphical assets used in the UI, such as images, effects, or 3D scenes are a typical cause for performance problems in UIs. Even building the application requires huge amounts of memory if you try to include large asset files, such as 100-MB 3D models or 64-MB textures, into the \c .qrc file for compiling them into the binary. First try to optimize your assets, as described in \l{Optimizing designs} and \l {Creating optimized 3D scenes}. Large assets should either be loaded directly from the file system or by using the Qt resource system dynamically. For more information, see \l{The Qt Resource System}. \section1 Adding Qt Quick Studio Components to Qt Installations Since \QDS 3.9, the Qt Quick Studio Components module is installed by default as part of the application created with \QDS. You can also install the module manually. For example: \list 1 \li Clone the module repository. \badcode git clone https://code.qt.io/qt-labs/qtquickdesigner-components.git \endcode \li Install the Qt Quick Studio Components module. \badcode mkdir build cd build cmake -GNinja -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX= cmake --build . cmake --install . \endcode \note Here, \e and \e needs to be replaced with the real location on your local drive. For example, \e can be something like \e /Qt/6.3.0/msvc2019_64 and \e like this \e ../qtquickdesigner-components/ \endlist \if defined(qtcreator) \sa {Create Qt Quick UI Prototypes} \endif //! [converting-ui-projects-to-applications] */