Modifying .ui files requires a `make clean`

Question

The Problem: When a QMainWindow or QDialog's corresponding .ui file has been altered in Qt Designer, the entire project must be cleaned and rebuilt in order for those changes to take effect: make clean then make. If the project isn't cleaned first, the changes will not reflect in the executable.

The Project Structure:

./
    project.pro
./include/
    MainWindow.h
    Main.h
./src/
    MainWindow.cpp
    Main.cpp
./ui/
    MainWindow.ui

The Source:

MainWindow.h:

#include <QMainWindow>
#include "ui_MainWindow.h"

class MainWindow : public QMainWindow, private Ui::MainWindow
{
    Q_OBJECT
    public:

    MainWindow();
};

MainWindow.cpp:

#include "MainWindow.h"

MainWindow::MainWindow()
{
    Ui::MainWindow::setupUi(this);
}

project.pro:

TEMPLATE = app
CONFIG -= debug release
CONFIG += qt debug_and_release warn_on incremental flat link_prl embed_manifest_dll embed_manifest_exe
QT += xml xmlpatterns

INCLUDEPATH += include/
UI_DIR = include/

FORMS += ui/MainWindow.ui
HEADERS += include/MainWindow.h include/Main.h
SOURCES += src/MainWindow.cpp src/Main.cpp

Note: Include guards and class members have been stripped out for terseness.

Update:

Assuming that we edit MainWindow.ui in Designer, save it, and run a make, the following shell commands are executed (on a Windows platform; equal commands are executed on a 'nix box too):

QTDIR\bin\uic.exe ui\MainWindow.ui -o include\ui_MainWindow.h
QTDIR\bin\moc.exe ... include\MainWindow.h -o build\moc\moc_MainWindow.cpp
MSVS\bin\cl.exe /c ... -Fobuild\obj\ moc_MainWindow.cpp 
MSVS\bin\link.exe ... /OUT:bin\target.exe

The uic header generator has been run, and the window has been moc'ed. Despite this the window remains unchanged in the executable.

Update #2:

I found these lines in the Makefile:

####### Compile

build\obj\MainWindow.obj: src\MainWindow.cpp

build\obj\main.obj: src\main.cpp

build\obj\moc_MainWindow.obj: build\moc\moc_MainWindow.cpp

Bingo. MainWindow.obj rightfully depends on MainWindow.cpp, but not on moc_MainWindow.cpp. Changing the first line to build\obj\MainWindow.obj: src\MainWindow.cpp build\moc\moc_MainWindow.cpp rectified this whole issue.

However: the next time I run qmake it's going to nix me. What can I type in qmake to fix this permanently?

Actually, MainWindow.obj should depend on ui_MainWindow.h rather than moc_MainWindow.cpp. (moc_MainWindow.cpp will be compiled separately, and linked in at the link step.) Some thoughts: 1) Does your .pro file have a TARGET line? 2) You might need to add "core" and "gui" to the QT += line. — piccy
@piccy: I can confirm that QT contains gui core xml xmlpatterns. TARGET = app. — Jesse Hallam
I can't reproduce the unwanted behaviour you are seeing using Qt4.8.4 on Mac - if I look at the standard Qt examples, e.g. examples/designer/calculatorform, it works as expected, even after adding your UI_DIR and INCLUDEPATH specification. Does this standard example work for you? If so, you have something to work from/towards. — Matt Wallis

john.pavan john.pavan · Accepted Answer · 2013-03-01T16:08:59

0

votes

I believe that your UI_DIR should be set to ui, not include.

Modifying .ui files requires a `make clean`

3 Answers