Display header files in Qt Creator using Cmake

Question

So I just setup a new Cmake project with Qt Creator. Then I added some classes to the project and Qt Creator is displaying the files as follows:

Project Folder
- Project Name
  - Source files
- Header Files

Now when I add a header file (New File > C++ Header File) only (without a source file), the header file is not displayed in the project tree that Qt Creator shows (I can't find it under Header Files). I can see that the header file is being created (using Ctrl+K) but it is not showing under Header Files. I have read another question here but the main answer provided doesn't really answer the question.

My CMakeslist.txt looks as the following:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5)

project(TEST LANGUAGES CXX)

set(CMAKE_INCLUDE_CURRENT_DIR ON)

set(CMAKE_AUTOUIC ON)
set(CMAKE_AUTOMOC ON)
set(CMAKE_AUTORCC ON)

set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 11)
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)

# QtCreator supports the following variables for Android, which are identical to qmake Android variables.
# Check http://doc.qt.io/qt-5/deployment-android.html for more information.
# They need to be set before the find_package(Qt5 ...) call.

#if(ANDROID)
#    set(ANDROID_PACKAGE_SOURCE_DIR "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/android")
#    if (ANDROID_ABI STREQUAL "armeabi-v7a")
#        set(ANDROID_EXTRA_LIBS
#            ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/path/to/libcrypto.so
#            ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/path/to/libssl.so)
#    endif()
#endif()


find_package(Qt5 COMPONENTS Core Quick REQUIRED)

if(ANDROID)
    add_library(TEST SHARED
      main.cpp
      wetcanvas.cpp
      wetrenderer.cpp
      qml.qrc
    )
else()
    add_executable(TEST
      main.cpp
      wetcanvas.cpp
      wetrenderer.cpp
      qml.qrc
    )
endif()

target_compile_definitions(TEST
  PRIVATE $<$<OR:$<CONFIG:Debug>,$<CONFIG:RelWithDebInfo>>:QT_QML_DEBUG>)
target_link_libraries(TEST
  PRIVATE Qt5::Core Qt5::Quick)

Is this a build under control of QtCreater, or one under control by CMake? Two different matters entirely... — DevSolar
If your question is actually the same as the other earlier question, you should add a bounty to that question, instead of asking the same question again in a different post. The bounty will draw better answers for the earlier question, and won't duplicate content. — Kevin
@squareskittles the questions are somewhat related but they arent' the same. In my case, the header and source files are nicely visually separated in QtCreator, it's only when a header file without a source file is created that it is not shown. — reckless
@DevSolar the project has been created directly with Qt Creator and uses CMake as its build system. — reckless
It would be helpful if you could post a basic example CMakeLists.txt as created by QtCreator. I have some knowledge of CMake, but no QtCreator at hand. Show a header that "works" and one that doesn't, and let us see what is different... — DevSolar

dkish dkish · Accepted Answer · 2020-06-17T19:53:08

You need to add the header to the sources list in CMake. In your case

if(ANDROID)
    add_library(TEST SHARED
      main.cpp
      wetcanvas.cpp
      wetrenderer.cpp
      MyHeader.h
      qml.qrc
    )
else()
    add_executable(TEST
      main.cpp
      wetcanvas.cpp
      wetrenderer.cpp
      MyHeader.h
      qml.qrc
    )
endif()

Tip: You might want to consider to put your sources in their own variable like so:

      set(COMMON_SRC
          main.cpp
          wetcanvas.cpp
          wetrenderer.cpp
          MyHeader.h
          qml.qrc
      )
      set(ANDROID_SRC
          AndroidSpecific.cpp
          AndroidSpecific.h
      )

      if(ANDROID)
        add_library(TEST SHARED
          ${COMMON_SRC}
          ${ANDROID_SRC}
        )   
    else()
        add_executable(TEST
         ${COMMON_SRC}
        )
    endif()

It pays off when the project gets more complex.

Display header files in Qt Creator using Cmake

1 Answers