Programming with Qt, 2nd Edition

Chapter 25. Using the Visual C++ IDE for Qt Programs

If you are working on a Windows system and use Microsoft Developer Studio/Visual Studio, you might want to use the IDE for your Qt work. Even though the IDE is mainly geared towards writing MFC programs, it is possible to use it for writing Qt programs—and even benefit from a lot of its integration features, with some additional work on your part.

Basically, there are three possibilities: importing an existing makefile, creating your own project from scratch, and having qmake create a project for you. All have their advantages and disadvantages.

Importing an Existing Makefile

Importing an existing makefile is easy. Either write that makefile yourself, or have qmake (see Section 22.4 in Chapter 22) write one for you. Make sure that the makefile has the extension .mak. Now, open Developer Studio, choose Open Workspace from the File menu, and select the makefile. Developer Studio will ask whether you want to create a new project. Click Yes here and save your project afterwards.

While importing a makefile is easy, it has several disadvantages:

• Developer Studio does not know about the source files that make up your project; thus, you won’t find the usual list of files in the File View tab.

• Consequently, the source files will not be scanned for such things as class definitions. In other words, the browser is not very useful in this project.

• You cannot change compiler and other settings via the IDE.

• Your project has the name of the makefile, ...