Configuring QtCreator to use the SDK¶

After the installation of the SDK and the sourcing of its environment, there are a couple of steps needed to integrate the QtCreator IDE with the SDK. This document will guide you with the configuration of QtCreator for a remote target using a different architecture than your development machine and also help you getting started with the compilation and remote execution of a simple service.

Warning

All of the commands in this page (including QtCreator) shall be ran in a shell with the SDK environment sourced. It is then advised to keep a terminal window open with the environment set up all along this tutorial. We will refer to this terminal as "an SDK terminal".

Opening QtCreator¶

Always start QtCreator from a shell with the environment of the SDK using:

$ qtcreator

Configuring a target (only done once)¶

QtCreator can automatically deploy and run services onto your PELUX target using sftp. In order to do that, you first need to create a device configuration.

Open the Tools->Options window and go to the Devices tab
Click the Add button on the right side of the window
Choose Generic Linux Device in the window that opens and click Start Wizard
Choose a name to identify this configuration such as "PELUX Raspberry Pi" for instance
Enter the IP address of your PELUX machine in the next field
Use root as username
Choose Password authentication
Let the password field empty
You should not need to touch the private key path

After having filled in this pane, click Next > and Finish. QtCreator will try to connect over SSH to your PELUX machine. If your machine is reachable, that test should show the version of the kernel you are using on PELUX.

Adding a new kit (only done once)¶

QtCreator can use a cross-compilation toolchain like the one provided in the PELUX SDK to compile software for an architecture different from the one it is running on. Configuring the entire toolchain takes a bit of time but only has to be done once.

Open the Tools->Options window and go to the Build & Run tab

Compilers¶

Select the Compilers tab
Click the Add button on the right and go to GCC -> C
- In the bottom part of the window, name your C Compiler with something like GCC PELUX Raspberry Pi
- For the path of the compiler, use the results of the which echo ${CC} | awk '{print $1}' command ran in an SDK terminal
Click the Add button and go to GCC -> C++
- In the bottom part of the window, name your C++ Compiler with something like G++ PELUX Raspberry Pi
- For the path of the compiler, use the result of the which echo ${CXX} | awk '{print $1}' command ran in an SDK terminal

Debugger¶

Select the Debuggers tab
Click the Add button on the right
In the bottom part of the window, name your Debugger with something like GDB PELUX Raspberry Pi
For the path of the debugger, use the result of the which $GDB command ran in an SDK terminal

CMake¶

Select the CMake tab
Click the Add button on the right
In the bottom part of the window, name your CMake with something like CMake PELUX Raspberry Pi
For the path of the debugger, use the result of the which cmake command ran in an SDK terminal

Qt (optional)¶

This part can be skipped if you are not working with qmake or with a UI component. However, if you want to be able to use Qt:

Select the Qt Versions tab
Click the Add... button on the right
In the window that opens, select the qmake whose path is the result of the which qmake command ran in an SDK terminal
In the bottom part of the window, name your Qt version with something like Qt 5.10.1 PELUX Raspberry Pi

Kit¶

Select the Kits tab and click the Add button.
Name your new kit with something like "PELUX Raspberry Pi"
As Device type choose Generic Linux Device
As Device choose the target you defined earlier
For Sysroot, use the Browse... button and select the folder whose path is the result of the echo ${SDKTARGETSYSROOT} command ran in an SDK terminal
Choose the previously defined PELUX C and C++ compilers from the corresponding combo boxes
Change the environment of this kit to the result of the env command ran in an SDK terminal
- If CC and CXX have default compiler flags, those should be added in CFLAGS and CXXFLAGS To replace CFLAGS and CXXFLAGS, use the result of the below commands ran in an SDK terminal
  
  echo $CC | awk -v c="$CFLAGS" '{first = $1; $1 = ""; print "CFLAGS="$0, c;}' echo $CXX | awk -v c="$CXXFLAGS" '{first = $1; $1 = ""; print "CXXFLAGS="$0, c;}'
Choose the previously defined debugger from the corresponding combo box
Choose the previously defined CMake from the corresponding combo box
Change the CMake Configuration to add a CMAKE_SYSROOT:STRING=<sysroot path> line with <sysroot path> replaced by the actual sysroot path (result of echo ${SDKTARGETSYSROOT})

Click OK and you should now have your Kit ready for development!

How to open the template service project with QtCreator¶

Open QtCreator from an SDK terminal
From the File menu choose New File or Project

Select Import Project from the Projects section
Click Git Clone and then click the Choose button

In the window, which just opened, add the repository to the Repository section. The git repo for the template-service is https://github.com/Pelagicore/template-service
Select a proper path and add it to the Path section, then click Next
QtCreator will clone the project, then click Finish
Here you should select the kit to use to build project
Select the kit you have already created in the previous step and click Configure
You can now compile and deploy to your target using the green arrow on the left of your screen
You can also remotely debug your program using the green arrow with a gray insect on the left of your screen. This, however, requires gdbserver which is installed by default in core-image-pelux-*-dev images