Beyond Linux® From Scratch - Version 7.4

Chapter 25. X Libraries

Qt-4.8.5

Introduction to Qt

Qt is a cross-platform application framework that is widely used for developing application software with a graphical user interface (GUI) (in which cases Qt is classified as a widget toolkit), and also used for developing non-GUI programs such as command-line tools and consoles for servers. One of the major users of Qt is KDE.

This package is known to build and work properly using an LFS-7.4 platform.

Package Information

Qt Dependencies

Required

alsa-lib-1.0.27.2 and MesaLib-9.2.0

Recommended

Certificate Authority Certificates, D-Bus-1.6.14, GLib-2.36.4, ICU-51.2 (unicode support), libjpeg-turbo-1.3.0, libmng-2.0.2, libpng-1.6.4, LibTIFF-4.0.3, OpenSSL-1.0.1e, and SQLite-3.8.0.2

Optional

Cups-1.6.3, GTK+-2.24.20 (GTK+ 2 theme support), gst-plugins-base-0.10.36 (For QtWebKit HTML5 Video), MySQL-5.6.13, PostgreSQL-9.3.0, PulseAudio-4.0, unixODBC-2.3.1, and qtchooser-31 (runtime, if also installing Qt5 and installing in /usr)

User Notes: http://wiki.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/wiki/qt4

Installation of Qt

There are several ways to install a complicated package such as Qt. The files are not completely position independent. Installation procedures execute the program pkg-config to determine the location of package executables, libraries, headers, and other files. For Qt, pkg-config will look for the appropriate lib/pkgconfig/Qt*.pc files which must be modified if relocating the package. These files are set up correctly by the build process.

The default installation places the files in /usr/local/qt/. Many commercial distributions place the files in the system's /usr hierarchy. The package can also be installed in an arbitrary directory.

The advantage of installing in /usr is that no updates to the /etc/ld.so.conf or /etc/man_db.conf files are required. The package files are distributed within several subdirectories of the /usr hierarchy. This is the method that most commercial distributions use. It is also supported by the optional qtchooser application.

The disadvantage of installing in /usr is that the executable filenames for Qt4 and Qt5 conflict if both packages are installed in the same directory. The instructions below give a workaround for this problem using the helper program qtchooser-31. This requires renaming the Qt executables with a version suffix.

The advantage of installing Qt4 in a custom directory such as /opt/qt-4.8.5 is that it keeps all the package files consolidated in a dedicated directory hierarchy. By using this method, an update can be made without overwriting a previous installation and users can easily revert to a previous version by changing one symbolic link or merely changing the PATH variable. It also allows a developer to maintain multiple versions of Qt4 or Qt5 for testing.

[Caution]

Caution

If you did not install some of the recommended dependencies, examine ./configure --help output to check how to disable them or use internal versions bundled in the source tarball.

[Warning]

Warning

If Qt4 is being reinstalled into the same directory as an existing instance, run the following commands from a console or non-Qt4 based window manager. It overwrites Qt4 libraries that should not be in use during the install process.

[Note]

Note

The build time and space required for the full Qt is quite long. The instructions below do not build the tutorials and examples. Removing the -nomake lines will create a complete build.

Method 1: Installing in /usr

Install Qt4 by running the following commands:

[Note]

Note

If not also installing Qt5 into the /usr directory, change the entry for -bindir below to /usr/bin. 

sed -i -e "/#if/d" -e "/#error/d" -e "/#endif/d" \
     config.tests/unix/libmng/libmng.cpp &&

./configure -prefix         /usr                 \
            -bindir         /usr/lib/qt4/bin     \
            -plugindir      /usr/lib/qt4/plugins \
            -importdir      /usr/lib/qt4/imports \
            -headerdir      /usr/include/qt4     \
            -datadir        /usr/share/qt4       \
            -sysconfdir     /etc/xdg             \
            -docdir         /usr/share/doc/qt4   \
            -demosdir       /usr/share/doc/qt4/demos    \
            -examplesdir    /usr/share/doc/qt4/examples \
            -translationdir /usr/share/qt4/translations \
            -confirm-license   \
            -opensource        \
            -release           \
            -dbus-linked       \
            -openssl-linked    \
            -system-sqlite     \
            -no-phonon         \
            -no-phonon-backend \
            -no-nis            \
            -no-openvg         \
            -nomake demos      \
            -nomake examples   \
            -optimized-qmake   &&

make

This package does not come with a test suite.

Now, as the root user: 

make install &&
rm -rf /usr/tests &&
install -v -Dm644 src/gui/dialogs/images/qtlogo-64.png \
                  /usr/share/pixmaps/qt4logo.png       &&
install -v -Dm644 tools/assistant/tools/assistant/images/assistant-128.png \
                  /usr/share/pixmaps/assistant-qt4.png &&
install -v -Dm644 tools/designer/src/designer/images/designer.png \
                  /usr/share/pixmaps/designer-qt4.png  &&
install -v -Dm644 tools/linguist/linguist/images/icons/linguist-128-32.png \
                  /usr/share/pixmaps/linguist-qt4.png  &&
install -v -Dm644 tools/qdbus/qdbusviewer/images/qdbusviewer-128.png \
                  /usr/share/pixmaps/qdbusviewer-qt4.png

Remove references to the build directory from installed files by running the following command as the root user: 

for file in 3Support CLucene Core DBus Declarative DesignerComponents \
            Designer Gui Help Multimedia Network OpenGL Script \
            ScriptTools Sql Svg Test UiTools WebKit XmlPatterns Xml
do
  sed -i -e '/^QMAKE_PRL_BUILD_DIR/d;s/\(QMAKE_PRL_LIBS =\).*/\1/' \
       /usr/lib/libQt${file}.prl
  perl -pi -e "s, -L$PWD/?\S+,,g" /usr/lib/pkgconfig/Qt${file}.pc
done
unset file

If also installing Qt5 into /usr, symlink the Qt4 executables into /usr/bin by running the following commands as the root user: 

for file in /usr/lib/qt4/bin/*
do
  ln -sfv ../lib/qt4/bin/$(basename $file) /usr/bin/$(basename $file)-qt4
done

Method 2: Installing in /opt/qt-4.8.5

This section provides an alternate way to install Qt4 by installing almost all of the files in the /opt directory. This allows management of all Qt4 related files in one unit. For instance, a new version of Qt4 can be installed without over-writing the existing installation and entire Qt4 instances can be easily removed. However, it has the disadvantage of needing some extra configuration.

Install Qt in /opt/qt-4.8.5 by running the following commands: 

sed -i -e "/#if/d" -e "/#error/d" -e "/#endif/d" \
     config.tests/unix/libmng/libmng.cpp &&

export QTDIR=/opt/qt-4.8.5

./configure -prefix $QTDIR       \
            -sysconfdir /etc/xdg \
            -confirm-license     \
            -opensource          \
            -release             \
            -dbus-linked         \
            -openssl-linked      \
            -system-sqlite       \
            -plugin-sql-sqlite   \
            -no-phonon           \
            -no-phonon-backend   \
            -no-nis              \
            -no-openvg           \
            -nomake demos        \
            -nomake examples     \
            -optimized-qmake     &&

make

Now, as the root user: 

make install                 &&
ln -svfn qt-$VERSION /opt/qt &&

install -v -Dm644 src/gui/dialogs/images/qtlogo-64.png \
                  /usr/share/pixmaps/qt4logo.png       &&
install -v -Dm644 tools/assistant/tools/assistant/images/assistant-128.png \
                  /usr/share/pixmaps/assistant-qt4.png &&
install -v -Dm644 tools/designer/src/designer/images/designer.png \
                  /usr/share/pixmaps/designer-qt4.png  &&
install -v -Dm644 tools/linguist/linguist/images/icons/linguist-128-32.png \
                  /usr/share/pixmaps/linguist-qt4.png  &&
install -v -Dm644 tools/qdbus/qdbusviewer/images/qdbusviewer-128.png \
                  /usr/share/pixmaps/qdbusviewer-qt4.png

Remove references to the build directory from installed files by running the following command as the root user: 

for file in 3Support CLucene Core DBus Declarative DesignerComponents \
            Designer Gui Help Multimedia Network OpenGL Script \
            ScriptTools Sql Svg Test UiTools WebKit XmlPatterns Xml; do
  sed -i -e '/^QMAKE_PRL_BUILD_DIR/d;s/\(QMAKE_PRL_LIBS =\).*/\1/' \
       $QTDIR/lib/libQt${file}.prl
  perl -pi -e "s, -L$PWD/?\S+,,g" $QTDIR/lib/pkgconfig/Qt${file}.pc
done

unset file

Command Explanations

sed -i "..." ...: This command fixes detection of libmng 2.0.

-confirm-license: Accept license without prompting user during configuration.

-opensource: Install the opensource version of Qt.

-release: This switch disables building with debugging symbols.

-nomake examples -nomake demos: These switches disable building programs that are only of interest to a Qt developer.

-system-sqlite: This switch enables use the system version of SQLite.

-no-nis: This switch disables support for Network Information Service (NIS) which has been deprecated in recent versions of Glibc.

-no-phonon -no-phonon-backend: These switches disable building of the bundled Phonon library. Better version is provided by phonon-4.6.0 package.

-dbus-linkend -openssl-linkend: These switches enable explicit linking of the D-Bus and OpenSSL libraries into Qt libraries instead of dlopen()-ing them.

-no-openvg: This switch disables OpenVG support in Qt.

-optimized-qmake: This switch enables building of the optimized qmake program.

Configuring Qt

Configuration Information

If you installed Qt in /usr, create an environment variable needed by certain packages. As the root user: 

cat > /etc/profile.d/qt.sh << EOF
# Begin /etc/profile.d/qt.sh

QTDIR=/usr

export QTDIR

# End /etc/profile.d/qt.sh
EOF

If you installed Qt in a location other than /usr, you need to update the following configuration files so that Qt is correctly found by other packages and system processes.

As the root user, update the /etc/ld.so.conf file and the dynamic linker's run-time cache file: 

cat >> /etc/ld.so.conf << EOF
# Begin Qt addition
   
/opt/qt/lib
   
# End Qt addition
EOF

ldconfig

As the root user, create the /etc/profile.d/qt.sh file: 

cat > /etc/profile.d/qt.sh << EOF
# Begin /etc/profile.d/qt.sh
   
QTDIR=/opt/qt
   
pathappend /opt/qt/bin           PATH
pathappend /opt/qt/lib/pkgconfig PKG_CONFIG_PATH
   
export QTDIR
   
# End /etc/profile.d/qt.sh
EOF

For all methods, create the menu entries for installed applications. As the root user: 

install -dm755 /usr/share/applications

cat > /usr/share/applications/qtconfig-qt4.desktop << "EOF"
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Qt4 Config 
Comment=Configure Qt4 behavior, styles, fonts
Exec=qtconfig-qt4
Icon=qt4logo
Terminal=false
Encoding=UTF-8
Type=Application
Categories=Qt;Settings;
EOF

cat > /usr/share/applications/assistant-qt4.desktop << "EOF"
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Qt4 Assistant 
Comment=Shows Qt4 documentation and examples
Exec=assistant-qt4
Icon=assistant-qt4
Terminal=false
Encoding=UTF-8
Type=Application
Categories=Qt;Development;Documentation;
EOF

cat > /usr/share/applications/designer-qt4.desktop << "EOF"
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Qt4 Designer
Comment=Design GUIs for Qt4 applications
Exec=designer-qt4
Icon=designer-qt4
MimeType=application/x-designer;
Terminal=false
Encoding=UTF-8
Type=Application
Categories=Qt;Development;
EOF

cat > /usr/share/applications/linguist-qt4.desktop << "EOF"
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Qt4 Linguist 
Comment=Add translations to Qt4 applications
Exec=linguist-qt4
Icon=linguist-qt4
MimeType=text/vnd.trolltech.linguist;application/x-linguist;
Terminal=false
Encoding=UTF-8
Type=Application
Categories=Qt;Development;
EOF

cat > /usr/share/applications/qdbusviewer-qt4.desktop << "EOF"
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Qt4 QDbusViewer 
GenericName=D-Bus Debugger
Comment=Debug D-Bus applications
Exec=qdbusviewer-qt4
Icon=qdbusviewer-qt4
Terminal=false
Encoding=UTF-8
Type=Application
Categories=Qt;Development;Debugger;
EOF

Contents

Installed Programs: assistant-qt4, designer-qt4, lconvert-qt4, linguist-qt4, lrelease-qt4, lupdate-qt4, moc-qt4, pixeltool-qt4, qcollectiongenerator-qt4, qdbuscpp2xml-qt4, qdbus-qt4, qdbusviewer-qt4, qdbusxml2cpp-qt4, qdoc3-qt4, qhelpconverter-qt4, qhelpgenerator-qt4, qmake-qt4, qmlplugindump-qt4, qmlviewer-qt4, qt3to4-qt4, qtconfig-qt4, qttracereplay-qt4, rcc-qt4, uic3-qt4, uic-qt4, xmlpatterns-qt4 and xmlpatternsvalidator-qt4
Installed Libraries: libQt3Support.so, libQtCLucene.so, libQtCore.so, libQtDBus.so, libQtDeclarative.so, libQtDesignerComponents.so, libQtDesigner.so, libQtGui.so, libQtHelp.so, libQtMultimedia.so, libQtNetwork.so, libQtOpenGL.so, libQtScript.so, libQtScriptTools.so, libQtSql.so, libQtSvg.so, libQtTest.so, libQtWebKit.so, libQtXmlPatterns.so and libQtXml.so
Installed Directories: /usr/include/qt4, /usr/lib/qt4, /usr/share/doc/qt4, and /usr/share/qt4 (OR $QTDIR) (OR $QTDIR)

Short Descriptions

assistant-qt4

is a tool for presenting on-line documentation.

designer-qt4

is a full-fledged GUI builder. It includes powerful features such as preview mode, automatic widget layout, support for custom widgets, and an advanced property editor.

linguist-qt4

provides support for translating applications into local languages.

lrelease-qt4

is a simple command line tool. It reads a Qt project file and produces message files used by the application.

lupdate-qt4

reads a Qt project file, finds the translatable strings in the specified source, header and Qt Designer interface files, and produces or updates the translation files listed in the project file.

moc-qt4

generates Qt meta object support code.

pixeltool-qt4

is a desktop magnifier and as you move your mouse around the screen it will show the magnified contents in its window.

qmake-qt4

uses information stored in project files to determine what should go in the makefiles it generates.

qt3to4-qt4

qt3to4 is a tool to help update Qt3 code to Qt4.

qtconfig-qt4

is used to customize the appearance of Qt applications.

rcc-qt4

is a resource compiler used in conjunction with designer.

uic-qt4

is a Qt user interface compiler.

uic3-qt4

is a tool to generate Qt4 code out of user interface files generated by the Qt3 version of designer.

Last updated on 2013-09-07 21:56:57 -0700