How to create recipe for QT quick app in yocto

Juan Gomez

Hi there QT community!

I create a QT quick app in QT Creator with CMake using qt 6.7.3.

Now, I would like to create an embedded Linux image with this app for the stm32mp157f-dk2.
I'm using a VM with Ubuntu 22.04 and set up the yocto directory with the v6.7.3.xml manifest. Then, I added the meta-st layer.

Then, inside my custom layer, I created a recipe that looks like this:

SUMMARY = "This is the GUI for Hespect Software medical device"
DESCRIPTION = "Recipe created by bitbake-layers"
LICENSE = "CLOSED"
SECTION = "Mysection"

DEPENDS += "qtbase"
RDEPENDS_${PN} += "qtwayland"

SRC_URI = "file://Backendsensors.h"
SRC_URI = "file://Backendsensors.cpp"
SRC_URI = "file://brushfactory.h"
SRC_URI = "file://brushfactory.cpp"
SRC_URI = "file://main.cpp"
SRC_URI = "file://Main.qml"
SRC_URI = "file://CMakeLists.txt"
            
S = "${WORKDIR}"

do_compile () {
    cmake -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=${STAGING_DIR_NATIVE}/usr/share/cmake/OEToolchain.cmake ${S}
    make
}

do_install () {		
    install -d ${D}/usr/share/mygui/
    install -m 0644 ${S}/assets/images/* ${D}/usr/share/mygui/assets/images/
    install -m 0644 ${S}/Backendsensors.h ${D}/usr/include/
    install -m 0644 ${S}/Backendsensors.cpp ${D}/usr/src/mygui/
    install -m 0644 ${S}/brushfactory.h ${D}/usr/include/
    install -m 0644 ${S}/brushfactory.cpp ${D}/usr/src/mygui/
    install -m 0644 ${S}/main.cpp ${D}/usr/src/mygui/
    install -m 0644 ${S}/Main.qml ${D}/usr/share/mygui/
    install -m 0755 ${B}/main ${D}/usr/bin/
}

These are the files inside the "file" folder

Backendsensors.cpp 
assets/    
Backendsensors.h
brushfactory.cpp
main.cpp
CMakeLists.txt     
Main.qml            
brushfactory.h

I tried building this recipe with "bitbake mygui" but I got the error

ERROR: mygui-0-r0 do_compile: ExecutionError('/home/vboxuser/yocto/build-stm32mp15-disco/tmp/work/cortexa7t2hf-neon-vfpv4-poky-linux-gnueabi/mygui/0/temp/run.do_compile.8991', 127, None, None)
ERROR: Logfile of failure stored in: /home/vboxuser/yocto/build-stm32mp15-disco/tmp/work/cortexa7t2hf-neon-vfpv4-poky-linux-gnueabi/mygui/0/temp/log.do_compile.8991
Log data follows:
| DEBUG: Executing shell function do_compile
| /home/vboxuser/yocto/build-stm32mp15-disco/tmp/work/cortexa7t2hf-neon-vfpv4-poky-linux-gnueabi/mygui/0/temp/run.do_compile.8991: 141: cmake: not found
| WARNING: exit code 127 from a shell command.
ERROR: Task (/home/vboxuser/yocto/build-stm32mp15-disco/meta-custom/recipes-software/myGUI/mygui_0_1.bb:do_compile) failed with exit code '1'
NOTE: Tasks Summary: Attempted 3568 tasks of which 3567 didn't need to be rerun and 1 failed.

Summary: 1 task failed:
  /home/vboxuser/yocto/build-stm32mp15-disco/meta-custom/recipes-software/myGUI/mygui_0_1.bb:do_compile
Summary: There was 1 ERROR message, returning a non-zero exit code

When I call cmake --version I get 3.22, so it's there.

Any help is sincerely appreciated :)

Juan Gomez

I was finally able to bitbake the recipe :)
The problem was that I needed to use SRC_URI +=, instead or SRC_URI =

Then, I read on another post that qt6-cmake add the assets without needing to explicitly tell it to do it, but I had to add them with SRC_URI =+ because they weren't being found.

Then, I had a typo and that was it, the recipe bake successfully :)

Ronel_qtmaster

@Juan-Gomez check this https://stackoverflow.com/questions/68895012/how-to-build-simple-qt-application-using-yocto/68896403#68896403

Juan Gomez

Hi @Ronel_qtmaster , thanks for the quick reply.

My project is based on CMake, so I don't have the ".pro" file.

Also, I'm using meta-qt6 which seems to be the last release. Is that a problem or should I use meta-qt5 with QMake?

SGaist

Hi,

From a very quick search, aren't you missing something like inherit cmake in your recipe ?

You have to tell Yocto that you require this tool to build your application.

Juan Gomez

Hi @SGaist , I missed "inherit qt6-cmake" and that seems to help because the build continued. At the end of the build I had a qtchart problem because it wasn't being found but it seems I fixed it in the depends.

Now, it seems my build doesn't find the "main.cpp" even though it's in the "file" folder.

CMake Error at recipe-sysroot/usr/lib/cmake/Qt6Core/Qt6CoreMacros.cmake:634 (add_executable):
|   Cannot find source file:
| 
|     main.cpp
| 
|   Tried extensions .c .C .c++ .cc .cpp .cxx .cu .mpp .m .M .mm .ixx .cppm
|   .ccm .cxxm .c++m .h .hh .h++ .hm .hpp .hxx .in .txx .f .F .for .f77 .f90
|   .f95 .f03 .hip .ispc
| Call Stack (most recent call first):
|   recipe-sysroot/usr/lib/cmake/Qt6Core/Qt6CoreMacros.cmake:575 (_qt_internal_create_executable)
|   recipe-sysroot/usr/lib/cmake/Qt6Core/Qt6CoreMacros.cmake:875 (qt6_add_executable)
|   CMakeLists.txt:11 (qt_add_executable)
| 
| 
| -- Generating done (0.0s)
| CMake Warning:
|   Manually-specified variables were not used by the project:
| 
|     CMAKE_EXPORT_NO_PACKAGE_REGISTRY
|     FETCHCONTENT_FULLY_DISCONNECTED
|     INSTALL_ARCHDATADIR
|     INSTALL_BINDIR
|     INSTALL_DATADIR
|     INSTALL_DESCRIPTIONSDIR
|     INSTALL_DOCDIR
|     INSTALL_EXAMPLESDIR
|     INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR
|     INSTALL_LIBDIR
|     INSTALL_LIBEXECDIR
|     INSTALL_MKSPECSDIR
|     INSTALL_PLUGINSDIR
|     INSTALL_QMLDIR
|     INSTALL_SYSCONFDIR
|     INSTALL_TESTSDIR
|     INSTALL_TRANSLATIONSDIR
|     LIB_SUFFIX
|     PYTHON_EXECUTABLE
|     Python3_EXECUTABLE
|     Python_EXECUTABLE
|     QT_BUILD_INTERNALS_NO_FORCE_SET_INSTALL_PREFIX
|     QT_CMAKE_DEBUG_EXTEND_TARGET
|     QT_FORCE_BUILD_TOOLS
|     __harfbuzz_broken_config_file
| 
| 
| CMake Generate step failed.  Build files cannot be regenerated correctly.
| WARNING: exit code 1 from a shell command.
ERROR: Task (/home/vboxuser/yocto/build-stm32mp15-disco/meta-custom/recipes-software/myGUI/mygui_0_1.bb:do_configure) failed with exit code '1'
NOTE: Tasks Summary: Attempted 3853 tasks of which 3829 didn't need to be rerun and 1 failed.
NOTE: Build completion summary:
NOTE:   do_populate_sysroot: 0.0% sstate reuse(0 setscene, 1 scratch)
NOTE:   do_deploy_source_date_epoch: 0.0% sstate reuse(0 setscene, 2 scratch)
NOTE:   do_create_spdx: 0.0% sstate reuse(0 setscene, 1 scratch)
NOTE:   do_create_runtime_spdx: 0.0% sstate reuse(0 setscene, 1 scratch)
NOTE:   do_package_qa: 0.0% sstate reuse(0 setscene, 1 scratch)
NOTE:   do_recipe_qa: 0.0% sstate reuse(0 setscene, 1 scratch)
NOTE:   do_package: 0.0% sstate reuse(0 setscene, 1 scratch)
NOTE:   do_packagedata: 0.0% sstate reuse(0 setscene, 1 scratch)
NOTE:   do_package_write_ipk: 99.0% sstate reuse(95 setscene, 1 scratch)
NOTE:   do_populate_lic: 0.0% sstate reuse(0 setscene, 1 scratch)

Summary: 1 task failed:
  /home/vboxuser/yocto/build-stm32mp15-disco/meta-custom/recipes-software/myGUI/mygui_0_1.bb:do_configure
Summary: There was 1 WARNING message.
Summary: There was 1 ERROR message, returning a non-zero exit code.

SGaist

Is it the only file it's complaining about ?

Juan Gomez

Hi @SGaist , I tried a clean build to fix the qtcharts and the "inherit qt6-cmake" and it results on the same output, but it doesn't matter the order of the SRC_URI, it complains about the "CMakeLists.txt" file

| DEBUG: Python function extend_recipe_sysroot finished
| DEBUG: Executing shell function do_configure
| CMake Warning:
|   Ignoring extra path from command line:
| 
|    "/home/vboxuser/yocto/build-stm32mp15-disco/tmp/work/cortexa7t2hf-neon-vfpv4-poky-linux-gnueabi/mygui/0"
| 
| 
| CMake Error: The source directory "/home/vboxuser/yocto/build-stm32mp15-disco/tmp/work/cortexa7t2hf-neon-vfpv4-poky-linux-gnueabi/mygui/0" does not appear to contain CMakeLists.txt.
| Specify --help for usage, or press the help button on the CMake GUI.
| WARNING: exit code 1 from a shell command.
ERROR: Task (/home/vboxuser/yocto/build-stm32mp15-disco/meta-custom/recipes-software/myGUI/mygui_0_1.bb:do_configure) failed with exit code '1'
NOTE: Tasks Summary: Attempted 3857 tasks of which 3855 didn't need to be rerun and 1 failed.
NOTE: Build completion summary:
NOTE:   do_create_spdx: 0.0% sstate reuse(0 setscene, 1 scratch)

Summary: 1 task failed:
  /home/vboxuser/yocto/build-stm32mp15-disco/meta-custom/recipes-software/myGUI/mygui_0_1.bb:do_configure
Summary: There was 1 ERROR message, returning a non-zero exit code.

The file is under recipes/files/CMakeLists.txt.
I'm using "file://CMakeLists.txt" because I saw it on a youtube video where it's working. Notice the difference between file and files. But, even if I use files in SRC_URI it doesn't work

SGaist

Can you show your CMakeLists.txt ?

Juan Gomez

It's the same one created by the QT creator. I can run the app in qt Creator so the file works in CMake
CMakeLists.txt

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.16)

project(medical-device-qt VERSION 0.1 LANGUAGES CXX)

set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)

find_package(Qt6 6.5 REQUIRED COMPONENTS Quick Charts)

qt_standard_project_setup(REQUIRES 6.5)

qt_add_executable(appmedical-device-qt
    main.cpp
    Backendsensors.h Backendsensors.cpp
    brushfactory.h brushfactory.cpp
)

qt_add_qml_module(appmedical-device-qt
    URI medical-device-qt
    VERSION 1.0
    QML_FILES
        Main.qml

    RESOURCES
        assets/images/battery-full.svg
        assets/images/battery-mid.svg
        assets/images/battery-low.svg
        assets/images/rss-full.svg
        assets/images/rss-mid.svg
        assets/images/rss-low.svg
        assets/images/signal-full.svg
        assets/images/signal-mid.svg
        assets/images/signal-low.svg

    SOURCES
        Backendsensors.h Backendsensors.cpp
        brushfactory.h brushfactory.cpp
)

# Qt for iOS sets MACOSX_BUNDLE_GUI_IDENTIFIER automatically since Qt 6.1.
# If you are developing for iOS or macOS you should consider setting an
# explicit, fixed bundle identifier manually though.
set_target_properties(appmedical-device-qt PROPERTIES
#    MACOSX_BUNDLE_GUI_IDENTIFIER com.example.appmedical-device-qt
    MACOSX_BUNDLE_BUNDLE_VERSION ${PROJECT_VERSION}
    MACOSX_BUNDLE_SHORT_VERSION_STRING ${PROJECT_VERSION_MAJOR}.${PROJECT_VERSION_MINOR}
    MACOSX_BUNDLE TRUE
    WIN32_EXECUTABLE TRUE
)

target_link_libraries(appmedical-device-qt
    PRIVATE Qt6::Quick
    Qt6::Charts
)

include(GNUInstallDirs)
install(TARGETS appmedical-device-qt
    BUNDLE DESTINATION .
    LIBRARY DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR}
    RUNTIME DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR}
)

mygui_0.1.bb

SUMMARY = "This is the GUI for Hespect Software medical device"
DESCRIPTION = "Recipe created by bitbake-layers"
LICENSE = "CLOSED"
SECTION = "Mysection"

DEPENDS += " qtbase \
             qtdeclarative-native \
             qtdeclarative \
             qtquick3d \
             qtcharts"
             
RDEPENDS_${PN} += "qtwayland"

EXTRA_OECMAKE += "-DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=${STAGING_DIR_HOST}${prefix}"

SRC_URI = "file://main.cpp"
SRC_URI = "file://CMakeLists.txt"
SRC_URI = "file://CMakeLists.txt.user"
SRC_URI = "file://Backendsensors.h"
SRC_URI = "file://Backendsensors.cpp"
SRC_URI = "file://brushfactory.h"
SRC_URI = "file://brushfactory.cpp"
SRC_URI = "file://Main.qml"

            
S = "${WORKDIR}"

inherit qt6-cmake
inherit populate_sdk_qt6

Juan Gomez

I was finally able to bitbake the recipe :)
The problem was that I needed to use SRC_URI +=, instead or SRC_URI =

Then, I read on another post that qt6-cmake add the assets without needing to explicitly tell it to do it, but I had to add them with SRC_URI =+ because they weren't being found.

Then, I had a typo and that was it, the recipe bake successfully :)

SGaist

Nice ! Thanks for the feedback ! :-)
Happy coding