QML file not found in resource system (qrc) despite correct qml.qrc configuration

Actarus

Hello,
I'm facing a persistent issue with a Qt Quick application using Qt 6.9.1 (also reproduced in Qt 5.15.8):

Despite having correctly defined my qml.qrc and file structure, QQmlApplicationEngine fails to load my QML file, reporting:

QQmlApplicationEngine failed to load component  
qrc:/ui/qml/Screen.qml: No such file or directory  
QML file exists? false  
Files in qrc:/ui/qml: QList("ui")

My setup:
Qt version: 6.9.1 (MinGW 64-bit) and 5.15.8 (tested on both)

OS: Windows 10

Using CMake

Project structure:

/project-root
├── src/
│   └── main.cpp
├── ui/qml/
│   └── Screen.qml
├── qml.qrc
├── CMakeLists.txt

qml.qrc content:

<RCC>
    <qresource prefix="/ui/qml">
        <file>ui/qml/Screen.qml</file>
    </qresource>
</RCC>

CMakeLists.txt (relevant part):

qt_add_executable(MotorsportApp
    src/main.cpp
    qml.qrc
)

target_link_libraries(MotorsportApp PRIVATE Qt6::Core Qt6::Gui Qt6::Qml Qt6::Quick)

main.cpp (minimal test):

#include <QGuiApplication>
#include <QQmlApplicationEngine>
#include <QDebug>
#include <QDir>
#include <QFile>

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
    QGuiApplication app(argc, argv);
    QQmlApplicationEngine engine;

    qDebug() << "Files in qrc:/ui/qml:" << QDir(":/ui/qml").entryList();
    qDebug() << "QML file exists?" << QFile::exists(":/ui/qml/Screen.qml");

    engine.load(QUrl(QStringLiteral("qrc:/ui/qml/Screen.qml")));
    if (engine.rootObjects().isEmpty())
        return -1;

    return app.exec();
}

What I've tried:
Clean build, delete build folder

Reimport project in Qt Creator

Encoding of qml.qrc set to UTF-8 without BOM

Verified that Screen.qml exists at the expected path

Resource path is referenced exactly as in .qrc

Verified qml.qrc is included in CMake

Also tried qt_add_resources() with PREFIX and BASE

Still, at runtime, the resource system only shows "ui" in qrc:/ui/qml/, and not the actual file.

Any idea what could be causing this? Is this a bug in qmlimportscanner or rcc on Windows?

Thanks in advance!

Actarus

Here the project tree:

Christian Ehrlicher

So your path is ui/qml/ui /qml which is not what you pass to engine.load(). Fix your CMakeLists.txt or your call to load()

JonB

@Actarus
It sounds like you got messed up at some point and created unintended repeats of folders?

    <qresource prefix="/ui/qml">
        <file>ui/qml/Screen.qml</file>
    </qresource>

Feels like one of prefix= or <file> path is duplicate. This is going to deliver /ui/qml/ui/qml/Screen.qml.

Actarus

@Christian-Ehrlicher Thanks Christian, solved using qt_add_resources() instead.

Actarus

@JonB Thanks Jon, that was the reason but even without duplication it didn't work, so I solved it using qt_add_resources() instead.

JKSH

@Actarus said in QML file not found in resource system (qrc) despite correct qml.qrc configuration:

I solved it using qt_add_resources() instead

I'm glad to hear that you were able to resolve your issue.

As the next step, I recommend taking the time to port from qt_add_resources() to qt_add_qml_module(): https://doc.qt.io/qt-6/qt6-port-to-qt-add-qml-module.html

This provides your projects with benefits such as optimization by the Qt Quick Compiler (https://www.qt.io/blog/the-numbers-performance-benefits-of-the-new-qt-quick-compiler) and improved code analysis by your IDE.