Qt Creator: Ordering of debug/release builds?

Robert Hairgrove

In my project, if I select multiple configurations for a given kit, is there a way to enforce the order in which they will be built?

I noticed that in the project properties, that the build configuration can be renamed, or if selecting a new configuration one is prompted to give it a name.

Is this the way? Does Qt Creator build the project for multiple configurations in alphabeical order of the configuration name?

I would like to have "release" always built before "debug", if possible.

Robert Hairgrove

@Robert-Hairgrove said in Qt Creator: Ordering of debug/release builds?:

Does Qt Creator build the project for multiple configurations in alphabetical order of the configuration name?

After some testing, the answer is "apparently not".

Other ideas?

cristian-adam

@Robert-Hairgrove I just tested it, and renaming Debug to ZDebug didn't help.

But removing it and adding a new Debug version named ZDebug worked.

12:21:30: Running steps for project untitled05...
12:21:30: Starting: "/opt/homebrew/Cellar/cmake/4.2.1/bin/cmake" --build /Users/cristian/Projects/C++/untitled05/build/Qt_6_10_0_for_macOS-Release --target all
ninja: no work to do.
12:21:30: The command "/opt/homebrew/Cellar/cmake/4.2.1/bin/cmake --build /Users/cristian/Projects/C++/untitled05/build/Qt_6_10_0_for_macOS-Release --target all" finished successfully.
12:21:30: Starting: "/opt/homebrew/Cellar/cmake/4.2.1/bin/cmake" --build /Users/cristian/Projects/C++/untitled05/build/Qt_6_10_0_for_macOS-ZDebug --target all
ninja: no work to do.
12:21:30: The command "/opt/homebrew/Cellar/cmake/4.2.1/bin/cmake --build /Users/cristian/Projects/C++/untitled05/build/Qt_6_10_0_for_macOS-ZDebug --target all" finished successfully.
12:21:30: Elapsed time: 00:00.

cristian-adam

Another option is to build the project itself as I present in https://cristianadam.eu/20191012/building-multiple-configurations-with-cmake-in-one-go/

You can then programmatically decide which version comes first.

Robert Hairgrove

@cristian-adam Thank you!

KH-219Design

@cristian-adam regarding your blog post about many project configs in CMake, am I understanding correctly that the key insight (or the key cmake feature that unlocks the possibility) is to use ExternalProject ?

I just want to confirm my understanding in case I attempt to leverage your advice in the future. It looks quite useful.

(hopefully I am not "hijacking" this thread. pretty sure I am staying close enough to the topic at hand)

cristian-adam

@KH-219Design said in Qt Creator: Ordering of debug/release builds?:

@cristian-adam am I understanding correctly that the key insight (or the key cmake feature that unlocks the possibility) is to use ExternalProject ?

Only if you need the Visual Studio CMake generator. If you are using Ninja, then add_subdirectory is enough.