Qt Reference Documentation

Building the Qt Quick Components for Symbian

Supported Platforms

  • Qt's Supported Development Platform The components were tested using the following compilers:
    • Windows 32/64 bits: VC 2008, MinGW32, GCCE (included in the Qt SDK)
    • Linux/Mac OS: GCC, Remote Compiler
  • Latest version of the Qt SDK.
    • Qt 4.7.3 is included in the Qt SDK 1.1 and is the Qt version under which Qt Quick Components for Symbian is developed.
  • Symbian^3 devices with PR1.2.

Note: The Symbian toolchain is only available for Windows. Developers using Linux or Mac OS must use the Remote Compiler to build Symbian binaries.

Qt Quick Components for Symbian Libraries

The Qt Quick Components are hosted in Qt Components Repository and can be built from the sources.

On the standard Qt SDK install, the compiled and signed sis files for deployment are found in:

 C:\QtSDK\Symbian\sis\Symbian^3\qt-components

Building the Qt Quick Components for Symbian

These instructions detail how to build the sources. The instructions work for the different compilers.

First, open up the command line, with the Qt tools in the system path. The QTDIR variable needs to point to the Qt binaries. The configure script will check and configure the Makefile based on the version of qmake and Qt found in the path. The Qt SDK for Windows has command prompts for different targets and the path is already set. The Visual Studio command prompt needs to have the Qt binary in its path.

On Windows, the 'Qt 4.7.3 for Desktop (MinGW)' prompt sets the QTDIR variable to:

 C:\QtSDK\Desktop\Qt\4.7.3\mingw

Note: These instructions were written for the MinGW that came with the Qt SDK for Windows. The instructions are similar for Linux, Mac OS, or the Visual Studio tools; simply replace mingw32-make with make or nmake.

In the Qt Quick Components repository root:

 configure -symbian

After the configure step, run these two commands:

 mingw32-make
 mingw32-make install

These commands will install the Qt Quick Components for Symbian libraries into the directories where Qt may find them.

 %QTDIR%/imports/Qt/labs/components
 %QTDIR%/imports/com/nokia/symbian
 %QTDIR%/imports/com/nokia/extras

Building the Documentation

The Symbian documentation is generated by running the following commands after the configuration step:

 mingw32-make docs

The documentation will reside in doc/html. In addition, a qch file will be generated and placed in doc/qch. Qt Creator and Qt Assistant can load the documentation by importing the qch file.

Testing Applications on Symbian Devices

The Qt SDK for Windows has a native compiler for Symbian devices while the Linux and MacOS Qt SDK must use the remote compiler to compile Symbian applications.

These are the general steps on developing Qt Quick Components based applications using the Qt SDK.

  • Install the Symbian tools and sis files on the device.

    The Qt SDK can install the necessary sis files on Symbian devices. Alternatively, the sis files can be copied on the device and installed from within the file manager on the device.

  • Create or Open the project in Qt Creator.

    Qt Creator now includes a wizard for creating Qt Quick Components projects.

         File->New File or Project-> Qt Quick Application (Symbian Components)
  • Set up the target in Qt Creator.

    The tool chain for building applications locally on the development PC for the Symbian Device target is only supported on Windows. If you develop on Linux or Mac OS, you must use the Remote Compiler interface to a compilation service at Forum Nokia.

  • Run the App TRK or CODA on the device.

    App TRK and CODA are debugging agents that will allow the phone to communicate with Qt Creator.

  • Press the Debug button. Qt Creator will build (using Remote Compiler on Linux or Mac OS) and run the application on the phone.

Deploying Applications on Symbian Devices

The Qt Creator manual has the instructions on how to deploy Qt Quick applications on a device and on Ovi Store.

Where to Go from Here

The Qt SDK has precompiled sis files in the Symbian\sis\Symbian^3\qt-components directory such as examples and demos.

The Symbian Components and Extras Components are imported using the following commands:

 import com.nokia.symbian 1.0     // Symbian components
 import com.nokia.extras  1.0     // Extras

Visit the guides that demonstrate the components usage and view the examples and demo applications.