Provided by: libqwt-doc_6.1.4-2build2_all bug

NAME

       qwtinstall - Installing Qwt

Download

       Stable Qwt releases are available from the Qwt project page.

       Qwt-6.1.4 consists of 4 files:

       • qwt-6.1.4.zip
          Zip file with the Qwt sources and the html documentation for Windows

       • qwt-6.1.4.tar.bz2
          Compressed tar file with the Qwt sources and the html documentation for UNIX systems (
         Linux, Mac, ... )

       • qwt-6.1.4.pdf
          Qwt documentation as PDF document.

       • qwt-6.1.4.qch
          Qwt documentation as Qt Compressed Help document, that can be loaded into the Qt
         Assistant or Creator. In the Qt Creator context sensitive help will be available like
         for Qt classes.

       Precompiled Qwt Designer plugins, that are compatible with some binary packages of the Qt
       Creator:

       • qwtdesigner-6.1.4-*.zip

Installing Qwt

       Beside headers, libraries and the html version of the class documentation a proper Qwt
       installation contains a Designer plugin and a Qwt features file for building applications
       using Qwt.

       All files will be copied to an installation directory, that is configurable by editing
       qwtconfig.pri. Its default settings is:

       • Windows
          C:\Qwt-6.1.4

       • Unix like systems
          /usr/local/qwt-6.1.4

       For the rest of the document this install path will be written as ${QWT_ROOT} and needs to
       be replaced by the real path in all commands below.

       It is not unlikely, to have more than one installation of Qwt on the same system. F.e for
       using the Qwt Designer plugin in the Qt Creator a version of Qwt is necessary with the
       same Qt and compiler combination, that had been used for building the Qt Creator ( see
       'Help->About Qt Creator ...' ).

       Installing Qwt is done in 3 steps, that are quite common on UNIX systems.

       1.  Configuration
            In the configuration step all parameters are set to control how to build and install
           Qwt

       2.  Build
            In the build step binaries are built from the source files.

       3.  Installation
            The installation copies and rearranges all files that are necessary to build Qwt
           applications to a target directory.

       The installation doesn't modify the system beside copying files to a directory in a proper
       way. After removing build and installation directories the system is in the same state as
       it was before.

   Configuration
       Configuring Qwt has to be done by editing the Project files used for building:

       • qwtbuild.pri
          qwtbuild.pri contains settings for how to build Qwt. All settings of this file are only
         for building Qwt itself and doesn't have an impact on how an application using Qwt is
         built. Usually its default settings doesn't need to be modified.

       • qwtconfig.pri
          qwtconfig.pri defines what modules of Qwt will be built and where to install them.
         qwtconfig.pri gets installed together with the Qwt features file qwt.prf and all its
         settings are known to project files for building Qwt applications.

       In qwtconfig.pri the meaning of each option is explained in detail - it's worth reading it
       before running into problems later.

   Build and installation
       The Qt Creator is a graphical frontend for calling qmake/make and - technically - it could
       be used for building and installing Qwt. But as this way requires a lot more understanding
       of details the following step by step instructions are for the easier way using the
       command line.

   Unix-like systems
       The first step before creating the Makefile is to check that the correct version of qmake
       is used. F.e. on older Linux distribution you often find a Qt3 qmake and in the path.

       The default setting of qmake is to generate a makefile that builds Qwt for the same
       environment where the version of qmake has been built for. So creating a makefile usually
       means something like:

       cd qwt-6.1.4
       /usr/local/Qt-5.0.1/bin/qmake qwt.pro

       The generated Makefile includes all paths related to the chosen Qt version and the next
       step is:

       make

        ( On multicore systems you can speed up building the Qwt libraries with running several
       jobs simultaneously: f.e. 'make -j4' on a dual core. )

       Finally you have to install everything below the directories you have specified in
       qwtconfig.pri. Usually this is one of the system directories ( /usr/local, /opt, ... )
       where you don't have write permission and then the installation needs to be done as root:

       sudo make install

        ( On systems where sudo is not supported you can do the same with: su -c 'make install' )

   Windows
       Qt packages offer a command line interface, that can be found in the Qt application menu:
       f.e 'All Programs -> Qt -> Command Prompt'. It is not mandatory to use it, but probably
       the easiest way as it offers an environment, where everything is initialized for a version
       of Qt ( f.e qmake is in the PATH ).

       Creating a makefile usually means something like:

       cd qwt-6.1.4
       qmake qwt.pro

       The generated makefile includes all paths related to the chosen Qt version.

   MinGW
       For MinGW builds the name of the make tool is 'mingw32-make'

       mingw32-make

        ( On multicore systems you can speed up building the Qwt libraries with running several
       jobs simultaneously: 'mingw32-make -j' )

       Finally you have to install everything below the directories you have specified in
       qwtconfig.pri.

       mingw32-make install

   MSVC
       For MSVC builds the name of the make tool is 'nmake'. Alternatively it is possible to use
       'jom' ( https://wiki.qt.io/Jom ), that is usually included in a Qt Creator package.

       nmake

       Finally you have to install everything below the directories you have specified in
       qwtconfig.pri.

       nmake install

Qwt and the Qt tool chain

   Designer plugin
       The Designer plugin and the corresponding Qwt library ( if the plugin has not been built
       self containing ) have to be compatible with Qt version of the application loading it (
       usually the Qt Creator ) - what is often a different version of the Qt libraries you want
       to build your application with. F.e on Windows the Qt Creator is usually built with a MSVC
       compiler - even if included in a MinGW package !

       To help Qt Designer/Creator with locating the Qwt Designer plugin you have to set the
       environment variable QT_PLUGIN_PATH, modify qt.conf - or install the plugin to one of the
       application default paths.

       The Qt documentation explains all options in detail:

       • https://doc.qt.io/qt-5/deployment-plugins.html

       • https://doc.qt.io/qtcreator/adding-plugins.html

       F.e. on a Linux system you could add the following lines to .bashrc:

       QT_PLUGIN_PATH="${QWT_ROOT}/plugins:$QT_PLUGIN_PATH"
       export QT_PLUGIN_PATH

       When the plugin has not been built including the Qwt library ( see
       QwtDesignerSelfContained in qwtconfig.pri ) the Qt Designer/Creator also needs to locate
       the Qwt libraries. On Unix systems the path to the installed library is compiled into the
       plugin ( see rpath, ldd ), but on Windows the Qt Creator needs to be configured ( (
       Running a Qwt application ) in the same way as for any application using Qwt.

       In case of problems the diagnostics of Qt Creator and Designer are very limited ( usually
       none ), but setting the environment variable QT_DEBUG_PLUGINS might help. In the Qt
       Creator it is possible to check which plugins were loaded successfully and for certain
       problems it also lists those that were recognized but failed ( Tools > Form Editor > About
       Qt Designer Plugins ).

   Online Help
       The Qwt class documentation can be loaded into the Qt Creator:

       • open the settings dialog from the Tools->Options menu

       • raise the tab 'Help->Documentation'.

       • press the Add button and select qwt-6.1.4.qch.

       Now the context sensitive help ( F1 ) works for Qwt classes.

       For browsing the documentation in the Qt Assistant:

       • open the settings dialog from the Edit->Preferences menu

       • raise the tab Documentation.

       • press the Add button and select qwt-6.1.4.qch.

Building a Qwt application

       All flags and settings that are necessary to compile and link an application using Qwt can
       be found in the file ${QWT_ROOT}/features/qwt.prf.

       When using qmake it can included from the application project file in 2 different ways:

       • Adding Qwt as qmake feature

          When using the qmake feature mechanism you can bind a special version of qmake to a
         special installation of Qwt without having to add this dependency to the application
         project. How to add Qwt as feature is documented in the qmake docs.

       After adding Qwt as a feature f.e on Linux as a persistent property ....

       qmake -set QMAKEFEATURES ${QWT_ROOT}/features

        .. the following line can be added to the application project file:

       CONFIG += qwt

       • Including qwt.prf in the application project file

          Instead of using qwt.prf as qmake feature it can be included from the application
         project file:

       include ( ${QWT_ROOT}/features/qwt.prf )

        The advantage of using a direct include is, that all settings of qwt.prf are known to the
       application project file ( qmake features are included after the application project file
       has been parsed ) and it can be implemented depending on - f.e. settings made in
       qwtconfig.pri.

       On Unix platforms it is possible to link a runtime path into the executable, so that the
       location of the Qwt libraries can be found without having to configure a runtime
       environment:

       • QMAKE_LFLAGS_RPATH

       • QMAKE_RPATH

       • QMAKE_RPATHDIR

Running a Qwt application

       When using Qwt as shared library ( DLL ) the dynamic linker has to find it according to
       the rules of the operating system.

   Windows
       The only reasonable way to configure the runtime environment - without having to copy the
       Qwt libraries around - is to modify the PATH variable. F.e. this could be done by adding
       the following line to some batch file:

       set PATH=%PATH%;${QWT_ROOT}

   GNU/Linux
       Read the documentation about:

       • ldconfig/etc/ld.so.confLD_LIBRARY_PATH

       Using the ldd command a configuration can be tested.