SoQt_Build_Instructions_For_Linux

This page descibes how to build the SoQt GUI for Coin 3D.

• Qt Build Instructions
  • Dependencies
  • Building from tar Package
    • Unpack the tar File
    • Configure the Build Directory
    • Build the Qt Libraries and Tools
    • Install the Qt Libraries and Tools
    • Set QTDIR Environment Variable
    • Update PATH Environment Variable
• SoQt Build Instructions
  • Dependencies
  • Building from tar Package
    • Unpack the tar File
    • Configure the Build Directory
    • Build the SoQt Library
    • Install the SoQt Library
• Viewer Example Code

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Qt Build Instructions

SoQt depends upon the the Qt libraries. For Linux, you must first build the Qt source and then install the libraries from the local build.

Dependencies

Qt has the following dependencies:

sudo apt-get install libfontconfig1-dev libfreetype6-dev libx11-dev libxcursor-dev libxext-dev libxfixes-dev libxft-dev libxi-dev libxrandr-dev libxrender-dev

Building from tar Package

The Qt package can be downloaded from the Qt Downloads archive: https://download.qt.io/archive/qt/4.8/4.8.6/. The package is qt-everywhere-opensource-src-4.8.6.tar.gz.

Unpack the tar File

Do the following to extract the source:

tar -xvzf qt-everywhere-opensource-src-4.8.6.tar.gz

Configure the Build Directory

Build the libraries and distribution elements (i.e. documentation and tools). Be sure to enable the HTML and man page generation.

cd qt-everywhere-opensource-src-4.8.6
./configure --enable-html --enable-man

Build the Qt Libraries and Tools

Build the libraries and tools using:

make

Install the Qt Libraries and Tools

To install the libraries and tools

make install

The build artifacts will be installed in /usr/local/Trolltech/Qt-4.8.6/.

Set QTDIR Environment Variable

Set the QTDIR environment variable to /usr/local/Trolltech/Qt-4.8.6/.

export QTDIR=/usr/local/Trolltech/Qt-4.8.6.

Update PATH Environment Variable

Update the PATH environment variable to locate the Qt tools.

export PATH=$QTDIR/bin:$PATH

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SoQt Build Instructions

These instructions focus on building the SoQt GUI library from a tar distribution package. The instructions are geared towards an Ubuntu 14.04 LTS host development platform.

Dependencies

SoQt has the following dependencies:

• Qt v4.8.6 - see build and installation instructions above.

Building from tar Package

The SoQt package can be downloaded from the Bitbucket account: https://bitbucket.org/Coin3D/coin/downloads. The package is SoQt-1.5.0.tar.gz.

Unpack the tar File

Do the following to extract the source:

tar -xvzf SoQt-1.5.0.tar.gz

Configure the Build Directory

Build the libraries and distribution elements (i.e. documentation) in a separate directory. Be sure to enable the HTML and man page generation.

mkdir soqt-build
cd soqt-build
../SoQt-1.5.0/configure --enable-html --enable-man

Build the SoQt Library

Build the SoQt library, libSoQt.so:

make

Install the SoQt Library

To install the library, header files and documentation, do the following:

make install

The library will be installed in /usr/local/lib/libSoQt.so. The header files will be installed in the /usr/local/include directory. HTML pages are populated in the /usr/local/share/doc/soqt/html directory. The manual pages are installed into /usr/local/man.

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Viewer Example Code

The following is an example on how to use the SoXt library:

#include <Inventor/Qt/SoQt.h>
#include <Inventor/Qt/viewers/SoQtExaminerViewer.h>
#include <Inventor/nodes/SoBaseColor.h>
#include <Inventor/nodes/SoCone.h>
#include <Inventor/nodes/SoSeparator.h>

int
main(int argc, char ** argv)
{
    // Initializes SoQt library (and implicitly also the Coin and Qt
    // libraries). Returns a top-level / shell Qt window to use.
    QWidget * mainwin = SoQt::init(argc, argv, argv[0]);

    // Make a dead simple scene graph by using the Coin library, only
    // containing a single yellow cone under the scenegraph root.
    SoSeparator * root = new SoSeparator;
    root->ref();

    SoBaseColor * col = new SoBaseColor;
    col->rgb = SbColor(1, 1, 0);
    root->addChild(col);

    root->addChild(new SoCone);

    // Use one of the convenient SoQt viewer classes.
    SoQtExaminerViewer * eviewer = new SoQtExaminerViewer(mainwin);
    eviewer->setSceneGraph(root);
    eviewer->show();

    // Pop up the main window.
    SoQt::show(mainwin);
    // Loop until exit.
    SoQt::mainLoop();

    // Clean up resources.
    delete eviewer;
    root->unref();

    return 0;
}

[Mark Millard]

Attaching an Eclipse CDT (Mars) project that builds the above example code.