Qt Quick development process

Learning Qt Quick

Some pointers to discover Qt Quick:

• http://qt-project.org/doc/qt-5/gettingstarted.html
• http://qt-project.org/doc/qt-5/gettingstartedqml.html
• http://qmlbook.org/index.html

A step by step exercise to dig into Qt Quick with the QtCreator development environment:

• http://qt-project.org/doc/qtcreator

Coding Style

We follow this coding style.

Source code

Here is the official repository for the source code. Alternatively you can also get the code on GitHub.

Compilation

CMake is a cross-platform free software program for managing the build process of software using a compiler-independent method. The minimum version to compile GCompris is 2.8.

• Get the source code
• Download and Install the latest stable version of Qt for Android (This includes QtCreator in the Tools/QtCreator directory)
• Start QtCreator and open the project file CMakeLists.txt at the root of the source code
• Create a build directory and set it in Qt Creator
• Compile and run it. (No need of giving any arguments to CMake, if QtCreator asks for it)

To make it run on Android you need first to follow these instructions.

Adding a new activity

Automatically

Let's say you want to port the algebra_by activity.

cd src/activities
./createit.sh algebra_by

And you're done, you can run CMake again in QtCreator and your activity should appear on the list.

Manually

You must create a directory for your activity in src/activities. In it, create an ActivityInfo.qml, algebra_by.pri and your qml entry point Algebra_by.qml.

• in src/activities/activities.txt add the directory name of your activity (keep the file sorted).
• check algebra_by/ActivityInfo.qml that the name references you Qml activity entry point and that the icon point to your icon name (preferred format is svgz).

Getting old menus

If your activity is an existing one, you can move its ported ActivityInfo and icon:

git mv tools/menus/algebra_by.qml src/activities/algebra_by/Algebra_by.qml
git mv tools/menus/resource/algebra_by.svg src/activities/algebra_by/algebra_by

Extending another activity

If the activity is just an extension of an existing one you have to create it either manually or automatically and then change you .qml file to extend another one. The 'erase_clic' activity is a good example.

In your .qml file:

• just import the activity you want to extend with for example: import "qrc:/gcompris/src/activities/erase"
• instead of have your root item being an 'ActivityBase' you just create an object of the base type you want to extend like Erase.
• Use a property to pass parameters to your base item and customize it

Coding guidelines

Keep only small Javascript in the QML code, all the game logic must be in your Javascript file. This makes it easier to read the activity logic. It is possible to have several Javascript files if needed. The QML files must be seen as the graphical interface description and the Javascript the logic of the game.

Resolution independence

Your activity must look nice on tablets and desktops. The resolution and dpi value may differ a lot. On mobile with high dpi the size of your images will look smaller. You must set an initial size related to ApplicationInfo.ratio like this:

Image {
    id: ball
    source: "qrc:/gcompris/src/activities/ballcatch/resource/ball.svgz"
    sourceSize.height: 100 * ApplicationInfo.ratio
}

Window resize

Your activity must adapt its content properly when the window is resized.

Screen rotation

Your activity must support screen rotation. If you use a layout or you specify an item coordinated related to the window width you are safe. If you create absolute coordinate items, you may need to reset them when the screen is changed. To detect a rotation you can add a code like this in your ActivityBase:

    onWidthChanged: Activity.widthChanged()

Audio

Creating Audio items is rather slow. If you have a lot of items on the screen, do not create an Audio item for each. Instead create a single Audio and pass it to all your items.

In order to play audio only if audio has been enabled in the preferences, use the core GCAudio item instead of Audio. Make sure to use import "../../core".

Background image

You must not use a background image to bring useful informations. It is not possible to keep the background aligned with items when the resolution is changed.

Compiling GCompris for Desktop

You can still use QtCreator to develop. Within it, open the CMakeLists.txt on top-level of GCompris. Select a directory (create a folder at same level as the gcompris folder for example) and then click on "Run CMake" button then finish.

To compile GCompris on command line, you can create a directory GCompris-qt-build at same level as the gcompris folder, go into it and type "cmake ../gcompris && make". You have the possibility to check which activities you want to compile or not.

Troubleshooting

• If you get the error: "The imported target "Qt5::Gui" references the file "Qt5Gui_EGL_LIBRARY-NOTFOUND" but this file does not exist."

Compiling GCompris for Android

You need to download and install android ndk (NDK) and android sdk (SDK).

To make it easier and because we don't need eclipse contained in adt-bundle-linux-x86-xxxxx, copy the directory sdk under for example /home/Android/ and rename it as android-sdk. Also, rename android-ndk-r9d as android-ndk and copy it under /home/Android/

Then you need to add some environment variables by editing ~/bashrc to add at the end (put the directories where you installed ndk/sdk):

export ANDROID_NDK=/home/Android/android-ndk
export ANDROID_SDK=/home/Android/android-sdk
export PATH=$PATH:/home/Android/android-sdk/platform-tools

With Qt5.3, you'll probably need to create symbolic links for Qt libraries (if you have the error Qt5.3.0/5.3/android_armv7/lib/libQt5Core.so.5.3.0 not found):

cd Qt5.3.0/5.3/android_armv7/lib
for f in $(ls *.so); do ln -s $f $f.5.3.0; done

Now you must add a variable to point to your Qt5 installation like this to your .bashrc:

export Qt5Host=gcc_64
export Qt5_HOST_DIR=~/Qt5.3.0/5.3/$Qt5Host

Create a folder at the same level as the gcompris folder and into it type "ccmake -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=../gcompris/platforms/android.cmake -Wno-dev ../gcompris && make && make apk_debug" to get a GCompris apk. This opens ccmake which is a console application. Run the configuration step by typing "C" on you keyboard.

If it tells you "Could not find a package configuration file provided by Qt5", press "e" to set the path for QT5_DIR. To do this, press "enter", this will place the cursor on the first path line. With the down key go to Qt5_DIR line, press again "Enter" then modify the path. For example the path can be: /home/myname/Qt5.3.0/5.3/android_armv7/lib/cmake/Qt5 where Qt5.3.0 is the Qt installation directory.

Then press on enter to access ccmake command followed by "G" to build and "E" to quit.

Deploying on android device

To deploy plug you computer to your tablet. Go into you tablet preferences, switch on the developer mode.

Into the console, type the following command:

adb install -r GCompris-debug.apk

Compiling translations

By default, no translation are compiled. You need to create the Makefile using cmake (see above) and type:

make BuildTranslations

Then go into the bin directory and type ./GCompris to launch the software (or running from QtCreator). In the configuration dialog box, you can choose your language. Restart the application to see the language change.

If you're compiling using Qt Creator, you can go to the Projects tab and in Build Steps, add a build step and check BuildTranslations.

Getting translations from the Gtk version

When adding a Gtk ported activity in the QtQuick version, if you used the strings for texts of the Gtk version, you can update all existing translation files. For this, first you need to update existing translation files using (this will add the new strings which will be untranslated for now):

make UpdateTranslations

Then, using the convertPo.py tool (and the updateAll.sh which applies it to all translations), you can update the files to get the translations from the Gtk version (if they existed).

Updating an activity from .pri file to cmake

Using CMake implies we don't use the .pro project anymore and we have to tell CMake to look for the new project. Some changes has been made.

Convert .pri file to CMake files

If you already did an activity using .pri, you can use the priToCMake tool (in tools/) which will create a CMakeLists_{activity}.txt file (telling CMake to add this activity to the compilation). Move it to your activity directory and rename it CMakeLists.txt.

To compile priToCMake use the command: 'g++ -o converter converter.cpp'

Adding resources

• For resources, you have to put them in the resource directory of your activity
• A compiled qrc file named youractivity.rcc is auto generated by the compilation chain
• You must run cmake again to have new resources included in the qrc
• If you change a resource, a simple make will update the rcc file
• To reference your resource, use a qrc:/ url in the source. The path is:

qrc:/gcompris/src/activities/*youractivity*/resource/*myfile.svgz*