First check out the source code. The following commands will fetch the latest code.
# For this document we will assume you are inside a folder for development.
# We will refer to that as `dev`.
#
# I usually have a folder called `dev` in my user folder and inside a subfolder
# for each software project, here that would be `/home/user/dev/qfield`.
# You are free to choose yours.
git clone [email protected]:opengisch/QField.git
# Alternatively you can use the following URL in case you have not set up SSH keys for github
# https://github.com/opengisch/QField.git
You need to have cmake installed.
You have two options to build QField. Using system packages which will reuse packages installed from your package manager. Or using vcpkg which will build all the packages from source.
This will use your system packages.
Make sure you have installed the appropriate -dev
or -devel
packages
using your system package manager.
This is much faster to build than the using vcpkg and often the preferred
development method.
Installing all QGIS development packages is a good start. The next step is to install QField specific dependencies, here is a non-exhaustive list of them on Ubuntu.
# TODO: update to qt6 as soon as distros start to ship qt6.5
sudo apt install libqt5sensors5-dev libqt5webview5-dev libqt5multimedia5-plugins libqt5multimedia5 qtmultimedia5-dev libzxingcore-dev libqt5bluetooth5 libqt5charts5 qml-module-qtcharts qtconnectivity5-dev qml-module-qtbluetooth qml-module-qtlocation qml-module-qtwebengine qml-module-qtgraphicaleffects qml-module-qt-labs-settings qml-module-qtquick-controls2 qml-module-qtquick-layouts qml-module-qtwebview qml-module-qtmultimedia qml-module-qtquick-shapes qml-module-qtsensors qml-module-qt-labs-calendar qml-module-qtquick-particles2 zipcmp zipmerge ziptool
# Building for Qt6 is the standard, but currently no
# distributions ship Qt 6.5.0
# To be updated
cmake -S QField -B build -D BUILD_WITH_QT6=OFF
If you use a locally built QGIS installed to a different
location, use -DQGIS_ROOT=
to specify this path.
This will build the complete dependency chain from scratch.
cmake -S QField -B build -DWITH_VCPKG=ON
Since this is now building a lot, grab yourself a cold or hot drink and take a good break. It could well take several hours.
Now build the application.
cmake --build build
To build with tests, you can specify -DENABLE_TESTS=ON
.
To run the tests, run ctest
in the build folder.
The testing framework Catch2
has minimal version 3, so you might need to install it separately and pass it with -DCatch2_ROOT=${HOME}/vcpkg/packages/catch2_x64-linux
.
You need to have cmake and Xcode installed.
The following line will configure the build.
# We call this from the `dev` folder again
cmake -S QField -B build -GXcode -Tbuildsystem=1 -DWITH_VCPKG=ON
Please note that this will download and build the complete dependency chain of QField. If you ever wanted to read a good book, you will have a couple of hours to get started.
cmake --build build
You need to have the following tools available to build
- cmake
- Visual Studio
QField on Windows is always built using vcpkg.
A couple of specific variables should be specified.
The x-buildtrees-root
flag needs to point to a short path
in order to avoid running into issues with long paths.
cmake -S QField -B build \
-D VCPKG_TARGET_TRIPLET=x64-windows-static \
-D CMAKE_MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY=MultiThreaded\$<\$<CONFIG:Debug>:Debug> \
-D PKG_CONFIG_EXECUTABLE=build/vcpkg_installed/x64-windows/tools/pkgconf/pkgconf.exe \
-D VCPKG_INSTALL_OPTIONS="--x-buildtrees-root=C:/build"
cmake --build build
Android runs on a number of different CPU architectures.
The most common one is arm64
. The platform to build for is specified via triplet.
The following triplets are possible:
arm64-android
arm-android
x64-android
x86-android
There is a simple script that helps building everything by using a docker image.
triplet=arm64-android ./scripts/build.sh
Make sure you have the following tools installed
- cmake
- The Android SDK including NDK
export ANDROID_NDK_HOME=[path to your android ndk]
cmake -S QField \
-B build \
-D VCPKG_TARGET_TRIPLET=arm64-android
cmake --build build
To compile for iOS simulator, make sure you have installed recent versions of flex and bison (e.g. via homebrew) and added to the path. You also need the Qt sdk for ios installed.
brew install flex bison
aqt install-qt mac ios 6.5.0 -O 6.5.0 -m qt5compat qtcharts qtpositioning qtserialport qtconnectivity qtmultimedia qtwebview qtsensors --autodesktop
export PATH="$(brew --prefix flex)/bin:$PATH"
export PATH="$(brew --prefix bison)/bin:$PATH"
export Qt6_DIR=6.5.0/ios
cmake -S . -B build-x64-ios -DVCPKG_TARGET_TRIPLET=x64-ios -GXcode -DWITH_VCPKG=ON -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=iOS -DCMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT=iphonesimulator -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR=x86_64 -DCMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH=$Qt6_DIR
cmake --build build-x64-ios
# Firstly, some compilation dependencies need to be installed
brew install cmake flex bison python pkg-config autoconf automake libtool
# Secondly, Xcode must be installed through the AppStore, then configured
xcode-select --install
sudo xcode-select --switch /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools
sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer
QT_ROOT=$HOME/Documents/qt6
# Install Qt (Could be installed with 'aqtinstall' or with the official tools)
pip3 install aqtinstall
aqt install-qt mac ios 6.5.0 -O $QT_ROOT -m qt5compat qtcharts qtpositioning qtserialport qtconnectivity qtmultimedia qtwebview qtsensors --autodesktop
# Setup the environment for the build tools
export PATH="$(brew --prefix flex)/bin:$(brew --prefix bison)/bin:$PATH"
export Qt6_DIR=$QT_ROOT/6.5.0/ios/
# Configure using CMake
cmake -S . -B build-arm64-ios \
-DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=$QT_ROOT/6.5.0/ios/lib/cmake/Qt6 \
-DCMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH=$QT_ROOT/6.5.0/ios/ \
-DVCPKG_TARGET_TRIPLET=arm64-ios \
-DWITH_VCPKG=ON \
-DVCPKG_BUILD_TYPE=release \
-DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=iOS \
-DCMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT=iphoneos \
-DCMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES=arm64 \
-GXcode
# The "build/CMakeFiles/[version]/CMakeSystem.cmake" file may need to be modified.
# The "CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR" variable must be set to "aarch64" manually (only if the cmake configuration fails).
# In "Xcode" build settings, it is possible that the additional flag "CoreFoundation" had to be removed manually.
# Then, compile. To install an app on iOS, it must be signed using Xcode tools.
cmake --build build-arm64-ios
Before commiting, install pre-commit to auto-format your code.
pip install pre-commit
pre-commit install