CMakeLists.txt for your Qt project

CMakeLists.txt for Qt 5

A minimal CMake project file that uses Qt5 can be:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8.11)

project(myproject)

find_package(Qt5 5.7.0 REQUIRED COMPONENTS
    Core
)

set(CMAKE_AUTOMOC ON)

add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME}
    main.cpp
)

target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME}
    Qt5::Core
)

cmake_minimum_required is called to set minimum required version for CMake. The minimum required version for this example to work is 2.8.11 — previous versions of CMake need additional code for a target to use Qt.

find_package is called to search an installation of Qt5 with a given version — 5.7.0 in the example — and wanted components — Core module in the example. For a list of available modules, see Qt Documentation. Qt5 is marked as REQUIRED in this project. The path to the installation can be hinted by setting the variable Qt5_DIR.

AUTOMOC is a boolean specifying whether CMake will handle the Qt moc preprocessor automatically, i.e. without having to use the QT5_WRAP_CPP() macro.

Other “AUTOMOC-like” variables are:

• AUTOUIC: a boolean specifying whether CMake will handle the Qt uic code generator automatically, i.e. without having to use the QT5_WRAP_UI() macro.

• AUTORCC: a boolean specifying whether CMake will handle the Qt rcc code generator automatically, i.e. without having to use the QT5_ADD_RESOURCES() macro.

add_executable is called to create an executable target from the given source files. The target is then linked to the listed Qt’s modules with the command target_link_libraries. From CMake 2.8.11, target_link_libraries with Qt’s imported targets handles linker parameters, as well as include directories and compiler options.