q2c

q2c is a command-line converter between Qt qmake projects and CMake projects. It can convert common .pro / .pri projects to CMakeLists.txt, and it can convert common Qt CMake projects back to qmake .pro files.

The project is still under active development. q2c prefers readable generated build files and explicit warnings over pretending every qmake or CMake scripting feature can be converted perfectly.

Requirements

• Qt 5 or Qt 6 development tools
• A C++17 compiler
• Either CMake 3.16+ or qmake

Build

Using CMake:

cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build

If Qt is not in CMake's default search path, pass its prefix:

cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=/path/to/Qt/6.x/gcc_64

Using qmake:

mkdir -p release
cd release
qmake ../q2c/q2c.pro
make

Test

Using CMake:

cmake -S . -B build -DQ2C_BUILD_TESTS=ON
cmake --build build
ctest --test-dir build --output-on-failure

Using qmake:

mkdir -p tests/build
cd tests/build
qmake ../tests.pro
make
./q2c_tests

CLI smoke tests:

tests/run_cli_tests.sh build/q2c

Install And Package

Install from a CMake build:

cmake --install build

Create release archives:

scripts/make_release.sh

The CMake build uses CPack to create .tar.gz and .zip archives on every platform, and DEB/RPM packages on Linux where the tools are available.

Usage

q2c detects the conversion direction from the input file name:

• .pro and .pri files are treated as qmake input and converted to CMake.
• CMakeLists.txt and .cmake files are treated as CMake input and converted to qmake.

Examples:

q2c -i app.pro -o CMakeLists.txt
q2c --qmake-to-cmake --qt6 -i app.pro -o CMakeLists.txt
q2c --cmake-to-qmake -i CMakeLists.txt -o app.pro
q2c --check -i app.pro
q2c --check --strict -i app.pro
q2c --dry-run -i app.pro
q2c --backup --force -i app.pro -o CMakeLists.txt
q2c --output-dir converted -i app.pro

Existing output files are not overwritten unless -f or --force is used.

Useful options:

--qmake-to-cmake     Force qmake input to CMake output
--cmake-to-qmake     Force CMake input to qmake output
--qt4, --qt5, --qt6  Select Qt generation style for qmake-to-CMake
--check              Parse and validate only
--dry-run            Print generated output to stdout
--force              Overwrite an existing output file
--backup             Back up an existing output file before overwriting
--output-dir DIR     Write generated output into DIR
--strict             Fail when conversion warnings are emitted
--warnings FORMAT    Warning output format: text or json
--version            Print the q2c version

Documentation

• Conversion Examples
• Supported Feature Matrix
• Troubleshooting
• Architecture
• Contributing

Current Scope

q2c supports a practical static subset of qmake and CMake. It handles typical Qt applications, libraries, resources, forms, translations, include paths, defines, libraries, compiler/linker flags, subdirs, and simple platform scopes.

It does not execute arbitrary CMake or qmake scripts. Unsupported constructs are reported as warnings when possible so the generated file can be reviewed.