Building: TinyORM

• Introduction
  • Common Prerequisites
  • Windows Prerequisites
• Folders structure
• Getting started
• vcpkg
• C preprocessor macros
• Building with CMake
  • Configure & Build
  • CMake build options
  • Consume TinyOrm library
• Building with qmake
  • Install dependencies
  • Configure & Build
  • qmake build options
  • Consume TinyOrm library
  • Auto-configuration internals
    • Environment files
  • Manual configuration internals
• Ccache support

Introduction

The build systems supported out of the box are CMake and qmake.

caution

All examples below assume that pwsh runs on Windows and bash runs on Linux.

Common Prerequisites

Install the required dependencies before starting.

Windows Prerequisites

Build environment scripts

The Visual Studio does not provide vcvars scripts for pwsh, you can use vcvars64.ps1 provided by TinyORM in the tools/ folder. Place them on the $env:Path user/system path and they will be available system-wide.

The same is true for the Qt Framework, it doesn't provide qtenv scripts for pwsh too. You can create your own script, place it on the $env:Path user/system path and it will be available system-wide.

Here is one simple example for pwsh.

qtenv6.ps1

Write-Host 'Setting up environment for Qt 6.5.2 usage...' -ForegroundColor Magenta
$env:Path = 'C:\Qt\6.5.2\msvc2019_64\bin;' + $env:Path
. E:\dotfiles\bin\vcvars64.ps1

qtenv5.ps1

Write-Host 'Setting up environment for Qt 5.15.2 usage...' -ForegroundColor Magenta
$env:Path = 'C:\Qt\5.15.2\msvc2019_64\bin;' + $env:Path
. E:\dotfiles\bin\vcvars64.ps1

And here for Linux:

qtenv6

echo 'Setting up environment for Qt 6.5.2 usage...'

export PATH=/opt/Qt/6.5.2/gcc_64/bin${PATH:+:}$PATH
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/Qt/6.5.2/gcc_64/lib${LD_LIBRARY_PATH:+:}$LD_LIBRARY_PATH

qtenv5

echo 'Setting up environment for Qt 5.15.2 usage...'

export PATH=/opt/Qt/5.15.2/gcc_64/bin${PATH:+:}$PATH
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/Qt/5.15.2/gcc_64/lib${LD_LIBRARY_PATH:+:}$LD_LIBRARY_PATH

Allow symbolic links unprivileged

Open Local Security Policy, go to Local Policies - User Rights Assignment, open Create symbolic links and add your user account or user group, restart when it doesn't apply immediately.

Folders structure

All tinyorm.org examples are based on the following folders structure. The tom folder will contain a migrations console application.

tip

You can set the root and application folder paths in the form below and they will be used across the whole www.tinyorm.org website. 🥳 The pwsh shell is supposed to use on Windows and the bash shell on Linux, but it is not a requirement.

pwsh

Current pwsh path 

├──
│   ├── HelloWorld/
│   |   ├── HelloWorld/
│   |   ├── HelloWorld-builds-cmake/
│   |   |   └── build-debug/
│   |   └── HelloWorld-builds-qmake/
│   |       └── build-debug/
│   ├── TinyORM/
│   |   ├── TinyORM/
│   |   ├── TinyORM-builds-cmake/
│   |   │   ├── build-gcc-debug/
│   |   │   ├── build-gcc-release/
│   |   │   └── build-clang-debug/
│   |   └── TinyORM-builds-qmake/
│   |       ├── build-debug/
│   |       ├── build-TinyORM-Desktop_Qt_5_15_2_MSVC2019_64bit-Debug/
│   |       └── build-TinyORM-Desktop_Qt_5_15_2_MSYS2_UCRT64_64bit-Release/
│   └── tom/
│       ├── tom/
│       │   └── database/
│       │       ├── migrations/
│       │       ├── seeders/
│       │       ├── migrations.pri
│       │       └── seeders.pri
│       ├── tom-builds-cmake/
│       │   └── build-TinyORM-Desktop_Qt_6_5_2_MSVC2019_64bit-Debug/
│       └── tom-builds-qmake/
│           ├── build-TinyORM-Desktop_Qt_5_15_3_MSYS2_UCRT64_64bit-Release/
│           └── build-TinyORM-Desktop_Qt_6_5_2_MSVC2019_64bit-Debug/
├── tmp/
└── vcpkg/

bash

Current bash path 

├──
│   ├── HelloWorld/
│   |   ├── HelloWorld/
│   |   ├── HelloWorld-builds-cmake/
│   |   |   └── build-debug/
│   |   └── HelloWorld-builds-qmake/
│   |       └── build-debug/
│   ├── TinyORM/
│   |   ├── TinyORM/
│   |   ├── TinyORM-builds-cmake/
│   |   │   ├── build-gcc-debug/
│   |   │   ├── build-gcc-release/
│   |   │   └── build-clang-debug/
│   |   └── TinyORM-builds-qmake/
│   |       ├── build-debug/
│   |       ├── build-TinyORM-Desktop_Qt_5_15_2_GCC_64bit-Debug/
│   |       └── build-TinyORM-Desktop_Qt_5_15_2_clang13_64bit_ccache-Release/
│   └── tom/
│       ├── tom/
│       │   └── database/
│       │       ├── migrations/
│       │       ├── seeders/
│       │       ├── migrations.pri
│       │       └── seeders.pri
│       ├── tom-builds-cmake/
│       │   └── build-TinyORM-Desktop_Qt_6_5_2_clang14_64bit_ccache-Debug/
│       └── tom-builds-qmake/
│           ├── build-TinyORM-Desktop_Qt_6_5_2_GCC_64bit-Debug/
│           └── build-TinyORM-Desktop_Qt_6_5_2_clang14_64bit_ccache-Release/
├── tmp/
└── vcpkg/

danger

Avoid paths with spaces with the qmake build system, it will not compile.

tip

You can force the QtCreator to generate a build folders structure as is described above.

To generate the required folders structure set the Settings - Build & Run - Default Build Properties - Default build directory to:
../%{Project:Name}-builds-%{BuildSystem:Name}/%{JS: Util.asciify("build-%{Project:Name}-%{Kit:FileSystemName}-%{BuildConfig:Name}")}

Getting started

Prepare compilation environment, we need to put the Qt Framework and Visual Studio MSVC compiler on the path on Windows. The compiler is already on the path on Linux and you can export PATH and LD_LIBRARY_PATH for Qt Framework, or use our qtenvX scripts described above.

pwsh

mkdir 
cd 
$env:Path = 'C:\Qt\6.5.2\msvc2019_64\bin;' + $env:Path
vcvars64.ps1

bash

mkdir -p 
cd 
export PATH=/opt/Qt/6.5.2/gcc_64/bin${PATH:+:}$PATH
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/Qt/6.5.2/gcc_64/lib${LD_LIBRARY_PATH:+:}$LD_LIBRARY_PATH

tip

You can also use the tools/Add-FolderOnPath.ps1 pwsh script to fastly prepend a path or pwd on the system PATH.

vcpkg

Installing the vcpkg is highly recommended, it simplifies installation of the range-v3 and tabulate dependencies.

pwsh

git clone git@github.com:microsoft/vcpkg.git
cd vcpkg
.\bootstrap-vcpkg.bat

bash

git clone git@github.com:microsoft/vcpkg.git
cd vcpkg
./bootstrap-vcpkg.sh

Add vcpkg on the system path, add the following to the .bashrc or .zshrc on Linux.

export PATH=/vcpkg${PATH:+:}$PATH

On Windows, open the Environment variables dialog and add vcpkg on the user PATH.

Or you can export it for the current session only.

pwsh

$env:Path = "\vcpkg;" + $env:Path

bash

export PATH=/vcpkg${PATH:+:}$PATH

Set up vcpkg environment

To export vcpkg environment variables globally, add it to the .bashrc or .zshrc on Linux, and you can use the Environment variables dialog on Windows.

Linux

export VCPKG_DEFAULT_TRIPLET=x64-linux
#export VCPKG_DEFAULT_HOST_TRIPLET=x64-linux
export VCPKG_MAX_CONCURRENCY=11
export VCPKG_OVERLAY_PORTS="$HOME/.local/share/vcpkg/ports"
export VCPKG_OVERLAY_TRIPLETS="$HOME/.local/share/vcpkg/triplets"
export VCPKG_ROOT="$HOME/Code/c/vcpkg"

info

It is recommended to define these variables globally because the CMake and qmake build system are able to detect the vcpkg installation from them so you don't have to configure them manually to detect the vcpkg installation.

tip

On Windows, it's always better to create these types of variables as user variables instead of system variables in the Environment variables dialog.

C preprocessor macros

The following table summarizes all the C preprocessor macros defined in the TinyORM library. These C macros are configured by CMake or qmake build systems. They are not sorted alphabetically, but they are sorted by how significant they are.

In the CMake build system, all the C macros are auto-detected / auto-configured or controlled by CMake build options, so you don't have to care too much about them.

In the qmake build is important whether you are building TinyORM library or you are building your application and linking against TinyORM library. When you are building the TinyORM library, all the C macros are auto-detected / auto-configured or controlled by qmake build options, so you don't have to care too much about them.

But a special situation is when you are building your application / library and you are linking against TinyORM library. In this particular case, you must configure all these C macros manually! For this reason, the TinyOrm.pri has been created, so that's not a big deal either. Little more info here.

C Macro Name	Description
TINYORM_LINKING_SHARED	Must be defined when you are linking against TinyORM shared build (dll library), exported classes and functions will be tagged with __declspec(dllimport) on msvc and visibility("default") on GCC >= 4.
TINYORM_BUILDING_SHARED	Defined when TinyORM is built as a dll library (shared build).
TINYORM_DEBUG	Defined in the debug build.
TINYORM_NO_DEBUG	Defined in the release build.
TINYORM_DEBUG_SQL	Defined in the debug build.
TINYORM_NO_DEBUG_SQL	Defined in the release build.
TINYORM_MYSQL_PING	Enable Orm::MySqlConnection::pingDatabase() method. Defined when mysql_ping (qmake) / MYSQL_PING (cmake) configuration build option is enabled.
TINYORM_DISABLE_ORM	Controls the compilation of all ORM-related source code, when this macro is defined, then only the query builder without ORM is compiled. Also excludes ORM-related unit tests. Defined when disable_orm (qmake) / ORM (cmake) configuration build option is enabled (qmake) / disabled (cmake).
TINYORM_EXTERN_CONSTANTS	Defined when extern constants are used. Extern constants are enabled by default for shared builds and disabled for static builds. Described at qmake / CMake how it works.
TINYORM_INLINE_CONSTANTS	Defined when global inline constants are used. Defined when inline_constants (qmake) / INLINE_CONSTANTS (cmake) configuration build option is enabled.
TINYORM_TESTS_CODE	Enable code needed by unit tests, eg. connection overriding in the Orm::Tiny::Model. Defined when build_tests (qmake) / BUILD_TESTS (cmake) configuration build option is enabled.
TINYORM_DISABLE_THREAD_LOCAL	Remove all thread_local storage duration specifiers, it disables multi-threading support. Defined when disable_thread_local (qmake) / DISABLE_THREAD_LOCAL (cmake) configuration build option is enabled.
TINYTOM_MIGRATIONS_DIR	Default migrations path for the make:migration command, can be an absolute or relative path (to the pwd). Default value: database/migrations (relative to the pwd) Defined by TOM_MIGRATIONS_DIR (cmake) configuration build option. (qmake note) You can use DEFINES += TINYTOM_MIGRATIONS_DIR="\"database/migrations\"" on the command-line or set it in the main conf.pri file.
TINYTOM_MODELS_DIR	Default models path for the make:model command, can be an absolute or relative path (to the pwd). Default value: database/models (relative to the pwd) Defined by TOM_MODELS_DIR (cmake) configuration build option. (qmake note) You can use DEFINES += TINYTOM_MODELS_DIR="\"database/models\"" on the command-line or set it in the main conf.pri file.
TINYTOM_SEEDERS_DIR	Default seeders path for the make:seeder command, can be an absolute or relative path (to the pwd). Default value: database/seeders (relative to the pwd) Defined by TOM_SEEDERS_DIR (cmake) configuration build option. (qmake note) You can use DEFINES += TINYTOM_SEEDERS_DIR="\"database/seeders\"" on the command-line or set it in the main conf.pri file.
TINYORM_USING_PCH	Defined if building with precompiled headers. Controlled by qmake / CMake.

Building with CMake

tip

If something is not clear, you can still look at GitHub Action workflows how a building is done.

First, create a basic folder structure and then clone the TinyORM project.

pwsh

cd 
mkdir /TinyORM/TinyORM-builds-cmake/build-debug

cd /TinyORM
git clone git@github.com:silverqx/TinyORM.git

bash

cd 
mkdir -p /TinyORM/TinyORM-builds-cmake/build-debug

cd /TinyORM
git clone git@github.com:silverqx/TinyORM.git

Configure & Build (cmake)

Now you are ready to configure the TinyORM library.

cd TinyORM-builds-cmake/build-debug

pwsh

cmake.exe `
-S "/TinyORM/TinyORM" `
-B "/TinyORM/TinyORM-builds-cmake/build-debug" `
-G 'Ninja' `
-D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE:STRING='Debug' `
-D CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE:FILEPATH="/vcpkg/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake" `
-D CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX:PATH="/tmp/TinyORM" `
-D BUILD_TESTS:BOOL=OFF `
-D MATCH_EQUAL_EXPORTED_BUILDTREE:BOOL=ON `
-D MYSQL_PING:BOOL=OFF `
-D TOM:BOOL=ON `
-D TOM_EXAMPLE:BOOL=OFF `
-D VERBOSE_CONFIGURE:BOOL=ON

bash

cmake \
-S "/TinyORM/TinyORM" \
-B "/TinyORM/TinyORM-builds-cmake/build-debug" \
-G 'Ninja' \
-D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE:STRING='Debug' \
-D CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE:FILEPATH="/vcpkg/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake" \
-D CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX:PATH="/tmp/TinyORM" \
-D VERBOSE_CONFIGURE:BOOL=ON \
-D BUILD_TESTS:BOOL=OFF \
-D MYSQL_PING:BOOL=OFF \
-D TOM:BOOL=ON \
-D TOM_EXAMPLE:BOOL=OFF \
-D MATCH_EQUAL_EXPORTED_BUILDTREE:BOOL=ON

CMake STRICT_MODE option

The STRICT_MODE CMake configuration option was added in TinyORM v0.35.0. This option was added to avoid the propagation of aggressive strict warning compiler/linker options and Qt definitions from the TinyORM library to user code through the TinyOrm::CommonConfig interface library.

TinyORM uses the strictest warning level options, virtually anything that can be enabled is enabled to produce a better code. I highly recommend enabling this option to produce better code and to follow good practices. It also helps to follow the ISOCPP C++ Core Guidelines standards.

If you want to enable these strict warning options in your code, you can enable the STRICT_MODE CMake configuration option and they will be propagated to your code. You can also enabled it globally using the TINYORM_STRICT_MODE environment variable, and the value of this environment variable will be picked up during initial CMake configuration as the default value for the STRICT_MODE CMake configuration option.

You can achieve the same result by manually linking against the TinyOrm::CommonConfig interface library when the STRICT_MODE is set to OFF.

target_link_libraries(<target> PRIVATE TinyOrm::CommonConfig)

info

The recommended way is to set the TINYORM_STRICT_MODE environment variable to 1 or ON.

Build TinyORM

And build. You don't have to install it, you can use the build tree directly if you want.

cmake --build . --target all
cmake --install .

Or build and install in one step.

cmake --build . --target install

info

CMake multi-config generators like Ninja Multi-Config or Visual Studio 16 2019 are also supported.

CMake build options

Option Name	Default	Description
BUILD_SHARED_LIBS	ON	Build as a shared/static library.
BUILD_TESTS	OFF	Build TinyORM unit tests.
INLINE_CONSTANTS	OFF	Use inline constants instead of extern constants in the shared build. OFF is highly recommended for the shared build; is always ON for the static build. Available when: BUILD_SHARED_LIBS
MSVC_RUNTIME_DYNAMIC	ON	Use MSVC dynamic runtime library (-MD) instead of static (-MT), also considers a Debug configuration (-MTd, -MDd). Available when: MSVC AND NOT DEFINED CMAKE_MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY
MYSQL_PING	OFF	Enable Orm::MySqlConnection::pingDatabase() method.
ORM	ON	Controls the compilation of all ORM-related source code, when this option is disabled, then only the query builder without ORM is compiled. Also excludes ORM-related unit tests.
STRICT_MODE	OFF	Controls propagation of strict compiler/linker options and Qt definitions using the TinyOrm::CommonConfig interface library to the user code. (highly recommended; can also be set with the TINYORM_STRICT_MODE environment variable; described here).
TOM	ON	Controls the compilation of all Tom-related source code, when this option is disabled, then it also excludes Tom-related unit tests.
TOM_EXAMPLE	OFF	Build the tom console application example.
TOM_MIGRATIONS_DIR	-	Default migrations path for the make:migration command, can be an absolute or relative path (to the pwd). Default value: database/migrations (relative to the pwd)
TOM_MODELS_DIR	-	Default models path for the make:model command, can be an absolute or relative path (to the pwd). Default value: database/models (relative to the pwd)
TOM_SEEDERS_DIR	-	Default seeders path for the make:seeder command, can be an absolute or relative path (to the pwd). Default value: database/seeders (relative to the pwd)
VERBOSE_CONFIGURE	OFF	Show information about PACKAGES_FOUND / PACKAGES_NOT_FOUND in the CMake configure output.

Advanced TinyORM options.

Option Name	Default	Description
DISABLE_THREAD_LOCAL	OFF	Remove all thread_local storage duration specifiers, it disables multi-threading support.
MATCH_EQUAL_EXPORTED_BUILDTREE	OFF	Exported package configuration from the build tree is considered to match only when the build type of application/library that is linking against the TinyORM library is equal. Available when: CMAKE_EXPORT_PACKAGE_REGISTRY AND NOT TINY_IS_MULTI_CONFIG

Important CMake options.

Option Name	Default	Description
CMAKE_DISABLE_PRECOMPILE_HEADERS	OFF	Disable precompiled headers.
CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER	auto	The full path to the C++ compiler.
CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_LAUNCHER	-	Default compiler launcher to use for the C++ compiler. Can be used to enable ccache, eg. ccache.exe on MinGW or /usr/bin/ccache on Linux.
CMAKE_EXPORT_PACKAGE_REGISTRY	ON	Enable the export(TinyOrm) command. TinyORM sets this variable to ON by default.
CMAKE_VERBOSE_MAKEFILE	OFF	Enable verbose output from Makefile builds.

Consume TinyOrm library (cmake)

In your application or library CMakeLists.txt file add following find_package() call.

find_package(TinyOrm 0.16.0 CONFIG REQUIRED)

If the TinyORM build tree is not exported to the CMake's User Package Registry then also add the TinyORM build tree or CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX folder to the CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH, so CMake can find TinyORM's package configuration file during find_package(TinyOrm) call.

cmake (pwsh)

# build tree
list(APPEND CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH "/TinyORM/TinyORM-builds-cmake/build-debug")

# installation folder - CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX
list(APPEND CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH "/tmp/TinyORM")

cmake (bash)

# build tree
list(APPEND CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH "/TinyORM/TinyORM-builds-cmake/build-debug")

# installation folder - CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX
list(APPEND CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH "/tmp/TinyORM")

Or as an alternative, you can set CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH environment variable.

As the last thing, do not forget to add TinyOrm0d.dll on the path on Windows and on the LD_LIBRARY_PATH on Linux, so your application can find it during execution.

pwsh

$env:Path = "\TinyORM\TinyORM-builds-cmake\build-debug;" + $env:Path

bash

export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/TinyORM/TinyORM-builds-cmake/build-debug${PATH:+:}$PATH

Now you can try the HelloWorld CMake example.

info

You can also try the FetchContent method to fastly link against the TinyORM library.

Building with qmake

First, create a basic folder structure and then clone the TinyORM project.

pwsh

cd 
mkdir /TinyORM/TinyORM-builds-qmake

cd /TinyORM
git clone git@github.com:silverqx/TinyORM.git

bash

cd 
mkdir -p /TinyORM/TinyORM-builds-qmake

cd /TinyORM
git clone git@github.com:silverqx/TinyORM.git

Install dependencies

With the qmake build system, you have to install TinyORM dependencies manually. We will use the vcpkg package manager.

cd ../../vcpkg

vcpkg search range-v3
vcpkg search tabulate
vcpkg install range-v3 tabulate
vcpkg list

On Linux, you can install the range-v3 library and some other dependencies with the package manager.

Configure & Build (qmake)

Open QtCreator IDE

tip

I recommend creating a new Session in the QtCreator, this way you will have all the examples in one place and as a bonus, everything will be in the same place when you close and reopen QtCreator IDE. You can name it tinyorm.org or TinyORM examples, it is up to you.

tip

If you are using sessions, you can use a single clangd instance for all projects in this session in the QtCreator IDE. One significant advantage of this method is that the .qtc_clangd/ folder will not be created in the build folder, but will be stored globally in the Roaming profile. You can enable it in the Settings - C++ - Clangd - Sessions with a single clangd instance.

Configure TinyORM

Now you are ready to configure the TinyORM library. There are two ways how to configure the TinyORM library and it's the new Auto-configure feature added in TinyORM v0.34.0 using the .env files and the old way using the conf.pri files.

Auto-configuration and tiny_dotenv

This is the new recommended method to auto-configure TinyORM's qmake build system and also the dependencies, it was added in TinyORM v0.34.0. You need to copy the prepared .env.(win32|unix|mingw).example file to the .env.(win32|unix|mingw). One .env example file is prepared for each supported platform.

All prepared .env.(win32|unix|mingw).example files are simple and clear. You can also create a common .env file that is included before the .env.(win32|unix|mingw) files.

pwsh

cd /TinyORM/TinyORM

cp .env.win32.example .env.win32

bash

cd /TinyORM/TinyORM

cp .env.unix.example .env.unix

And that is all, if you have correctly set all qmake variables in this .env.(win32|unix|mingw) file or you have correctly set environment variables, then the qmake build system should be able to auto-detect all dependencies . 🔥

info

The Auto-configuration and Environment files internals are described at the end to make this section more clear.

tip

The Auto-configuration feature can be turned off using the disable_autoconf qmake configuration option (eg. CONFIG*=disable_autoconf).

tip

The tiny_dotenv feature can be turned off using the disable_dotenv qmake configuration option (eg. CONFIG*=disable_dotenv).

Manual configuration (conf.pri)

This is the old method used before TinyORM v0.34.0. You need to copy the conf.pri.example files to conf.pri (there are four, one for every project or sub-project) and manually update the INCLUDEPATH and LIBS to configure TinyORM's qmake build dependencies. This way you can override any qmake build options or variables.

To disable the Auto-configuration feature you must define the disable_autoconf qmake configuration option (eg. CONFIG*=disable_autoconf) because from TinyORM v0.34.0 is the Auto-configuration feature enabled by default.

You can also remove all .env files or turn off the tiny_dotenv feature using CONFIG*=disable_dotenv. You can use them all at once if you want, .env and also conf.pri files.

conf.pri files are nicely commented on, so you can see what needs to be modified.

pwsh

cd /TinyORM/TinyORM

cp conf.pri.example conf.pri
cp tests/conf.pri.example tests/conf.pri
cp tests/testdata_tom/conf.pri.example tests/testdata_tom/conf.pri
cp examples/tom/conf.pri.example examples/tom/conf.pri

bash

cd /TinyORM/TinyORM

cp conf.pri.example conf.pri
cp tests/conf.pri.example tests/conf.pri
cp tests/testdata_tom/conf.pri.example tests/testdata_tom/conf.pri
cp examples/tom/conf.pri.example examples/tom/conf.pri

info

The Manual configuration internals are described at the end to make this section more clear.

note

The Manual configuration is still relevant if you have any non-standard installation of the vcpkg or MySQL and the Auto-configuration feature fails.

Opening TinyORM.pro (main project file)

Now you can open the TinyORM.pro project in the QtCreator IDE.

This will open the Configure Project tab, select some kit and update build folder paths to meet our folders structure or like you want.

tip

You can force the QtCreator to generate a build folders structure as is described above.

You are ready to configure build options, hit Ctrl+5 to open Project Settings tab and select Build in the left sidebar to open the Build Settings, it should look similar to the following picture.

Disable QML debugging and profiling and Qt Quick Compiler, they are not used.

If you want to change some TinyORM build options, you can pass them to the Build Steps - qmake TinyORM.pro - Additional arguments input field. It can look like this.

Build TinyORM

Everything is ready for build, you can press Ctrl+b to build the project.

qmake build options

CONFIG Option Name	Default	Description
build_tests	OFF	Build TinyORM unit tests.
disable_autoconf	OFF	Disable the Auto-configuration feature (auto-configuration is enabled by default from TinyORM v0.34.0).
disable_dotenv	OFF	Disable the tiny_dotenv feature (environment files are enabled by default from TinyORM v0.34.0).
disable_thread_local	OFF	Remove all thread_local storage duration specifiers, it disables multi-threading support.
disable_orm	OFF	Controls the compilation of all ORM-related source code, when this option is enabled, then only the query builder without ORM is compiled. Also excludes ORM-related unit tests.
disable_tom	OFF	Controls the compilation of all Tom-related source code, when this option is disabled, then it also excludes Tom-related unit tests.
extern_constants	ON	Use extern constants instead of inline constants in the shared build. ON is highly recommended for the shared build (by default); is always OFF for the static build. Available when: CONFIG(shared|dll):!inline_constants
inline_constants	OFF	Use inline constants instead of extern constants in the shared build. OFF is highly recommended for the shared build; is always ON for the static build.
link_pkgconfig_off	OFF	Link against mysqlclient or libmariadb with PKGCONFIG. Used only in the Unix and MinGW shared build (exactly win32-g++|win32-clang-g++) and when mysql_ping is also defined to link against mysqlclient or libmariadb, source code. Available when: unix:mysql_ping or (win32-g++|win32-clang-g++):mysql_ping:!static:!staticlib
mysql_ping	OFF	Enable Orm::MySqlConnection::pingDatabase() method.
tiny_ccache_win32	ON	Enable compiler cache. Homepage It works only on Windows systems. It works well with the MSYS2 g++, clang++, msvc, and clang-cl with msvc. It disables precompile_header as they are not supported on Windows and changes the -Zi compiler option to the -Z7 for debug builds as the -Zi compiler option is not supported (link to the issue).
tom_example	OFF	Build the tom console application example.

Advanced TinyORM options.

Option Name	Default	Description
ubsan	OFF	Allows to enable UBSan sanitizer (Clang only).

Important qmake options.

CONFIG Option Name	Default	Description
ccache	OFF	Enable compiler cache. Homepage It works only on the Unix systems. It works well with the g++ and clang++ and also supports precompiled headers.
precompile_header	-	Enable precompiled headers, you can disable them with: CONFIG-=precompile_header. The precompile_header is enabled by default on msvc, g++, clang++, clang-cl on Windows and disabled by default on linux.
static staticlib	OFF	Build as a static library (lib only).

Consume TinyOrm library (qmake)

The TinyOrm.pri file is available to simplify the integration of the TinyORM library into your application. It sets up and configures the CONFIG and DEFINES qmake variables, adds the TinyORM, tom, and vcpkg header files on the system INCLUDEPATH (cross-platform using the -isystem or -imsvc), links against the TinyORM shared or static library using the LIBS.

You can use it to configure the TinyORM library when you are linking against it. It does a very similar thing like the CMake's Find Modules feature.

Requirements

It has a few requirements, you need to:

• specify path to the TinyORM qmake features (.prf files) using the QMAKEFEATURES variable that can only be set in the .qmake.conf file
• specify qmake or environment variables to find the vcpkg installation (TINY_VCPKG_ROOT and TINY_VCPKG_TRIPLET)
• specify path to the TinyORM build folder (TINYORM_BUILD_TREE)
• build your application with the same CONFIG qmake variables that were used when building the TinyORM library

Let's explain one by one.

QMAKEFEATURES

Create the .qmake.conf file in your application root folder with the following content.

# Path to the PARENT folder of the TinyORM source folder
TINY_MAIN_DIR = $$clean_path(<your_path>)
# To find .env and .env.$$QMAKE_PLATFORM files in YOUR project
TINY_DOTENV_ROOT = $$PWD

# Path to the TinyORM build folder
TINYORM_BUILD_TREE = $$quote($$TINY_MAIN_DIR/TinyORM-builds-qmake/build-TinyORM-Desktop_Qt_6_5_2_MSVC2019_64bit-Debug/)
# vcpkg - range-v3 and tabulate
TINY_VCPKG_ROOT = $$quote(<your_path>/vcpkg/)
#TINY_VCPKG_TRIPLET = x64-windows

# To find .prf files, needed by eg. CONFIG += tiny_system_headers inline/extern_constants
QMAKEFEATURES *= $$quote($$TINY_MAIN_DIR/TinyORM/qmake/features)

You can move all qmake variables that are part of the qmake configuration process to the .env file if you want (recommended) as the TinyOrm.pri enables the Environment files feature by default.

Variables affecting TinyOrm.pri

You must define the following variables before the TinyOrm.pri is included:

Variable Name	Description
TINYORM_BUILD_TREE	Path to the TinyORM build folder.
TINY_VCPKG_ROOT	Path to the vcpkg installation folder. If not defined, then it tries to use the VCPKG_ROOT environment variable.
TINY_VCPKG_TRIPLET	The vcpkg triplet to use (vcpkg/installed/$$TINY_VCPKG_TRIPLET/). If not defined, then it tries to guess the vcpkg triplet based on the current compiler and OS (based on the QMAKESPEC), and as the last thing, it tries to use the VCPKG_DEFAULT_TRIPLET environment variable.

These variables will be set after the configuration is done:

Variable Name	Description
TINY_BUILD_SUBFOLDER	Folder by release type if CONFIG+=debug_and_release is defined (/debug, /release, or an empty string).
TINY_CCACHE_BUILD	To correctly link ccache build against a ccache build (_ccache or an empty string).
TINY_MSVC_VERSION	The msvc compiler string (MSVC2022 or MSVC2019).
TINY_QT_VERSION_UNDERSCORED	Underscored Qt version (eg. 6_5_2).
TINY_RELEASE_TYPE_CAMEL	Build type string (Debug, Profile, or Release).
TINY_VCPKG_INCLUDE	Path to the vcpkg include folder (vcpkg/installed/<triplet>/include/).

Then you simply include the TinyOrm.pri in your project file.

AnyProject.pro

include($$TINY_MAIN_DIR/TinyORM/qmake/TinyOrm.pri)

And that is all, now you should be able to link against the TinyORM library. 👌

Manual configuration examples

Frankly, there is no reason not to define the variables described below before the TinyOrm.pri, perhaps when you want more control over this process or want to define everything yourself. I'll leave this section here to show how things work.

You will have to link against the TinyORM library manually if you don't set the TINYORM_BUILD_TREE qmake variable before the inclusion of the TinyOrm.pri file. The INCLUDEPATH is auto-detected every time.

pwsh

# Link against TinyORM library
# ---
TINY_MAIN_DIR = $$clean_path(<your_path>)

# Configure TinyORM library
include($$TINY_MAIN_DIR/TinyORM/qmake/TinyOrm.pri)

# TinyORM library path
TINYORM_BUILD_TREE = $$quote($$TINY_MAIN_DIR/TinyORM-builds-qmake)
LIBS += $$quote(-L$$TINYORM_BUILD_TREE/build-TinyORM-Desktop_Qt_6_5_2_MSVC2019_64bit-Debug/src$${TINY_BUILD_SUBFOLDER}/)
LIBS += -lTinyOrm

bash

# Link against TinyORM library
# ---
TINY_MAIN_DIR = $$clean_path(<your_path>)

# Configure TinyORM library
include($$TINY_MAIN_DIR/TinyORM/qmake/TinyOrm.pri)

# TinyORM library path
TINYORM_BUILD_TREE = $$quote($$TINY_MAIN_DIR/TinyORM-builds-qmake)
LIBS += $$quote(-L$$TINYORM_BUILD_TREE/build-TinyORM-Desktop_Qt_6_5_2_GCC_64bit-Debug/src$${TINY_BUILD_SUBFOLDER}/)
LIBS += -lTinyOrm

The same is true for the vcpkg include path. If you don't set the TINY_VCPKG_ROOT or have not defined the VCPKG_ROOT environment variable, then you need to set up the INCLUDEPATH for the vcpkg that provides the range-v3 and tabulate header files.

pwsh

# vcpkg - range-v3 and tabulate
# ---
INCLUDEPATH += $$quote(<your_path>/vcpkg/installed/x64-windows/include/)

bash

# vcpkg - range-v3 and tabulate
# ---
QMAKE_CXXFLAGS += -isystem $$shell_quote(<your_path>/vcpkg/installed/x64-linux/include/)

You can also use TinyORM's qmake function tiny_add_system_includepath() which handles INCLUDEPATH in a cross-platform way:

# vcpkg - range-v3 and tabulate
# ---
tiny_add_system_includepath(<your_path>/vcpkg/installed/x64-linux/include/)

Do not forget to add TinyOrm0.dll on the path on Windows and on the LD_LIBRARY_PATH on Linux, so your application can find it during execution.

pwsh

$env:Path = "\TinyORM\TinyORM-builds-qmake\build-debug;" + $env:Path

bash

export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/TinyORM/TinyORM-builds-qmake/build-debug${PATH:+:}$PATH

tip

On Linux -isystem marks the directory as a system directory, it prevents warnings.

On Windows you can use QMAKE_CXXFLAGS_WARN_ON = -external:anglebrackets -external:W0, it applies a warning level 0 to the angel bracket includes; #include <file>.

With the clang-cl with MSVC you can use -imsvc.

Auto-configuration internals

The qmake build system does not support auto-configuration of dependencies out of the box but TinyORM from v0.34.0 added its own Auto-configuration feature along with the tiny_dotenv qmake feature. These new features allow us to auto-configure TinyORM project, and with their help, the conf.pri files can be skipped entirely.

While it adds additional complexity to the qmake configuration process, the benefits are significant.

The Auto-configuration feature is designed to find the vcpkg and MySQL installations, and tiny_dotenv to include the .env and .env.(win32|unix|mingw) files in the project's root folder. These new features can be configured using qmake and environment variables, and they also contain some guessing logic if these variables are not defined.

The Auto-configuration feature can be turned off using the disable_autoconf qmake configuration option (eg. CONFIG*=disable_autoconf).

These are qmake and environment variables that affect the Auto-configuration feature:

Variable Name	Description
TINY_VCPKG_ROOT	Path to the vcpkg installation folder. If not defined, then it tries to use the VCPKG_ROOT environment variable.
TINY_VCPKG_TRIPLET	The vcpkg triplet to use (vcpkg/installed/$$TINY_VCPKG_TRIPLET/). If not defined, then it tries to guess the vcpkg triplet based on the current compiler and OS (based on the QMAKESPEC), and as the last thing, it tries to use the VCPKG_DEFAULT_TRIPLET environment variable.
TINY_MYSQL_ROOT	Path to the MySQL installation folder. If not defined, then it tries to guess the MySQL installation folder (win32 only): $$(ProgramFiles)/MySQL/MySQL Server (8.1|8.0|5.7)/

You can set these variables in the .env (recommended) or conf.pri files, in the .qmake.conf file (or wherever you want), or as environment variables.

These variables will be set after auto-configuration is done:

Variable Name	Description
TINY_VCPKG_INCLUDE	Path to the vcpkg include folder (vcpkg/installed/<triplet>/include/).
TINY_MYSQL_INCLUDE	Path to the MySQL include folder (MySQL Server 8.1/include/).
TINY_MYSQL_LIB	Path to the MySQL lib folder (MySQL Server 8.1/lib/).

The TINY_MYSQL_INCLUDE and TINY_MYSQL_LIB are only set on win32 platform except mingw.

Environment files

The tiny_dotenv feature allows us to define the .env and .env.$$TINY_DOTENV_PLATFORM files in the project's root folder. These files are loaded as early as possible so you can affect the qmake configuration process. On the other hand, the conf.pri files are loaded as late as possible, and they can be used to override the qmake configuration.

The .env file is included first and is included on all platforms.

There is only one requirement for this feature to work correctly, and that is to set the TINY_DOTENV_ROOT qmake variable to the project's root folder. This variable is already set in the .qmake.conf file for the TinyORM project.

Then the following names are taken into account: .env, .env.win32, .env.unix, .env.mingw

.qmake.conf

# To find .env and .env.$$QMAKE_PLATFORM files
TINY_DOTENV_ROOT = $$PWD

The tiny_dotenv feature can be turned off using the disable_dotenv qmake configuration option (eg. CONFIG*=disable_dotenv).

caution

Environment files don't work in the CMake builds.

Manual configuration internals

There is not much to say about the Manual configuration feature. It uses conf.pri files (there are four, one for every project or sub-project), and every project has prepared its own conf.pri.example file for faster initial configuration.

These conf.pri.example files are nicely commented on, so you can see what needs to be modified. The conf.pri files are loaded as late as possible, and they can be used to override the qmake configuration.

If the Auto-configuration feature is disabled and there are no conf.pri files, then the TinyORM qmake configuration or build will fail at 100%.

These conf.pri files are intended for configuring qmake's INCLUDEPATH and LIBS, CONFIG or eg. QMAKE_LFLAGS, or any other qmake options or variables.

Ccache support

The TinyORM supports the ccache out of the box for all supported compilers. For qmake you can enable it using the CONFIG+=ccache on Linux or CONFIG+=tiny_ccache_win32 on Windows. For CMake you can set the CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_LAUNCHER=ccache.

On Linux it's clear, the ccache is fully supported and works also with the precompiled headers. But was necessary to add some workarounds to the qmake/CMake build systems to make out of the box support on Windows. When you enable the ccache on Windows then the build system disables precompiled headers and replaces the -Zi compiler option with the -Z7 (link to the issue).

tip

You can install the ccache using the scoop install ccache command on Windows.