Qt Quickstart for Symbian S60

The benefits of using Qt to create applications for Symbian S60 What you should already know Get to know the tools Get involved Shortcuts to development resources

The benefits of using Qt to create applications for Symbian S60

Qt offers Symbian S60 developers two key benefits:

• For developers already creating Qt applications, Qt will extend the reach of existing Qt applications to the hundreds of millions of S60 devices in the marketplace.
• For C/C++ developers who have not yet started creating S60 applications, Qt offers a framework that enables developers to build applications that extend the user experience over multiple platforms.

What you should already know

Before you start to create Symbian S60 applications with Qt you should be familiar with developing Qt applications and the tools and processes involved in developing Symbian S60 software. If you need to become familiar with Qt, download Qt from the Qt website. If you are new to Symbian S60, the Symbian C++ QuickStart page is an ideal place to start.

Get to know the tools

Qt has integration for the Symbian S60 development tools for C/C++ applications, so the first thing you need to do is get an S60 SDK and install Qt. You can then start developing at the command line or add Carbide.c++ and develop using this powerful C/C++ IDE, which is designed specifically for Symbian development work.

Get an S60 SDK

S60 SDKs are available for each edition and feature pack of the S60 platform. If you’re new to S60 development, you may wish to start with the S60 5th Edition SDK for Symbian OS. Once you’ve downloaded the SDK, look for S60 5th Edition SDK Installation Guide, a document that contains all the information you’ll need to install the SDK.

Add the Qt for S60 SDK Plug-in

With your SDK installed, you can now download Qt and run the installer to add Qt to your development PC and SDK. The installer is designed to be simple to use, but should you need additional guidance on how to install Qt see the Installation Guide section of the Qt for S60 Developer’s Library.

Create your application

The development of Qt applications is supported by Carbide.c++, which is available to all developers free of charge. The latest version of Carbide.c++ provides improved support for Qt development. To make sure that you have the latest version of Carbide.c++, make the following selections from the main Carbide.c++ menu: Help > Software Updates > Find and Install and install any updates found. Then follow the instructions in the Configure Carbide.c++ 2.0 for Qt section of the Qt for S60 Developer’s Library. Once Carbide.c++ has been configured, you’ll be ready to create your first Qt application. To do this, follow the instructions in the Using Carbide.c++ section of the Qt for S60 Developer’s Library.

Experience Qt on your S60 device

Whether you follow the development processes outlined above to create your own Qt application or you simply want to see Qt in action on your S60 device, your next step is to install the Qt device DLLs. The DLLs are provided in a signed SIS file called qt_libs.sis located in the root folder of the Qt installation on your PC. Once located, you install the file on your device in the usual way, for example, using Nokia PC Suite to install the file from your PC or transferring it to your device using a Bluetooth connection. Once the DLLs are on your device, you can install the Qt example applications, Fluid Launcher (also included in the Qt installation folder), or your own applications to experience Qt.

Get involved

There are three ways in which you can get involved with the development of Qt; provide feedback on the preview to the Qt for Symbian Discussion Board, contribute to the Qt for Symbian category in the Forum Nokia Wiki, or contribute to the Qt and Qt Mobility projects.

Shortcuts to development resources

• Qt for S60 Developer’s Library.
• Qt tools.
• How to Learn Qt resources web page.
• Qt for Symbian Discussion Board.
• Qt for Symbian category in the Forum Nokia Wiki.
• Qt repository.
• Qt Mobility repository.

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