Building with "-Dtarget=[arch]-[os]" option doesn't work

[PlatinumLucario]

Okay, so when I used zig build on its own (or with zig build -Dlinkage=dynamic), it worked. But if I run this command:

zig build -Dlinkage=dynamic -Dtarget=x86_64-linux

It fails with this error:

├─ install qtextformat transitive failure
│  └─ zig build-lib qtextformat ReleaseFast x86_64-linux 1 errors
├─ install qcommandlinkbutton transitive failure
│  └─ zig build-lib qcommandlinkbutton ReleaseFast x86_64-linux 1 errors
├─ install qtransposeproxymodel transitive failure
│  └─ zig build-lib qtransposeproxymodel ReleaseFast x86_64-linux 1 errors
├─ install qheaderview transitive failure
│  └─ zig build-lib qheaderview ReleaseFast x86_64-linux 1 errors
└─ install qcolorspace transitive failure
   └─ zig build-lib qcolorspace ReleaseFast x86_64-linux 1 errors
error: the following build command failed with exit code 1:
/run/media/platinumlucario/Storage/source/repos/libqt6c/.zig-cache/o/49240a04ddc352328ae1b174b6ae15db/build /usr/bin/zig /usr/lib/zig /run/media/platinumlucario/Storage/source/repos/libqt6c /run/media/platinumlucario/Storage/source/repos/libqt6c/.zig-cache /home/platinumlucario/.cache/zig --seed 0x1889df7d -Z695d1347a170b9a3 -Dlinkage=dynamic -Dtarget=x86_64-linux

How do I get cross compiling to work? Is there something I need to do?

[rcalixte]

Hi! Thanks for the interest!

I'll start by quoting from the README:

Cross-compilation is not supported by this library at this time.

I've done some tests that suggest this could work but the existing build.zig needs to be refactored to better support proper cross-compilation first. This is in flight along with some additional platform/architecture support that I've been working on already. I don't have a timeline on when this will land in the library but I hope to be able to complete it successfully in the short-term, anywhere from weeks to a month or two.

How do I get cross compiling to work? Is there something I need to do?

Can I ask which platform and architecture you are building on and which you are targeting? If it's not included in my current testing matrix, I can try to add it to make sure it works when the changes land in the library. I've been primarily using Linux variants of arm64 and x86_64 and I briefly tested with FreeBSD x86_64 to Linux x86_64 enough to know that it could work with a proper build.zig.

[PlatinumLucario]

Hi! Thanks for the interest!

I'll start by quoting from the README:

Cross-compilation is not supported by this library at this time.

Ah, I missed that, now I see it at the very bottom of the Usage section (very easy to miss). Makes sense, no wonder it has issues with cross-compiling.

I've done some tests that suggest this could work but the existing build.zig needs to be refactored to better support proper cross-compilation first. This is in flight along with some additional platform/architecture support that I've been working on already. I don't have a timeline on when this will land in the library but I hope to be able to complete it successfully in the short-term, anywhere from weeks to a month or two.

Yeah, that's understandable, in the meantime I can just compile on the same OS and architecture for the time being.

Can I ask which platform and architecture you are building on and which you are targeting? If it's not included in my current testing matrix, I can try to add it to make sure it works when the changes land in the library. I've been primarily using Linux variants of arm64 and x86_64 and I briefly tested with FreeBSD x86_64 to Linux x86_64 enough to know that it could work with a proper build.zig.

I was pretty much just testing cross-compiling, to see if I could build the libraries for all common OSs and architectures, currently I'm using Fedora 42 to natively build the libraries. The main reason I'm using these libraries, is because I'm working on creating C# bindings for Qt6.

Anyways, thank you for answering my questions, that's pretty much what I needed to know.

[rcalixte]

The main reason I'm using these libraries, is because I'm working on creating C# bindings for Qt6.

This is exciting! Are you using one of the related projects as a backend or going with something entirely different? How much longer until you think you'll be ready to release?

[PlatinumLucario]

I've only just begun on it, and I'm taking a slightly different approach, where the bindings and csproj files will be generated through Python using the jinja2.

I have a long way to go before the bindings are generated in a way that can be used in a .NET sort of way.

It will begin with just the IntPtr/nint stuff in the [name].Internal namespace, that will need to be applied in the same way as libqt6c's funcs are displayed. I'll be using this as the reference for the namespaces, where I'll be taking a similar approach to the GirCore project.