Why does this Simple Qt Application not link

Question

I tried to write a simple Qt application like this:

main.cpp:

#include <QApplication>

class MyApp : public QApplication {
        Q_OBJECT
public:
        MyApp(int argc, char* argv[]);
};

MyApp::MyApp(int argc, char* argv[]) :
        QApplication(argc,argv) {
}

int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
    MyApp app(argc,argv);
    return app.exec();
}

But when I tried to compile and link it with Qt Creator 2.3.1 (Qt 4.7.4) I get 3 "unresolved external symbol" errors:

• main.obj:-1: error: LNK2001: unresolved external symbol
  ""public: virtual struct QMetaObject const * __thiscall MyApp::metaObject(void)const "
  (?metaObject@MyApp@@UBEPBUQMetaObject@@XZ)".

• main.obj:-1: error: LNK2001: unresolved external symbol
  ""public: virtual void * __thiscall MyApp::qt_metacast(char const*)"
  (?qt_metacast@MyApp@@UAEPAXPBD@Z)".

• main.obj:-1: error: LNK2001: unresolved external symbol
  ""public: virtual int __thiscall MyApp::qt_metacall(enum QMetaObject::Call,int,void * *)"
  (?qt_metacall@MyApp@@UAEHW4Call@QMetaObject@@HPAPAX@Z)".

I think they are somehow related to the MetaObjectCompiler of Qt, but I can't figure out a solution. I know it's not considered good programming style in c++ to put declarations and definitions in one file, but that's not the point here. In my opinion it should be possible since there is nothing syntactically wrong here.

Answer 1

Use the code below, and make sure to run qmake (Build > Run qmake) before building.

#include <QApplication>

class MyApp : public QApplication {
  Q_OBJECT
public:
  MyApp(int argc, char* argv[]);
};

MyApp::MyApp(int argc, char* argv[]) :
  QApplication(argc,argv) {
}

int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
  MyApp app(argc,argv);
  return app.exec();
}

#include "main.moc"

Explanation: When you include the Q_OBJECT macro, this signals Qt to do a bunch of stuff that is not standard C++, such as signals and slots. It does this by running moc, which in large part is a code generator. Running qmake creates the metadata so that when your project is built, it knows which files to moc, etc.