Adding New Custom Wizards

If you have a team working on a large application or several applications, you might want to standardize the way the team members create projects and files.

You can create custom wizards in JSON format. They are stored in wizard template directories that have a JSON configuration file called wizard.json and any template files needed. The configuration file has sections that specify information about the wizard, variables that you can use, wizard pages, and generators for creating files.

To create a customized wizard, copy a template directory to the shared directory or the local user's settings directory under a new name. Then change the wizard id in the wizard.json file.

You can create a subdirectory for the templates in the settings directory. Qt Creator organizes the standard wizards into subdirectories by type, but you can add your wizard directory to any directory you like. The folder hierarchy does not affect the order in which Qt Creator displays wizards.

To share the wizard with other users, you can create an archive of the wizard directory and instruct the recipients to extract it into one of the directories Qt Creator searches wizards from.

Qt Creator displays the wizards that it finds in the New Project and New File dialogs. For each wizard, it shows an icon (1), a display name (2), and a description (3).

Wizard Types

In a project wizard, you can specify the files needed in a project. You can add wizard pages to allow developers to specify settings for the project.

A file wizard is similar, but does not have any project file.

Locating Wizards

Qt Creator searches the following locations for wizards:

• Shared directory:
  • On Windows: share\qtcreator\templates\wizards
  • On Linux: share/qtcreator/templates/wizards
  • On macOS: Qt Creator.app/Contents/Resources/templates/wizards
• Local user's settings directory:
  • On Windows: %APPDATA%\QtProject\qtcreator\templates\wizards
  • On Linux and macOS: $HOME/.config/QtProject/qtcreator/templates/wizards

Tips for Wizard Development

Assign keyboard shortcuts to some helper actions and turn on verbose output.

Mapping Actions to Keyboard Shortcuts

Qt Creator has some actions that can improve the wizard development process. They don't have keyboard shortcuts by default, so you cannot trigger them. To enable them, assign keyboard shortcuts in Edit > Preferences > Environment > Keyboard > Wizard.

The following actions can help with wizard development:

Verbose Output

For wizard development, we recommend that you start Qt Creator with the -customwizard-verbose argument to receive confirmation that Qt Creator finds and parses the wizard.json file. The verbose mode displays information about syntax errors, which are the most typical errors you might run into while editing wizards.

In verbose mode, each correctly set up wizard produces output along the following lines:

Checking "/home/jsmith/.config/QtProject/qtcreator/templates/wizards/mywizard"
for wizard.json.
* Configuration found and parsed.

The output includes the name of the directory that Qt Creator checks for a wizard.json file. If it does not find the file, it does not show the message.

If the file has errors, such as an invalid icon path, you receive the following types of messages:

Checking "/home/jsmith/.config/QtProject/qtcreator/templates/wizards/mywizard"
for wizard.json.
* Configuration found and parsed.
* Failed to create: Icon file
"/home/jsmith/.config/QtProject/qtcreator/templates/wizards/mywizard/../..
/global/genericfilewizard.png" not found.

See Using Command Line Options for more information about command line arguments.

Integrating Wizards into Builds

To integrate the wizard into Qt Creator and to deliver it as part of the Qt Creator build, place the wizard files in the Qt Creator sources. Then select Build > Run CMake or Run qmake, depending on the build system you use. This ensures that the new files you added for your wizard are actually copied from the Qt Creator source directory into the Qt Creator build directory as part of the next Qt Creator build.

If you do not run CMake or qmake, your new wizard will not show up because it does not exist in the build directory you run your newly built Qt Creator from. It never got copied there because CMake or qmake did not inform the build tool, such as make or ninja, about the new files in the source tree.

Basically, CMake and qmake generate a fixed list of files to copy from the source directory to the subdirectory of the build directory that is checked for wizards at runtime. Therefore, you need to run CMake or qmake or execute the Factory.Reset function each time the names or locations of the files change.

Using Variables in Wizards

You can use variables (%\{<variableName>\}) in strings in the JSON configuration file and in template source files. A set of variables is predefined by the wizards and their pages. You can introduce new variables as shortcuts for later use by defining the variable key names and values in the options section in the wizard.json file.

There is a special variable %\{JS:<JavaScript expression>\} which evaluates the given JavaScript expression and converts the resulting JavaScript value to a string. In the JavaScript expression you can refer to variables defined by the wizard with value('<variableName>'). The returned JavaScript object has the type that the value of the variable has, which can be a string, list, dictionary, or boolean.

In places where a boolean value is expected and a string is given, an empty string as well as the string "false" is treated as false and anything else as true.

Localizing Wizards

If a setting name starts with the tr prefix, the value is visible to users and should be translated. If the new wizard is included in the Qt Creator sources, the translatable strings appear in the Qt Creator translation files and can be translated as a part of Qt Creator. Alternatively, you can place the translations in the .json file using the following syntax:

"trDisplayName": { "C": "default", "en_US": "english", "de_DE": "deutsch" }

For example:

"trDisplayName": { "C": "Project Location", "en_US": "Project Location", "de_DE": "Projekt Verzeichnis" }

Creating Wizards

Qt Creator has wizards for adding classes, files, and projects. You can use them as basis for adding your own wizards. We use the C++ wizard to explain the process and the sections and settings in the .json file.

In this example, we create the wizard directory in the shared directory and integrate it in the Qt Creator build system, so that it can deployed along with the Qt Creator binaries as part of the build.

For more information about the pages and widgets that you can add and their supported properties, see Available Pages and Available Widgets.

To create a JSON-based C++ class wizard:

1. Start Qt Creator with the -customwizard-verbose argument to receive feedback during wizard development. For more information, see Verbose Output.
2. Set keyboard shortcuts for the Inspect and Factory.Reset actions, as described in Tips for Wizard Development.
3. Make a copy of share/qtcreator/templates/wizards/classes/cpp and rename it. For example, share/qtcreator/templates/wizards/classes/mycpp
4. Use the Factory.Reset action to make the wizard appear in File > New File without restarting Qt Creator.
5. Open the wizard configuration file, wizard.json for editing:
   • The following settings determine the type of the wizard and its place in the New File dialog:

     "version": 1,
     "supportedProjectTypes": [ ],
     "id": "A.Class",
     "category": "O.C++",

     • version is the version of the file contents. Do not modify this value.
     • supportedProjectTypes is an optional setting that can be used to filter wizards when adding a new build target to an existing project. For example, show only wizards that produce qmake projects when adding a new target to an existing qmake project.

       Possible values are the build systems supported by Qt Creator or UNKNOWN_PROJECT if the build system is not specified: AutotoolsProjectManager.AutotoolsProject, CMakeProjectManager.CMakeProject, GenericProjectManager.GenericProject, PythonProject, Qbs.QbsProject, Qt4ProjectManager.Qt4Project (qmake project), QmlProjectManager.QmlProject

     • id is the unique identifier for your wizard. Wizards are sorted by the ID in alphabetic order within the category. You can use a leading letter to specify the position of the wizard. You must always change this value. For example, B.MyClass.

       This information is available in the wizard as %\{id\}.

     • category is the category in which to place the wizard in the list. You can use a leading letter to specify the position of the category in the list in the New File dialog.

       This information is available in the wizard as %\{category\}.

   • The following settings specify the icon and text that appear in the New File dialog:

     "trDescription": "Creates a C++ header and a source file for a new class that you can add to a C++ project.",
     "trDisplayName": "C++ Class",
     "trDisplayCategory": "C++",
     "iconText": "h/cpp",
     "enabled": "%{JS: value('Plugins').indexOf('CppEditor') >= 0}",

     • trDescription appears in the right-most panel when trDisplayCategory is selected.

       This information is available in the wizard as %\{trDescription\}.

     • trDisplayName appears in the middle panel when trDisplayCategory is selected.

       This information is available in the wizard as %\{trDisplayName\}.

     • trDisplayCategory appears in the New File dialog, under Files and Classes.

       This information is available in the wizard as %\{trDisplayCategory\}.

     • icon appears next to the trDisplayName in the middle panel when trDisplayCategory is selected. We recommend that you specify the path relative to the wizard.json file, but you can also use an absolute path. Omit this value to use the default icon for the wizard type.
     • iconText determines the text overlay for the default file icon.
     • iconKind determines whether the icon is themed.
     • image specifies a path to an image (for example a screenshot) that appears below the trDescription.
     • featuresRequired specifies the Qt Creator features that the wizard depends on. If a required feature is missing, the wizard is hidden. For example, if no kit has a Qt version set, then the qmake-based wizards are hidden.

       Use enabled if you need to express more complex logic to decide whether or not your wizard will be available.

       This information is available in the wizard as %\{RequiredFeatures\}.

     • featuresPreferred specifies the build and run kits to preselect.

       This information is available in the wizard as %\{PreferredFeatures\}.

     • platformIndependent is set to true if the wizard is supported by all target platforms. By default, it is set to false.
     • enabled is evaluated to determine whether a wizard is listed in File > New Project or New File, after featuresRequired has been checked.

       The default value is true.

   • The options section has an array of objects with key and value attributes. You can define your own variables to use in the configuration and template source files, in addition to the predefined variables. For example, the C++ class creation wizard uses the following variables:

     "options":
     [
         { "key": "TargetPath", "value": "%{Path}" },
         { "key": "HdrPath", "value": "%{Path}/%{HdrFileName}" },
         { "key": "SrcPath", "value": "%{Path}/%{SrcFileName}" },
         { "key": "CN", "value": "%{JS: Cpp.className(value('Class'))}" },
         { "key": "Base", "value": "%{JS: value('BaseCB') === '' ? value('BaseEdit') : value('BaseCB')}" },
         { "key": "isQObject", "value": "%{JS: (value('Base') === 'QObject' || value('Base') === 'QWidget' || value('Base') === 'QMainWindow' || value('Base') === 'QDeclarativeItem' || value('Base') === 'QQuickItem' ) ? 'true' : 'false'}" },
         { "key": "GUARD", "value": "%{JS: Cpp.classToHeaderGuard(value('Class'), Util.suffix(value('HdrFileName'))}" },
         { "key": "SharedDataInit", "value": "%{JS: value('IncludeQSharedData') ? 'data(new %{CN}Data)' : '' }" }
     ],

     This section is optional. For more examples of variables, see the wizard.json files for other wizards.

   • The pages section specifies the wizard pages. The pages used depend on the wizard type. You can add standard pages to wizards or create new pages using the available widgets. The following settings specify the display name, title, and type of the page:

     "pages":
     [
         {
             "trDisplayName": "Define Class",
             "trShortTitle": "Details",
             "typeId": "Fields",
             "data" :
             [
                 {
                     "name": "Class",
                     "trDisplayName": "Class name:",
                     "mandatory": true,
                     "type": "LineEdit",
                     "data": {
                         "trPlaceholder": "Fully qualified name, including namespaces",
                         "validator": "(?:(?:[a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z_0-9]*::)*[a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z_0-9]*|)",
                         "completion": "namespaces"
                         }
         },
                 ...
     ]

     • typeId specifies the page to use: Fields, File, Form, Kits, Project, VcsConfiguration, VcsCommand or Summary.

       Full page ID, as used in the code, consists of the typeId prefixed with "PE.Wizard.Page.". For more information, about the pages, see Available Pages.

     • trDisplayName specifies the title of the page. By default, the page title is used.
     • trShortTitle specifies the title used in the sidebar of the Wizard. By default, the page title is used.
     • trSubTitle specifies the subtitle of the page. By default, the page title is used.
     • index is an integer value that specifies the page ID. It is automatically assigned if you do not set it.
     • enabled is set to true to show the page and to false to hide it.
     • data specifies the wizard pages. In the C++ wizard, it specifies a Fields page and a Summary page. The Fields page has the CheckBox, ComboBox, LineEdit, PathChooser, and Spacer widgets. For more information about the widgets, see Available Widgets.
   • The generators section specifies the files to be added to the project:

     "generators":
     [
         {
             "typeId": "File",
             "data":
             [
                 {
                     "source": "file.h",
                     "target": "%{HdrPath}",
                     "openInEditor": true
                     "options": [
                         { "key": "Cpp:License:FileName", "value": "%{HdrFileName}" },
                         { "key": "Cpp:License:ClassName", "value": "%{CN}" }
                     ]
                 },
                 {
                     "source": "file.cpp",
                     "target": "%{SrcPath}",
                     "openInEditor": true
                     "options": [
                         { "key": "Cpp:License:FileName", "value": "%{SrcFileName}" },
                         { "key": "Cpp:License:ClassName", "value": "%{CN}" }
                     ]
                 }
     ]

     • typeId specifies the type of the generator. Currently, only File or Scanner is supported.
     • data allows to configure the generator further.

Values Available to the Wizard

In addition to properties taken from the wizard.json file itself (see Creating Wizards), Qt Creator makes some information available to all JSON based wizards:

• WizardDir is the absolute path to the wizard.json file.
• Features lists all features available via any of the kits configured in Qt Creator.
• Plugins has a list of all plugins running in the current instance of Qt Creator.
• Platform has the platform selected in the File > New Project or New File dialog. This value may be empty.

The following information is only available when users trigger the wizard via the context menu of a node in the Projects view:

• InitialPath with the path to the selected node.
• ProjectExplorer.Profile.Ids has a list of Kits configured for the project of the selected node.

Available Pages

You can add predefined pages to wizards by specifying them in the pages section of a wizard.json file.

Field Page

A Field page has the typeId value Field and has widgets. For more information about widget definitions, see Available Widgets.

"pages":
[
    {
        "trDisplayName": "Define Class",
        "trShortTitle": "Details",
        "typeId": "Fields",
        "data" :
        [
            {
                "name": "Class",
                "trDisplayName": "Class name:",
                "mandatory": true,
                "type": "LineEdit",
                "data": {
                    "trPlaceholder": "Fully qualified name, including namespaces",
                    "validator": "(?:(?:[a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z_0-9]*::)*[a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z_0-9]*|)",
                    "completion": "namespaces"
                    }
            },
            ...
],

File Page

A File page has the typeId value File. You can leave out the data key or assign an empty object to it.

{
    "trDisplayName": "Location",
    "trShortTitle": "Location",
    "typeId": "File"
},

The page evaluates InitialFileName and InitialPath from the wizard to set the initial path and filename. The page sets TargetPath to the full path of the file to be created.

Form Page

A Form page has the typeId value Form. You can leave out the data key or assign an empty object to it.

{
    "trDisplayName": "Choose a Form Template",
    "trShortTitle": "Form Template",
    "typeId": "Form"
},

The page sets FormContents to an array of strings with the form contents.

Kits

A Kits page has the typeId value Kits. The data section of a Kits page has an object with the following settings:

• projectFilePath with the path to the project file.
• requiredFeatures with a list of strings or objects that describe the features that a kit must have to appear on the page.

  When a string is found, this feature must be set. When using an object instead, the following settings are checked:

  • feature, which must be a string (that will have all %\{<VariableName\} expanded).
  • condition, which must evaluate to true or false and can be used to discount the feature from the list.
• preferredFeatures with a list in the same format as requiredFeatures. Any kit matching all features listed in preferredFeatures (in addition to requiredFeatures) will be pre-selected on this page.

{
    "trDisplayName": "Kit Selection",
    "trShortTitle": "Kits",
    "typeId": "Kits",
    "enabled": "%{IsTopLevelProject}",
    "data": { "projectFilePath": "%{ProFileName}" }
},

The page evaluates %\{Platform\} to set the platform selected in File > New Project or New File.

Project

A Project page has the typeId value Project. It has no data or an object with the trDescription property which will be shown on the generated page. trDescription defaults to %\{trDescription\}, which is filled in with the information taken from the trDescription field of the wizard.json file.

{
    "trDisplayName": "Project Location",
    "trShortTitle": "Location",
    "typeId": "Project",
    "data": { "trDescription": "A description of the wizard" }
},

The page evaluates InitialPath to set the initial project path. The page sets ProjectDirectory and TargetPath to the project directory.

Summary

A Summary page has the typeId value Summary. It has no data or an empty object.

{
    "trDisplayName": "Project Management",
    "trShortTitle": "Summary",
    "typeId": "Summary"
}

The page sets IsSubproject to an empty string if this is a top-level project and to yes otherwise. It sets VersionControl to the ID of the version control system in use.

VcsCommand

The VcsCommand page runs a set of version control operations and displays the results.

The data section of this page takes an object with the following keys:

• vcsId with the id of the version control system to be used.
• trRunMessage with the message to be shown while the version control is running.
• extraArguments with a string or a list of strings defining extra arguments passed to the version control checkout command.
• repository with the URL to check out from the version control system.
• baseDirectory with the directory to run the checkout operation in.
• checkoutName with the subdirectory that will be created to hold the checked out data.
• extraJobs with a list of objects defining additional commands to run after the initial checkout. This can be used to customize the repository further by for example adding additional remote repositories or setting configuration variables of the version control system.

  Each extraJob is defined by an object with the following settings:

  • skipIfEmpty silently removes empty arguments from the command to run if you set it to true. Defaults to true.
  • directory with the working directory of the command to run. This defaults to the value of baseDirectory.
  • command with the command to be run.
  • arguments with the arguments to pass to command.
  • timeOutFactor extends default timeouts for long-running commands.
  • enabled which will be evaluated to decide whether or not to actually execute this job.

VcsConfiguration

The VcsConfiguration page asks the user to configure a version control system and only enables the Next button once the configuration is successful.

The data section of this page takes an object with the vcsId key. This setting defines the version control system that will be configured.

Available Widgets

You can add the following widgets on a Field page:

• Check Box
• Combo Box
• Label
• Line Edit
• Path Chooser
• Spacer
• Text Edit

Specify the following settings for each widget:

• name specifies the widget name. This name is used as the variable name to access the value again.
• trDisplayName specifies the label text visible in the UI (if span is not true).
• type specifies the type of the widget: CheckBox, ComboBox, Label, LineEdit, PathChooser, Spacer, and TextEdit.
• trToolTip specifies a tooltip to show when hovering the field with the mouse.
• isComplete is evaluated for all fields to decide whether the Next button of the wizard is available or not. All fields must have their isComplete evaluate to true for this to happen. This setting defaults to true.
• trIncompleteMessage is shown when the field's isComplete evaluates to false.
• persistenceKey makes the user choice persistent. The value is taken to be a settings key. If the user changes the default value of the widget, the user's value is stored and will become the new default value the next time the wizard is run.
• visible is set to true if the widget is visible, otherwise it is set to false. By default, it is set to true.
• enabled is set to true if the widget is enabled, otherwise it is set to false. By default, it is set to true.
• mandatory is set to true if this widget must have a value for the Next button to become enabled. By default, it is set to true.
• span is set to hide the label and to span the form. By default, it is set to false. For more information, see Using Variables in Wizards.
• data specifies additional settings for the particular widget type, as described in the following sections.

Check Box

{
    "name": "IncludeQObject",
    "trDisplayName": "Include QObject",
    "type": "CheckBox",
    "data":
    {
        "checkedValue": "QObject",
        "uncheckedValue": "",
        "checked": "%{JS: value('BaseCB') === 'QObject' ? 'true' : 'false'}"
    }
},

• checkedValue specifies the value to set when the check box is enabled. By default, set to true.
• uncheckedValue specifies the value to set when the check box is disabled. By default, set to false.
• checked is set to true if the check box is enabled, otherwise false.

List

{
    "name": "BaseCB",
    "trDisplayName": "Base class:",
    "type": "ComboBox",
    "data":
    {
        "items": [ { "trKey": "<Custom>", "value": "" },
                   "QObject", "QWidget", "QMainWindow", "QDeclarativeItem", "QQuickItem" ]
    }
},

or

{
    "name": "ChosenBuildSystem",
    "trDisplayName": "Choose your build system:",
    "type": "IconList",
    "data":
    {
        "items": [
            { "trKey": "CMake", "value": "cmake", "icon": "cmake_icon.png", "trToolTip": "Building with CMake." },
            { "trKey": "Qbs", "value": "qbs", "icon": "qbs_icon.png", "trToolTip": "Building with Qbs." },
            { "trKey": "QMake", "value": "qmake", "icon": "qmake_icon.png", "trToolTip": "Building with QMake." }
        ]
    }
},

• items specifies a list of items to put into the list type. The list can have both JSON objects and plain strings. For JSON objects, define trKey and value pairs, where the trKey is the list item visible to users and value has the data associated with the item. In addition, you can use icon to specify an icon for the list item and trToolTip to specify a tooltip for it.
• index specifies the index to select when the list type is enabled. By default, it is set to 0.
• disabledIndex specifies the index to show if the list type is disabled.

Label

{
    "name": "LabelQQC_2_0",
    "type": "Label",
    "span": true,
    "visible": "%{JS: value('CS') === 'QQC_2_0'}",
    "data":
    {
        "wordWrap": true,
        "trText": "Creates a deployable Qt Quick 2 application using Qt Quick Controls.",
    }
},

• wordWrap is set to true to enable word wrap. By default, it is set to false.
• trText has the label text to display.

Line Edit

{
    "name": "Class",
    "trDisplayName": "Class name:",
    "mandatory": true,
    "type": "LineEdit",
    "data": {
        "trPlaceholder": "Fully qualified name, including namespaces",
        "validator": "(?:(?:[a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z_0-9]*::)*[a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z_0-9]*|)",
        "completion": "namespaces"
    }
},
{
    "name": "BaseEdit",
    "type": "LineEdit",
    "enabled": "%{JS: value('BaseCB') === '' ? 'true' : 'false'}",
    "mandatory": false,
    "data":
    {
        "trText": "%{BaseCB}",
        "trDisabledText": "%{BaseCB}",
        "completion": "classes"
    }
},

• trText specifies the default text to display.
• trDisabledText specifies the text to display in a disabled field.
• completion lists existing namespaces for the class name line edit and existing classes for the base class line edit. This value replaces the history completer that is usually available for such fields.
• trPlaceholder specifies the placeholder text.
• validator specifies a QRegularExpression to validate the line edit against.
• fixup specifies a variable that is used to fix up the string. For example, to turn the first character in the line edit to upper case.
• isPassword is a boolean value that specifies that the line edit has a password, which will be masked.
• historyId is a key that specifies the name for a list of items for the history completer. This value and completion are mutually exclusive, so do not set both of them at the same time.
• restoreLastHistoryItem is a boolean that specifies that the last history item is automatically set as the default text in the line edit. This key can only be set to true if historyId is also set.

Path Chooser

{
    "name": "Path",
    "type": "PathChooser",
    "trDisplayName": "Path:",
    "mandatory": true,
    "data":
    {
        "kind": "existingDirectory",
        "basePath": "%{InitialPath}",
        "path": "%{InitialPath}"
    }
},

• path specifies the selected path.
• basePath specifies a base path that lookups are relative to.
• kind defines what to look for: existingDirectory, directory, file, saveFile, existingCommand, command, or any.

Spacer

{
    "name": "Sp1",
    "type": "Spacer",
    "data":
    {
        "factor": 2
    }
},

The factor setting specifies the factor (an integer) to multiply the layout spacing for this spacer.

Text Edit

{
    "name": "TextField",
    "type": "TextEdit",
    "data" :
    {
        "trText": "This is some text",
        "richText": true
    }
}

• trText specifies the text to display.
• trDisabledText specifies the text to display when the text edit is disabled.
• richText is set to true for rich text, otherwise false.

Available Generators

Qt Creator supports two different generators for JSON wizards.

File Generator

A File generator expects a list of objects in its data section. Each object defines one file to be processed and copied into the %\{TargetPath\} (or any other location).

Each file object can take the following settings:

• source specifies the path and filename of the template file relative to the directory that has the wizard.json file.

  If source is unset, it is assumed that the file with the name given in target is generated by some other means. This is useful to for example specify the correct file to open as a project after checking out data from a version control system.

• target specifies the location of the generated file, either absolute or relative to %{TargetPath}, which is usually set by one of the wizard pages.
• openInEditor opens the file in the appropriate editor if it is set to true. This setting defaults to false.
• openAsProject opens the project file in Qt Creator if it is set to true. This setting defaults to false.
• isBinary treats the file as a binary and prevents replacements from being done in the file if set to true. This setting defaults to false.
• condition generates the file if the condition returns true. This setting defaults to true. For more information, see Using Variables in Wizards.

Scanner Generator

A Scanner generator scans the %\{TargetPath\} and produces a list of all files found there.

The Scanner generator takes one object in its data section with the following settings:

• binaryPattern is a regular expression that will be matched against all file names found. Any match will be marked as a binary file and template substitution will be skipped for this file. This setting defaults to an empty pattern, so no files will be marked as binary.
• subdirectoryPatterns is a list of regular expression patterns. Any directory matching one of these patterns will be scanned as well as the top level directory. This setting defaults to an empty list and no subdirectories will be scanned.