Nativs4Qt - Install natvis files for Qt

This repository contains:

• Up to date natvis files for Qt5 and Qt6
• Command line tool to install or update them in different locations

Natvis4Qt

natvis4qt is a simple command line tool to install or update the natvis files in different locations.

Caution

The tool is in early stage, for now it can only overwrite natvis file in known locations. More later!

Installation via Scoop (preferred)

scoop bucket add narnaud https://github.com/narnaud/scoop-bucket
scoop install natvis4qt

During a scoop update, installed Natvis files will be automatically updated. If you don't want this mechanism, run:

natvis4qt set --autoupdate false

Or via archive files

1. Go to the Releases page
2. Download the latest natvis-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.zip file
3. Extract the files from it into a directory.

Usage

Just run natvis4qt install on the command line and follow the instructions.

The application is using different commands:

• install Install the natvis files in known directories (MSVC and Qt)
• update Update the natvis files
• set Adjust natvis4qt's settings

Integration

Visual Studio

Normally you don't have to do anything, the natvis files are copied in a central place that is used by Visual Studio.

See documentation here: Natvis file locations

Some visulaizers require debug symbols for Qt to be loaded. To load them, add the bin directory of your Qt installation (e.g. C:\Qt\6.8.0\msvc2022_64\bin) to the symbol search path under Options > Debugging > Symbols.

Visual Studio Code

In order to use this natvis file in VS Code, you need to add a visualizerFile to your launch configuration. Edit your launch.json file (or the launch section of your *.code-workspace file) and add something like that:

    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "Current Target (VS)",
            "type": "cppvsdbg",
            "request": "launch",
            "program": "${command:cmake.launchTargetPath}",
            "visualizerFile": "${env:QTDIR}/natvis/qt6.natvis",
            "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
            "sourceFileMap": {
                "C:/work/build/qt5_workdir/w/s": "${env:QTDIR}/../Src",
                "Q:/qt5_workdir/w/s": "${env:QTDIR}/../Src",
                "C:/Users/qt/work/install": "${env:QTDIR}/../Src",
                "C:/Users/qt/work/qt": "${env:QTDIR}/../Src"
            },
            "symbolOptions": {
                "searchPaths": ["${env:QTDIR}/bin"],
            }
        }
    ]

Important

The QTDIR environment variable must be set up before launching VS Code

Natvis files

If you are only interested in natvis files, you can find them here:

• qt5.natvis
• qt6.natvis

Warning

Do not use the natvis files in the source repository, as they are merged during the release. Always use the one from the release.

You can find the current status of natvis definitions here: SUPPORT.md

License

The natvis4qt tool is licensed under the MIT license.

qt5.natvis:

• The Qt Company: licensed Qt-Commercial OR GPL-3.0-only WITH Qt-GPL-exception-1.0

qt6.natvis:

• The Qt Company: licensed Qt-Commercial OR GPL-3.0-only WITH Qt-GPL-exception-1.0
• QMap, QHash, QSet and QVariant are copyright Klarälvdalens Datakonsult AB (KDAB)

qt6-extension.natvis:

• @nholthaus: licensed MIT
• Klarälvdalens Datakonsult AB (KDAB): licensed MIT
• @nerixyz: licensed MIT