qmake - Copy a file to build directory after compiling project with Qt

Question

I have seen several suggestions, but nothing really worked for me as I want. I just need to copy a file to the desired destination directory.

Say, for example from this answer:

install_it.path = %{buildDir}
install_it.files += %{sourceDir}/settings.ini

INSTALLS += install_it

Variables %{buildDir} and %{sourceDir} should be defined, to make this work. Ok, there's no problem with %{sourceDir}: it is just .. But how can I get %{buildDir}?

EDIT1

Say, I have a project my_project here:

/path/to/my_project

So, release build path is this: /path/to/my_project-build-Desktop-release,

debug build path is this: /path/to/my_project-build-Desktop-debug

I have files to be copied to destination directory here: /path/to/my_project/copy_to_install_dir

So, I want all files from /path/to/my_project/copy_to_install_dir to be copied to /path/to/my_project-build-Desktop-release when I do release build. And, the same way for debug build.

I can't find variable which contain full destination path, i.e. /path/to/my_project-build-Desktop-release for debug build.

Just in case: I use Windows, but anyway I'm looking for crossplatform solution.

EDIT2

Exact solution, for future readers:

install_it.path = $$OUT_PWD
install_it.files = copy_to_install_dir/*

INSTALLS += 
    install_it

Answer 1

The selected answer is correct but it requires to call make install, which in my opinion is annoying or error prone. Instead, to copy files to the build directory use:

copydata.commands = $(COPY_DIR) $$PWD/required_files $$OUT_PWD
first.depends = $(first) copydata
export(first.depends)
export(copydata.commands)
QMAKE_EXTRA_TARGETS += first copydata

Where required_files must be replaced with your correct path. $$PWD is the path of current .pro file, you might not require this.

Note: I found this solution here. I recommend to read the whole article as it explains how it works.