- Qbs Manual
- Special Property Values
- Qbs 3.1.0

Custom Modules and Items ◦ Module Providers

# Special Property Values

Depending on the context, Qbs provides the following special values for use in property bindings and JavaScript code:

- base
- exportingProduct
- filePath
- importingProduct
- module
- original
- outer
- path
- product
- project

### `base`

This value is useful when making use of inheritance. It stands for the value of the respective property in the item one level up in the inheritance chain. For instance:

     Product { // defined in MyProduct.qbs
         Depends { name: "mymodule" }
         mymodule.someProperty: ["value1"]
     }
     ------ some other file ------
     MyProduct {
         mymodule.someProperty: base.concat(["value2"]) // => ["value1", "value2"]
     }

### `exportingProduct`

Within an Export item, you can use the `exportingProduct` variable to refer to the product which defines the Export item:

     Product {
         Export {
             Depends { name: "cpp" }
             cpp.includePaths: exportingProduct.sourceDirectory
         }
     }

### `filePath`

This value holds the full file path to the `.qbs` file it appears in. This property is rarely used, but might be useful when debugging:

     Product {
         property bool dummy: {
             console.info("I'm located at " + filePath);
         }
     }

### `importingProduct`

Within an Export item, you can use the `importingProduct` variable to refer to the product that pulls in the resulting module:

     Product {
         Export {
             Depends { name: "cpp" }
             cpp.includePaths: importingProduct.buildDirectory
         }
     }

Usually, you should use the product variable instead for consistency with Module items.

### `module`

This value holds the properties of the module that contains the current item:

     Module {
         property bool enableGroup
         property bool enableRule
         Group {
             condition: enableGroup // available without qualification because Module is a direct parent item
             Rule {
                 condition: module.enableRule // Shortcut for product.<module name>.enableRule
                 // ...
             }
         }
     }

### `original`

On the right-hand side of a module property binding, this refers to the value of the property in the module itself (possibly overridden from a profile). Use it to set a module property conditionally:

     Module { // This is mymodule
         property string aProperty: "z"
     }
     ----------
     Product {
         Depends { name: "mymodule" }
         Depends { name: "myothermodule" }
         // "y" if myothermodule.anotherProperty is "x", "z" otherwise:
         mymodule.aProperty: myothermodule.anotherProperty === "x" ? "y" : original
     }

Note: In all but the most exotic cases, a Properties item is the preferred way to achieve the same result:

     Product {
         Depends { name: "mymodule" }
         Depends { name: "myothermodule" }
         Properties {
             condition: myothermodule.anotherProperty === "x"
             mymodule.aProperty: "y"
         }

### `outer`

This value is used in nested items, where it refers to the value of the respective property in the surrounding item. It is only valid in Group and Properties items:

     Product {
         Depends { name: "mymodule" }
         mymodule.someProperty: ["value1"]
         Group {
             name: "special files"
             files: ["somefile1", "somefile2"]
             mymodule.someProperty: outer.concat(["value"]) // => ["value1", "value2"]
         }
     }

### `path`

This value holds the path to the folder where the `.qbs` file is located. Use it to e.g. add the product's directory to file paths:

     Product {
         Depends { name: "cpp" }
         cpp.includePaths: path
     }

### `product`

This value holds the properties of the product that contains the current item or pulls in the current module:

     Module {
         Rule {
             Artifact {
                 fileTags: product.type
                 filePath: {
                     var result = input.fileName;
                     // module properties are available as well
                     if (product.qbs.buildVariant === "debug")
                         result = result + "_debug";
                     result = result + ".out";
                     return result;
                 }
             }
         }
     }

Within the Export item, same as importingProduct.

### `project`

This value holds the properties of the project that references the current item or pulls in the current module:

     Project {
         property bool enableProduct: true
         Product {
             name: "theProduct"
             condition: project.enableProduct
         }
     }

If the nearest project in the project tree does not have the desired property, Qbs looks it up in the parent project, potentially all the way up to the top-level project.

Custom Modules and Items ◦ Module Providers