Building and Using a DYLIB in Xcode

c++ xcode dylib dynamic-library
Justin Mrkva picture Justin Mrkva · Oct 17, 2010 · Viewed 8.2k times · Source

I'm trying to build a .dylib in Xcode. Currently the .dylib builds, but when I drag the .dylib into another project and try to #import one of the headers (Seeker.h) in the .dylib, I get this error:

*: No such file or directory
Seeker.h: No such file or directory

The project is available as an Xcode project here.

I can confirm the header is indeed in a path alongside the .dylib once built, but as for what to do with it I have no idea. My only experience with .dylib files is frameworks built into Mac OS X, like libsqlite3.dylib, which works perfectly. All the tutorials I can find on .dylib files does not cover how to use them with Xcode in a sensible manner; all of them rely either on complex scripts or machine-dependent configuration which will not work for us.

So basically I need a start-to-finish step-by-step process that successfully builds the .dylib and successfully includes it in another Xcode project in a way that's not dependent on changing build settings for different users. In other words, a way that just works and that will work when we distribute both projects to members of our team.

Answer

zneak picture zneak · Oct 17, 2010

Dylibs don't carry headers: they're brainless executable files. Built-in libraries have their headers in known locations, like /usr/include, which makes them globally available. What you're looking for is probably a framework.

Frameworks are packages that contain a dynamic library and header files, so once you link with the framework you can import the headers it has. It can also carry other resources such as images and sounds.

I suggest you read the Framework Programming Guide for more informations.

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