Add static library to podspec

Question

My podspec requires a static library (OpenSSL). For convenience, I'm shipping the library with the pod.

The static library contains:

• Binaries: MyPod/openssl/bin/libcrypto.a and MyPod/openssl/bin/libsll.a
• Headers: MyPod/openssl/include/openssl/*.h
• Its own license (in addition to my project's license): MyPod/openssl/include/LICENSE

What is the proper way of expressing this in my podspec? I've seen various example that use combinations of the following properties and I'm currently trying different combinations:

source_files
public_header_files
private_header_files
preserve_paths
libraries
xcconfig
vendored_libraries

Or even better, can I define this static library in a subspec?

Answer 1

I managed to add the static library as a subspec. I prefer this approach because it uses the build shipped with my pod by default, and also enables users to provide their own build if they so desire.

As mentioned, the static library is OpenSSL but the following applies to any static library. I'm using the following directory structure:

libraries/openssl-1.0.1e/include/openssl/*.h
libraries/openssl-1.0.1e/LICENSE
libraries/openssl-1.0.1e/lib/*.a

The resulting subspec would be:

s.subspec 'OpenSSL' do |openssl|
    openssl.preserve_paths = 'libraries/openssl-1.0.1e/include/openssl/*.h', 'libraries/openssl-1.0.1e/include/LICENSE'
    openssl.vendored_libraries = 'libraries/openssl-1.0.1e/lib/libcrypto.a', 'libraries/openssl-1.0.1e/lib/libssl.a'
    openssl.libraries = 'ssl', 'crypto'
    openssl.xcconfig = { 'HEADER_SEARCH_PATHS' => "${PODS_ROOT}/#{s.name}/libraries/openssl-1.0.1e/include/**" }
end

Line by line:

openssl.preserve_paths = 'libraries/openssl-1.0.1e/include/openssl/*.h', 'libraries/openssl-1.0.1e/include/LICENSE'

Preserve headers and the license file. We will use the headers below.

openssl.vendored_libraries = 'libraries/openssl-1.0.1e/lib/libcrypto.a', 'libraries/openssl-1.0.1e/lib/libssl.a'

Tell CocoaPods that we are shipping the above static libraries in the pod. This will preserve the files, as well as modifying LIBRARY_SEARCH_PATHS accordingly.

openssl.libraries = 'ssl', 'crypto'

Includes the libraries in "Other Linker Flags".

openssl.xcconfig = { 'HEADER_SEARCH_PATHS' => "${PODS_ROOT}/#{s.name}/libraries/openssl-1.0.1e/include/**" }

Tells the project where to find the headers. We cannot use public_header_files because this is a subspec.