How to compile a project with app and library in the same workspace with different configuration names?

Question

I am developing an app and I am using an open source component.

I have a workspace containing both MyApp.xcodeproj and Component.xcodeproj. My app has three configurations: Debug, App Store and In House but the component has only two: Debug and Release

In the Debug configuration, everything works fine, but I can't compile my app in App Store or In House configuration because the configuration names do not match. I get a file not found error when trying to #import <Component/Component.h>

I need both App Store and In House configurations and I would really like to avoid modifying the component's configurations in order to ease future updates of the component.

I know I could use CocoaPods to solve this issue but I would like to know if there is a simple solution in Xcode

Answer 1

You can get your project to compile with some tweaks to your app’s settings.

I suggest you to modify all settings at the project level so that all your targets can inherit these settings.

1. Add a new DEFAULT_CONFIGURATION user-defined setting and define your configuration mapping. This is how it should look like:

   

2. Set FRAMEWORK_SEARCH_PATHS to $(BUILD_DIR)/$(DEFAULT_CONFIGURATION)-$(PLATFORM_NAME) for all configurations, add Any OS X SDK variants and set the value to $(BUILD_DIR)/$(DEFAULT_CONFIGURATION). Set HEADER_SEARCH_PATHS to $(FRAMEWORK_SEARCH_PATHS)/include and LIBRARY_SEARCH_PATHS to $(FRAMEWORK_SEARCH_PATHS). This is how it should look like:

   

   This step is quite tedious, it can be automated with the xcproj tool and by running this script in your project directory. Edit your configurations mapping as needed.

   #!/bin/bash
   
   CONFIGURATIONS=( "App Store:Release" "In House:Release" "Debug:Debug" )
   
   for CONFIGURATION in "${CONFIGURATIONS[@]}"; do
       xcproj --configuration "${CONFIGURATION%%:*}" write-build-setting DEFAULT_CONFIGURATION "${CONFIGURATION#*:}"
   done
   
   xcproj write-build-setting 'FRAMEWORK_SEARCH_PATHS' '$(BUILD_DIR)/$(DEFAULT_CONFIGURATION)-$(PLATFORM_NAME)'
   xcproj write-build-setting 'FRAMEWORK_SEARCH_PATHS[sdk=macosx*]' '$(BUILD_DIR)/$(DEFAULT_CONFIGURATION)'
   
   xcproj write-build-setting 'HEADER_SEARCH_PATHS' '$(FRAMEWORK_SEARCH_PATHS)/include'
   xcproj write-build-setting 'LIBRARY_SEARCH_PATHS' '$(FRAMEWORK_SEARCH_PATHS)'
   

3. If the component is distributed as a static library, you are done here. If the component comes as a framework you have to update its path reference by editing your project.pbxproj file in a text editor. In the PBXFileReference section (under /* Begin PBXFileReference section */) find Component.framework and update its path like this:

   name = Component.framework; path = "../$(DEFAULT_CONFIGURATION)/Component.framework"; sourceTree = BUILT_PRODUCTS_DIR; };
   

   Also make sure that the sourceTree is set to BUILT_PRODUCTS_DIR, i.e. relative to built products. Once you edited the project file, this should look like:

   

Your project should now build as expected.