xcframework does not contain internal frameworks

Question

I am trying to create an .xcframework file for a few third party libraries I'm using. Following the instructions from https://appspector.com/blog/xcframeworks, I

1. Create platform-specific framework files:

# Archive for device
xcodebuild archive -scheme TestFramework -destination="iOS" -archivePath /tmp/xcf/ios.xcarchive -derivedDataPath /tmp/iphoneos -sdk iphoneos SKIP_INSTALL=NO BUILD_LIBRARIES_FOR_DISTRIBUTION=YES

# Archive for simulator
xcodebuild archive -scheme TestFramework -destination="iOS Simulator" -archivePath /tmp/xcf/iossimulator.xcarchive -derivedDataPath /tmp/iphoneos -sdk iphonesimulator SKIP_INSTALL=NO BUILD_LIBRARIES_FOR_DISTRIBUTION=YES

At this point, I've gotten two frameworks with .swiftmodule files; everything looks good. The frameworks do not come with .swiftinterface files, but I think that is alright as these are objc projects. Then, I

2. Combine the individual frameworks to form a single xcframework file:

# Build xcframework with two archives
xcodebuild -create-xcframework -framework /tmp/xcf/ios.xcarchive/Products/Library/Frameworks/TestFramework.framework -framework /tmp/xcf/iossimulator.xcarchive/Products/Library/Frameworks/TestFramework.framework -output /tmp/xcf/TestFramework.xcframework

Here, xcodebuild doesn't fail, but it emits a curious error:

No 'swiftinterface' files found within '/Users/user/git/ReactiveObjC/output/xcf/ios.xcarchive/Products/Products/Library/TestFramework.framework/Modules/TestFramework.swiftmodule'.

Crucially, the .xcframework package does not contain the individual frameworks or folders specified in the Info.plist file. Obviously, when I try to link to the xcframework in this state, I get a bunch of "missing symbols" linker errors.

Why is this? What must I do to get xcodebuild to create the xcframework completely?

NB: Manually creating the folders seems to work for now, but this feels wrong and is brittle – Apple can change the way xcodebuild works anytime.

Negress

Answer 1

Turns out that adding BUILD_LIBRARY_FOR_DISTRIBUTION = YES to the end of the xcodebuild command was not enough / not working to produce a framework with the required swiftinterface files. I had to go in the settings for the actual project and manually set BUILD_LIBRARY_FOR_DISTRIBUTION to YES, like this answer suggests. After I got the frameworks with the swiftinterface files, I was then able to create the xcframework file using xcodebuild without any problems.

Negress

You used the wrong key, try adding BUILD_LIBRARIES_FOR_DISTRIBUTION=YES (note the plural) to xcodebuild – Barbed

FWIW: Checking the documentation bar in Xcode, they list BUILD_LIBRARY_FOR_DISTRIBUTION as the correct key. – Tso

Hello, I'm trying to build XCFramework from xcarchives, however I can't find BUILD_LIBRARY_FOR_DISTRIBUTION in project setting, need help :(( thx – Layamon

Hi, how can I specify BUILD_LIBRARY_FOR_DISTRIBUTION on a swift package? it seems that from xcodebuild the flag is not passed – Atabrine

Answer 2

Create XCFramework

XCFramework replaces Fat/Universal framework. It is a bundle which contains multiple .framewok for each architecture/platform. We don't need to use lipo^[About] for unite and separate frameworks manually

XCFramework supports libraries with headers and Objective-C

1. Enable Build Libraries for Distribution(BUILD_LIBRARY_FOR_DISTRIBUTION) for your framework. XCFramework works only with enabled [BUILD_LIBRARY_FOR_DISTRIBUTION]. If not when you run step 3 xcodebuild -create-xcframework you get (or don't)

   No 'swiftinterface' files found within '<some_path>/<some_name>.xcarchive/Products/Library/Frameworks/<some_name>.framework/Modules/<some_name>.swiftmodule'
   

2. Build/archive .framework for different architectures/platforms

    xcodebuild archive \
       -workspace ModuleName.xcworkspace \
       -scheme "schemaName" \
       -sdk "iphoneos" \
       -arch arm64 \
       -archivePath "<some_path>/ArchiveName1.xcarchive" \
       SKIP_INSTALL=NO \
   
    xcodebuild archive \
       -workspace ModuleName.xcworkspace \
       -scheme "schemaName" \
       -sdk "iphonesimulator" \
       -arch x86_64 \
       -archivePath "<some_path>/ArchiveName2.xcarchive" \
       SKIP_INSTALL=NO \
   

   SKIP_INSTALL^[About] one of key point to include framework inside archive

3. Create XCFramework using xcodebuild -create-xcframework

   xcodebuild -create-xcframework \
       -framework "<some_path>/ArchiveName1.xcarchive/Products/Library/Frameworks/ModuleName.framework" \
       -debug-symbols "<some_path>/ArchiveName1.xcarchive/dSYMs/${schemes[$n]}.ModuleName.dSYM" \
       -framework "<some_path>/ArchiveName2.xcarchive/Products/Library/Frameworks/ModuleName.framework"
   

-debug-symbols allows to add .dSYM^[About] and .BCSymbolMap^[About]

Mayfly

Answer 3

Converting to XCFramework from Cocoapods

For my scenario, I'm trying to build XCFrameworks from the FAT/lipo frameworks generated by cocoapods.

I added this to the end of my podfile:

post_install do |installer|
    installer.pods_project.targets.each do |target|
        target.build_configurations.each do |config|
            config.build_settings['BUILD_LIBRARY_FOR_DISTRIBUTION'] = 'YES'
        end
    end
end

This ensured the frameworks were compiled correctly and I was able to run the normal xcodebuild -create-xcframework ... command to generate the XCFramework.

Note: I'm also using the cocoapods-binary plugin to pre-build all the pods frameworks.

Miscall

Answer 4

I faced the same issue. It turned out that Xcode 13's build settings override the SKIP_INSTALL=NO flag in the command line. Once I set this field in project's build setting to NO (and made sure on the way that the Build Library For Distribution is set to YES) I managed to create the xcframework file successfully.

Celio

Follow instruction from this for creating xc framework – Ambagious

Answer 5

I have added readme file with full details how to create xc framework.

https://github.com/awasthi027/Xcode_lib_framework_issues/blob/master/README.md

Follow instruction from this for creating xc framework

Ambagious