controlling which project header file Xcode will include

Question

My Xcode project builds to variations of the same product using two targets. The difference between the two is only on which version of an included library is used. For the .c source files it's easy to assign the correct version to the correct target using the target check box. However, including the header file always includes the same one. This is correct for one target, but wrong for the other one.

Is there a way to control which header file is included by each target?

Here is my project file hierarchy (which is replicated in Xcode):

MyProject
  TheirOldLib
    theirLib.h
    theirLib.cpp
  TheirNewLib
    theirLib.h
    theirLib.cpp
myCode.cpp

and myCode.cpp does thing such as:

#include "theirLib.h"
…
somecode()
{
#if OLDVERSION
  theirOldLibCall(…);
#else
  theirNewLibCall(…);
#endif
}

And of course, I define OLDVERSION for one target and not for the other.

Note the #include must be as shown. Both of the following fail with a file not found error:

#include "TheirOldLib/theirLib.h"
#include "TheirNewLib/theirLib.h"

So is there a way to tell Xcode which theirLib.h to include per target?

Constraints:
- the two header files have the same name. As a last resort, I could rename one of them, but I'd rather avoid that as this will lead to major hair pulling on the other platforms.
- having to change the #include to add a reference to the enclosing folder is also something I'd rather avoid, because I would need to do it twice with a conditional compile directive.
- I'm free to tweak my project as I otherwise see fit

Thanks for any help.

Sunup

Answer 1

The key part of the answer is to use USE_HEADERMAP = NO as suggested by Chris in a comment. Here are the details.

Short recipe (checked in Xcode 3.2.2):

1. add a custom build setting of USE_HEADERMAP = NO for each concerned target. Here is how:
   1.1. Open the target's info panel on the "Build" pane.
   1.2. Pull down the action pop-up menu at the bottom left of the window, select "Add User-Defined Setting".
   1.3. In the newly added line, set the first column ("Setting") to USE_HEADERMAP, and the second column ("Value") to NO.

2. add the correct include path to each target (target Build settings "Header Search Paths"). In my example that would be:
   2.1. add TheirOldLib for "old" target
   2.2. add TheirNewLib for "new" target

Step 1 disables the automatic header map feature of Xcode, through which any header file included in the project is directly accessible through its name, whatever its actual path. When two headers have the same name, this feature leads to an unresolvable ambiguity.

Step 2 allows for the #include "theirLib.h" to work without qualifying the header file actual path name.

These two steps together fulfill my two constraints.

Finally, USE_HEADERMAP is not documented by Apple, as far as I can tell. I'll fill a bug report for that, as this setting is crucial in a number of cases, as googling for it reveals. Reported as rdar://7840694. Also on open Radar as http://openradar.appspot.com/radar?id=253401

Sunup

This works perfectly. Thank you. The poster should have marked this as Answer. – Assurance

Shouldnt it in step 2. be "User Header Search Paths" instead of "Header Search Paths"? as you use #include "" and not #include <> – Stereo

I guess you are correct. Header Search Paths works, but User Header Search Paths should be better. – Sunup

Answer 2

USE_HEADERMAP=NO is overkill for some projects. It might be enough to just use HEADERMAP_INCLUDES_FLAT_ENTRIES_FOR_TARGET_BEING_BUILT=NO.

Documentation here:
https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/DeveloperTools/Reference/XcodeBuildSettingRef/1-Build_Setting_Reference/build_setting_ref.html

Neckpiece

It certainly is. Lets add that this setting must be added to user-defined section, in xcode, select target, hit little +, add user defined...done – Scrap

Answer 3

Xcode speeds up building by creating header map files.

Instead of providing the compiler with a list of directories where to search for headers, you can also provide it with header map files. A header map file is like a hashtable, the lookup keys are the include arguments, the values are the paths to the headers.

Here is an example for such a map file:
(Note: This is not the actual syntax of a header map file, it's just a human readable representation)

Foo.h -> /usr/include/Foo.h
Bar.h -> /home/user/Documents/ProjectA/src/include/Bar.h
foo/bar/foobar.h -> /home/user/Documents/ProjectB/inc/foo/bar/foobar.h

These three entries match

#include "Foo.h"
#include "Bar.h"
#include "foo/bar/foobar.h"

Now Xcode has three settings that control the generation of header map files.

1. HEADERMAP_INCLUDES_FLAT_ENTRIES_FOR_TARGET_BEING_BUILT
   If YES (default), all header files that belong to the target being built are added to the header map file and can be included using include "header.h". Note that headers can only belong to framework/library/bundle targets, not to application/program targets.

2. HEADERMAP_INCLUDES_FRAMEWORK_ENTRIES_FOR_ALL_PRODUCT_TYPES
   If YES (default), headers of all other targets are added to the header map file and can be included using include <TargetName/header.h>. Note that this is also true for non-framework targets.

3. HEADERMAP_INCLUDES_PROJECT_HEADERS
   If YES (default), all other headers present in the project file the built target belongs to are also added to the header map file and can be included using include "header.h".

Additionally there is the general setting USE_HEADERMAP that controls if a header map file shall be generated at all. Only if YES (default), Xcode will generate a header map file and pass it as argument to the compiler.

In case a header is not listed in a header map file or header maps aren't used, the compiler will search for the headers using one of two search strategies:

In case the header is imported with <...>, it will search in all directories specified with the -I option (HEADER_SEARCH_PATHS), all directories specified with the -isystem option (SYSTEM_HEADER_SEARCH_PATHS in Xcode), and in the stanadrd system header directories (/usr/include of the selected SDK and other directories belonging to the installed developer tools); in exactly that order and within each category in the order given.

In case the header is imported with "...", it will search in the same directory as the .c/.m file being built, in all directories specified with the -iquote option (USER_HEADER_SEARCH_PATHS in Xcode), and in the same directories it searches for <...>; in exactly that order and within each category in the order given.

Welt

Answer 4

Why can't you just use different include paths in each target?

Seedman

If you have two headers with the same name but different paths, you need to set USE_HEADERMAP = NO in a custom build setting in both targets. – Rubbing

Neat. I guess I've never tried. Good to see that Mike Ferris is still fighting the good fight against usability. – Seedman

using different include paths in each target doesn't work: include files in the project are always made accessible by Xcode with no path at all. This is the reason why the issue arise in the first place: with no path to disambiguate, there seems to be no way to tell Xcode which is the right file to include. Chris's suggestion is to disable that feature, to reverse to a more conventional include path scheme. I'll write up the answer in detail. – Sunup

Answer 5

Use USE_HEADERMAP=NO and in "User Header Search Paths" include your custom directory first and project directory recursively second: ${PROJECT_DIR}/TheirNewLib ${PROJECT_DIR}/**

Domicile