How do I include a static library dependency in an Xcode Template?

Question

I can include a framework like so in a TemplateInfo.plist file:

<key>Frameworks</key>
            <array>
                <string>QuartzCore</string>
                <string>OpenGLES</string>
                <string>OpenAL</string>
                <string>AudioToolbox</string>
                <string>AVFoundation</string>
                <string>UIKit</string>
                <string>Foundation</string>
                <string>CoreGraphics</string>
            </array>

But I cannot find how to do something similar with static libraries. This would greatly improve my template. Is there such functionality?

Lease

Hi, I am looking for the same, did you find a solution? – Selves

No, sorry! No luck... :( – Lease

Answer 1

I found a solution.

In templateInfo.plist add key Targets --> SharedSettings

<key>OTHER_LDFLAGS</key>
<string>ObjC -all_load -weak_library /usr/lib/libz.dylib ..</string>

It adds your dylib to debug and run settings.. doesn't work with autocomplete as xcode can do with frameworks, but still lot better than doing it manually

EDIT: expalin

<key>Targets</key>
<array>
    <dict>
        <key>Dependencies</key>
        <array><integer>0</integer></array>
        <key>Frameworks</key>
        <array>
            <string>CoreAudio</string>              
        </array>
        <key>SharedSettings</key>
        <dict>
            <key>OTHER_LDFLAGS</key>
            <string>-ObjC -all_load -weak_library /usr/lib/libz.dylib -weak_library /usr/lib/libstdc++.dylib </string>
        </dict>     
    </dict>

Economically

Could you specify what you mean by Targets-->SharedSettings? I tried to get this to work but couldn't... – Oaf

Answer 2

The best way I found for doing this is to create an alias to the /usr/lib directory inside your templates folder. From there, you can access all the libs which are in /usr/lib, even the ones which are aliases themselves.

First, I create templates by editing the .plists in XCode, not by editing the xml representations themselves. So, that's how I will be explaining the steps I took to include static libraries into my template.

---

1) I have a project template: iPhoneOS.platform / Developer / Library / Xcode / Templates / Project Templates / Application / C4 Application.xctemplate

(In Xcode 4.3 the Project Templates / Application can be found directly in the Xcode.app by right-clicking the bundle and choosing Show Package Contents)

The guts of this folder look like this:

2) As you can see in the image above, I created an alias for the lib folder (/usr/lib) that contains static libraries and moved the alias into my .xctemplate folder.

3) In my TemplateInfo.plist file I specify 2 things: a Dictionary and a Node. I put them inside the Definitions and Nodes of the TemplateInfo.plist

First, in the Definitions node I specify a dictionary called: Libs/libalias.dylib

Inside this lib I have 2 strings Group : Libs Path : lib/libalias.dylib

The node looks like this:

It is important that the syntax be exactly like this, and most importantly that the name of the Dictionary itself specifies the library you want to import. In this case I am importing the libalias.dylib library.

It is also important that the Path be lib/libalias.dylib because this will point to the alias which points to your /usr/lib folder.

Second, in the Nodes array I specify an item as a string which is called Libs/libalias.dylib (note: the exact same name as the Dictionary I specified in Definitions)

This is what the Node Item should look like.

4) Once you have these things set up, you can create a new project with your lib already included.

NOTE: because I called my Dictionary Libs/... and specified it's Group as Libs the library I am importing appears in a subfolder called Libs in my Project Navigator.

Oaf

i was doing it earlier like this.. but i found adding a flag much easier to template as i need to share my template with my team members, asking everyone to create an alias is difficult. – Economically

I share my template with a LOT of people, I give them an installer and it works nicely and very clean. You can also also share over git or SVN. Either way, I think my answer is a pretty good one. – Oaf

@C4-Travis - Thank you for sharing the solution! In my iOS project, I need to include .a file and a group of .h files. How do I include the .h files? Because there are just too many of them, and I have multiple static library to include, listing each .h file individually does not seem to be a viable solution. Any suggestions? Is there a way I can just specify a folder and have its content included in the project? - Thanks! – Hausa

Hey @xueru, the C4 installer actually lists all of the .h files individually. It's a pain but this is the only way I found that worked... I sometimes dread updating the installer template! – Oaf