CODEWITHSUNDEEP
iosxcode5
three-cups
three-cups

Reputation: 4385

Creating a shared library (binary and resources) for ios apps

I'd like to create a shared "library" for ios apps. This will be a private library i.e. it will not be distributed to other devs/companies. I want to create this library to be able to clearly separate responsibilities/concerns in the development process. This library will interface with a REST service. It will be responsible for communication with the REST service and translating responses to objective c models.

Initially, the library will be used in a single iPhone app. But eventually, it may be used in an iPad app as well.

There will be code and resources.

This library will depend on other frameworks (e.g. sqlite).

I've done a fair amount of googling about this, but I'm still unclear what the best way forward is. I've read http://www.cocoanetics.com/2010/04/making-your-own-iphone-frameworks/ but this seems like overkill as I don't need a universal app (though it would not hurt).

Should I do a static library and a resource bundle?

I'm using xcode 5.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 281

Answers (2)

Jef
Jef

Reputation: 4728

HOW MINE WORKS..

mine has two main targets (besides tests), the first is a regular build target like in any other Xcode project, except that it has this small script down at the end of its build phases 

set -e

mkdir -p "${BUILT_PRODUCTS_DIR}/${PRODUCT_NAME}.framework/Versions/A/Headers"

# Link the "Current" version to "A"
/bin/ln -sfh A "${BUILT_PRODUCTS_DIR}/${PRODUCT_NAME}.framework/Versions/Current"
/bin/ln -sfh Versions/Current/Headers "${BUILT_PRODUCTS_DIR}/${PRODUCT_NAME}.framework/Headers"
/bin/ln -sfh "Versions/Current/${PRODUCT_NAME}" "${BUILT_PRODUCTS_DIR}/${PRODUCT_NAME}.framework/${PRODUCT_NAME}"

# The -a ensures that the headers maintain the source modification date so that we don't constantly
# cause propagating rebuilds of files that import these headers.
/bin/cp -a "${TARGET_BUILD_DIR}/${PUBLIC_HEADERS_FOLDER_PATH}/" "${BUILT_PRODUCTS_DIR}/${PRODUCT_NAME}.framework/Versions/A/Headers"

and the second target is an 'aggregate target' this is the one that i actually build, and the 'product' which i create a symbolic link 'alias' to in my projects. This aggregate target has the other target set as a dependancy, in other words it forces a build on the other target when it is built, then it lipo's the 4 different architectures (i386 for the simulator, ARM7, ARM7s and ARM64) together into the one binary. Here is the build script for that..

set -e
set +u
# Avoid recursively calling this script.
if [[ $SF_MASTER_SCRIPT_RUNNING ]]
then
exit 0
fi
set -u
export SF_MASTER_SCRIPT_RUNNING=1

SF_TARGET_NAME=${PROJECT_NAME}
SF_EXECUTABLE_PATH="lib${SF_TARGET_NAME}.a"
SF_WRAPPER_NAME="${SF_TARGET_NAME}.framework"

# The following conditionals come from
# https://github.com/kstenerud/iOS-Universal-Framework

if [[ "$SDK_NAME" =~ ([A-Za-z]+) ]]
then
SF_SDK_PLATFORM=${BASH_REMATCH[1]}
else
echo "Could not find platform name from SDK_NAME: $SDK_NAME"
exit 1
fi

if [[ "$SDK_NAME" =~ ([0-9]+.*$) ]]
then
SF_SDK_VERSION=${BASH_REMATCH[1]}
else
echo "Could not find sdk version from SDK_NAME: $SDK_NAME"
exit 1
fi

if [[ "$SF_SDK_PLATFORM" = "iphoneos" ]]
then
SF_OTHER_PLATFORM=iphonesimulator
else
SF_OTHER_PLATFORM=iphoneos
fi

if [[ "$BUILT_PRODUCTS_DIR" =~ (.*)$SF_SDK_PLATFORM$ ]]
then
SF_OTHER_BUILT_PRODUCTS_DIR="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}${SF_OTHER_PLATFORM}"
else
echo "Could not find platform name from build products directory: $BUILT_PRODUCTS_DIR"
exit 1
fi

# Build the other platform.
xcodebuild -project "${PROJECT_FILE_PATH}" -target "${TARGET_NAME}" -configuration "${CONFIGURATION}" -sdk ${SF_OTHER_PLATFORM}${SF_SDK_VERSION} BUILD_DIR="${BUILD_DIR}" OBJROOT="${OBJROOT}" BUILD_ROOT="${BUILD_ROOT}" SYMROOT="${SYMROOT}" $ACTION

# Smash the two static libraries into one fat binary and store it in the .framework
lipo -create "${BUILT_PRODUCTS_DIR}/${SF_EXECUTABLE_PATH}" "${SF_OTHER_BUILT_PRODUCTS_DIR}/${SF_EXECUTABLE_PATH}" -output "${BUILT_PRODUCTS_DIR}/${SF_WRAPPER_NAME}/Versions/A/${SF_TARGET_NAME}"

# Copy the binary to the other architecture folder to have a complete framework in both.
cp -a "${BUILT_PRODUCTS_DIR}/${SF_WRAPPER_NAME}/Versions/A/${SF_TARGET_NAME}" "${SF_OTHER_BUILT_PRODUCTS_DIR}/${SF_WRAPPER_NAME}/Versions/A/${SF_TARGET_NAME}"

Upvotes: 1

Jef
Jef

Reputation: 4728

Yes you should. It really helps you build a reusable codebase rather than always opening up old projects to copy/paste blocks of code across (very undesirable)

It doesn't make a great deal of difference whether its a library or a framework that you build, the differences for the little guy are largely semantic imho

Upvotes: 0

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