When reusing code (for example, a Util library you created), do you add its project to your solution or use a compiled/published DLL from the Util library?
If an assembly is mature, not likely to change or I'm fairly certain I won't need to step into it I would reference the DLL. If it's likely that changes will be made in the assembly's project or it's likely I'll want to step into it, I reference the project.
I add the project if I want to be sure to have all changes and the latest version of the library. Then I can update the library project when I am updating my whole solution.
If I want to be certain that I am using a specific version of the library, I'll just add the dll.
Edit: Also, what Mitch said.
Related
I have a core project with some libraries which my other projects want to depend on. In the other projects I want to reference those libraries within the core project.
I think I'm missing either some build path settings or classpath settings, but can't really find out which.
For instance, let's say my core project includes JodaTime and my other projects want to manipulate some dates as well. Do I need to include JodaTime with the other projects or is it enough to leave it in my core project and just reference it correctly?
That depends on whether your core project exports JodaTime in the order and export settings.
There are tradeoffs to exporting a third-party library. If your core project will only be used as part of your other projects, exporting the library makes it easy to ensure that all your other projects are using the same version. But if your core project is itself a library that you're going to publish, you usually don't want to export third-party libraries because then they effectively become part of your API. In fact, you may actually want to design your API to conceal what third-party libraries you're using in case you ever want to switch to something else.
How do I reference another project which has code I wish to leverage in XCode 4. In particular I'm trying to make use of the NSDate extensions from here.
Some notes:
I was assuming I should probably reference rather than trying build a framework
I tried copying the existing "Hello World" xcode project file across into my project, however this didn't seem to work
Do I need to create a new "Target" based on "coco touch static library" option?
Then would I need to Edit the current Product Scheme so that when I build the new target would build
What do I need to do on my project side exactly - should going Add Files, and choosing the extensions Xcode Project File be enough?
thanks
I was assuming I should probably reference rather than trying build a framework
yes, reference and link with it, unless you need only a bit of it. at this stage, separating the bits you want may be an advanced topic (depends on the lib's layout/depends as well). you should prefer to reference and link because it will normally minimize your maintenance time, especially if you use it in multiple projects.
I tried copying the existing "Hello World" xcode project file across into my project, however this didn't seem to work
you don't create a project, you add the library's xcode project to your app or library, set the lib as a dependency, add the library to your search paths if needed, then link with the library.
Do I need to create a new "Target" based on "coco touch static library" option?
no
Then would I need to Edit the current Product Scheme so that when I build the new target would build
no. you configure it as a dependency. you may need to alter the lib's build settings if there is a major conflict, which the linker or compiler would point out.
What do I need to do on my project side exactly - should going Add Files, and choosing the extensions Xcode Project File be enough?
start with the process outlined above.
There is no reason to bring in an actually project. Either you can bring in the source files themselves and you could even use the same exact files instead of copying them if you want. However, if you have more than just a few files, and you don't think you will be changing the code much, then creating a static library would probably be the best option.
I'm using the Unity 3D engine to build an iPhone app, and when I go to generate my Xcode project for compilation, it includes a few fairly large libraries: Mono.Security.dll.s, System.dll.s, System.Core.dll.s, etc.
I don't know if this question is really an Xcode question or a Unity question, but I'm trying to figure out why each of those libraries is being linked - which functions / classes are being referenced - ideally so that I can rewrite my code to remove as many of the dependencies as possible. Does anybody know a way to find this information out?
Are you using any external assemblies? If so you should get the source code for them and check what they are including. Sometimes it's possible to disable stuff in external assemblies to remove unneeded dependencies.
Go into the "project settings->player" menu in Unity and make sure that stripping level is set as high as possible. Stripping will attempt to swap System.Core with mscorlib, which doesn't include stuff like Linq.
A way to find out why a particular assembly is being included is to open up the references section of your MonoDevelop solution, and double-click on an assembly. This will open the assembly browser and you'll be able to get an idea of the namespaces that depend on a particular assembly.
This DLL stuff is added to project by Unity3D, Xcode has nothing to do with this. What version of Unity3D do you use? Try to tweak Optimization options in project settings (Inspector), especially 'Stripping'.
I've build a static library working nice in a Cocoa Touch environment. Now I'd like to compile it also for Cocoa.. Can I have a single XCode project with different sdk targets? Is there some resource out there able to give hints about best the practices in this (and other) sense?
This last two months I have been working on exactly this task ( cross compiling static library for iPhone/Android/Mac OS/Linux/Windows...
It is certainly possible, a nice way, is adding an external xcode project as a target to your first xcode project. So you create a new "Active Configuration" for Mac OS X, iPhone and other platforms that you want to support.
Here, you can find a good tutorial about how to use a secondary Xcode project as a target of your main project to build a static library. It's a cool way because if you debug for example you still have all the symbols of the library, etc.
It can be done but it requires some manual tweaking of the build.
Start with the Xcode Build System Guide.
As an informal way of accomplishing this, you can create two separate projects and add references for exact same set of library source files to each project. Set one project to compile for Cocoa-Touch and the other for Cocoa. If both projects reference the same files, changes made in one project will be automatically reflected in the other. (If you have both projects open, Xcode will complain that the file has been changed by another app but otherwise it won't notice.)
I have a utility class that I continually dump new methods in. I add it to every project and just park methods as I need it. The new methods show up in old projects because the source files are shared across all the projects.
I'm trying to write an SSH client for the iPhone, and I'd like to use the libssh2 open source library to do so. It's written in C.
How should I include this C library for my iPhone app? Should I compile it into some binary that I include into the my app, or do I add all the source to my project and try to compile it along with the rest of my app?
I'm interpretting this question as:
"Should I compile the C library code once, and include the binary library in my project? Or should I include all the source and compile it every time I build my app?"
It depends. One of the projects I work one depends on several external libraries. Basically, we have a simple rule:
Do you think you will need to change code in the C library often?
If you will be changing the code, or updating versions often, include the source and build it with the rest of your project.
If you're not going to change the code often or at all, it might make sense to just include the pre-built binary in your project.
Depending on the size of the library, you may want to set it up as a distinct target in your project, or for even more flexibility, as a sub-project of your main project.
If I was in your place, I would build libssh2 ahead of time and just include the binary library in my iPhone project. I would still keep the libssh2 source around, of course, in case it does need to be re-built down the road.
I have an iPhone app that is 90% c. I have had no problem adding 3rd party sources to my project and compiling. I am using Lua, zLib, and libpng with no modifications. I've also included standard libraries like unistd and libgen and they just workâ˘
The Three20 iPhone library has a great howto on adding their library to your xcode project. Give that a shot.
I think you will find in the long run you will be better off building it into a standalone library and linking it with your application. This makes it easier to integrate into future apps. Another benefit is that it encourages code separation. If you feel pretty confident with the library, you can link your debug exe to the release build of the library and get some extra performance.
I can't really think of any downsides to creating a library, after the initial cost of setting it up, and having an extra project to modify if you have some changes that need to be made to all your projects. Even if you don't know how to make a library for the iPhone, this is a good excuse to learn.
Just adding the source to you project should work fine as well.