meandmark.com » Xcode

Dealing with Missing SDKs in Xcode

mark — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 01:48:19 +0000

If you’re running a recent version of Xcode, you may notice a problem when opening older projects. The Overview pop-up menu in the project window toolbar will tell you the Base SDK is missing. The cause of this problem is the project you opened used a SDK that is not installed on your Mac.

The missing SDK problem is most likely to occur if you have installed the iPhone 4 SDK. The iPhone 4 SDK installation erases any previously installed SDKs so any Xcode projects that use an older version of the iPhone SDK have a missing SDK. The missing SDK problem is not limited to iPhone projects. Mac projects can have the problem as well, but they’re less likely to have the problem because Xcode 3.2 installs the 10.5 and 10.6 SDKs. A Mac project would have to use the 10.4 SDK (or earlier SDK) to get the missing SDK message.

The solution to the missing SDK problem is to set the Base SDK to one that is installed on your Mac. Choose Project > Edit Project Settings to change the Base SDK build setting. For those of you using the iPhone 4 SDK, set the Base SDK to iPhone Device 4.0.

The missing SDK message in the Overview pop-up menu should go away now.

iPhone Device 4.0 is the most recent SDK as I’m writing this post. Use the most recent SDK if you’re reading this post years in the future.

Eight Chapters

mark — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 17:49:57 +0000

A few weeks ago Apple unveiled Xcode 4 to the developers who were at WWDC. The announcement of Xcode 4 makes an Xcode 3 book obsolete so I am going to focus on Xcode 4 for the next edition of Xcode Tools Sensei.

To keep the Xcode 3 material I wrote from going to waste, I am making eight chapters I wrote for an Xcode 3 version of the book available for download. There are six chapters on Xcode as well as a chapter on the OpenGL tools and a chapter on command-line debugging tools.?

You can download the chapters at the Xcode Tools Sensei site. There is a zip archive with all eight chapters available as well as the individual chapters if you don’t want all eight of them.

Xcode 3.2: Renaming Projects

mark — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 05:02:38 +0000

Xcode 3.2 added the ability to rename projects. Choose Project > Rename Project.

Xcode is set to rename all files in the project that are based on the project name: project file, targets, build products (application name is an example), precompiled headers, and property lists. If you want to keep the old name for some files, deselect the checkbox in the left column.

Reading Third-Party Documentation in Xcode 3.2

mark — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:12:13 +0000

Apple supplies documentation sets that let you read Mac OS X, iPhone, and developer tools documentation in Xcode. But you are not limited to reading Apple’s documentation in Xcode. This post shows you how to install and read third-party documentation in Xcode.

Xcode has one requirement for third-party documentation sets. The documentation set must be either an RSS or Atom feed. If you want an example of a documentation set, the cocos2D game engine has an Atom feed at the following URL:

http://aptocore.com/downloads/cocos2d/cocos2d-iphone-doc.atom

Opening Xcode’s Documentation Preferences

Open Xcode’s preferences by choosing Xcode > Preferences. Click the Documentation button in the Xcode toolbar window. The Documentation button is on the far right. You’ll have to use the scroll bar to get to it unless you have a very wide monitor. You should see the documentation sets on the left side of the documentation preferences.

Adding a Documentation Feed

Click the Add Documentation Set Publisher button. You will be asked for a feed URL. RSS feeds start with feed:// while Atom feeds start with http://. Click the OK button when you’ve finished entering the feed URL.

Installing the Documentation

After adding your documentation feed, it should appear in the list of available sets. Click the Get button to install the documentation in Xcode.

Reading the Documentation

After installing the documentation, open Xcode’s documentation window by choosing Help > Developer Documentation. Click the Home button in the documentation window toolbar. A menu with a list of installed documentation sets opens. The documentation set you installed should be one of the menu choices. Choose it to read the documentation.

Removing the Documentation

To remove documentation you installed, open Xcode’s documentation preferences. Select the documentation set from the list of available sets. Right-click and choose Reveal In Finder. Drag the documentation set to the Trash.

Xcode 3.2: New Project Assistant

mark — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 20:52:04 +0000

Xcode 3.1 changed the way you pick a project template when creating a new project. Previous versions of Xcode had a list of all installed project templates for you to choose. Xcode 3.1 filled the left side of the New Project Assistant with project categories like Application and Framework. Selecting the category filled the top of the New Project Assistant with the project templates in that category.

Xcode 3.2 makes further changes. Suppose you’re writing a Cocoa application in Objective-C. In Xcode 3.1 you could choose from the following templates:

Cocoa Application
Cocoa Document-based Application
Core Data Application
Core Data Document-based Application
Core Data Document-based Application with Spotlight

In Xcode 3.2, you have one template: Cocoa Application. There is an Options section with checkboxes for document-based applications, Core Data, and Spotlight importer.

The screenshot provides a hint on how to create a command-line application in Xcode 3.2. Select Command Line Tool, and the Options checkboxes are replaced by a Type pop-up menu. Use the Type menu to pick the language: C, C++, or Objective-C. Choose Foundation to write an Objective-C command-line application.

Downloading Older Versions of Xcode

mark — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:10:20 +0000

Apple makes it easy to download the latest version of Xcode. But older versions of Xcode are harder to find. I’ve read many questions on Mac programming forums from people who have trouble finding older versions of Xcode on Apple’s site. Take the following steps to find older versions of Xcode:

Go to the Apple Developer Connection site.
If you do not have an ADC membership, click the Join Now button.
Login to ADC with your Apple ID and password.
Click the Downloads link.
Click the Developer Tools link on the right side of the page.

Now you will find every version of Xcode Apple has released. Those of you running Leopard will want to download Xcode 3.1.4. Those of you running Tiger will want Xcode 2.5. Those of you running Panther will want Xcode 1.5.

Interface Builder 3.2: Outlets and Actions

mark — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 04:05:58 +0000

In previous versions of Interface Builder, you used the identity inspector to add outlets and actions to a user interface element. Interface Builder 3.2 moved this functionality to the Library. If the Library window isn’t open, choose Tools > Library to open it. Click the Classes tab in the Library window. Select a class. Use the Outlets and Actions tabs to view, add, and remove outlets and actions for the selected class.

Xcode 3.2: Project Templates Removed

mark — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:25:21 +0000

In Xcode 3.2 Apple removed all Carbon project templates as well as the Cocoa projects that used Python and Ruby. You can install Xcode 3.1 alongside 3.2 if you need the templates Apple removed. Apple doesn’t officially support Xcode 3.1 on Snow Leopard, but Xcode 3.1 can be installed and run on Snow Leopard. If Xcode 3.1 doesn’t work well for you, you can copy the project templates to the user templates location so you can use them in Xcode 3.2. Refer to this blog post from the old blog for more information on where the templates should be copied.

The PyObjC and Ruby Cocoa websites are the places to visit for the latest Python and Ruby project templates. For those of you interested in writing Cocoa applications in Ruby, Mac Ruby is another project to check out.

Xcode 3.2: Creating Java Projects

mark — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 04:05:30 +0000

In Xcode 3.2 when you choose File > New Project, there are no Java templates in the New Project Assistant. To create Java projects you must open the organizer by choosing Window > Organizer. At the bottom of the Organizer, you will see three buttons.

Click the + button on the left and choose New From Template > Java Templates to create a Java project. Click the right button at the bottom of the Organizer to show the editor. Use the editor to write your code.

Xcode 3.2: Changing the Organization Name

mark — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 05:15:34 +0000

In Xcode 3.2 Apple made it easier to change the organization name so the copyright notice at the top of newly created files doesn’t say __MyCompanyName__. Choose Project > Edit Project Settings and click the General tab in the inspector. At the bottom of the inspector is a text field to enter the organization name. This name will appear in the copyright notice for any new files you create for this project.