Automatically create cross-platform (simulator + device) static libraries for Objective C / iPhone / iPad

gistfile1.sh

##########################################
#
# c.f. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3520977/build-fat-static-library-device-simulator-using-xcode-and-sdk-4
#
# Version 2.82
#
# Latest Change:
# - MORE tweaks to get the iOS 10+ and 9- working
# - Support iOS 10+
# - Corrected typo for iOS 1-10+ (thanks @stuikomma)
# 
# Purpose:
#   Automatically create a Universal static library for iPhone + iPad + iPhone Simulator from within XCode
#
# Author: Adam Martin - http://twitter.com/redglassesapps
# Based on: original script from Eonil (main changes: Eonil's script WILL NOT WORK in Xcode GUI - it WILL CRASH YOUR COMPUTER)
#

set -e
set -o pipefail

#################[ Tests: helps workaround any future bugs in Xcode ]########
#
DEBUG_THIS_SCRIPT="false"

if [ $DEBUG_THIS_SCRIPT = "true" ]
then
echo "########### TESTS #############"
echo "Use the following variables when debugging this script; note that they may change on recursions"
echo "BUILD_DIR = $BUILD_DIR"
echo "BUILD_ROOT = $BUILD_ROOT"
echo "CONFIGURATION_BUILD_DIR = $CONFIGURATION_BUILD_DIR"
echo "BUILT_PRODUCTS_DIR = $BUILT_PRODUCTS_DIR"
echo "CONFIGURATION_TEMP_DIR = $CONFIGURATION_TEMP_DIR"
echo "TARGET_BUILD_DIR = $TARGET_BUILD_DIR"
fi

#####################[ part 1 ]##################
# First, work out the BASESDK version number (NB: Apple ought to report this, but they hide it)
#    (incidental: searching for substrings in sh is a nightmare! Sob)

SDK_VERSION=$(echo ${SDK_NAME} | grep -o '\d\{1,2\}\.\d\{1,2\}$')

# Next, work out if we're in SIM or DEVICE

if [ ${PLATFORM_NAME} = "iphonesimulator" ]
then
OTHER_SDK_TO_BUILD=iphoneos${SDK_VERSION}
else
OTHER_SDK_TO_BUILD=iphonesimulator${SDK_VERSION}
fi

echo "XCode has selected SDK: ${PLATFORM_NAME} with version: ${SDK_VERSION} (although back-targetting: ${IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET})"
echo "...therefore, OTHER_SDK_TO_BUILD = ${OTHER_SDK_TO_BUILD}"
#
#####################[ end of part 1 ]##################

#####################[ part 2 ]##################
#
# IF this is the original invocation, invoke WHATEVER other builds are required
#
# Xcode is already building ONE target...
#
# ...but this is a LIBRARY, so Apple is wrong to set it to build just one.
# ...we need to build ALL targets
# ...we MUST NOT re-build the target that is ALREADY being built: Xcode WILL CRASH YOUR COMPUTER if you try this (infinite recursion!)
#
#
# So: build ONLY the missing platforms/configurations.

if [ "true" == ${ALREADYINVOKED:-false} ]
then
echo "RECURSION: I am NOT the root invocation, so I'm NOT going to recurse"
else
# CRITICAL:
# Prevent infinite recursion (Xcode sucks)
export ALREADYINVOKED="true"

echo "RECURSION: I am the root ... recursing all missing build targets NOW..."
echo "RECURSION: ...about to invoke: xcodebuild -configuration \"${CONFIGURATION}\" -project \"${PROJECT_NAME}.xcodeproj\" -target \"${TARGET_NAME}\" -sdk \"${OTHER_SDK_TO_BUILD}\" ${ACTION} RUN_CLANG_STATIC_ANALYZER=NO" BUILD_DIR=\"${BUILD_DIR}\" BUILD_ROOT=\"${BUILD_ROOT}\" SYMROOT=\"${SYMROOT}\"

xcodebuild -configuration "${CONFIGURATION}" -project "${PROJECT_NAME}.xcodeproj" -target "${TARGET_NAME}" -sdk "${OTHER_SDK_TO_BUILD}" ${ACTION} RUN_CLANG_STATIC_ANALYZER=NO BUILD_DIR="${BUILD_DIR}" BUILD_ROOT="${BUILD_ROOT}" SYMROOT="${SYMROOT}"

ACTION="build"

#Merge all platform binaries as a fat binary for each configurations.

# Calculate where the (multiple) built files are coming from:
CURRENTCONFIG_DEVICE_DIR=${SYMROOT}/${CONFIGURATION}-iphoneos
CURRENTCONFIG_SIMULATOR_DIR=${SYMROOT}/${CONFIGURATION}-iphonesimulator

echo "Taking device build from: ${CURRENTCONFIG_DEVICE_DIR}"
echo "Taking simulator build from: ${CURRENTCONFIG_SIMULATOR_DIR}"

CREATING_UNIVERSAL_DIR=${SYMROOT}/${CONFIGURATION}-universal
echo "...I will output a universal build to: ${CREATING_UNIVERSAL_DIR}"

# ... remove the products of previous runs of this script
#      NB: this directory is ONLY created by this script - it should be safe to delete!

rm -rf "${CREATING_UNIVERSAL_DIR}"
mkdir "${CREATING_UNIVERSAL_DIR}"

#
echo "lipo: for current configuration (${CONFIGURATION}) creating output file: ${CREATING_UNIVERSAL_DIR}/${EXECUTABLE_NAME}"
xcrun -sdk iphoneos lipo -create -output "${CREATING_UNIVERSAL_DIR}/${EXECUTABLE_NAME}" "${CURRENTCONFIG_DEVICE_DIR}/${EXECUTABLE_NAME}" "${CURRENTCONFIG_SIMULATOR_DIR}/${EXECUTABLE_NAME}"

#########
#
# Added: StackOverflow suggestion to also copy "include" files
#    (untested, but should work OK)
#
echo "Fetching headers from ${PUBLIC_HEADERS_FOLDER_PATH}"
echo "  (if you embed your library project in another project, you will need to add"
echo "   a "User Search Headers" build setting of: (NB INCLUDE THE DOUBLE QUOTES BELOW!)"
echo '        "$(TARGET_BUILD_DIR)/usr/local/include/"'
if [ -d "${CURRENTCONFIG_DEVICE_DIR}${PUBLIC_HEADERS_FOLDER_PATH}" ]
then
mkdir -p "${CREATING_UNIVERSAL_DIR}${PUBLIC_HEADERS_FOLDER_PATH}"
# * needs to be outside the double quotes?
cp -r "${CURRENTCONFIG_DEVICE_DIR}${PUBLIC_HEADERS_FOLDER_PATH}"* "${CREATING_UNIVERSAL_DIR}${PUBLIC_HEADERS_FOLDER_PATH}"
fi
fi

Full usage + install instructions + discussion on StackOverflow:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3520977/build-fat-static-library-device-simulator-using-xcode-and-sdk-4

Hi!

I have an updated version that checks the build settings for the location of the public headers. If you want you could merge changes in https://gist.github.com/3864958

Cheers!
/Frederik

@adamgit have you considered converting this to a proper git repo, to benefit from add'l collaboration features such as pull requests?

PLEASE NOTE:

Github DOES NOT SEND NOTIFICATIONS when you comment here. I have to manually come to gist - not even the ghithub main site! - to "discover" you have commented.

PLEASE DO NOT COMMENT HERE unless you are willing to wait 6-12 months for a reply.

@theDukeW - nice changes, I'll merge them and add to StackOverflow page.

@wookiee - it's tricky ... gist is designed for this use-case, but the folks at github are taking their sweet time adding the core features that we reasonably expect. The problem with a full repository is that it makes it significantly harder for casual visitors to simply "click, select, copy, paste" - and I know that many of the people using this today like it specifically because its so effortless to setup.

Obviously, if you feel there's value in a git repo, you're free to make one, but I keep hoping Apple will Just Fix The Damn Bug already, and soon we can all stop using it :)

Here is a two line change that doesn't delete the output directory but does delete the .a files. This change is very useful when building several libraries at once. Replace the mkdir and rm -rf lines for the universal dir.

[ -d "${CREATING_UNIVERSAL_DIR}" ] || mkdir "${CREATING_UNIVERSAL_DIR}"
[ ! -f "${CREATING_UNIVERSAL_DIR}/${EXECUTABLE_NAME}" ] || rm "${CREATING_UNIVERSAL_DIR}/${EXECUTABLE_NAME}"

please, see my variant of this script in Perl:
https://gist.github.com/lolgear/5750010 ;)

Thank you for writing this. It's worked out perfectly :)

My usage of this script seems to rely on my project having Build Active Architecture Only set to No. Conceptually I see why but Xcode seems to hate you having that setting to anything other than Yes, warning me incessantly. Is there a way to modify this script to override that setting?

Update
I just realized one solution - since the default is to use Release mode for command one builds, I'm simply executing this script (which is wrapped in a Target w/ other dependencies) from the command line.

I had a problem with building the fatlib with iphoneos10.0 because the regular expression in the script only expects 9.x and lower and returns 0.0 for ios 10.0

to fix this just replace

SDK_VERSION=$(echo ${SDK_NAME} | grep -o '.{3}$')
with

SDK_VERSION=$(echo ${SDK_NAME} | grep -o '[.0-9]{3,4}$')

@WagawinBB - updated with corrected grep that should work with all versions of iphoneos - we went through a couple of attempts, but latest is working for me and seems to work for others who had funky setups too.

Xcode 12 also requires passing the architecture to xcodebuild using the -arch param. Here’s a fork that does this:
https://gist.github.com/ShaoJenChen/8ae9728939061ed4a3d4a63d01f7d404