Xcode Bug Creating Bitbucket Repositories
March 10th, 2019
Filed under: Version Control, Xcode | Be the first to comment!
Xcode 10 has bug/limitation in creating Bitbucket repositories for your projects. If the name of the repository has uppercase letters, such as MyProject, an alert pops up when you create the repository with the helpful message An unknown error occurred.
The workaround is to use all lowercase letters in the repository name, such as myproject.
Xcode Bug Creating Bitbucket Repositories
March 10th, 2019
Filed under: Version Control, Xcode | Be the first to comment!
Xcode 10 has bug/limitation in creating Bitbucket repositories for your projects. If the name of the repository has uppercase letters, such as MyProject, an alert pops up when you create the repository with the helpful message An unknown error occurred.
The workaround is to use all lowercase letters in the repository name, such as myproject.
Xcode 10: Create Global Git Ignore File
January 7th, 2019
Filed under: Version Control, Xcode | Be the first to comment!
Xcode 10 lets you create a global .gitignore file so you don’t have to create a .gitignore file for each project you create. Go to Xcode’s Source Control Preferences and click the Git button in the preferences window.
You most likely have an empty list of ignored files. Click the Add button to add files to ignore. Adding files to ignore from Xcode is a little tedious. You have to add one file at a time. But you only have to enter them once.
If you need to know what files to ignore, read the Generating a Git Ignore File section in the following article:
Telling Git to Ignore Files in Xcode Projects
Using a Ruby Gem in a Mac App
January 6th, 2019
Filed under: Mac Development | Be the first to comment!
I wanted to run a Ruby tool (packaged as a gem) in a Mac app, but I didn’t want people to have to install the Ruby gem to run my app. I knew I wanted to bundle the gem in my app bundle, but I wasn’t sure how to do so. I finally figured it out so I am sharing what I learned with you. There are five main steps to bundling a Ruby gem in a Mac app and running the gem.
- Install the gems on your Mac
- Add a Copy Files build phase
- Find the gems folder in the app bundle
- Configure the command to run the gem
- Run the gem in your app
Step 1: Install the Gems on Your Mac
Before you can copy Ruby gems to your app bundle, you must install them on your Mac. The standard gem install command installs the gem in a location that’s difficult to find. What you should do is install the gems you want to use in a folder you can find easily, such as a gems folder inside your project folder.
To install the gems into a custom location, use the -i option and supply the path to the destination folder.
gem install -i /path/to/gem/folder gemName
Step 2: Add a Copy Files Build Phase
You must add a Copy Files build phase to your app target that copies the Ruby gem to the app bundle when building the project. Select your project from the project navigator to open the project editor. Select your target from the project editor. Click the Build Phases button at the top of the project editor.
In Xcode choose Editor > Add Build Phase > Add Copy Files Build Phase.
Use the Destination menu to specify where in the app bundle to copy the files. I chose the Resources folder.
If you want to copy the files into a subfolder, enter the name of the folder in the Subpath text field.
Click the Add button to add the gems to the Copy Files build phase. A sheet will open. Click the Add Other button. Navigate to your gem folder location and select the gem folder containing the gems you want to add.
Step 3: Find the gems Folder in the App Bundle
The next step is to locate your gems folder in the app bundle so you can run the gem and set up environment variables to run the gem. You are going to use the Bundle class. The Bundle class has accessors to get to standard parts of the bundle, such as the Resources folder.
Once you get to a standard location in the bundle, you must build a path to the folder containing your gems. The following code locates a gems folder inside the Resources folder:
if let resourceDirectory = Bundle.main.resourceURL {
let pathString = resourceDirectory.path + "/gems"
return URL(fileURLWithPath: pathString)
}
The folder containing the gems should have a bin folder containing the executable files. You would build a path to the executable file and use that path as the first argument when running the gem.
Step 4: Configure the Command to Run the Gem
Before you can run the gem, you must configure the command to call it. Use the Process class, formerly called NSTask, to run a command-line program, such as a gem.
Start by creating a Process object.
let taskToRun = Process()
You must set up the following items:
- The launch path
- Environment variables
- The arguments to pass
Use the launchPath property to set the launch path. For Ruby gems the launch path is the path to the Ruby interpreter.
taskToRun.launchPath = "/usr/bin/ruby"
Use the environment property to set environment variables. An environment variable is a dictionary. For Ruby gems the environment variable key is GEM_HOME and its value is the path to your gems folder.
taskToRun.environment = ["GEM_HOME" : gemsPath]
Use the arguments property to pass arguments to the gem. The arguments property is an array of strings. The first argument is the path to the executable file of the gem you want to run. Add any arguments the gem requires.
When supplying options as arguments, make sure you have separate entries for the option and its value. Suppose your gem has a -o option followed by the name of an output file. The -o is one entry. The name of the output file is a separate entry.
let argumentList = [gemExecutablePath, inputURL.path, "-o", outputURL.path]
taskToRun.arguments = argumentList
Step 5: Run the Gem
The final step is to run the gem. On macOS 10.13 and later, call the run function to run the task you configured.
do {
try taskToRun.run()
} catch {
fatalError("Error running command line tool.")
}
On earlier versions of macOS, call the launch function to run the task.
taskToRun.launch()
Xcode 10: Subversion Support Removed
December 9th, 2018
Filed under: Version Control, Xcode | Be the first to comment!
Xcode 10 removes support for Subversion. If you want to continue to use Subversion with Xcode, stick with Xcode 9. Alternatively, you can switch to git or use another tool for Subversion.
Making iOS Document-Based Apps
November 12th, 2018
Filed under: iOS Development | Be the first to comment!
I have a two-part tutorial on making document-based iOS apps over at Swift Dev Journal.
Xcode 10: Running Tests in Random Order
November 6th, 2018
Filed under: Xcode | Be the first to comment!
In Xcode 10 you can tell Xcode to run your tests in random order. Open the scheme editor for your project and select the Test step.
Click the Options button next to the test target to open a popover. Select the Randomize execution order checkbox to run your tests in random order.
Xcode 10: Clean Build Folder
October 29th, 2018
Filed under: Xcode | Be the first to comment!
In Xcode 10 you no longer need to hold down the Option key to clean the build folder. You can just choose Product > Clean Build Folder.
Xcode 10: Clean Build Folder
October 29th, 2018
Filed under: Xcode | Be the first to comment!
In Xcode 10 you no longer need to hold down the Option key to clean the build folder. You can just choose Product > Clean Build Folder.
Imported and Exported UTIs
October 24th, 2018
Filed under: iOS Development, Mac Development, Xcode | Be the first to comment!
If you create a document-based app project in Xcode, select the app target in the project editor, and click the Info button, you will see sections for imported and exported UTIs. If you have any of the following questions:
- What is a UTI?
- When would I use an imported UTI?
- When would I use an exported UTI?
Keep reading because this articles answers those questions.
What is a UTI?
A UTI is a Uniform Type Identifier that uniquely identifies a file type. Apple has a list of system-declared UTIs, but it’s not being actively maintained. For example a plain text file has the UTI public.plain-text. Most common file types have public at the start of their UTIs.
If you create a new file type, you must create a UTI for it. The UTI should take the form com.CompanyName.FileType.
When to Use an Imported UTI
Use imported UTIs when your app edits file types that it doesn’t own. Suppose you’re developing an image editor. Your image editor edits image files in multiple file formats, such as PNG, JPEG, and TIFF. You would add an imported UTI for each file type the image editor can edit.
When to Use an Exported UTI
Use an exported UTI for any file types your app owns. When you create a new file type for your app’s documents, your app owns that file type, and you should create an exported UTI for the file type. The exported UTI lets the operating system and other apps know about the new file type.