Using xctool (with examples)

Building a single project without any workspace

Use case:

You have a single Xcode project and you want to build it without the need for a workspace.

Code:

xctool -project YourProject.xcodeproj -scheme YourScheme build

Motivation:

In Xcode, projects can contain multiple schemes that define different build configurations, such as Debug and Release. By specifying the project and scheme, xctool allows you to build a specific target within the project. This is useful when you only want to build a single project without the overhead of creating a workspace.

Explanation:

• -project YourProject.xcodeproj: Specifies the path to your Xcode project file. Replace YourProject.xcodeproj with the actual file name.
• -scheme YourScheme: Specifies the scheme to use for the build. Replace YourScheme with the actual scheme name.

Example output:

=== BUILD TARGET YourTarget OF PROJECT YourProject WITH SCHEME YourScheme ===
...
** BUILD SUCCEEDED **

Building a project that is part of a workspace

Use case:

You have a workspace that contains multiple projects, and you want to build a specific project within the workspace.

Code:

xctool -workspace YourWorkspace.xcworkspace -scheme YourScheme build

Motivation:

Xcode workspaces provide a way to organize multiple projects and share resources between them. By using xctool with a workspace, you can specify the project and scheme to build a specific target within the workspace.

Explanation:

• -workspace YourWorkspace.xcworkspace: Specifies the path to your Xcode workspace file. Replace YourWorkspace.xcworkspace with the actual file name.
• -scheme YourScheme: Specifies the scheme to use for the build. Replace YourScheme with the actual scheme name.

Example output:

=== BUILD TARGET YourTarget OF PROJECT YourProject WITH SCHEME YourScheme ===
...
** BUILD SUCCEEDED **

Clean, build and execute all the tests

Use case:

You want to perform a clean build and execute all the tests for your project.

Code:

xctool -workspace YourWorkspace.xcworkspace -scheme YourScheme clean build test

Motivation:

Performing a clean build ensures that all files are rebuilt from scratch, which helps to eliminate any potential build issues caused by cached files or outdated dependencies. By using xctool with the clean, build, and test arguments, you can perform a clean build and execute all the tests for your project in a single command.

Explanation:

• -clean: Instructs xctool to perform a clean build, removing any intermediate build artifacts.
• -build: Instructs xctool to build the project.
• -test: Instructs xctool to execute all the tests within the specified scheme.

Example output:

=== CLEAN TARGET YourTarget OF PROJECT YourProject WITH SCHEME YourScheme ===
...
** CLEAN SUCCEEDED **

=== BUILD TARGET YourTarget OF PROJECT YourProject WITH SCHEME YourScheme ===
...
** BUILD SUCCEEDED **

=== TEST TARGET YourTestTarget OF PROJECT YourProject WITH SCHEME YourScheme ===
...
** TEST SUCCEEDED **