The xcodebuild command is a powerful command-line tool for building Xcode projects and workspaces. It allows developers to automate the build process for iOS, macOS, and tvOS applications, making it an essential utility for continuous integration and automated testing workflows.

Build Xcode Projects

This section demonstrates how to use xcodebuild to compile your Xcode projects. You can specify the target, configuration, and output directory for your builds.

# Build project:
xcodebuild -target target_name -configuration configuration_name clean build SYMROOT=SYMROOT_path

Build Xcode Workspaces

For projects that use CocoaPods or other dependency managers that create workspaces, xcodebuild can build them directly. This is crucial for managing complex project structures.

# Build workspace:
xcodebuild -workspace workspace_name.workspace -scheme scheme_name -configuration configuration_name clean build SYMROOT=SYMROOT_path

Show Available SDKs

Understanding the available Software Development Kits (SDKs) is vital for targeting specific platforms and versions. The -showsdks option lists all SDKs recognized by Xcode.

# Show SDKs:
xcodebuild -showsdks

Key Arguments Explained

• -workspace <workspace>: Specifies the workspace file to use.
• -scheme <scheme>: Specifies the scheme to build.
• -target <target>: Specifies the target to build.
• -configuration <configuration>: Specifies the build configuration (e.g., Debug, Release).
• clean: Cleans the build folder before building.
• build: Performs the build action.
• SYMROOT=<path>: Sets the root directory for build products.
• -showsdks: Lists all available SDKs.

Further Resources

• Xcode Build Documentation - Official Apple developer documentation for xcodebuild.
• Stack Overflow: xcodebuild - Community discussions and solutions related to xcodebuild.