xcodebuild - how to define preprocessor macro?

Question

How can I define a preprocessor macro when using xcodebuild?

I need to build my app using a bunch of different configurations, and I would like to do this using a shell script which runs xcodebuild a number of times with different preprocessor macros.

Does this answer your question? Setting a #define from the command line in xcode 4.6 — Eric
– Eric, Commented Nov 30, 2021 at 15:17

lhunath · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-25 20:26:13Z

38

You pass GCC_PREPROCESSOR_DEFINITIONS on the xcodebuild command line.

Remember that the argument will be re-evaluated for shell-like word splitting and quote handling, so you need to be careful, especially when your macro values aren't just simple 1s (eg. NSString literals).

Also important is to expand the GCC_PREPROCESSOR_DEFINITIONS inside the value you set (single-quoted, so your script doesn't expand it but the build's shell expands it), otherwise you'll lose your project's build settings for this property.

The following code puts your defines in a nice bash array and then expands the array in the xcodebuild command line in a way that shell stuff gets nicely escaped:

defines=( TESTING=1 'IWISH_HOST=@"http://192.168.0.101:8080"' )

xcodebuild -verbose -scheme "MyAppScheme" \
    GCC_PREPROCESSOR_DEFINITIONS='$GCC_PREPROCESSOR_DEFINITIONS '"$(printf '%q ' "${defines[@]}")"

answered Nov 25, 2012 at 20:26

lhunath

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6 Comments

karim Over a year ago

Can you tell me, is it obligatory to give a value, TESTING=1 or not? Is there something equivalent to #define TESTING ?

karim Over a year ago

Ok, I have to use double quote and remove the $value. I had, GCC_PREPROCESSOR_DEFINITIONS='$value ${e}', which did not work, but GCC_PREPROCESSOR_DEFINITIONS="${e}" works.

lhunath Over a year ago

@karim I don't know what $e is but I get the feeling you've completely missed the point of this answer. Also, the defines array is where you put your own custom defines. The one above is just an example. In all likelihood your array will look entirely different.

karim Over a year ago

$e contains a value from an array. My 2nd comment is an answer to my first comment. :)

Goffredo Over a year ago

Here is a concrete example that works with XCode 5.1, in case it helps anyone. In the source code, you would have: #ifdef COOL_FEATURE_ENABLED NSLog(@"Cool feature enabled in this build."); #endif. For the command-line build, you would have:

xcodebuild -verbose -scheme "MyAppScheme" GCC_PREPROCESSOR_DEFINITIONS='$GCC_PREPROCESSOR_DEFINITIONS COOL_FEATURE_ENABLED=1'

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kennytm · Accepted Answer · 2010-04-25 15:00:54Z

19

Cmd + I on the project to open the Info dialog. Then in the "Build" tab, find the "Preprocessor Macros" setting. ~~Add the macros there.~~

... Where you can find the setting name is GCC_PREPROCESSOR_DEFINITIONS, so you could add

GCC_PREPROCESSOR_DEFINITIONS="foo=bar"

to the xcodebuild arguments.

edited Apr 25, 2010 at 15:00

answered Apr 25, 2010 at 13:42

kennytm

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3 Comments

nall Over a year ago

I believe what KennyTM says will work fine in xcodebuild once it's setup (using the GUI).

Jaka Jančar Over a year ago

I was looking at xcodebuild's options/flags, didn't even notice that setting settings was part of the basic usage syntax. Thanks.

Mick F Over a year ago

what is the separator when you wish to use multiple definitions?

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