Is there a way to make xcode use real folder hierarchies in the Project Navigator?
I'm finding these pseudo folders somewhat annoying because they do not reflect the project on disk.
Or at least have the xcode-made-folders a different color than the real folders?
Thanks.
Not really, although they are colored differently.
You have groups (yellow) -- which can refer to a directory, but does not update automatically to reflect what's on disk. Groups can also represent a group which has no relation to a directory or the structure of its contents.
You also have a reference (blue). This updates automatically, but its contents are not first class project items.
Personally, I just structure projects such that they can be (re)constructed from an on-disk representation easily (e.g. drop the folder), or in another IDE. Quite often, details which could (unnecessarily) be defined in Xcode are moved outside of the xcodeproject. Synchronizing the representation in the Project Navigator is about as easy as drag and drop once you work out how to structure the program/sources/targets.
Edit: I am referring to the Project Navigator. Whether what you refer to as the "project organizer" means the Project Navigator or some part of the Organizer, I am not sure.
Making a folder structure mimic your Project Navigator group structure:
For this procedure, as always, make a backup of your whole project folder before doing this (a zipped Archive in Finder does nicely).
What you want is easy to set up for new files added to or created by the project, but it can be a mess if you already have a lot of files in the groups you want, but not in the disk folders you want.
If you hilite a group in Project Navigator, move your attention over to Utilities pane > File Inspector > Identity. The key area is dealing with Paths. The popup will give you various relative paths to the default location of the group's files, and Full Path will always give you just that. In a fresh project you'll find that any groups created all have the same location assigned.
Now the key here is the little window icon button just under the popup (to the very right). If you click that you can choose a (folder) location for files in that group. If you already have files in that group they will not be moved to the new location, but will instead turn red in Project Navigator because the files on disk are not in the newly assigned path for the group, but moving them into the folder you just set up for the group should fix you back up.
(Tip: The little arrow button is a shortcut to "Reveal in Finder")
Now, when you make a "New File...", after selecting what type of file you want (Next), then configure whatever setting apply for that type (Next), you're presented with a sheet asking where to place the new file(s). If you have that group selected in Project Navigator before you begin this process, it will already be selected as the item in the "Group" popup at the bottom of the sheet, and the folder associated with that group will be selected in the file browser. If you decide you want it in a different group (I do that all the time because I won't have the proper group selected in Project Navigator before I get to this point), just change it in the Group popup at the bottom and the file browser will change to the folder associated for the group you just selected.
If you later make a sub-group of a group in Project Navigator, it will default to the path of the parent group. If a sub-group already exists when you set the path of the parent group, the paths for any existing sub-groups will not move with the parent.
Avoid duplicate files: If you want to move existing files into another group (that already has a path assigned to it) and also move the files into the group's folder on disk, you have a choice at this point. You can go ahead and delete them from Project Navigator, making sure you only delete the reference to them and move on to the next step, or as an option, you can actually move them in Project Navigator to the group you want them in (this doesn't change disk location of the files -- the folder associated with the group only applies to new files for the group) and use them as a guide for what still needs to be dragged in from the Finder. This can come in handy if you are going to be moving a lot of existing files around, as you'll see in a moment.
Now, in Finder, manually move some files into the folder that they should end up in (the folder associated with the new group). If you moved them over in Project Navigator (instead of removing them), they will turn red because the actual files are not at the place they were, but this can be a guide (especially if you're moving a lot of files around) for what still needs to be set properly.
Now, you can drag and drop them from Finder onto the group that's associated with the folder where you put the files. In the dialog that comes up, it doesn't matter if the checkbox is checked or not for copy (if necessary), since they are already in place, but it IS important to make sure you have the "Add to targets" checkbox(es) checked.
If you deleted the files (remove reference only) from the old group you can go into the old group's folder in Finder and drag the files from there to the new group in Project Navigator, you will need to make sure Copy if necessary is checked, but this is where end up with duplicate files on disk… In both the old group's folder and the new group's folder. This is why you want to move them to the new location first in Finder before dragging them into the new group in Project Navigator.
If you left the red files in Project Navigator sitting in the proper group, after you add the same files onto the group (copy to group not necessary since they're already in the proper location) you will end up with new (black) references to the files as well as red broken references to the same files. At this point you can just delete the red files from the group without being asked if you want to delete the files or just the reference. Leaving the red files in the new group until you have the proper (black) files showing up alongside them in Project Navigator can help to make sure that you get all of your files back into the Project Navigator.
If you're only shuffling around a couple/few files, then once you have the files moved in both the Project Navigator and in Finder to the proper locations, you can select each red reference in Project Navigator and choose the path for that particular file (in the same manner as you assigned a folder to a group). But, if you're moving around a bunch of files, this can take a long time (you can only assign one at a time), so it's better to just drop them in from Finder.
One more gotcha to look out for… It's best to just leave everything alone that sits in the "Supporting Files" group, as well as MainMenu.xib, since these are all expected to be in specific locations according to the Build Settings.
Remember: Always make sure you have a backup first (things can get out of hand if you are shuffling a LOT of files around)... Just having a snapshot probably won't help since reverting to a snapshot won't move your files on disk back to where the originally were.
Related
When I go to create a new objective-C class in Xcode I first select which group I want it to be in. So for example, I'm in mainViewController/detail/cells/ (meaning I have that highlighted in the project navigator). I create the class and choose the right folder in my directory to add it when Xcode prompts me. When I hit OK the files (.h,.m) appear at the top of the project navigator outside of the blue project folder. Than I have to move them to the group I intended them to be in and the dialog prompt pops up asking me whether I want to copy them. I choose no as the files already exist in my folder. This makes the files red (missing reference) and I have to point them back to the files in the folder. The net result of this is that my class files get screwed up somehow and nothing autocompletes. What is going on here?
When I started my project I was happy to use Groups in Xcode rather than literal folders: Since I'm using the browser in Xcode to access everything, stuff was nicely organized and I was happy.
However, now that the project is about to be shared for version control, the project folder itself is a horror show for those trying to scan it via a terminal, about 300 files, over half of which are graphics.
I'm trying to now reorganize things, creating real folders and importing them into Xcode. Unfortunately Xcode doesn't let me work with them the way it does with groups. For example, if I right-click on an actual added folder (blue, not yellow) and choose to add existing files, it doesn't actually put them in that folder, it puts them in its root.
Similarly, I can't move a file from a faux-folder (a group) into a real folder: Xcode doesn't consider the real folders to be valid places to move stuff to.
What am I missing? How can I convince Xcode to let me use the folders the way I use groups? There's an answer here to a somewhat similar question, but it doesn't actually solve my problem since I'm working with existing files.
A modern (and dead simple!) approach for 2017 (Xcode 6, 7, 8, and sometimes 9, since it does it automagically some of the time):
If you're moving a bunch of files into a new folder and are keeping the child hierarchy, it's actually a lot easier than moving each file individually:
Create new groups in the Xcode folder tree and organize your files into them however you like.
Create a matching physical folder tree in Finder and organize your physical files into them to match what you did in step 1.
All the references in Xcode should now be red (that's OK!).
From the Identity and Type manager, select the Group in Xcode that you want to relocate, then click the folder icon from the info pane:
In the Finder selection dialog, locate the equivalent new folder you created for this group in step 2. All the files inside that group will now be automagically rediscovered!
Isn't that nice? At most you'll have to repeat these 5 steps once for each new group you've created (which beats relocating each file individually!)
Bonus Points!
Say you accidentally screwed up the move and now a bunch of your files are red and can't be found: select multiple files that are broken, and using the same folder icon in the screenshot from step 4, find the correct folder that contains these files and they'll automatically resolve the missing paths.
FURTHER EDITED JUNE 2017: Xcode 9 does this automatically, no special effort required. This answer and Brandon's only apply to Xcode 8 and earlier.
EDITED DECEMBER 2016: Brandon's answer below is a better solution now. Back when this answer was created in 2010 this was the only option I could find. I now suggest Brandon's answer, below.
It turns out that moving files into real folders is certainly possible, though not as simple as it should be.
I got the basic information from a question here, Xcode organising files and folders (core data model objects - iPhone), but learned important things along the way.
##The Process
Moving the files is a two-step process with multiple sub-steps:
Tell Xcode where you want the files to be:
Right/Control-click on the file or file group that you'd like to move and choose Get Info from the contextual menu that appears. The Group Info or File Info window appears.
Click the Choose button on the far right side of the window in the Path area. A dialog box appears.
Navigate to the folder you want the files to be moved to. Create a New Folder if needed. Click the Choose button in the bottom-right corner of the dialog box, then close the Group Info/File Info window.
The names of the file/files in the group will turn red to indicate that Xcode can't find them in the place you specified.
Move the actual files
In the Finder (or Git) move the files you selected in step 1 into the actual folders you want them in.
Switch back to Xcode. The files/groups should all have turned black again. If any are still red then you've missed moving something to the right folder.
##Tips
I learned a couple of important things while adjusting the ~300 files in this project:
Some files refuse to move this way; that is, when you navigate to the new destination the Choose button is disabled, as is the New Folder button. The solution, though I don't know why it makes a difference, is to first use Xcode to put those files in a Group (right/control-click the files and choose Group, and give the group a name) and then move the group to the new location. After you're actually moved the files in the Finder you can remove them from the group (by dragging them into the new parent group/folder and deleting the group).
Stop and build every few minutes, after completing step 2 for a number of files. The build will tell you if you've screwed anything up so far, making it easier to go back and fix it before you've done too much damage.
If the files won't move to where you want them to — I had a devil of a time moving some files that had been created early-on in the Classes folder — you can simply drag them out of their old place in the finder to someplace handy like the desktop, delete references to them in Xcode, and then re-import them via the right/control-click Add Existing Files option.
If in the past you've used Xcode to delete references to files without also moving them to the trash in this project, you'll find files that don't have to be moved but at just sitting there. Be careful that you don't do what I did, confusing the names of a current group of files I was moving and the older, no-longer-linked files, insisting that Xcode import them because you thought it was being dense.
In Xcode 5 or Xcode 6:
Create the folders that map to your Groups in Finder
Move the files into those folders in Finder
Select each file that is red in the Xcode sidebar on the left
Click the button "Show/Hide Utilities" to reveal the right sidebar (see figure)
In "Identity and Type", click the tiny button and select the file location (see figure)
Cheers.
I've found the most reliable way to work around XCode's appalling design here is to organize ALL your files in Finder, for two reasons:
Finder doesn't make "mistakes", unlike XCode's GUI
Once things are organized in Finder, you can drag/drop entire Finder folders into XCode, and ... it does exactly what you wanted, with no effort
Even when moving existing XCode files around, it is quicker to do this:
Select the files in Finder
Create a folder in Finder for them
Drag/drop them to the folder (automatically Moves them)
Drag/drop the Finder folder into Xcode (automatically: creates the Xcode folder, adds every file in the Finder folder)
cmd-select every "red" file you now see in Xcode (because you moved them) and hit the delete key
NB: I never use the "create dragged folders with sub-groups" option, because in XCode 3 that was often hopelessly buggy and could corrupt projects. Apple clearly (IMHO) does NOT use this feature internally, otherwise it would never have been allowed to be so buggy; if Apple doesn't use a thing, it's generally not safe to use it either - they aren't good at testing :)
There is a simple to setup and use Command Line Tool - "synx"
available in github that do exactly what is needed here.
It reorganizes Xcode project folder in finder to match Xcode groups in project.
You can find it here:
https://github.com/venmo/synx
UPDATE:
XCode 9 supports this feature by default. So, no need to use other tools anymore!
Xcode 9
It seems Xcode 9 now supports it by default. When you move files from a group to another, the file will also be moved from the old folder to the new folder. This was announced in WWDC 2017.
I used the following tool to achieve it.Organize Folders in Groups Xcode
--no-default-exclusions
I'm usually move files to the directory directly in the Finder, then fix the files with red-color names in XCode in their "Get Info" dialog: click the "Choose..." button and select file's new locatoin. That's the first response when I want to move files in XCode, and it works.
As of Xcode 4.5 when you drag in a folder structure it is automatically turned into nested groups in the Project Navigator. Then, if you look on disk (e.g. right click and choose Show in Finder), the folder structure has been retained.
I found trying to fix things from an older project was just a pain. It turned out much easier to just delete these files and drag them in again.
To move a folder in xcode 4.5 I just...
Delete the files/groups from xcode and select "Remove Reference".
Go into finder and move the folder/files as needed.
Once done I go back into Xcode and choose File->Add Files to {ProjectName}.
Make sure "Copy Items into Destination Group's folder (If needed)" is checked
Make sure "Create Group for any added folder" is checked
Make sure "Add to Target" is checked for your project
Easiest technique for XCode 8....
Assuming you have files A,B,C in a logical group, but want them moved into a folder on your hard drive.
Create a destination folder via Finder
Add the folder in XCode (File -> Add Files ) using the Options pane to select a Folder Reference (not a group)
Drag files A,B,C from the (old) group to the (new) folder reference in the project navigator. XCode will move the files into the folder, both in the the project, and on disk.
Done.
On XCode 11 (I just validated this on XCode 11.6), you can select the files you would like to move under the project navigator, right click on the selected files, and click "New Group From Selection". This will create a folder on disk and move the files appropriately.
I zipped up my project folder in xcode and moved it to a new computer. When I open up the project it has missing files (file appears red).
How can I add all these files back or re-link them. It is like 20+ files?
Why didnt xcode store the relative path?
Xcode may not update location for some files of your project when you copy/move it from one environment to another. The easiest way I found is something like this:
1-Select your files like this, if they are in different groups, then repeat the flow on each group separately:
2- Show the file inspector:
3- You may notice Xcode has an absolute path for them, which is something not useful, so click on the little icon near Multiple Values. navigate to the folder where your selected files are stored in the finder and click "Choose".
Also, don't forget to change the Location to Relative to Project. Now you will get something like this:
• Select all the missing files that are in one folder in Finder.
• Change Location to Relative to Group ( that's in the File Inspector View -> Utilities -> Show File Inspector )
• Click the choose file button; it is under the Location drop down menu; it is an image that looks like a very small window with a document inside it.
A Choose folder containing the selected references sheet should appear.
• find and select the folder containing the missing files in the finder, then click Choose
(Tested in In xCode v4.3.2)
I normally keep all my files related to the project inside one folder (nested where necessary) and yeah I frequently exchange project files (zip and move) with my peers and nothing like that has ever happened to me.
You can always just drag the files en masse back onto the XCode window, and they'll get re-added. If you have file-system folders that match your Xcode internal organization that makes it even easier.
The UI has changed. In Xcode 10, there's a tiny dot with an arrow in it next to the file path. This does nothing as far as I can tell.
There's an obscure folder icon offset up and to the right of that non-functional arrow... this actually is a button, and it DOES allow you to relink the file.
I'm trying to wrap my head around Xcode's file organization - or lack there of. I can do all I want in project and it looks great with all the "fake" folders and structure. I go look at the file system and boom HUGE mess. I've tried importing files with the Create Folder Reference for any added folder option checked and that works, kinda. I get the structure I want both in Xcode and on the filesystem.
Issues: When I add a file to a folder on the filesystem that is a Folder Reference in Xcode, its not in Xcode when I go look, not even after reloading the project. Files/Subfolders in a Folder Reference can't be moved around in Xcode. When I move them on the filesystem I get red links (can't find the file?) in Xcode.
How do I keep a organized project and filesystem? How can I set up a project to just recognize a folder and show its (current and up-to-date) files and subfolders in my project?
Another issue I seem to run into, if I use a Folder Reference and change a file, the file is not updated in my application unless I do a full clean & rebuild. If I don't use a Folder Reference, all my files are dumped into the Resource folder of the application bundle, not in the nice structure I have in my project.
Should I care at all? Should I just use the fake folders and let everything go everywhere and not care? My application bundle will be a mess, the filesystem will be a mess, but it will all work... I would hope?
Edit:
My biggest reason for wanting an organized filesystem is that the resource files (images, sounds, other datafiles, etc.) are not edited in Xcode. I have to access them in 3rd party apps via the filesystem. If its a mess things are harder to find and maintain in the other 3rd party applications.
Also what happens if I want a structure like the following:
Images/Backgrounds/Name.png
Images/Icons/Name.png
Images/Titles/Name.png
Should I use long filenames rather than folders to organize?
Images_Backgrounds_Name.png
Images_Icons_Name.png
Images_Titles_Name.png
I also wish Xcode automatically kept itself and the file system in sync.
So much so, that I spent an hour doing so manually for a project called acani-iphone on GitHub. Basically, I just moved some of the files around using Finder, creating new folders as I pleased. Then, I switched back to Xcode and saw that the files I just moved were now red (because Xcode was thinking they're where I moved them from and so couldn't find them).
UPDATE: I just figured out that I could've then just clicked on the red group or file, pressed CMD+i (Get Info from the context menu, which you can open by right-clicking on the red file or group), and under the General tab, clicked Choose, then found where I moved the file to in the filesystem. But, I didn't do that, here's what I did instead, which also works:
Then, I just highlighted all the red files in Xcode and pressed command + delete to delete the broken (red) references. Then, I right-clicked on the Group I wanted to add the files to (usually the same group), and clicked Add > Existing Files.... Then, I found the same files in the new spot on the file system. I kept "Copy items into destination group's folder (if needed)" unchecked, I checked the radio button "Recursively create groups for any added folders," and I checked add to target acani if the files I was adding were being used to build the acani iPhone app.
I did the above with like a directory of files at a time. A few times I was more aggressive, adding multiple directories at a time, since I almost always selected the radio button "Recursively create groups for any added folders."
I found out that the files acani_Prefix.pch and acani-Info.plist had to stay in the root file system dir (although there may be settings you can set to allow these files to be elsewhere, like I think you can add a line to acani-Info.plist so that you can move/rename acani_Prefix.pch, but I'm fine with them in the root dir on the file system.
That was annoying to do, and perhaps not even worth the trouble, perhaps procrastination, but going forward, before adding existing files to Xcode, I'll first make sure they're in the place I want them to be on the file system.
OK, so here is how it works:
Xcode doesn't know about any files until you tell it about them. That is, even if you add a file manually in the finder (usually a bad idea) to a folder that contains files in an Xcode project, it doesn't know about them until you "add existing file to project".
The best practice (imo) for adding an existing file (or group of files) to a project (say, some code you just downloaded) is to choose "add existing files" and then "copy items to destination group's folder (if needed)" in the next dialog, if you want your project to have a copy of the files in question, rather than merely a reference to them (there are advantages and disadvantages of both).
Don't worry too much about the naming of folders in Xcode, or where you put things, but try to keep to a standard that makes sense in your environment. For example, I always put the classes I write in "Classes", and have separate folders for any library code i've downloaded for use in the project. I always put images/icons/audio etc in to "Resources".
In short, if you like what's in the project folder to be approximately the same as what's in your project, always add existing files by choosing the "copy items to destination group's folder"
The flexibility in XCode is intentional. It's up to you to decide how you like to organise things.
Should I care at all? Should I just use the fake folders and let
everything go everywhere and not care? My application bundle will be a
mess, the filesystem will be a mess, but it will all work... I would
hope?
IMO no... :) basically. The whole point is that XCode has been designed to give you the best experience of programming. If Apple wanted you to physically organise all your files and folders within the actual filesystem then they would have made it that way.
I don't really understand why you would want to organise all the files and folders in this way anyway? It makes no difference to the running of the application and the "fake" folders (groups) in XCode adequately provide the necessary visual aid for yourself (and others) to navigate through your classes and other resources. Organising it correctly in your filesystem (as you have found) surely just makes things more difficult?
Use Synx.
It rearranges your files on disk to match your Xcode groups. I try to run it before committing any code that changes the Xcode groups, and it keeps the project nice and tidy.
It would be great if Xcode could keep itself and the file system in sync. Unfortunately it doesn't. One reason for wanting it to is so the hierarchy in your SCCS matches the one in Xcode.
I fall back to keeping things organized in Xcode, and leaving the file system separated into not much more than "Classes" and "Resources".
This changed with Xcode 9. From the release notes:
Groups in the Project Navigator are now more closely associated with
directories in the file system. (28612132)
Dragging files between groups in the Project Navigator moves the files in the filesystem and updates any associated SCM working copies.
When a group is connected to folder in the filesystem, creating, renaming, and deleting groups updates the corresponding files and
folders in the the filesystem.
To remove a connection between a group and a folder in the filesystem, select the group, and then open the File inspector and
click on the on the Clear path button (X).
To add or update an association from a file or a folder in the filesystem to a file or a group in the project, select the file or
group, open the File inspector, and drag the corresponding file or
folder onto the Location section in the File inspector.
The new behaviour is available from the 'New Group with Folder' command (which may appear as just 'New Group'), while the old behaviour is available from the 'New Group without Folder' command (which may also appear as just 'New Group'!) The dominant usage amongst any existing groups in the target folder seems to determine which command gets labelled 'New Group'. It's more than a little confusing, but if you are in the habit of choosing one or the other, the idea seems to be that you can just stick with the default 'New Group' command. (See rob mayoff's far more thorough explanation.)
What I do is create a group to represent each folder and then, before adding files to it, in the right panel, first tab, immediately below "Path", there is an icon that allows you to choose the folder. In that folder dialog, I create a folder that matches the group and choose it.
In xcode3, this resulted in new and add files dialogs starting in this path. That made it worth the effort. Xcode4, however, does not respect this setting. Therefore, its questionable whether there is any real value in it. I also wish XCOde would support better file system organization.
Considering that file names must be unique within a project, regardless of groups and folders, there is justification for accepting the flat folder structure default and using groups for IDE convenience. Its difficult to come from other platforms where this is frowned upon.
i feel you and personally cannot NOT care about the actual structure and just rely on workspaces.
what would be really great is a tool that will go over the workspace structure and re-organize the file system accordingly, taking care of any re-naming of folders etc. this would be a classic solution and IMHO should be implemented as an option as we re-organize our project as we move about it.
some issues could be source control though xcode4 works with both git and SVN.
I have read all the suggested StackOverflow posts on this question. It bothers me that Xcode will not organize my files in the finder the same way it does in the editor view...it will only do that if I copy files in from an external source and specifically tell it how I want things organized. Is there a way to make Xcode have the Finder respect the same organization as a default? I'd love to create a directory and then a file in that directory, and see the changes in both places.
I hate opening a project and seeing ALL my files in one place.
If you want your Groups structure in Xcode to mirror your Directories structure in the file system (which is also the Folders structure in the Finder), you have to take the following steps when adding files that you want to go into Groups/Subdirectories:
Create the folder in the Finder (or the directory from the command line)
Drag that folder into your Xcode project. Import it as a Group. Make sure its reference style is Relative to Enclosing Group, and that you drop it into the Group that represents its parent directory.
To add new files, select the Group and choose Add Files. The files will be stored in the directory that that Group represents, and they will be within that Group in the Xcode UI.
If your files are not yet under SCM control, one thing you can do is just delete them all from the Xcode project, rearrange them on disk however you want, then drag all the folders and files back in, making sure to not make copies, to create groups, and to set the reference style to Relative to Enclosing Group.