Xcode 4 Template Generator

Based on the original code by Ricardo Quesada for the cocos2d project, modifications & ugly hacks by Nicolas Goles Domic

Info

The Xcode 4 template generator, is a simple script written in Python to aid in the rather obscure process of creating Xcode 4 templates. As you may already be aware, Xcode 4 templates are very different from Xcode 3 templates, so taking a look at Boreal's Kiss "A minimal project template for Xcode 4" is recommended. In that article you will find a lot of information about what is currently known about the new Template System.

A minimal project template for Xcode 4

Usage

This script was created with the goal of make it usable by continuous integration (C.I) tools or "meta template building scripts" in order to keep some library templates updated, but can also be used as a stand alone tool.

Let's say you want to manually create an iOS Window-based Application template that includes the Box2d library:

1. Put the Box2d folder in the same directory as template_generator.py
2. Execute: python template_generator.py --concrete no --directory Box2d --description "box2d library template" --identifier com.yoursite.box2dlib (This should create a Box2d.xctemplate folder, which should contain the Box2d folder and a TemplateInfo.plist file)
3. Execute: cp -R /Developer/Platforms/iPhoneOS.platform/Developer/Library/Xcode/Templates/Project\ Templates/Application/Window-based\ Application.xctemplate .
4. Open the TemplateInfo.plist inside the "Window-based Application.xctemplate" folder with your Text Editor of choice or .plist editor and add a new ancestor (line 5) referencing com.yoursite.box2dlib (matches identifier of step 2), also change the identifier to com.yoursite.modified_window_application (around line 21).
5. Make a new folder named Window_Based_App_plus_Box2d and move both the Box2d.xctemplate and "Window-Based Application.xctemplate" folders into it.
6. Copy the Window_Based_App_plus_Box2d folder into ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/Templates

You should be able to create a new Xcode 4 project using this template now.

Note: To learn out what the keywords concrete, description and identifier mean, checkout the link provided in the usage section of the wiki.

Note 2: If you run ./template_generator.py without a directory arg, it will print a help screen with information about each possible flag.

To-Do

• Pass "project settings" as parameters, so that for example we can specify header search paths to our templates.
• Clean the code, this is my first python script, so I'm sorry if it's not neat :)
• Add new cool features.

Important

Creating invalid Xcode 4 templates can be dangerous as described in the link provided in the info section, please read about it and be careful.