Integrating XCStrings Tool into a Swift Package Target.md

Integrating XCStrings Tool into a Swift Package Target

Integrate generated Swift constants for your localized strings in a Swift Package Target.

Overview

The XCStrings Tool plugin integrates directly into Swift Package Manager providing a seamless integration into any of your Swift Package targets that contain Strings Catalog files.

Note: Strings Catalogs are only supported on Apple Platforms.

If you haven't already, open up a Swift Package which contains the Strings Catalog files that you wish generate source code constants for.

Updating Package.swift

To integrate the XCStrings Tool plugin, you need to make two modifications to your Package.swift file:

1. Add the xcstrings-tool-plugin Package dependency
2. Add the XCStringsToolPlugin product as a dependency on your target

// swift-tools-version: 5.9
// The swift-tools-version declares the minimum version of Swift required to build this package.

import PackageDescription

let package = Package(
    name: "DogKit",
    defaultLocalization: "en",
    platforms: [.iOS(.v17)],
    products: [
        .library(
            name: "DogKit",
            targets: ["DogKit"]
        )
    ],
    dependencies: [
        // 1. Add the xcstrings-tool-plugin Package dependency
        .package(url: "https://github.com/liamnichols/xcstrings-tool-plugin.git", from: "0.1.0")
    ],
    targets: [
        .target(
            name: "DogKit",
            dependencies: [
                // 2. Add the XCStringsToolPlugin product as a dependency on your target
                .product(name: "XCStringsToolPlugin", package: "xcstrings-tool-plugin")
            ],
            path: "Sources"
        )
    ]
)

It's recommended to use the xcstrings-tool-plugin dependency instead of xcstrings-tool to benefit from the precompiled binary executable.

Review your Strings Catalog

Before building the product, let's just review our Strings Catalog quickly:

When working with XCStrings Tool, it's recommended that each string has it's Key set to a lowerCamelCase identifier so that it matches the generated Swift code.

Additionally, you need to make sure that your strings have their Managed setting set to Manually. This will be the case already if you added the string with the + button, but if the compiler pre-populated the contents of the catalog, you might need to change this value.

Build your Project

The first time that you build your project, you'll be presented with the following alert:

Review the plugin and once you are ready, press Trust & Enable All. Your project should now build.

After building, in the left sidebar, open Report navigator, select the last build and review the build log for your target. You should spot a message similar to Run custom shell script 'XCStringsTool: Generate Swift code for ‘Localizable.xcstrings‘':

If you wish, you can open the file printed in the log output to review the generated code:

This code is compiled as part of your target, so is accessible just like code you would write yourself:

See Also

• doc:Changing-the-Access-Level