apache / apache/cordova-node-xcode
pbxProject.prototype.addFramework: automatically create Frameworks Group if it does not exist
- Dominant language
- JavaScript
- Stars
- 217
- Forks
- 102
- Avg merge
- 2d 3h
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 6
Description
**This is a feature proposal**
**Initial Situation**:
Your xcode project tree looks like this:

You have a Xcode project without a `Framworks` group and you want to add a new framework using `pbxProject.prototype.addFramework`.
**Current behaviour**:
The `Frameworks` group is created but not added to the `mainGroup` of the project which references all files (that are not part of a subgroup) and all groups (that are no subgroups).
If you open the updated xcode project with xcode you see the following:

This is because xcode cannot find a reference to the `Frameworks` group on the `mainGroup` and therefore "autofixes" the project by adding the library added with `pbxProject.prototype.addFramework` to a newly generated group `Recovered References`.
**Expected behaviour**:
The `Framework` group is created and also automatically added to the `mainGroup`.
When you open the project in xcode it should look like this:

**Current workaround:**
Add the `Frameworks` group to `mainGroup`manually:
```js
const project = xcode.project(projectPath);
project.parseSync();
project.addFramework(path.resolve(frameworksDirectory, 'GoogleInterchangeUtilities.framework'), {
customFramework: true,
embed: true,
link: true,
});
const mainProject = project.getPBXGroupByKey(project.getFirstProject().firstProject.mainGroup);
if (!mainProject.children.some(children => children.comment === 'Frameworks')) {
const [groupKey] = Object.entries(project.hash.project.objects['PBXGroup']).find(
([, group]) => group.name === 'Frameworks',
);
project.addToPbxGroup(groupKey, project.getFirstProject().firstProject.mainGroup);
}
```
If you are okay with this feature proposal I would love to implement it!
Contributor guide
Research direction
Start at pbxProject.prototype.addFramework and trace how the Frameworks group and project mainGroup are handled. Use the issue's workaround as the behavioral reference. Done means a missing Frameworks group is both created and referenced by mainGroup, so Xcode does not place the framework in Recovered References.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- ios, javascript, nodejs
- Domain
- mobile
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 3/5
- Estimated time
- 1-2 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 42/100