4

It is possible to build an iPhone application manually, without using xcodebuild nor an Xcode project?

The idea is to build the application using SCons without creating an Xcode project. I know there is the codesign command line tool, that I could use, but before I start reverse engineering the Xcode build process, I was wondering if anybody has experience with this or has done it before.

2 Answers2

1

Yes, It's possible to write a makefile using gcc. You're going to want to set your GCC to use frameworks from /Developer/Platforms/iPhoneOS.platform/Developer/SDKs/iPhoneOS3.1.2.sdk/ (frameworks being in system/library/frameworks, and usr/lib).

As far as specifics, I think you're going to have to work that out yourself - but pay careful consideration to the architecture options in GCC and you should have something working quickly.

Alex C Schaefer
  • 250
  • 1
  • 4
  • I have something working so far, I will polish it and post it here when finished. –  Dec 16 '09 at 13:17
  • Hi Nicolas. I was wondering if you got something working yet? – Arunabh Das Oct 03 '11 at 15:20
  • making binary objects and linking them is easy, but how do you package all the resources together into a bundle, and how do you sign the resulting app? – cheshirekow Jul 05 '12 at 16:05
0

Xcode just wraps gcc/g++ and ld (and yes, codesign). Take a look at any Xcode project build output and you'll see what commands it uses. I believe the key to building an iphone app is the -arch parameter.

  • 2
    I did that, but there are some command that are "internal" to Xcode, like ` `. –  Dec 15 '09 at 08:52