Exception when loading NIB from bundle

Question

I get a crash as soon as I try to show a view from a bundle. Here's the setup:

Project contains a bundle CFramework.bundle inside the app's main bundle
CFramework.bundle contains GigyaFBPreviewController.xib and images it uses, in its root
GigyaFBPreviewController.m is in a static library referenced by the project

Code:

NSString* bundlePath = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:@"CBCFramework" ofType:@"bundle"];
NSBundle* bundle = [NSBundle bundleWithPath:bundlePath];
GigyaFBPreviewController* gigya = [[GigyaFBPreviewController alloc] initWithNibName:@"GigyaFBPreviewController" bundle:bundle];
[self presentModalViewController:gigya animated:YES];

The code is executed after a button click, and crashes on the last line. GigyaFBPreviewController is just a UIViewController, and it uses the default initWithNibName:bundle:

*** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInternalInconsistencyException', reason: 
'Could not load NIB in bundle: 'NSBundle </Users/mjovanovic/Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator/4.3.2/Applications/A40F8D71-EB88-4EB5-B9D3-CFD330C57F24/socialmediatest.app/CBCFramework.bundle> (not yet loaded)' with name 'GigyaFBPreviewController''
*** Call stack at first throw:
(
    0   CoreFoundation                      0x01ad85a9 __exceptionPreprocess + 185
    1   libobjc.A.dylib                     0x01c2c313 objc_exception_throw + 44
    2   CoreFoundation                      0x01a90ef8 +[NSException raise:format:arguments:] + 136
    3   CoreFoundation                      0x01a90e6a +[NSException raise:format:] + 58
    4   UIKit                               0x00e050fa -[UINib instantiateWithOwner:options:] + 2024
    5   UIKit                               0x00e06ab7 -[NSBundle(UINSBundleAdditions) loadNibNamed:owner:options:] + 168
    6   UIKit                               0x00cbc628 -[UIViewController _loadViewFromNibNamed:bundle:] + 70
    7   UIKit                               0x00cba134 -[UIViewController loadView] + 120
    8   UIKit                               0x00cba00e -[UIViewController view] + 56
    9   UIKit                               0x00cbba3d -[UIViewController viewControllerForRotation] + 63
    10  UIKit                               0x00cb7988 -[UIViewController _visibleView] + 90
    11  UIKit                               0x00f5993c -[UIClientRotationContext initWithClient:toOrientation:duration:andWindow:] + 354
    12  UIKit                               0x00c3181e -[UIWindow _setRotatableClient:toOrientation:updateStatusBar:duration:force:] + 954
    13  UIKit                               0x00eb9619 -[UIWindowController transition:fromViewController:toViewController:target:didEndSelector:] + 1381
    14  UIKit                               0x00cbe65d -[UIViewController presentModalViewController:withTransition:] + 3478
    15  socialmediatest                     0x000027bb -[socialmediatestViewController clicky:] + 283
    etc

Relevant info:

If I take the nib file out of CFramework.bundle and put it into the project, it works fine. However, I need it in a bundle to distribute with a static library.
The bundle exists inside the .app and calling [bundle pathForResource:@"GigyaFBPreviewController" ofType:@"xib"] returns the correct path.
If I remove the image reference from the nib, nothing changes. All images are referenced as CFramework\image.png
The "(not yet loaded)" error message is really weird. I found a bunch of posts with people running into the same exception when switching to Xcode4, but their solutions didn't work for me.

* SOLUTION *

The xib was not compiled into a nib and it could not be loaded, duh. Thank you Joshua Weinberg for providing the link below in the comments!

possible duplicate of [Using XIB/NIB files contained within downloaded bundles on iOS](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8780293/using-xib-nib-files-contained-within-downloaded-bundles-on-ios) — Joshua Weinberg, Jan 18 '12 at 22:00
`(not yet loaded)` isn't necessarily an error message. It just means you haven't sent the `load` message to that bundle. — ughoavgfhw, Jan 18 '12 at 22:01

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited Jun 08 '15 at 20:46

First of all if a bundle is not created properly it will not get loaded. So in-order to create a proper bundle below are the steps for creating a bundle:

Add a new target by choosing a templete named bundle under OS X -> Framework & Libraries.
Select newly created target and change BaseSDK from OSX to Latest iOS.
Add .xibs, images or other resources which you want to use it from bundle in Build Phrases -> Copy Bundle Resources.
Add CoreFoundation framework in Build Phrases -> Link binary with Libraries.
Compile the target choosing iOS Device.
Save the newly created bundle from Products directory to some place.

Now copy that bundle into your main project. Load a bundle using below code:

NSString *path = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:@"BundleName" ofType:@"bundle"];

NSBundle *bundle = [NSBundle bundleWithPath:path];

You are now set with the new bundle.

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered May 12 '16 at 14:59

You can also get this error if you don't have your target dependencies setup correctly and Xcode parallelises your build - i.e. it will build multiple targets simultaneously.

I had an error where Project-A built sub Project-B and included Project-B-Resources bundle. Project-B built sub Project-C, which built it's own Project-C-Resources. Project-C resources were bundled inside Project-B resources. In Xcode > Build Phases > Target Dependencies - if I put Project-B-Resources above Project-B, then the bundle would be packaged up incorrectly. I needed to ensure Project-B was listed first, to ensure it triggered the Project-C-Resources build correctly.....

... bit of a mouthful and to get your head around the above, but it's something to explore if you're having problems with a missing nib inside nested projects

https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/recipes/xcode_help-scheme_editor/Articles/SchemeBuild.html

Exception when loading NIB from bundle

2 Answers2