How to merge two git repositories containing Xcode projects

Question

Picture the following scenario. I have an iPhone application contained in Xcode project A, and an iPhone application contained project B, each one of these Xcode projects is contained in a separate git repository. There are a bunch of things that I would like to do:

• Be able to create a library or Framework from parts of project B that I would then use in project A or other projects. How can I create a Framework in Xcode, and then clone it into another project using git, so that any changes I make to the framework are reflected. Ideally the framework would remain part of the larger git repository and Xcode project B.

• Without creating a framework, how can I do the above, namely, import a part of a git repository (call it B1) into another one A, so that I can still keep on developing and improving B1 as part of B, but can eventually see those changes in A?

• Last point: is there an easy way to merge two Xcode projects (if they have fairly similar structure) using git, or a recommended way, at least to make it as painless as possible.

Answer 1

the first two you ask about can be done using

git submodule --add <remote repository>

manpage

As for merging you could try creating git project C with git project A and project B as remote repositories. Assuming no or little overlap in files they might just merge together seamlessly. I think however that submodules is probably a better bet.

Answer 2

The best solution I have found to this problem is basically to create a static library out of any code I want to use between the two projects, and then import that from the other Xcode project. Very well explained in this post here: Shared Libraries

This allowed us to keep the repositories separate, but still pull from one another as needed.