Sharing a single cocoa framework copy across plugins

Question

I have a set of plugins, a plugin framework for common code and a host app. These are each in separate Xcode projects (including separate projects for each plugin). In the end, I need to be able to click build and run on the host app project to build all the plugins, the framework and host app, package them up and launch the app.

I know how to include the framework and plugins into the host app project, set up dependencies, copy actions, etc. What I am not sure about is how to include a single copy of the plugin framework in the host app for the various plugins to use rather than having a copy included in each plugin bundle.

Answer 1

Try weak-linking the plug-ins against the framework, copying the framework into the app's Frameworks folder, and linking, in the regular fashion, the app against that copy.

Answer 2

To have it automatically copy the framework to your application's bundle when the app builds, make a new "Copy Files" build phase. Drag the framework into the build phase. Then, do a Get Info on the Copy Files phase and set the Destination picker to "Frameworks".