How to exclude image files in Xcode project bundle, conditionally for Release version?

Question

I added .png images to the Xcode project for conditional use like making screenshots of a view However, since this is not needed for the Release version of the app, I would like to find a way to exclude them using some kind of settings for Target. I expect there can be a solution like using #if DEBUG macro for Debug compilation, which can work for lines of source code. But, in case of files included in project bundle, I am having trouble finding the answers.

Answer 1

In Xcode 3, there's a view above the editor that lists the files in the project. There's a checkbox on the right side of that view for each file, and you can uncheck the box to remove the file from the current target.

In Xcode 4, show the Project Navigator on the left side of the window, and show the File Inspector on the right side, in the Utilities area. When you select a file, you'll see a Target Membership area with a list of targets and checkboxes. If you want to exclude the file from a particular target, uncheck the box next to that target. Here's a picture:

This is a bit different from excluding files from only some builds of a single target. Still, I think it's the simplest mechanism to use for the situation that you describe. Simply duplicate your existing target so that you have a copy that you can use for making screenshots. Remove the extra files from your production target but leave them in the screenshot target, as described above.

Answer 2

A target's inputs are the same for all builds, so there's no checkbox that will do it for you.

All that really happens though is that image files like .png or whatever get added to the copy bundle resources phase. You can remove them from that phase and instead create a custom script build phase using a shell script.

It will default to printing out all the environment variables set by xcode, from there you should be able to write a script which only performs the copy when say ${BUILD_STYLE} is 'Debug'.

You probably want ${BUILD_STYLE}, ${CONTENTS_FOLDER_PATH} and ${INPUT_FILE_PATH} for starters.