How to use pkg-config for setting include paths in Xcode?

Question

For example, if I need Gtk+ include paths. How to use pkg-config gtk+-2.0 --cflags in Xcode project settings?

Answer 1

One option, but it's not very portable to other developers on the project -- you can just run pkg-config gtk+-2.0 --cflags in your Terminal and paste it into Build Settings -> Other C Flags. I'd be interested to hear how others deal with this in a more portable way though. Ideally, it would be nice to have pkg-config run at compile-time to make building more system-independent.

Answer 2

1. Create an aggregate target

2. In Build Phases, add a Run Script

   #!/bin/bash
   
   OTHER_CPLUSPLUSFLAGS="$(pkg-config gtk+-2.0 --cflags)"
   echo -e "OTHER_CPLUSPLUSFLAGS = \$(inherited) ${OTHER_CPLUSPLUSFLAGS}" > MyApp.xcconfig
   

3. In Info in your project, set MyApp.xcconfig as your target configuration file

4. In Build Phases in your app target, add the aggregate target as a dependency
5. Exclude MyApp.xcconfig in your version control

One drawback is that until you build the aggregate target directly or indirectly at least once, the autocomplete will not work properly.