Xcode DEBUG Mode - when is it on/off?

Question

I have noticed that this works in dev mode (testing on the simulator, etc):

#ifdef DEBUG     //do stuff #endif 

But when I archive and distribute test builds, the app does not act in DEBUG mode even though I'm still building with the developer profile. I would like DEBUG mode to always be the case unless I build with the deployment profile and submit to Apple.

For example, when sending test builds out, I don't want to make people buy an in-app purchase, so I do something like this:

- (BOOL)isUpgradePurchased { #ifdef DEBUG     return YES; #endif  //do the real stuff to determine if purchased and return YES or NO } 

So do I also need to set a preprocessor macro DEBUG=1 for "Release"?

Answer 1

The current version of Xcode automatically sets the DEBUG macro in new projects. It does this only for Debug build mode however.

You can edit this in your projects Build Settings.

I recommend you add a new, separate macro instead of editing the DEBUG one. Maybe you could add a DISTRIBUTION or DEPLOYMENT macro only for the release mode.

Answer 2

You can also "Edit Scheme" to build Debug Configuration when archiving. See screenshot of "Edit Scheme" dialog in XCode.