Xcode File management. What is best practice?

Question

I've been using Xcode for a while now. One thing that always bugs me is the way it handles files. I like to have my files all in nested folders rather than one big physical folder, but when you create a group in Xcode by default it does not create a folder just a virtual folder within the project.

I can see that virtual folders are great for linking code in arbitrary places into your project but once you get beyond a few classes I find the one big folder approach really painful. And then if you try to fix it later it takes ages and is easy to break your build.

Is it possible to change this behaviour so that by default it creates a physical folder? Or am I doing it wrong and trying to cling to some other way of working? How do other people work with files in Xcode?

Answer 1

1) Remove all the files from the project. Select All and press Delete, and click the Delete File References button, not the Also Move to Trash one. 2) Go to the Finder or Terminal and rearrange your files in folders to your heart's content. 3) Select all the top-level files and folders and drag them back into your project. When given the choice, choose Create Groups for Added Folders.

You'll now have a group hierarchy that follows the directory hierarchy on disk.

You'll need to make sure all the proper files get back into their correct build phases and targets. It's best to do this one target at a time in a multi-target project.