Xcode organising files and folders (core data model objects - iPhone)

Question

I am developing for the iPhone and the prevailing advice on auto-generating files from entities, when using Core Data, is to select the *.xcdatamodel file and the create the new file(s) etc. This creates the *.m and *.h files in the Resources directory. These are then moved to the Classes directory or a subdirectory of Classes.

However, when viewing my github repository I notice that all of the model files which have been auto-generated in the above mentioned way are present on the root of the project folder (as if they were a resource).

The underlying file structure may or may not matter (I'm unsure on this point) but I would like to make my repository less disorganised. I can see entropy taking over as the project gets much bigger and there are more files to contend with.

My question is therefore: is there a way to organise the underlying file structure without messing up the project settings or the way github sees the project?

I hope the above isn't unclear and I look forward to your replies.

Answer 1

Yes, this is possible. The Xcode groups (the yellow "folders," like your Resources) are completely independent of the file system - they don't directly represent directories. If you select a group and go to File -> Get Info, you can select the base path for that group of files. You can create and select a new folder through the file chooser there.

Once you do this, all the files in that group will go red - Xcode can no longer find them through the new path. Use the Finder (or Git) to move them into your new directory, and all should be well.

Xcode defaults to placing new Managed Object classes in the folder that the model is in, so new resources will get placed there automatically.

As a sidenote, I highly recommend Rentzsch's Mogenerator to handle Managed Object class creation. It divorces Xcode's auto-generated code from your custom code, and then automagically regenerates the template code every time your model changes (without losing your own code).