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Referencing Other Projects

In addition to file, framework, and folder references, Xcode projects can contain a cross-project reference; that is, they can refer to another project outside of the current one. It is not always feasible or desirable to keep all related targets and products in a single project. However, you may still need to reference targets or products that reside in a different project. For example, you may have several applications that rely on a common framework that resides in a different project. In this case, you can add a reference to the project containing the framework to the project containing the application. This reference, called a cross-project reference, lets you access the targets and products of the referenced project from your current project.

To create a reference to another project, choose Project > Add to Project and select the project bundle (the .xcode bundle) of the project you wish to reference. Xcode adds a reference to the source group for your current project, visible in the Groups & Files list. The project reference is indicated by the project icon. Clicking the disclosure triangle next to the project reference shows the product references that the other project contains. These product references can be added to targets in the current project.

You can relate targets in the current project to targets in the referenced project by creating a target dependency. You can add a dependency on a target in the referenced project in the same way that you would add a dependency to a target within the same project. See “Adding a Target Dependency” to learn more about target dependencies.

For projects that use cross-project references, you should use a common build location; doing so ensures that Xcode can automatically locate products created by targets in those projects. For more on build locations, see “Build Locations.”

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