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Xcode integrates ADC Reference Library content into your development environment, allowing you to find and use Apple’s technical resources without ever leaving your project.
In the Xcode documentation window, you can browse developer documentation both by technology category, such as Cocoa, Internet & Web, and QuickTime, and by resource type, such as Sample Code, Documentation, and Technical Notes. Beginning in Xcode 2.3, you’ll be able to be more focused in your browsing when you use the new Guides and Reference resource types to filter documents. Together, Guides and Reference replace the monolithic Documentation resource type and group Reference Library documents in a more convenient and intuitive way.
The Guides resource type includes developer guides that contain the conceptual and task-oriented information you need when you're starting a project, exploring a new technology, or looking for advice on accomplishing a particular goal. Use the Jump To menu or the resource-type Display menu in the Xcode documentation window to select Guides and browse Apple's comprehensive collection of overviews, tutorials, programming guides, and tool-specific user guides.
When you're in the middle of a project and you want in-depth information about a specific programming interface, schema, or file format, you'll find the documents you need in the Reference resource type. In the Xcode documentation window, select Reference in the Jump To menu or the resource-type Display menu and peruse the reference documents for frameworks, classes, and low-level interfaces.
If you regularly use the Xcode documentation window to view ADC Reference Library content, you’ve probably noticed that the API Reference link on each category page has been replaced by a Frameworks link. Don’t worry, all the API reference you depend on is still in the Library! But now you’ve got a shortcut to one of the most-requested developer features: API reference organized by framework.
Click Frameworks on a category page, such as Cocoa or Graphics & Imaging, and you’ll see a list of framework documents, each of which contains a comprehensive collection of API reference documents for that framework. For example, in Graphics & Imaging > Frameworks you'll find Quartz Framework Reference, Quartz Core Framework Reference, and Application Services Framework Reference, each of which gathers into one convenient place all of the reference documents for that framework’s classes, protocols, functions, data types, and constants, along with links to companion documents.
The new organization of reference documents by framework gives you another convenient way to access reference documentation in the ADC Reference Library. Of course, you can still view all reference documents for a category or topic by visiting the Reference Library page for that category or topic, or by selecting the Reference resource type to display only the reference documents for that category or topic.
Xcode 2.2 includes a number of improvements and bug fixes for documentation viewing. These are:
mproved access to man pages. When you choose Help > Open man page, Xcode now searches /usr/local/share/man, in addition to /usr/share/man. Bookmarks to man pages now persist across Xcode sessions. Previously, bookmarks to these locations were discarded upon quitting the Xcode application.
Improved search field navigation. Typing Command-Option-F when the documentation window has focus now places the cursor in the documentation window search field. When the search field has focus, the up- and down-arrow keys open the pop-up menu and let you navigate between the available search types (API Search and Full Text Search).
Keyboard navigation in the symbol pop-up menu. The symbol pop-up in the documentation window now supports type-ahead to jump to a section or symbol in the current document page. When you jump to a symbol, the symbol pop-up menu also displays that symbol's name.
Improved API indexing. Java 1.5 documentation is now indexed, making it accessible through the API Search feature. In addition, the API indexer understands the new enum and generics language constructs introduced with Java 5.
You can now use the Delete key to delete extended locations in the Documentation preferences pane.
Be sure to download the most recent updates to the installed ADC Reference Library!
You can easily obtain the latest developer documentation through Xcode's documentation update mechanism, as described below in “Downloading Documentation Updates”. A number of late-breaking documents are available for you to download from Apple's developer website at your convenience.
Apple's ADC Reference Library is a complete collection of technical resources for developers, including documentation, sample code, release notes, technical notes, and technical Q&As. Xcode integrates this content into your development environment, letting you browse or search the ADC Reference Library from the documentation window.
The ADC Reference Library is available on Apple's developer website and as part of the Xcode Tools installation. You can automatically detect and download updates to the installed ADC Reference Library content through Xcode's documentation update mechanism, described in“Downloading Documentation Updates”, or you can subscribe to the Developer Connection mailing to receive the entire ADC Reference Library on DVD each quarter. The Developer Connection mailing and Developer DVD Series are described further at http://developer.apple.com/membership/mailing.html.
The Documentation package included with the Xcode Developer Tools installs a subset of the ADC Reference Library content on your local volume, at /Developer/ADC Reference Library. This content includes:
HTML versions of technical documentation, release notes, and API reference.
Category pages that let you browse documents by subject.
Full-text and symbol indexes that let you search all ADC Reference Library content.
This core documentation installation does not include PDF, sample code, technical notes, or technical Q&As. However, you can still access this content from Xcode. You can also find additional sample code, in the form of sample Xcode projects, at /Developer/Examples on your local volume.
In addition to the full ADC Reference Library content available with the Xcode Tools DVD and Developer DVD Series, Apple also provides downloadable packages of the documentation installed on your local computer at /Developer/ADC Reference Library. Xcode automatically detects these updates as they become available. Documentation updates are released more frequently than the full Xcode Tools package, so this is a quick and easy way to stay up-to-date with the latest technical information from Apple.
Xcode automatically checks for a documentation update the first time you launch Xcode after installing a new version of the Xcode tools. Any time you access the documentation after the initial check, if the interval specified in Xcode's Documentation preferences has passed since the last check, Xcode checks for an update. By default, Xcode checks for updates on a weekly basis, but you can choose a different interval.
To change the interval at which Xcode checks for documentation updates:
Open the Documentation pane of Xcode Preferences.
Choose an interval from the "Check for documentation updates:" pop-up menu that appears in the Updates settings group. You can choose to have Xcode check for updates on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Click Apply or OK to apply your changes.
If you don't want Xcode to automatically check for updates at all -- for example, if you use Xcode on a computer that does not usually have an internet connection -- deselect the checkbox next to the "Check for documentation updates" menu.
To check for a documentation update immediately, click the Check Now button. The "Last check" field shows the date and time at which Xcode last looked for updated documentation.
When it checks for a documentation update, Xcode compares the version of the documentation on Apple's server to the version installed on your computer. If the documentation on the server is newer, Xcode notifies you that updated documentation is available. To download the documentation package, click Download.
Xcode launches your default browser application to download the documentation package. When the download is complete, the disk image automatically mounts. Double-click the documentation package to launch the Installer. The installer updates the local installation of the ADC Reference Library at /Developer/ADC Reference Library.
If Xcode is running when the installation is successfully completed, Xcode notifies you that the documentation has been updated. Click OK to reload the Search Groups and ADC Reference Library entry page in the documentation window. Otherwise, Xcode loads the new documentation when it next launches.
The core documentation installation does not include PDF documentation. By default, clicking a link to a PDF document in the Xcode documentation window downloads the PDF from the Apple developer website. However, a separate disk image containing ADC Reference Library documents in PDF format is available for download at https://connect.apple.com/. You can install the contents of this disk image locally and have Xcode access this local copy of the PDF documentation. To do so, perform the following steps:
Copy the contents of the disk image to the desired location on your local computer or storage device. For example, ~/Documents/DevDocPDF.
Add an entry for this location to the Extended Locations list in the Documentation pane of Xcode Preferences. To add an entry, click the plus (+) button under Extended Locations and navigate to the volume or folder containing the PDF documentation. In the example above, you would navigate to ~/Documents/ DevDocPDF. Click Add or press Return; Xcode adds the new location and makes it active. Click OK or Apply to apply your changes.
Drag the new entry to the top of the Extended Locations list. Xcode looks for documentation at the extended locations in the order in which they appear in this list. To access the local copy of the PDF documentation before accessing the ADC website, the entry for the local copy of the PDF documentation must appear before the default Web entry.
For more information on using extended documentation locations in Xcode, see “Viewing Documentation” in the Finding Information in a Project chapter of the Xcode User Guide .
Document feedback forms offer you an efficient way to provide Apple with feedback specific to a document. These forms are available on the ADC Reference Library website and in the developer documentation installed with Xcode.
The feedback received through this mechanism is invaluable in helping Apple improve the quality of ADC Reference Library content. You can provide feedback on both the content and format of a document. Please use the links at the bottoms of document pages to let Apple know whether any particular document:
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Last updated: 2006-11-07
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