How can I display the application version revision in my application's settings bundle?

Iphone Xcode Application Settings Settings Bundle

Iphone Problem Overview

I would like to include the application version and internal revision, something like 1.0.1 (r1243), in my application's settings bundle.

The Root.plist file contains a fragment like this...

     <dict>
		<key>Type</key>
		<string>PSTitleValueSpecifier</string>
		<key>Title</key>
		<string>Version</string>
		<key>Key</key>
		<string>version_preference</string>
		<key>DefaultValue</key>
		<string>VersionValue</string>
		<key>Values</key>
		<array>
			<string>VersionValue</string>
		</array>
		<key>Titles</key>
		<array>
			<string>VersionValue</string>
		</array>
	</dict>

and I would like to replace the "VersionValue" string at build time.

I have a script that can extract the version number from my repository, what I need is a way to process (pre-process) the Root.plist file, at build time, and replace the revision number without affecting the source file.

Iphone Solutions

Solution 1 - Iphone

There is another solution that can be much simpler than either of the previous answers. Apple bundles a command-line tool called PlistBuddy inside most of its installers, and has included it in Leopard at /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy.

Since you want to replace VersionValue, assuming you have the version value extracted into $newVersion, you could use this command:

/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :VersionValue $newVersion" /path/to/Root.plist

No need to fiddle with sed or regular expressions, this approach is quite straightforward. See the man page for detailed instructions. You can use PlistBuddy to add, remove, or modify any entry in a property list. For example, a friend of mine blogged about incrementing build numbers in Xcode using PlistBuddy.

Note: If you supply just the path to the plist, PlistBuddy enters interactive mode, so you can issue multiple commands before deciding to save changes. I definitely recommend doing this before plopping it in your build script.

Solution 2 - Iphone

My lazy man's solution was to update the version number from my application code. You could have a default (or blank) value in the Root.plist and then, somewhere in your startup code:

NSString *version = [[[NSBundle mainBundle] infoDictionary] objectForKey:@"CFBundleVersion"];
[[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] setObject:version forKey:@"version_preference"];

The only catch is that your app would have to be run at least once for the updated version to appear in the settings panel.

You could take the idea further and update, for instance, a counter of how many times your app has been launched, or other interesting bits of information.

Solution 3 - Iphone

Based on @Quinn's answer, here the full process and working code I use to do this.

Add a settings bundle to your app. Don't rename it.
Open Settings.bundle/Root.plist in a text editor

Replace the contents with:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN"     "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
	<key>PreferenceSpecifiers</key>
	<array>
		<dict>
			<key>Title</key>
			<string>About</string>
			<key>Type</key>
			<string>PSGroupSpecifier</string>
		</dict>
		<dict>
			<key>DefaultValue</key>
			<string>DummyVersion</string>
			<key>Key</key>
			<string>version_preference</string>
			<key>Title</key>
			<string>Version</string>
			<key>Type</key>
			<string>PSTitleValueSpecifier</string>
		</dict>
	</array>
	<key>StringsTable</key>
	<string>Root</string>
</dict>
</plist>

Create a Run Script build phase, move to be after the Copy Bundle Resources phase. Add this code:

  cd "${BUILT_PRODUCTS_DIR}"
  buildVersion=$(/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Print CFBundleVersion" "${INFOPLIST_PATH}" )
  /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set PreferenceSpecifiers:1:DefaultValue $buildVersion" "${WRAPPER_NAME}/Settings.bundle/Root.plist"

Replace MyAppName with your actual app's name, and the 1 after PreferenceSpecifiers to be the index of your Version entry in the Settings. The above Root.plist example has it at index 1.

Solution 4 - Iphone

Using Ben Clayton's plist https://stackoverflow.com/a/12842530/338986

Add Run script with following snippet after Copy Bundle Resources.

version=$(/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Print CFBundleShortVersionString" "$PROJECT_DIR/$INFOPLIST_FILE")
build=$(/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Print CFBundleVersion" "$PROJECT_DIR/$INFOPLIST_FILE")
/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set PreferenceSpecifiers:1:DefaultValue $version ($build)" "$CODESIGNING_FOLDER_PATH/Settings.bundle/Root.plist"

Appending CFBundleVersion in addition of CFBundleShortVersionString. It emit version like this:

http://i.stack.imgur.com/mfZLl.png" width="375">

By writing to $CODESIGNING_FOLDER_PATH/Settings.bundle/Root.plist instead of the one in $SRCROOT have some benefits.

It dosen't modify files in working copy of repository.
You don't need to case path to Settings.bundle in $SRCROOT. The path may vary.

Testing on Xcode 7.3.1

Solution 5 - Iphone

Based on the example here, here's the script I'm using to automatically update the settings bundle version number:

#! /usr/bin/env python
import os
from AppKit import NSMutableDictionary

settings_file_path = 'Settings.bundle/Root.plist' # the relative path from the project folder to your settings bundle
settings_key = 'version_preference' # the key of your settings version

# these are used for testing only
info_path = '/Users/mrwalker/developer/My_App/Info.plist'
settings_path = '/Users/mrwalker/developer/My_App/Settings.bundle/Root.plist'

# these environment variables are set in the XCode build phase
if 'PRODUCT_SETTINGS_PATH' in os.environ.keys():
    info_path = os.environ.get('PRODUCT_SETTINGS_PATH')

if 'PROJECT_DIR' in os.environ.keys():
    settings_path = os.path.join(os.environ.get('PROJECT_DIR'), settings_file_path)

# reading info.plist file
project_plist = NSMutableDictionary.dictionaryWithContentsOfFile_(info_path)
project_bundle_version = project_plist['CFBundleVersion']

# print 'project_bundle_version: '+project_bundle_version

# reading settings plist
settings_plist = NSMutableDictionary.dictionaryWithContentsOfFile_(settings_path)
  for dictionary in settings_plist['PreferenceSpecifiers']:
    if 'Key' in dictionary and dictionary['Key'] == settings_key:
        dictionary['DefaultValue'] = project_bundle_version
    
# print repr(settings_plist)
settings_plist.writeToFile_atomically_(settings_path, True)

Here's the Root.plist I've got in Settings.bundle:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
	<key>PreferenceSpecifiers</key>
	<array>
		<dict>
			<key>Title</key>
			<string>About</string>
			<key>Type</key>
			<string>PSGroupSpecifier</string>
		</dict>
		<dict>
			<key>DefaultValue</key>
			<string>1.0.0.0</string>
			<key>Key</key>
			<string>version_preference</string>
			<key>Title</key>
			<string>Version</string>
			<key>Type</key>
			<string>PSTitleValueSpecifier</string>
		</dict>
	</array>
	<key>StringsTable</key>
	<string>Root</string>
</dict>
</plist>

Solution 6 - Iphone

With Xcode 11.4, you can use the following steps to display the app version in your application's settings bundle.

Set `$(MARKETING_VERSION)` and `$(CURRENT_PROJECT_VERSION)` variables

Note: if $(MARKETING_VERSION) and $(CURRENT_PROJECT_VERSION) variables appear for Bundle version string (short) and Bundle version keys in Info.plist, you can skip the following steps and jump to the next section.

Open the Xcode project.
Open Project Navigator (cmd1), select your project to reveal your project's settings then select the app target.
Select the General tab.
In the Identity section, change the Version field content to some new value (e.g. 0.1.0) and change the Build field content to some new value (e.g. 12). These 2 changes will create $(MARKETING_VERSION) and $(CURRENT_PROJECT_VERSION) variables in Info.plist file.

Create and configure Settings Bundle

In the Project Navigator, select your project.
Select File > New > File… (cmdN).
Select the iOS tab.
Select Settings Bundle in the Resource section, then click Next and Create.
Select Root.plist and open it as source code. Replace its content with the code below:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
	<key>PreferenceSpecifiers</key>
	<array>
		<dict>
			<key>DefaultValue</key>
			<string></string>
			<key>Key</key>
			<string>version_preference</string>
			<key>Title</key>
			<string>Version</string>
			<key>Type</key>
			<string>PSTitleValueSpecifier</string>
		</dict>
	</array>
	<key>StringsTable</key>
	<string>Root</string>
</dict>
</plist>

Add a Run Script

In the Project Navigator, select your project.
Select the app target.
Select the Build Phases tab.
Click + > New Run Script Phase.
Drag and drop the new phase somewhere above Copy Bundle Resources section. In this way, the script will be executed before compiling the application.
Open the newly added Run Script phase and add the following script:

version="$MARKETING_VERSION"
build="$CURRENT_PROJECT_VERSION"
/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set PreferenceSpecifiers:0:DefaultValue $version ($build)" "${SRCROOT}/Settings.bundle/Root.plist"

Launch app

Run the product (cmdR) on device or simulator.
On the device or simulator, once the app is launched, open Settings app and select your app in the list of third-party apps. The app's version should be displayed as shown below:

https://i.stack.imgur.com/osnPr.png" width="250">

Sources

How To Manage Plist Files With PlistBuddy

Solution 7 - Iphone

The other answers do not work correctly for one reason: The run script build phase isn't executed until AFTER the Settings Bundle has been packaged. So, if your Info.plist version is 2.0.11 and you update it to 2.0.12, then build/archive your project, the Settings bundle will still say 2.0.11. If you open the Settings bundle Root.plist, you can see that the version number does not get updated until the END of the build process. You can build the project AGAIN to get the Settings bundle updated correctly, or you can add the script to a pre-build phase instead...

In XCode, Edit the Scheme for your project target
Click the disclosure arrow on the BUILD scheme
Then, click on the "Pre-actions" item
Click the plus sign and choose "New Run Script Action"
Set the shell value to /bin/sh
Set "Provide build settings from" to your project target
Add your script to the text area. The following script worked for me. You may need to modify the paths to match your project setup:

versionString=$(/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Print CFBundleVersion" "${PROJECT_DIR}/${INFOPLIST_FILE}")

/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy "$SRCROOT/Settings.bundle/Root.plist" -c "set PreferenceSpecifiers:0:DefaultValue $versionString"

This will correctly run the script BEFORE the Settings bundle is packaged during the build/archive process. If you open the Settings bundle Root.plist and build/archive your project, you will now see the version number is updated at the beginning of the build process and your Settings bundle will display the correct version.

Solution 8 - Iphone

I managed to do what I wanted by using the pListcompiler (http://sourceforge.net/projects/plistcompiler) open source porject.

Using this compiler you can write the property file in a .plc file using the following format:

 plist {
     dictionary {
         key "StringsTable" value string "Root"
         key "PreferenceSpecifiers" value array [
             dictionary {
                 key "Type" value string "PSGroupSpecifier"
                 key "Title" value string "AboutSection"
             }
             dictionary {
                 key "Type" value string "PSTitleValueSpecifier"
                 key "Title" value string "Version"
                 key "Key" value string "version"
                 key "DefaultValue" value string "VersionValue"
                 key "Values" value array [
                     string "VersionValue"
                 ]
                 key "Titles" value array [
                     string "r" kRevisionNumber
                 ]
             }
         ]
     }
 }

I had a custom run script build phase that was extracting my repository revision to .h file as described by brad-larson here.
The plc file can contain preprocessor directives, like #define, #message, #if, #elif, #include, #warning, #ifdef, #else, #pragma, #error, #ifndef, #endif, xcode environment variables. So I was able to reference the variable kRevisionNumber by adding the following directive
```
 #include "Revision.h"
```
I also added a custom script build phase to my xcode target to run the plcompiler every time the project is beeing build
```
 /usr/local/plistcompiler0.6/plcompile -dest Settings.bundle -o Root.plist Settings.plc
```

And that was it!

Solution 9 - Iphone

My working Example based on @Ben Clayton answer and the comments of @Luis Ascorbe and @Vahid Amiri:

> Note: This approach modifies the Settings.bundle/Root.plist file in working copy of repository

Add a settings bundle to your project root. Don't rename it

Open Settings.bundle/Root.plist as SourceCode

Replace the contents with:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>PreferenceSpecifiers</key>
    <array>
        <dict>
            <key>DefaultValue</key>
            <string></string>
            <key>Key</key>
            <string>version_preference</string>
            <key>Title</key>
            <string>Version</string>
            <key>Type</key>
            <string>PSTitleValueSpecifier</string>
        </dict>
    </array>
    <key>StringsTable</key>
    <string>Root</string>
</dict>
</plist>

Add the following script to the Build, Pre-actions section of the project (target) scheme

version=$(/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Print CFBundleShortVersionString" "$PROJECT_DIR/$INFOPLIST_FILE")
build=$(/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Print CFBundleVersion" "$PROJECT_DIR/$INFOPLIST_FILE")

/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set PreferenceSpecifiers:0:DefaultValue $version ($build)" "${SRCROOT}/Settings.bundle/Root.plist"

Build and Run the current scheme

Solution 10 - Iphone

Above answers did not work for me hence I created my custom script.

This dynamically updates the entry from Root.plist

Use run script below. W ill work for sure verified in xcode 10.3.

"var buildVersion" is the version to be displayed in title.

And identifier name is "var version" below for title in settings.bundle Root.plist

cd "${BUILT_PRODUCTS_DIR}"

#set version name to your title identifier's string from settings.bundle
var version = "Version"

#this will be the text displayed in title
longVersion=$(/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Print CFBundleVersion" "${INFOPLIST_PATH}")
shortVersion=$(/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Print :CFBundleShortVersionString" ${TARGET_BUILD_DIR}/${INFOPLIST_PATH})
buildVersion="$shortVersion.$longVersion"

path="${WRAPPER_NAME}/Settings.bundle/Root.plist"

settingsCnt=`/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Print PreferenceSpecifiers:" ${path} | grep "Dict"|wc -l`

for (( idx=0; idx<$settingsCnt; idx++ ))
do
#echo "Welcome $idx times"
val=`/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Print PreferenceSpecifiers:${idx}:Key" ${path}`
#echo $val

#if ( "$val" == "Version" )
if [ $val == "Version" ]
then
#echo "the index of the entry whose 'Key' is 'version' is $idx."

# now set it
/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set PreferenceSpecifiers:${idx}:DefaultValue $buildVersion" $path

# just to be sure that it worked
ver=`/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Print PreferenceSpecifiers:${idx}:DefaultValue" $path`
#echo 'PreferenceSpecifiers:$idx:DefaultValue set to: ' $ver

fi

done

Example entry in Root.plist

	<dict>
		<key>Type</key>
		<string>PSTitleValueSpecifier</string>
		<key>Title</key>
		<string>Version</string>
		<key>DefaultValue</key>
		<string>We Rock</string>
		<key>Key</key>
		<string>Version</string>
	</dict>

Solution 11 - Iphone

I believe you can do this using a way that's similar to what I describe in this answer (based on this post).

First, you can make VersionValue a variable within Xcode by renaming it to ${VERSIONVALUE}. Create a file named versionvalue.xcconfig and add it to your project. Go to your application target and go to the Build settings for that target. I believe that you need to add VERSIONVALUE as a user-defined build setting. In the lower-right-corner of that window, change the Based On value to "versionvalue".

Finally, go to your target and create a Run Script build phase. Inspect that Run Script phase and paste in your script within the Script text field. For example, my script to tag my BUILD_NUMBER setting with the current Subversion build is as follows:

REV=`/usr/bin/svnversion -nc ${PROJECT_DIR} | /usr/bin/sed -e 's/^[^:]*://;s/[A-Za-z]//'`
echo "BUILD_NUMBER = $REV" > ${PROJECT_DIR}/buildnumber.xcconfig

This should do the trick of replacing the variable when these values change within your project.

Solution 12 - Iphone

These are the variables I had to use for a swift project with Xcode 12.2

version=$(/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Print CFBundleShortVersionString" "$PROJECT_DIR/$INFOPLIST_FILE")
build="$CURRENT_PROJECT_VERSION"

/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set PreferenceSpecifiers:0:FooterText Version $version" "$CODESIGNING_FOLDER_PATH/Settings.bundle/ServerURLSettings.plist"
/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set PreferenceSpecifiers:0:FooterText Version $version($build)" "$CODESIGNING_FOLDER_PATH/Settings.bundle/DeveloperSettings.plist"

Solution 13 - Iphone

For me this was the easiest solution:

Add new script build phase before Copy Bundle Resources step

Shell: /usr/bin/env python

Content:

#! /usr/bin/env python
import os
from AppKit import NSMutableDictionary

# Key to replace
settings_key = 'version_preference' # the key of your settings version

# File path
settings_path = os.environ.get('SRCROOT') + "/TheBeautifulNameOfYourOwnApp/Settings.bundle/Root.plist"

# Composing version string
version_string = os.environ.get('MARKETING_VERSION') + " (" + os.environ.get('CURRENT_PROJECT_VERSION') + ")"

# Reading settings plist
settings_plist = NSMutableDictionary.dictionaryWithContentsOfFile_(settings_path)
for dictionary in settings_plist['PreferenceSpecifiers']:
    if 'Key' in dictionary and dictionary['Key'] == settings_key:
        dictionary['DefaultValue'] = version_string

# Save new settings
settings_plist.writeToFile_atomically_(settings_path, True)

Content Type	Original Author	Original Content on Stackoverflow
Question	Panagiotis Korros	View Question on Stackoverflow
Solution 1 - Iphone	Quinn Taylor	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 2 - Iphone	Vikram Kriplaney	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 3 - Iphone	Ben Clayton	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 4 - Iphone	hiroshi	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 5 - Iphone	mrwalker	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 6 - Iphone	Imanou Petit	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 7 - Iphone	Andy	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 8 - Iphone	Panagiotis Korros	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 9 - Iphone	Peter Kreinz	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 10 - Iphone	dheeraj_jha	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 11 - Iphone	Brad Larson	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 12 - Iphone	Richard Witherspoon	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 13 - Iphone	gklka	View Answer on Stackoverflow

How can I display the application version revision in my application's settings bundle?

Iphone Problem Overview

Iphone Solutions

Solution 1 - Iphone

Solution 2 - Iphone

Solution 3 - Iphone

Solution 4 - Iphone

Solution 5 - Iphone

Solution 6 - Iphone

Set `$(MARKETING_VERSION)` and `$(CURRENT_PROJECT_VERSION)` variables

Create and configure Settings Bundle

Add a Run Script

Launch app

Sources

Solution 7 - Iphone

Solution 8 - Iphone

Solution 9 - Iphone

Solution 10 - Iphone

Solution 11 - Iphone

Solution 12 - Iphone

Solution 13 - Iphone

Why is looping over range() in Python faster than using a while loop?

How to kill a process in MacOS?

Attributions

Iphone Problem Overview

Iphone Solutions

Solution 1 - Iphone

Solution 2 - Iphone

Solution 3 - Iphone

Solution 4 - Iphone

Solution 5 - Iphone

Solution 6 - Iphone

Set $(MARKETING_VERSION) and $(CURRENT_PROJECT_VERSION) variables

Create and configure Settings Bundle

Add a Run Script

Launch app

Sources

Solution 7 - Iphone

Solution 8 - Iphone

Solution 9 - Iphone

Solution 10 - Iphone

Solution 11 - Iphone

Solution 12 - Iphone

Solution 13 - Iphone

Why is looping over range() in Python faster than using a while loop?

How to kill a process in MacOS?

Attributions

Set `$(MARKETING_VERSION)` and `$(CURRENT_PROJECT_VERSION)` variables