Question: How can I automate the maintenance of embedded IBPlugins.
Xcode Version 3.1.3
Interface Builder Version 3.1.2 (677)
I have developed a small series of custom IBPlugin framework projects,
two of which include other custom IBPlugin objects. Here is a quick
overview of the hierarchy.
- IBPlugin-A: A view with a custom API.
- IBPlugin-B: A view which adds a set of controls to manipulate the
embedded IBPlugin-A view via its API.
- IBPlugin-C: A view which embeds two IBPlugin-B views side by side.
- Application-D: Contains a nib with a view which contains an IBPlugin-
C view.
- Problem: Change is pure drudgery. When I make even the most trivial
change to IBPlugin-B I have a long string of manual 'fix-ups' I must
do to make everything once again function correctly in Application-D.
- Solution of the moment: Think thrice before I make a change and if
it is 'worth it' go ahead and change it - then pay the price.
- The price: Details withheld for brevity. Suffice it to say there is
a lot of manual dragging and dropping and outlet connection repairs
and terminal install builds at each level up the chain of IBPlugin
frameworks and IBPlugin Librarys and nib views as old custom view
objects are deleted and new ones dropped into their place and
reconnected to their outlets. Miss one step somewhere and nothing
works - start over dude!
Although I'm quite happy with the end results of being able to utilize
nested IBPlugins of ever encreasing complexity I'm not at all happy
with the ever increasing complexity needed to manually repair
everything up the chain when I make a simple tweak to a lower level
custom IBPlugin. This problem appears to make future expansion of
embedded IBPlugins almost impossible to maintain as I'd have to do the
manual fix-ups to every future IBPlugin and every application and
every nib that used an IBPlugin that is modified. This way lies madness.
In the realm of compiled code I simply 'include' a framework or
'import' external sources and it all gets picked up 'automagically' by
all code that uses external code. But in the 'visual' world of
Interface Builder it seems to require human intervention at every step
of the way. I do not see any way for the different views to 'include'
other views indirectly, only by manually adding the objects via drag
and drop can an IBPlugin be upgraded to utilize another custom
IBPlugin's visual elements. Nib files seem to be only a static
'snapshot' of a point in time during the development processes, and
not really part of a modern dynamic build system.
I'm hoping that I missed the point somewhere along the long and
painful journey I've travelled in my quest to pound IBPlugins into
submission and that wiser heads will be able to lead me to wisdom.
-Doug Scott
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