xUnique, is a pure Python script to regenerate project.pbxproj, a.k.a the Xcode project file, and make it unique and same on any machine.

As you may know, the UUID generated by Xcode in the file is not unique for the same added file( or other entries like groups,build phases,etc.) on different machines, which makes it a developer's nightmare to merge and resolve conflicts in project.pbxproj.

xUnique convert all the 96bits UUID(24 hex chars) to MD5 hex digest(32 hex chars)

1. convert project.pbxproj to JSON format
2. Iterate all objects in JSON and give every UUID an absolute path, and create a new UUID using MD5 hex digest of the path
   • All elements in this json object is actually connected as a tree
   • We give a path attribute to every node of the tree using its unique attribute; this path is the absolute path to the root node,
   • Apply MD5 hex digest to the path for the node
3. Replace all old UUIDs with the MD5 hex digest and also remove unused UUIDs if any
4. Sort project file using my modified sort-Xcode-project-file, supports following new features:
   • sort PBXFileReference and PBXBuildFile sections
   • avoid modified changes in Git/SVN if no change made in the project file
5. Sort the project file inlcuding children list, files list, PBXFileReference list and PBXBuildFile list using pure Python
   • see sort_pbxproj method in xUnique.py if you wanna know the implementation;
   • It's ported from the perl script, I have to admit that Perl is really very good at text processing...
6. All above operations are what this script done for you;)

1. Put xUnique.py file in your project repository somewhere and add it as track file via git add path/to/xUnique.py, so all members could use the same script
2. create a git hook like { echo '#!/bin/sh'; echo 'python2 /absolute/path/to/xUnique.py /absolute/path/to/MyProject.xcodeproj'; } > .git/hooks/pre-push
3. Add permission chmod 555 .git/hooks/pre-push
   • use hook pre-push instead of pre-commit is a safe consideration: you decide to commit the newly generated project file or not
4. In all your branches, uniquify project.pbxproj file in either way:
   • make some changes and commit. Try to push, git hook would be triggered
   • manually run script: python path/to/xUnique.py path/to/MyProject.xcodeproj and then committing changes.
5. If you want to use part of xUnique functions, use below options in arguments:
   • -v: print verbose output
   • -u: uniquify project file, that is, replace UUID to MD5 digest
   • -s: sort project file inlcuding children list, files list, PBXFileReference list and PBXBuildFile. Supports both original and uniquified project file
   • if neither -u nor -s exists, execute both uniquify and sort

• APNS Pusher is a Xcode project which contains a subproject named "Fragaria" as git submodule. Use xUnique to convert it. You can clone my forked repo and try to open and build it in Xcode. You will find that xUnique does not affect the project at all.
  • The initial diff result could be found here.
  • The diff result with my modified sort-Xcode-project-file with PBXBuildFile and PBXFileReferencesort support could be found here.
  • Pure python sort result could be found here

• All project members must add this pre-push hook. Thus the project file would be consistent in the repository.
• Tested supported isa types:
  • PBXProject
  • XCConfigurationList
  • PBXNativeTarget
  • PBXTargetDependency
  • PBXContainerItemProxy
  • XCBuildConfiguration
  • PBXSourcesBuildPhase
  • PBXFrameworksBuildPhase
  • PBXResourcesBuildPhase
  • PBXFrameworksBuildPhase
  • PBXCopyFilesBuildPhase
  • PBXBuildFile
  • PBXReferenceProxy
  • PBXFileReference
  • PBXGroup
  • PBXVariantGroup

• Xiao Wang (seganw)

• I only tested on one single project and one project with a subproject, so maybe there should be more unconsidered conditions. If you get any problem, feel free to fire a Pull Request or Issue

• You can also buy me a cup of tea:

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at

http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.