Guide for updating project.pbxproj files in ios directory

[beqramo]

Question

Hi, there are always many changes in that file and sometimes it is too complicated to update. can anyone write here some guide that will help others too?.

[jmeistrich]

It seems like it's impossible for "react-native upgrade" to ever work successfully because of the pbxproj changes, which requires using the upgrade-helper tool, and then the changes in the upgrade helper are incomprehensible, especially for junior developers unfamiliar with the file format.

The changes always seem to include tons of project ID changes for the RN test projects, or sometimes just re-ordering within the file. Can the pbxproj file be cleaned up before publishing updates? Then the upgrade tool could have a chance of completing successfully and the upgrade-helper tool would be much easier to use.

[uloco]

Using Xcodegen to generate the xcode project from a yaml file would solve this once and for all.
I already proposed this some time ago in the react-native-community repo but don't know if there is maybe another place to increase awareness of this possible solution:

See: react-native-community/discussions-and-proposals#475

[pvinis]

heres a bit of help. https://youtu.be/fmh_ZGHh_eg?t=1368

Basically, if you see anything pod related, just don't worry about it, skip it. if your pod install worked, then you should already have the diff you need in your repo for that file.

If theres anything thats not pod, then usually we will have a note to tell you how to add/remove any files using the xcode ui.

Besides these two rules, pretty much you're good to go, and if not, you can open an issue or a discussion with a specific line and question.