Increasing plugin podspec minimum ios version causes compilation fatal error: module not found

[ened]

There is a huge problem in one of our packages, which had set it's iOS platform to 11.3 within the ios/*.podspec file.

It causes the main app build to fail when combined with e2e plugin, for example.

Here is the sample repo:

https://github.com/ened/flt_perf_09_e2e_plugin

The repository was created using:

flutter create -t plugin --org com.example --project-name flt_perf_09_e2e_plugin flt_perf_09_e2e_plugin

Using the Flutter version below.

If you checkout the repository above and run the following:

$ flutter pub get
$ cd example
$ flutter build ios --debug --no-codesign
Running "flutter pub get" in example...                             0.3s
Warning: Building for device with codesigning disabled. You will have to manually codesign before deploying to device.
Building com.example.fltPerf09E2ePluginExample for device (ios)...
Warning: Missing build name (CFBundleShortVersionString).
Warning: Missing build number (CFBundleVersion).
Action Required: You must set a build name and number in the pubspec.yaml file version field before submitting to the App Store.
Running pod install...                                              1.5s
Running Xcode build...                                                  
                                                   
 └─Compiling, linking and signing...                         1.2s
Xcode build done.                                            9.0s
Failed to build iOS app
Error output from Xcode build:
↳
    ** BUILD FAILED **


Xcode's output:
↳
    /Users/ened/tmp/flt_perf_09_e2e_plugin/example/ios/Runner/GeneratedPluginRegistrant.m:10:9: fatal error: module 'e2e' not found
    @import e2e;
     ~~~~~~~^~~
    1 error generated.
    note: Using new build system
    note: Building targets in parallel
    note: Planning build
    note: Constructing build description

════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Building a deployable iOS app requires a selected Development Team with a 
Provisioning Profile. Please ensure that a Development Team is selected by:
  1- Open the Flutter project's Xcode target with
       open ios/Runner.xcworkspace
  2- Select the 'Runner' project in the navigator then the 'Runner' target
     in the project settings
  3- Make sure a 'Development Team' is selected. 
     - For Xcode 10, look under General > Signing > Team.
     - For Xcode 11 and newer, look under Signing & Capabilities > Team.
     You may need to:
         - Log in with your Apple ID in Xcode first
         - Ensure you have a valid unique Bundle ID
         - Register your device with your Apple Developer Account
         - Let Xcode automatically provision a profile for your app
  4- Build or run your project again

For more information, please visit:
  https://flutter.dev/setup/#deploy-to-ios-devices

Or run on an iOS simulator without code signing
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Encountered error while building for device.

This indicates the e2e module can not be resolved.

Now, go back 1 commit, to ened/flt_perf_09_e2e_plugin@7b976e5. The only change here is the revert of the .podspec's platform version and the Podfile platform.

$ cd ..
$ git checkout -f
$ git checkout 3a494d114bdecc52e29450cb058cd55d07a39b4f
$ git clean -xfd
$ flutter pub get
$ cd example
$ flutter build ios --debug --no-codesign
Warning: Building for device with codesigning disabled. You will have to manually codesign before deploying to device.
Building com.example.fltPerf09E2ePluginExample for device (ios)...
Warning: Missing build name (CFBundleShortVersionString).
Warning: Missing build number (CFBundleVersion).
Action Required: You must set a build name and number in the pubspec.yaml file version field before submitting to the App Store.
Running pod install...                                              1.5s
Running Xcode build...                                                  
                                                   
 └─Compiling, linking and signing...                         4.8s
Xcode build done.                                           13.3s
Built /Users/ened/tmp/flt_perf_09_e2e_plugin/example/build/ios/iphoneos/Runner.app.

The application can now build. Unless there is a requirement somewhere to never touch the .podspec file in a plugins ios folder (then this issue should track the addition of a "DO NOT TOUCH" comment), this may be a bug in Flutters iOS build system.

Flutter doctor

[✓] Flutter (Channel beta, v1.17.0, on Mac OS X 10.15.4 19E287, locale en-GB)
    • Flutter version 1.17.0 at /Users/ened/dev/flutter
    • Framework revision e6b34c2b5c (9 days ago), 2020-05-02 11:39:18 -0700
    • Engine revision 540786dd51
    • Dart version 2.8.1

 
[✓] Android toolchain - develop for Android devices (Android SDK version 29.0.2)
    • Android SDK at /Users/ened/Library/Android/sdk
    • Platform android-29, build-tools 29.0.2
    • ANDROID_HOME = /Users/ened/Library/Android/sdk
    • Java binary at: /Applications/Android Studio.app/Contents/jre/jdk/Contents/Home/bin/java
    • Java version OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_212-release-1586-b4-5784211)
    • All Android licenses accepted.

[✓] Xcode - develop for iOS and macOS (Xcode 11.4.1)
    • Xcode at /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer
    • Xcode 11.4.1, Build version 11E503a
    • CocoaPods version 1.9.1

[✓] Android Studio (version 3.6)
    • Android Studio at /Applications/Android Studio.app/Contents
    • Flutter plugin version 45.1.1
    • Dart plugin version 192.7761
    • Java version OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_212-release-1586-b4-5784211)

[✓] VS Code (version 1.45.0)
    • VS Code at /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents
    • Flutter extension version 3.10.1

[✓] Connected device (3 available)
    • F8132             • CB512B5M7T                • android-arm64 • Android 8.0.0 (API 26)
    • Pixel 2           • HT83G1A03545              • android-arm64 • Android 10 (API 29)

[jmagman]

https://github.com/ened/flt_perf_09_e2e_plugin/blob/3a494d114bdecc52e29450cb058cd55d07a39b4f/example/ios/Runner.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj#L359
The example project is set to a minimum deployment of 8.0, which is the default for a new Flutter project, so you're simulating what your average Flutter customer will see using that plugin. If you have a 11.3 minimum, your customers will too. If you're okay with that, then just up the example IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET version and it should build.

[jmagman]

This compilation error is lame though.

[darshankawar]

I verified this issue on latest master version of the framework (Channel master, 3.5.0-6.0.pre.5) by cloning the provided repo and then running the example project using flutter build ios --debug --no-codesign which compiled and built properly without throwing the original issue reported.

dhs@Dhss-MacBook-Pro example % flutter build ios --debug --no-codesign
This app is using a deprecated version of the Android embedding.
To avoid unexpected runtime failures, or future build failures, try to migrate
this app to the V2 embedding.
Take a look at the docs for migrating an app:
https://github.com/flutter/flutter/wiki/Upgrading-pre-1.12-Android-projects
Warning: Building for device with codesigning disabled. You will have to
manually codesign before deploying to device.
Building com.example.fltPerf09E2ePluginExample for device (ios)...
Warning: Missing build name (CFBundleShortVersionString).
Warning: Missing build number (CFBundleVersion).
Action Required: You must set a build name and number in the pubspec.yaml file
version field before submitting to the App Store.
Running pod install...                                           1,297ms
Running Xcode build...                                                  
 └─Compiling, linking and signing...                         6.5s
Xcode build done.                                           31.8s
Built
/Users/dhs/Documents/NCFlutter/flt_perf_09_e2e_plugin/example/build/ios/iphoneos
/Runner.app.
dhs@Dhss-MacBook-Pro example % 

With these findings, I am going ahead and closing this as resolved. If anybody disagrees, please write in comments and I'll reopen it.

[github-actions]

This thread has been automatically locked since there has not been any recent activity after it was closed. If you are still experiencing a similar issue, please open a new bug, including the output of flutter doctor -v and a minimal reproduction of the issue.