I've been using a sed script lately, used a Perl script to embed the svn number into the Get Info while at UGOBE, but never used Python even though it's the language I am much more comfortable with.
While searching for versioning best practices I found this blog by Shiny Frog. It uses a Python script to get the current svn version and use it for the build number. Even though I don't like using the svn number for a build number (see Dave Durbin's excellent article for details) it motivated me to switch to Python.
BTW, here's my preferred versioning scheme:
CFBundleShortVersionString - is the marketing version of the application (e.g., 1.0.0, 1.0.1, 1.1.0, 2.0.0, etc.)
CFBundleVersion - is the build number for the marketing version of the application. This number increases sequentially for each build of the project.
Here's the Python script that does the work:
#!/usr/bin/python
from AppKit import NSMutableDictionary
import os
# reading info.plist file
projectPlist = NSMutableDictionary.dictionaryWithContentsOfFile_('Info.plist')
# setting the svn version for CFBundleVersion key
version = projectPlist['CFBundleVersion']
incrementVersion = long(version) + 1
projectPlist['CFBundleVersion'] = incrementVersion
projectPlist.writeToFile_atomically_('Info.plist', True)
Shiny Frog's Note on How to use the script in Xcode:
- Add a new build phase at the end of your target’s build phases: right click on your Target , Add -> New build Phase -> New Run Script Build Phase.
- Double click on the new "Run Script" item and copy/paste the script in the Script field.
- Make sure that the Shell field is set to: /usr/bin/python.
When you build your application, the Svn version number will be applied for the CFBundleVersion key.