How do I change an existing Xcode target from dynamic to static?

Question

I'm working with an existing project that produces a dynamic library (Cocoa API).

I'd rather generate a static library, but if I change the [Linking|Mach-O Type] field from "Dynamic Library" to "Static Library", both the Clean Project and Build Project complain that the target has an invalid MACH_O_TYPE value of 'staticlib'.

Is there a straightforward way to get the build to produce a static .a file?

Thanks,
Eric

score 23 · Answer 1 · answered May 14 '10 at 07:41

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Opens up the project.pbxproj file in YourProjectName.xcodeproj folder using TextEdit, search for productType and change it's value from "com.apple.product-dynamic" to "com.apple.product-static"

answered May 14 '10 at 07:41

Ricky Lung

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in my case it's **com.apple.product-type.library.dynamic** to be changed into **com.apple.product-type.library.static**. Maybe it's a different xcode version, I suggest to create a new static lib project and copy productType from there – pqnet Aug 25 '11 at 09:18
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For Xcode 9: static library is `com.apple.product-type.library.static`, dynamic library is `com.apple.product-type.library.dynamic`, framework is `com.apple.product-type.framework`, generic bundle is `com.apple.product-type.bundle`, unit testing bundle is `com.apple.product-type.bundle.unit-test`, application is `com.apple.product-type.application`, and command-line tool is `com.apple.product-type.tool`. There are many more, but these are by far the most common – ThatsJustCheesy Feb 18 '18 at 23:18

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 15 '09 at 17:02

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I ended up creating a new 'static library' project, and then added all the members. Closing xcode and bringing up the two project files in a text editor let me quickly complete the new project.

answered Sep 15 '09 at 17:02

Eric

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Unfortunately that's the correct solution. There's currently no way to convert a target from one target type to another. – cdespinosa Sep 16 '09 at 00:27
@cdespinosa You can change a library target from dynamic to static. See my answer. – craig65535 Dec 10 '21 at 06:26

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 04 '18 at 17:19

I managed to do this, with the help of this post and a bit of digging around. Additional changes I had to make were changing compiled.mach-o.dylib to archive.ar and changing various references in the project file (including inside comments, call me pedantic) from foo.dylib to libfoo.a.

I also had to create a new 'scheme' before it would build, but that might be because I changed the name of the project, I'm not sure. Also, any frameworks referenced by the library need to be added to the application(s) that link against it when you move from .dylib to .a.

It was well worth persevering though as it preserved all the subtleties of the original project (such as building a 32/64 fat binary for release but not for debugging). Result.

Been a long time since I logged this, but you get an upvote for the effort. — Eric, Apr 05 '18 at 05:16

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 27 '21 at 12:03

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Delete your build target, then create a new one, choose "Library" and make sure you choose type "Static". After this, you only have to add your sources and dependencies again.

answered Jan 27 '21 at 12:03

mous

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score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Dec 10 '21 at 06:25

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You have to change two settings:

Under Library, set Mach-O Type to Static Library
Under Packaging, set Executable Extension to a

This worked for me on Xcode 13.1.

answered Dec 10 '21 at 06:25

craig65535

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How do I change an existing Xcode target from dynamic to static?

5 Answers5

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