ofxiOSBoost

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Current release targets

Starting with Boost 1.61.0, releases are packaged as static XCFrameworks using libc++. Current release builds contain:

• arm64: iOS devices
• arm64: iOS Simulator on Apple Silicon
• x86_64: iOS Simulator on Intel Macs

Current releases do not contain armv7 or i386 slices. Download the versioned XCFramework and its SHA-256 checksum from GitHub Releases.

Release build matrix

Badges below query the check status attached to each release tag. They do not fall back to the latest master or manually dispatched workflow run.

Boost	C++	GitHub Actions	Release
1.61.0	C++11		1.61.0
1.62.0	C++11		1.62.0
1.63.0	C++11		1.63.0
1.64.0	C++11		1.64.0

Install the pinned release expected by this checkout:

./scripts/install-boost

To explicitly follow the newest published release instead:

./scripts/install-boost latest

The pinned form is recommended for reproducible openFrameworks projects. The installer verifies the published checksum and places the ignored dependency at libs/boost/boost.xcframework. openFrameworks has no universal addon dependency package manager; an addon setup script combined with addon_config.mk is the usual repository-level approach.

Each GitHub Release also provides two kinds of download:

• ofxiOSBoost-VERSION.tar.gz contains the XCFramework, headers, and build metadata for general iOS use.
• ofxiOSBoost-addon-VERSION.tar.gz contains the complete ready-to-drop openFrameworks addon, with that release's XCFramework already installed at libs/boost/boost.xcframework.
• ofxiOSBoost.podspec is generated from the same binary archive, validated by the release workflow, and published to CocoaPods Trunk when the repository has a COCOAPODS_TRUNK_TOKEN secret configured.
• ofxiOSBoost-VERSION-xcframework.zip places the XCFramework at the archive root for use as a Swift Package Manager binary target. Its checksum is published beside it.

The root-level podspec was removed because it described only the historical Boost 1.60.0 directory layout. CocoaPods 1.9 or newer can consume the generated release podspec through its vendored-XCFramework support. GitHub Releases remain the authoritative binary source; the podspec pins the release archive SHA-256.

example-swift-package contains both a minimal C++ executable package and a Swift UIKit Xcode app. A small C-compatible C++ bridge lets the Swift app run the Boost.Filesystem, Boost.Regex, and version-appropriate header-only tests. The build script stages the release XCFramework as a local binary target and builds both examples for arm64 and x86_64 iOS Simulator.

The repository root is also an Apple Swift package. After the matching semantic release tag is published, add the following package URL in Xcode:

https://github.com/danoli3/ofxiOSBoost.git

Swift applications should depend on the ofxiOSBoost product, which uses a C-compatible bridge and does not require Swift C++ interoperability. C++ Swift package targets may depend on the lower-level boost product directly.

Build and verify the example from a local release archive with:

BOOST_VERSION=1.63.0 ./example-swift-package/build.sh \
  dist/ofxiOSBoost-1.63.0.tar.gz

To use the app interactively, copy boost.xcframework from the release archive to example-swift-package/Package/, then open example-swift-package/BoostSwiftExample.xcodeproj. The Xcode target consumes the local Swift package product ofxiOSBoostBridge; Swift does not import the C++ Boost headers directly.

Release packages include metadata for additional build systems:

• boost.pkl beside each XCFramework library follows the openFrameworks Apothecary metadata convention and records the exact slice checksum plus the included and excluded compiled-library lists.
• boost-components.txt beside each slice binary provides a plain-text inventory, while the package-level COMPONENTS.md explains every included and omitted compiled component. All Boost headers remain present, including those belonging to header-only libraries.
• cmake/ofxiOSBoost provides the imported target ofxiOSBoost::boost and selects the device or Simulator slice from CMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT.
• pkgconfig/ofxiOSBoost-ios.pc and pkgconfig/ofxiOSBoost-ios-simulator.pc expose device and Simulator metadata separately because pkg-config cannot select XCFramework slices dynamically.

C++ standard by Boost version

The release build selects a C++ language standard appropriate for each Boost generation. This policy applies to both device and Simulator libraries:

Boost versions	Build standard	Rationale
1.61.0–1.64.x	C++11	Conservative baseline for these older releases
1.65.0–1.66.x	C++14	Uses the newer standard while retaining broad compatibility
1.67.0–1.79.x	C++17	Boost libraries increasingly added and tested C++17 support
1.80.0 and newer	C++20	Later releases include broader C++20 compatibility fixes

About

• Boost C++ libraries precompiled for iOS and Xcode
• Precompiled releases and a command to build them yourself
• Designed for use as an open frameworks addon, however should definitely work for other iOS projects
• Built with clang++ and libc++, using the versioned C++ standard policy above
• License: See Boost License LICENSE.MD

============

Where to checkout?

• For openframeworks: Checkout in the addons folder like so: addons/ofxiOSBoost
• For others: anywhere you please

============

How To Link to an Xcode Project?

Run ./scripts/install-boost before generating or opening the project. New projects should link libs/boost/boost.xcframework; Xcode then selects the correct device or Simulator library automatically.

In Xcode Build Settings for your project:

• Link libs/boost/boost.xcframework in Frameworks, Libraries, and Embedded Content (or Link Binary With Libraries in older Xcode).
• If a header search path is required by a legacy target, use the matching slice headers at libs/boost/boost.xcframework/ios-arm64/Headers (device) or libs/boost/boost.xcframework/ios-arm64_x86_64-simulator/Headers (Simulator).

In Xcode for a Build Target select the Target under Build Phases

The old libs/boost/include and libs/boost/lib/ios paths belonged to the pre-XCFramework Boost 1.60 layout and are no longer generated.

Versioned binary releases

New Boost builds are distributed as GitHub Release assets instead of being added to the repository. The first automated release is Boost 1.61.0. Its archive contains the Boost headers and a libc++ static XCFramework for arm64 iOS devices and arm64/x86_64 iOS Simulator.

Maintainers can create or refresh the current release by running the Build and release Boost for iOS workflow with version 1.63.0. Pushing the tag 1.63.0 runs the same workflow. The workflow publishes both the archive and its SHA-256 checksum to the matching GitHub Release.

To build the same package locally with a current Xcode installation:

BOOST_VERSION=1.63.0 ./scripts/build-boost-ios

The generated files are placed in dist/, which is intentionally ignored by Git.

XCFramework example

example-xcframework verifies a release independently of openFrameworks. It checks the XCFramework metadata and Simulator slices, then compiles and links a small program using the compiled Boost.Filesystem, Boost.System, and Boost.Regex libraries for arm64 iOS device and both arm64 and x86_64 iOS Simulator.

Test the published Boost 1.63.0 release:

./example-xcframework/build.sh

Or test a locally built archive without downloading it:

./example-xcframework/build.sh dist/ofxiOSBoost-1.63.0.tar.gz

============

Legacy Boost 1.60.0 fat-library architectures

The original checked-in Boost 1.60.0 release used a fat static library rather than an XCFramework. These slices are retained only as documentation for that legacy release and are not targets of the current release workflow. See the historical branches for the original libc++/C++11 variants.

• arm64 : (iOS 7, 8, 9 64bit only) [iPhone 5S, iPhone 6/6S, iPhone 6/6S Plus, iPad Air /2, iPad Mini Retina 1/2/3/4, iPad Pro]
• armv7 : (iOS 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) [All devices]
• i386 : (iOS Simulator iPad 2, 3, 4, iPhone 4S, 5, 5C)
• x86_64: (iOS Simulator iPad Air, iPhone 5S, iPhone 6/6S, iPhone 6/6S Plus)

The legacy release did not include armv7s.

============

For tvOS - Checkout the ofxtvOSBoost repo:

• https://github.com/danoli3/ofxtvOSBoost

============

How to Build?

1. You don't need to. This has the pre-compiled versions of BOOST for you to use
2. If you would prefer to build it yourself checkout the script included in the scripts directory.

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How to use Build Script

• Download files (suggested you download the files to addons/ofxiOSBoost for openFrameworks)
• Double click and run scripts/build-libc++ (this will download the 1.60.0 version of boost and begin compiling the library).
• Once completed in the terminal continue with the next steps.
• Add the ofxiOSBoost to your project (src and libs for your chosen architecture)`

Alternative Build Script:

• Build using libstdc++ by running the scripts/build-libstdc++

Clean script

• Run the clean script from scripts/cleanAll to remove pre-compiled code and the final built library

============

Documentation on Boost 1.60.0

See: http://www.boost.org/users/history/version_1_60_0.html

Version 1.60.0 (Date): December 17th, 2015 15:52 GMT

============

Troubleshooting:

Undefined symbols link error (For libc++ release)

If you use libraries like serialization you might see link errors in Xcode 6 especially when the framework was built using --with-c++11 flag.

    Undefined symbols for architecture i386:
    "std::__1::__vector_base_common<true>::__throw_length_error() const", referenced from:
    void std::__1::vector<boost::archive::detail::basic_iarchive_impl::cobject_id, std::__1::allocator<boost::archive::detail::basic_iarchive_impl::cobject_id> >::__push_back_slow_path<boost::archive::detail::basic_iarchive_impl::cobject_id>(boost::archive::detail::basic_iarchive_impl::cobject_id&&) in boost(libboost_serialization_basic_iarchive.o)

You have to change your project or target build settings.

Under Apple LLVM 6.0 - Language - C++ make the following changes

C++ Language Dialect to C++11 [-std=c++11] C++ Standard Library to libc++ (LLVM C++ standard library with C++11 support)

Parse errors when including boost/type_traits.hpp

If you happen to include <boost/type_traits.hpp> header file, you may see compile errors like this

Unexpected member name of ';' after declaration specifiers

To fix this problem, include the following line in your porject ***-Prefix.pch file.

#define __ASSERT_MACROS_DEFINE_VERSIONS_WITHOUT_UNDERSCORES 0