Can I re-open .xcarchive on Xcode?

Question

Is it possible to re-open an .xcarchive file on Xcode?

I know this is not common, but I would like to open a project exactly as it was submitted to the App Store. I don't have back up of that exact build, so it would be really great to open the archive copy!

Before you ask why don't I just download it from the store, I must say this build has been approved and is just pending on my release. :)

Thanks!

Answer 1

You can see contents of ProjectName [Date Time].xcarchive by right click on it and select Show Package Content.

It comprises of three things :

1. dSYMs : dSYM files store the debug symbols for your app.

2. Info.plist : property list containing details such as ApplicationProperties, ArchiveVersion, CreationDate, Name, Scheme.

3. Products : This contains App file for your project.

Answer 2

A xcarchive is a folder containing a (compiled) app bundle, a dSYM (debug file) for the app, and an Info.plist containing metadata about the archive (such as the name of the app and the date the archive was created). You can look inside a `xcarchive by control-clicking or right-clicking it in the Finder and choosing “Show Package Contents”.

The archive does not contain your app's source code (unless you have made a serious mistake in your project configuration).

You should use a version tracking system like git to store your source code. When you create an xcarchive for distribution, you should tag the current version of the source code in your build system, so that you can easily extract the source code used to build that archive.