What does Watchdog actually do?

The main function of Watchdog is to keep the cache files created by Xcode® under control. So Watchdog will delete cache files at specific times based on the settings you select.

When does Watchdog clear out the cache files?

You can trigger a clean manually at any time, plus there are 4 configurable settings to trigger a clean automatically.

1. Whenever Xcode closes
2. On clean builds
3. At a specific time each day
4. When the cache files exceed a specified size

What does Watchdog delete?

If Xcode is running when Watchdog does a clean, it will selectively delete various cache files that Xcode can regenerate as needed, taking steps not to delete files Xcode is actually using. If Xcode is not running, Watchdog will delete all of the cache files in the DerivedData folder.

Sometimes after I do a clean build, I get a weird error in Xcode, or the build fails but then everything is fine right after, what's up?

If you have Watchdog detecting when Xcode does a clean, you need to wait about 10 seconds between doing the clean and then doing a new build. Watchdog needs this time to see that Xcode has finished its clean and then clean the rest of the files that Xcode left behind. If you tend to clean and build right away and don't want wait the 10 seconds between, just disable the Detect Clean option.

Can't I just delete the files in the DerivedData folder myself manually?

Yes. Watchdog just does it much faster and much more often, preventing cache problems that can suck hours of a developers time before you even realize there is a problem. You'll easily recover the cost of Watchdog back in time saved, likely even on day one.

Are there any advanced options?

Yes.

Black and White Icon

Some customers have mentioned that they don't like the colour icon in the menu bar, so I added a black and white option. Some users still didn't like the black and white option (it seems people can be picky about their menu bar icons). So I added an advanced option with two additional black and white icons to choose from. To enable one of the alternate versions, enter the following command in Terminal:

defaults write com.cerebralgardens.watchdog XCGSettings_BlackMenuIconVersion -int 0

Change 0 to 1 or 2 for alternate icons, or back to 0 to use the original version.

Notification Sound

Other customers have requested an alternate sound to indicate Watchdog has done its thing. It seems some cats really don't like the dog bark notification. So you can select one of the system sounds instead with this option:

defaults write com.cerebralgardens.watchdog XCGSettings_NotificationSoundOverride Glass

Change Glass to the name of one of your system sounds (listed in System Prefs | Sound | Sound Effects), or "" to return to the original dog bark sound.

What do I need to run Watchdog?

Watchdog requires OS X 10.8+, and Xcode 4.6+