I'm having a random EXC_BAD_ACCESS KERN_INVALID_ADDRESS, but I can't point out the source. However, I'm wondering if this might be it:
I have an audio_queue created like this:
_audio_queue = dispatch_queue_create("AudioQueue", nil);
which I use to create and access an object called _audioPlayer:
dispatch_async(_audio_queue, ^{
_audioPlayer = [[AudioPlayer alloc] init];
});
The audio player is owned by a MovieView:
#implementation MovieView
{
AudioPlayer *_audioPlayer
}
Then, in the dealloc method of MovieView, I have:
- (void)dealloc
{
dispatch_async(_audio_queue, ^{
[_audioPlayer destroy];
});
}
Is this acceptable? I'm thinking that by the time the block is called, the MovieView would have already been deallocated, and when trying to access the _audioPlayer, it no longer exists. Is this the case?
My crash report only says:
MovieView.m line 0
__destroy_helper_block_
Your bug is in the ivar access. This is due to how ivars work in ObjC: the -dealloc above is equivalent to
- (void)dealloc
{
dispatch_async(self->_audio_queue, ^{
[self->_audioPlayer stopPlaying];
});
}
This can break because you end up using self after it is dealloced.
The fix is something like
- (void)dealloc
{
AVAudioPlayer * audioPlayer = _audioPlayer;
dispatch_async(audio_queue, ^{
[audioPlayer stopPlaying];
});
}
(It is frequently not thread-safe to explicitly or implicitly (via ivars) reference self in a block. Sadly, I don't think there is a warning for this.)
If this is the cause, the you could use dispatch_sync
- (void)dealloc
{
dispatch_sync(_audio_queue, ^{
[_audioPlayer stopPlaying];
});
}
I haven't tested this
Related
I am using the below code to wait for async tasks to be completed. It works a couple of times and crashes. The updateFromTable always invokes callback() so that the group calls are balanced, but it still crashes.
- (void)updateFromTable:(Table *)table env:(Env *)env callback:(void (^)(void))callback {
[someasync usingBlock:^{
callback()
}];
}
- (NSString * _Nullable)process {
JSL * __weak weakSelf = self;
NSString __block *ret = nil;
dispatch_group_enter(_dispatchGroup);
dispatch_async(_repQueue, ^{
JSL *this = weakSelf;
[this updateFromTable:[this->_env table] env:this->_env callback:^{
ret = [some op .. ];
dispatch_group_leave(this->_dispatchGroup);
}];
});
dispatch_group_wait(_dispatchGroup, dispatch_time(DISPATCH_TIME_NOW, NSEC_PER_SEC));
info(#"%#", #"done");
return ret;
}
Any idea why it crashes randomly and how to fix this? Basically, what I am trying to achieve is invoke couple of async tasks, wait for all of them to complete and then proceed with the rest.
Referring: How to wait past dispatch_async before proceeding?
You cannot dereference ivars with -> if this is nil. So, the typical solution is to create strong reference that can’t be deallocated while the closure runs, and return if it’s nil:
- (NSString * _Nullable)process {
typeof(self) __weak weakSelf = self;
[self asynchronousMethodWithCompletion:^{
typeof(self) strongSelf = weakSelf;
if (!strongSelf) { return; }
// can now safely use `strongSelf` here
});
...
}
This is “weakSelf-strongSelf dance”. You use it in situations where you need to make sure that self isn’t nil when you use it, e.g. dereferencing ivars (strongSelf->ivar) .
Thus:
- (NSString * _Nullable)process {
typeof(self) __weak weakSelf = self;
NSString __block *ret = nil;
dispatch_group_t group = dispatch_group_create();
dispatch_group_enter(group);
dispatch_async(_repQueue, ^{
typeof(self) strongSelf = weakSelf;
if (!strongSelf) { return; }
[strongSelf updateFromTable:[strongSelf->_env table] env:strongSelf->_env callback:^{
ret = [some op .. ];
dispatch_group_leave(group);
}];
});
dispatch_group_wait(group, DISPATCH_TIME_FOREVER);
info(#"%#", #"done");
return ret;
}
A few other observations:
The dispatch group should be a local variable of the method rather than an ivar. There’s no need for anything else in your code referencing this group.
Make sure that your dispatch_group_leave calls don’t exceed the number of dispatch_group_enter calls (i.e. that this completion handler block isn’t called multiple times).
I’d suggest waiting for DISPATCH_TIME_FOREVER (assuming you want it to really wait for it to finish).
Also, if these are properties (which I’m guessing they are on the basis of the underscores), then using self.env rather than self->_env is safer, as it won’t crash if self is nil, but rather will just return nil.
I must confess that this still doesn’t look right (e.g. if updateFromTable is asynchronous already, why bother dispatching this asynchronously to _repQueue; if it is synchronous, then again, why dispatch this asynchronously only to wait for it). But it’s impossible to comment further without seeing the updateFromTable implementation.
Or, better, make the method asynchronous:
- (void)processWithCompletion:(void (^)(NSString *))callback {
typeof(self) __weak weakSelf = self;
dispatch_async(_repQueue, ^{
typeof(self) strongSelf = weakSelf;
if (!strongSelf) { return; }
[strongSelf updateFromTable:[strongSelf->_env table] env:strongSelf->_env callback:^{
NSString *ret = [some op .. ];
callback(ret);
}];
});
}
I'm using Magical Record 2.3.0 beta 5 and I have troubles understanding how to get my NSManagedObjects for the current thread. I have a long running NSOperation where I need my PSPlayer (NSManagedObject).
When I init the NSOperation, I keep an id of my PSPlayer and re-fetch the same object in the operation's main method. According to Apple that the way to do it.
#implementation TAPlayerUpdateOperation
- (instancetype)initWithPlayer:(PSPlayer *)player;
{
self = [super init];
if (self) {
self.playerMD5Id = player.md5Id;
}
}
- (void)main
{
#autoreleasepool {
__block BOOL keepUpdating = YES;
PSPlayer *player = [[PSPlayer MR_findAllWithPredicate:[NSPredicate predicateWithFormat:#"md5Id == %#", self.playerMD5Id]] firstObject];
NSLog(#"player.md5Id = %#", player.md5Id);
// rest of my operation logic
}
}
#end
When I run my app with -com.apple.CoreData.ConcurrencyDebug 1, I get a crash when accessing the property in the NSLog statement.
What is the correct way to get my NSManagedObject so that it is safe for the current thread?
I've pinned the problem down to the following snippet where it crashes as well.
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_DEFAULT, 0), ^{
PSPlayer *player =[[PSPlayer MR_findAll] firstObject];
NSLog(#"player = %#", player.name);
});
cheers,
Jan
You need to ensure that everything is saved and merged before the fetch would work. If you're using MR then it's better to take the managed object and call inContext: on it supplying the other context and have it do the work (it also avoids a predicate).
I expect the crash is because you use player.md5Id instead of self.playerMD5Id so you're accessinh the managed object on the wrong thread.
I'm writing a mac app that runs its own web server, using the GCDWebServer library (https://github.com/swisspol/GCDWebServer). My app delegate handles GET requests like so:
__weak typeof(self) weakSelf = self;
[webServer addDefaultHandlerForMethod:#"GET"
requestClass:[GCDWebServerRequest class]
processBlock:^GCDWebServerResponse *(GCDWebServerRequest* request) {
return [weakSelf handleRequest:request];
}];
And then the handleRequest method returns the response data, something like:
return [GCDWebServerDataResponse responseWithHTML:#"<html><body><p>Hello World!</p></body></html>"];
So far so good. Except now I want the handleRequest method to use NSSpeechSynthesizer to create an audio file with some spoken text in it, and then wait for the speechSynthesizer:didFinishSpeaking method to be called before returning to the processBlock.
// NSSpeechSynthesizerDelegate method:
- (void)speechSynthesizer:(NSSpeechSynthesizer *)sender didFinishSpeaking:(BOOL)success
{
NSLog(#"did finish speaking, success: %d", success);
// return to processBlock...
}
Problem is, I have no idea how to do this. Is there a way to return from the speechSynthesizer:didFinishSpeaking method into the processBlock defined above?
You need to run the speech synthesizer on a separate thread with its own run loop, and use a lock to allow your request thread to wait for the operation to complete on the speech thread.
Assuming the web server maintains its own thread(s) and runloop, you can use your app's main thread to run the speech synthesizer, and you can use NSCondition to signal completion to the web response thread.
A basic (untested) example (without error handling):
#interface SynchroSpeaker : NSObject<NSSpeechSynthesizerDelegate>
- (id)initWithText:(NSString*)text outputUrl:(NSURL*)url;
- (void)run;
#end
#implementation SynchroSpeaker
{
NSCondition* _lock;
NSString* _text;
NSURL* _url;
NSSpeechSynthesizer* _synth;
}
- (id)initWithText:(NSString*)text outputUrl:(NSURL*)url
{
if (self = [super init])
{
_text = text;
_url = url;
_lock = [NSCondition new];
}
return self;
}
- (void)run
{
NSAssert(![NSThread isMainThread], #"This method cannot execute on the main thread.");
[_lock lock];
[self performSelectorOnMainThread:#selector(startOnMainThread) withObject:nil waitUntilDone:NO];
[_lock wait];
[_lock unlock];
}
- (void)startOnMainThread
{
NSAssert([NSThread isMainThread], #"This method must execute on the main thread.");
[_lock lock];
//
// Set up your speech synethsizer and start speaking
//
}
- (void)speechSynthesizer:(NSSpeechSynthesizer *)sender didFinishSpeaking:(BOOL)success
{
//
// Signal waiting thread that speaking has completed
//
[_lock signal];
[_lock unlock];
}
#end
It's used like so:
- (id)handleRequest:(id)request
{
SynchroSpeaker* speaker = [[SynchroSpeaker alloc] initWithText:#"Hello World" outputUrl:[NSURL fileURLWithPath:#"/tmp/foo.dat"]];
[speaker run];
////
return response;
}
GCDWebServer does run into its own threads (I guess 2 of them) - not in the main one. My solution needed to run code in Main Thread when calling the ProcessBlock.
I found this way that suits my needs:
First declare a weak storage for my AppDelegate: __weak AppDelegate *weakSelf = self;. Doing so I can access all my properties within the block.
Declare a strong reference to AppDelegate from within the block like so: __strong AppDelegate* strongSelf = weakSelf;
Use NSOperationQueue to align the operation on mainThread:
[[NSOperationQueue mainQueue] addOperationWithBlock:^ {
//Your code goes in here
NSLog(#"Main Thread Code");
[strongSelf myMethodOnMainThread];
}];
In this way myMethodOnMainThread surely will run where it's supposed to.
For sake of clarity I quote my relevant code section:
webServer = [[GCDWebServer alloc] init];
webServer.delegate = self;
__weak AppDelegate *weakSelf = self;
// Add a handler to respond to GET requests
[webServer addDefaultHandlerForMethod:#"GET"
requestClass:[GCDWebServerRequest class]
asyncProcessBlock:^(GCDWebServerRequest* request, GCDWebServerCompletionBlock completionBlock) {
__strong AppDelegate* strongSelf = weakSelf;
[[NSOperationQueue mainQueue] addOperationWithBlock:^ {
//Your code goes in here
NSLog(#"Main Thread Code");
[strongSelf myMethodOnMainThread];
}];
GCDWebServerDataResponse* response = [GCDWebServerDataResponse responseWithJSONObject:packet];
completionBlock(response);
}];
GCWebServer supports fully asynchronous responses as of version 3.0 and later [1].
[webServer addDefaultHandlerForMethod:#"GET"
requestClass:[GCDWebServerRequest class]
asyncProcessBlock:^(GCDWebServerRequest* request, GCDWebServerCompletionBlock completionBlock) {
// 1. Trigger speech synthesizer on main thread (or whatever thread it has to run on) and save "completionBlock"
// 2. Have the delegate from the speech synthesizer call "completionBlock" when done passing an appropriate response
}];
[1] https://github.com/swisspol/GCDWebServer#asynchronous-http-responses
I'm new to Obj-c. I've got a class which sets a var boolean to YES if it's successful (Game Center login = successful), what it would be great to do, is somehow have a listener to that var that listens to when it is YES and then executes some code. Do I use a block for that? I'm also using the Sparrow framework.
Here's my code in my GameCenter.m file
-(void) setup
{
gameCenterAuthenticationComplete = NO;
if (!isGameCenterAPIAvailable()) {
// Game Center is not available.
NSLog(#"Game Center is not available.");
} else {
NSLog(#"Game Center is available.");
__weak typeof(self) weakSelf = self; // removes retain cycle error
GKLocalPlayer *localPlayer = [GKLocalPlayer localPlayer]; // localPlayer is the public GKLocalPlayer
__weak GKLocalPlayer *weakPlayer = localPlayer; // removes retain cycle error
weakPlayer.authenticateHandler = ^(UIViewController *viewController, NSError *error)
{
if (viewController != nil)
{
[weakSelf showAuthenticationDialogWhenReasonable:viewController];
}
else if (weakPlayer.isAuthenticated)
{
[weakSelf authenticatedPlayer:weakPlayer];
}
else
{
[weakSelf disableGameCenter];
}
};
}
}
-(void)showAuthenticationDialogWhenReasonable:(UIViewController *)controller
{
[[[[[UIApplication sharedApplication] delegate] window] rootViewController] presentViewController:controller animated:YES completion:nil];
}
-(void)authenticatedPlayer:(GKLocalPlayer *)player
{
NSLog(#"%#,%#,%#",player.playerID,player.displayName, player.alias);
gameCenterAuthenticationComplete = YES;
}
-(void)disableGameCenter
{
}
But I need to know from a different object if that gameCenterAuthenticationComplete equals YES.
You can use a delegate pattern. It's far easier to use than KVO or local notifications and it's used a lot in Obj-C.
Notifications should be used only in specific situations (e.g. when you don't know who wants to listen or when there are more than 1 listeners).
A block would work here but the delegate does exactly the same.
You could use KVO (Key-Value Observing) to watch a property of your object, but I'd rather post a NSNotification in your case.
You'll need to have the objects interested in knowing when Game Center login happened register themselves to NSNotificationCenter, then post the NSNotification in your Game Center handler. Read the Notification Programming Topics for more details !
If there is a single method to execute on a single delegate object, you can simply call it in the setter. Let me give a name to this property:
#property(nonatomic,assign, getter=isLogged) BOOL logged;
It's enough that you implement the setter:
- (void) setLogged: (BOOL) logged
{
_logged=logged;
if(logged)
[_delegate someMethod];
}
Another (suggested) way is to use NSNotificationCenter. With NSNotificationCenter you can notify multiple objects. All objects that want to execute a method when the property is changes to YES have to register:
NSNotificationCenter* center=[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter];
[center addObserver: self selector: #selector(handleEvent:) name: #"Logged" object: nil];
The handleEvent: selector will be executed every time that logged changes to YES. So post a notification whenever the property changes:
- (void) setLogged: (BOOL) logged
{
_logged=logged;
if(logged)
{
NSNotificationCenter* center=[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter];
[center postNotificationName: #"Logged" object: self];
}
}
I'm playing around with blocks in Objective-C, trying to come up with a reusable mechanism that will take an arbitrary block of code and a lock object and then execute the block of code on a new thread, synchronized on the provided lock. The idea is to come up with a simple way to move all synchronization overhead/waiting off of the main thread so that an app's UI will always be responsive.
The code I've come up with is pretty straightforward, it goes like:
- (void) executeBlock: (void (^)(void))block {
block();
}
- (void) runAsyncBlock: (void (^)(void))block withLock:(id)lock {
void(^syncBlock)() = ^{
#synchronized(lock) {
block();
}
};
[self performSelectorInBackground:#selector(executeBlock:) withObject:syncBlock];
}
So for example, you might have some methods that go like:
- (void) addObjectToSharedArray:(id) theObj {
#synchronized(array) {
[array addObject: theObj];
}
}
- (void) removeObjectFromSharedArray:(id) theObj {
#synchronized(array) {
[array removeObject: theObj];
}
}
Which works fine, but blocks the calling thread while waiting for the lock. These could be rewritten as:
- (void) addObjectToSharedArray:(id) theObj {
[self runAsyncBlock:^{
[array addObject: theObj];
} withLock: array];
}
- (void) removeObjectFromSharedArray:(id) theObj {
[self runAsyncBlock: ^{
[array removeObject: theObj];
} withLock:array];
}
Which should always return immediately, since only the background threads will compete over the lock.
The problem is, this code crashes after executeBlock: without producing any output, error message, crash log, or any other useful thing. Is there something fundamentally flawed in my approach? If not, any suggestions with respect to why this might be crashing?
Edit:
Interestingly, it works without crashing if I simply do:
- (void) runAsyncBlock: (void (^)(void))block withLock:(id)lock {
void(^syncBlock)() = ^{
#synchronized(lock) {
block();
}
};
syncBlock();
}
But of course this will block the calling thread, which largely defeats the purpose. Is it possible that blocks do not cross thread boundaries? I would think not, since that would largely defeat the purpose of having them in the first place.
remember to call [block copy] otherwise it is not correctly retained because block are created on stack and destroyed when exit scope and unless you call copy it will not move to heap even retain is called.
- (void) runAsyncBlock: (void (^)(void))block withLock:(id)lock {
block = [[block copy] autorelease];
void(^syncBlock)() = ^{
#synchronized(lock) {
block();
}
};
syncBlock = [[syncBlock copy] autorelease];
[self performSelectorInBackground:#selector(executeBlock:) withObject:syncBlock];
}