a base use of Objective-C's retainCount - objective-c

We both know that the retain method will +1 retainCount, release will -1 retainCount, if retainCount == 0, the object dealloc.
But I meet a problem, the following code run have the ridiculous result
#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
#interface Person : NSObject
#property(nonatomic, retain) NSString *name;
#property(nonatomic, assign) NSInteger age;
#end
#implementation Person
- (id)init
{
self = [super init];
if (self) {
self.name = #"name";
self.age = 20;
}
return self;
}
- (void)dealloc
{
NSLog(#"dealloc");
[super dealloc];
}
#end
int main(int argc, const char * argv[])
{
Person *per1 = [[Person alloc] init];
NSLog(#"retainCount = %lu -- 1",[per1 retainCount]);
[per1 release];
[per1 retain];
NSLog(#"retainCount = %lu -- 2",[per1 retainCount]);
return 0;
}
The result is:
2014-01-11 21:56:23.887 blockTest[1287:303] retainCount = 1 -- 1
2014-01-11 21:56:23.889 blockTest[1287:303] dealloc
2014-01-11 21:56:23.889 blockTest[1287:303] retainCount = 2 -- 2
I don't use the ARC. Why I get this result?
Isn't the app should crash?

What's happening here is that although the object has been deallocated, the memory where it's stored hasn't been overwritten yet, so the later calls still work because the data is temporarily still there.
The reason you get a retainCount of 2 at the end is that when you send release to an object with a retainCount of 1, they just dealloc the object straight away without bothering to decrement the internal count to zero.

You shouldn't ever expect that this property returns any meaningful result.
It doesn't matter what you do, it's not your job.
See this for more information whentouseretaincount.com

Once an object is deallocated, you cannot send any further messages to that object. In your case, your object is deallocated once you send the release message to it. Sending any further messages, including retain and retainCount, is undefined behavior.
For example, on my system, the following code:
int main(int argc, const char * argv[])
{
Person *per1 = [[Person alloc] init];
[per1 release];
Person *per2 = [[Person alloc] init];
per2.name = #"Something Else";
[per1 retain];
NSLog(#"per1.name = %#",per1.name);
return 0;
}
prints:
per1.name = Something Else
More undefined behavior!

Related

With ARC , why the dealloc not called

I have enable the ARC. but this code makes me wonder
#interface Dog : NSObject
#end
#implementation Dog
- (void)dealloc
{
printf("Dog is dealloc\n"); //the function not called
}
#end
#interface Person : NSObject
#property (nonatomic, strong) Dog *dog;
#end
#implementation Person
- (void)dealloc
{
printf("Person is dealloc\n");
_dog = nil;
}
-(Dog *)dog
{
return _dog;
}
#end
int main()
{
Person *p = [[Person alloc] init];
p.dog = [[Dog alloc]init];
Dog* d = p.dog;
d=nil;
p=nil;
printf("end\n");
return 0;
}
the result is
Person is dealloc
end
Program ended with exit code: 0
why the dog's dealloc method not called.
and then I commented out this Method, the dog's dealloc method called.
//-(Dog *)dog
//{
// return _dog;
//}
thank you very much.
You can see the memory graph to find out what exactly points to the Dog and preserve it from automatically deallocation:
Unlike Swift, In Objective-C, you need to put the main body inside an #autoreleasepool to make it ARC compatible:
int main(int argc, const char * argv[]) {
#autoreleasepool {
// insert code here...
NSLog(#"Hello, World!");
Person *p = [[Person alloc] init];
p.dog = [[Dog alloc]init];
Dog* d = p.dog;
d = nil;
p = nil;
printf("Ended...\n");
}
return 0;
}
Then you will see this in the output:
Person is dealloc
Ended...
Dog is dealloc

Why weak property of associated object is not nilled out if I call its getter?

Though it's kind of stupid in 2020 that I'm still asking question about ObjC, please be patient and considerate...
I'm reading the source code of BloksKit and ran into a weird situation.
#import <objc/runtime.h>
#interface _WeakAssociatedObjectWrapper : NSObject
#property (nonatomic, weak) id object;
#end
#implementation _WeakAssociatedObjectWrapper
#end
#interface NSObject (AddWeak)
#end
#implementation NSObject (AddWeak)
- (void)setWeakProp:(id)weakProp {
_WeakAssociatedObjectWrapper *wrapper = objc_getAssociatedObject(self, #selector(weakProp));
if (!wrapper) {
wrapper = [[_WeakAssociatedObjectWrapper alloc] init];
objc_setAssociatedObject(self, #selector(weakProp), wrapper, OBJC_ASSOCIATION_RETAIN_NONATOMIC);
}
wrapper.object = weakProp;
}
- (id)weakProp {
id value = objc_getAssociatedObject(self, _cmd);
if ([value isKindOfClass:_WeakAssociatedObjectWrapper.class]) {
return [(_WeakAssociatedObjectWrapper *)value object];
}
return value;
}
#end
int main(int argc, const char * argv[]) {
#autoreleasepool {
NSObject *obj = [[NSObject alloc] init];
{
NSObject *prop = [[NSObject alloc] init];
[obj setWeakProp:prop];
[obj weakProp]; // *Weird!!
}
NSLog(#"Now obj.weakProp = %#", [obj weakProp]);
}
return 0;
}
This code is adding a weak associated object for category.(BlocksKit does so)
Note the *Weird!! line. If this line is commented out, then it prints (null), which is reasonable since prop is deallocated outside the {} scope. On the other side, if not commented out, it prints <NSObject: 0xxxxx>, which indicates that prop is somehow retained by someone(Or any other reason?).
What is happening here??! (BlocksKit behaves the same!)
Environment: XCode 10.3
This is a feature. For the case (and any similar)
[obj weakProp];
by properties/accessors naming convention ARC returns autoreleased instance, so in your case #autoreleasepool holds it and testing as below can show this.
int main(int argc, const char * argv[]) {
NSObject *obj = [[NSObject alloc] init];
#autoreleasepool {
{
NSObject *prop = [[NSObject alloc] init];
[obj setWeakProp:prop];
[obj weakProp]; // *Weird!!
}
NSLog(#"Now obj.weakProp = %#", [obj weakProp]);
}
NSLog(#"After autoreleased >> obj.weakProp = %#", [obj weakProp]);
return 0;
}

Releasing ivars in dealloc gives "pointer being freed was not allocated" error

I have the following properties defined:
#property (nonatomic, retain) NSString *name_;
#property (nonatomic, retain) NSString *profilePicture_;
#property (nonatomic, retain) NSString *username_;
#property (nonatomic, retain) NSString *id_;
and I set them up in my init... like this:
-(id)initWithData:(NSDictionary *)data
{
self = [super init];
if (!self) {
return nil;
}
name_ = [data valueForKey:#"full_name"];
profilePicture_ = [data valueForKey:#"profile_picture"];
username_ = [data valueForKey:#"username"];
id_ = [data valueForKey:#"id"];
return self;
}
with the following dealloc:
-(void)dealloc
{
[name_ release];
[username_ release];
[profilePicture_ release];
[id_ release];
[super dealloc];
}
However the dealloc gives me an error:
pointer being freed was not allocated
Why is this? Do I have to do [[NSString alloc] init...] or [NSString stringWithString:]?
valueForKey: will return an autoreleased object, therefore you have no ownership. As they are all strings you can just call copy like this
name_ = [[data valueForKey:#"full_name"] copy];
profilePicture_ = [[data valueForKey:#"profile_picture"] copy];
username_ = [[data valueForKey:#"username"] copy];
id_ = [[data valueForKey:#"id"] copy];
you should also change your #property declarations to use copy as this is generally recommended for strings.
The other alternative is to go through the synthesised accessors but I generally avoid doing this in either init or dealloc
This is because you are assigning to backing variables in your initWithData. You should use rewrite your code as follows:
self.name_ = [data valueForKey:#"full_name"];
self.profilePicture_ = [data valueForKey:#"profile_picture"];
self.username_ = [data valueForKey:#"username"];
self.id_ = [data valueForKey:#"id"];
This would assign values through properties, which calls [retain] for you. The way your code is written now, the pointer is simply copied into ivars without calling [retain], which ultimately causes the issue that you describe.
Since you are using data from dictionary, you should set values through properties using self keyword.
If it doesn't solve, then problem is probably not inside your class but perhaps where you create the instance of it. Try examining the Code where you allocate and release the instance of this Class.
You should also profile your app using Simulator & NSZombies n Determine where you over-release the object.

Using self.objectname causes profiler to report a memory leak

Please help;
Header File
#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
#interface MyClass : NSObject {
NSMutableString * myString;
}
#property (nonatomic, retain) NSMutableString * myString;
-(id) init;
-(void) dealloc;
#end
Implementation File
#import "MyClass.h"
#implementation MyClass
#synthesize myString;
-(id) init {
if ((self = [super init])) {
self.myString = [[NSMutableString alloc] init];
}
return self;
}
-(void) dealloc {
[super dealloc];
[self.myString release];
}
#end
Usage
MyClass * m = [[MyClass alloc] init];
[m release];
//-- Xcode 4 profiler reports a memory leak here.
However, when the code in implementation file of the class is changed to not use the [self.myString .....] notation, then no memory leak is reported.
So,
-(id) init {
if ((self = [super init])) {
myString = [[NSMutableString alloc] init];
}
return self;
}
}
and
-(void) dealloc {
[super dealloc];
[myString release];
}
works fine. No memory leaks reported.
Any ideas - is it profiler or is it me (be nice)?
Your memory leak is not caused by using your setter. Your memory leak is caused by you not managing your memory correctly!
If you declare the following property
#property (nonatomic, retain) id value;
That means that the compiler generates methods that look something like this (highly simplified):
- (id)value {
return value;
}
- (void)setValue:(id)aValue {
[value autorelease];
value = [aValue retain];
}
When you use dot-notation, self.value = obj is desugared into [self setValue:obj]. Thence, you are actually causing obj to be retained within the setter. If you initially create an owning reference to obj (by using an +alloc without a corresponding -release or -autorelease), you'll have over-retained obj, and it will never be deallocated. Hence, you need to do something like this:
id obj = [[[NSObject alloc] init] autorelease];
self.value = obj;
or
id obj = [[NSObject alloc] init];
self.value = [obj autorelease];
or
id obj = [[NSObject alloc] init];
self.value = obj;
[obj release];
Whatever you do, you need to make sure that when you assert ownership of an object (by retaining it), you also release it.
Setter methods in Objective-C equate to a reatain of the new object and release of the old object. In your case the compiler will generate a setter method for your myString property that looks something like...
- (void)setMyString:(NSMutableString*)aString {
[myString autorelease];
myString = [aString retain];
}
When you invoke self.myString = in your init method this translates to a call to the setter. The setter in turn retains the object you pass to it. Because you've directly alloc'd the NSString it begins life with a retain count of one, you then call the setter and the retain count becomes two.
There's two approaches to fixing the problem, the first would be to add a call to [myString autorelease] after you alloc it. Or secondly switch your init method to directly assign the ivar...
// in your init method...
myString = [[NSMutableString alloc] init];
It's a good idea to avoid setter usage in init methods, not because of retain counts but because the object as a whole is not yet fully initialized.
#property (nonatomic, RETAIN)
you are retaining my friend. You have to release the object twice then because the retain count is 2
here is what you should do in the INIT method:
NSString *str = [[NSString alloc] initWithString:#"Hello World!"];
self.myString = str;
[str release]; // dont leak
Also I do not recommend using self.someProperty in the class itself. Doing so requires 1 extra objc_msgSend() to be done to access your variable and will slow down your application.

Objective-C error EXC_BAD_ACCESS help please

I am currently using the pragmatic screencast on Objective-C to help me program in objective-c. I have a background in Java and C++, but I am having a very difficult time getting used to everything in Objective(Mostly because I am not comfortable with the syntax).
Below is the error I am receiving with all the code.
I am also getting a warning in movie.m class as well: Wirtable atomic property 'title'
cannot be pair a synthesized setter/getter with a user defined setter/getter
thanks for your help.
I am receive this error
Current language: auto; currently objective-c
warning: Couldn't find class validation function, calling methods on uninitialized objects may deadlock your program.
Program received signal: “EXC_BAD_ACCESS”.
I ran it through the debugger and the address of movie in the code below is in red
main.m
int main (int argc, const char * argv[]) {
NSAutoreleasePool * pool = [[NSAutoreleasePool alloc] init];
Movie *movie = [[Movie alloc] initWithTitle:#"iron man"
andRating:5
andYear:2008];
[movie play];
NSLog(#"our movie is %#", movie);
[pool drain];
return 0;}
Movie.h
interface Movie : NSObject {
NSString *title;
int rating;
int year;
}
- (id)initWithTitle:(NSString *)newTitle
andRating:(int)newRating
andYear:(int) year;
#property(assign) NSString *title;
#property(assign) int rating;
#property(assign) int year;
-(void) play;
#end
Movie.m
#import "Movie.h"
#implementation Movie
#synthesize title;
#synthesize rating;
#synthesize year;
-(id)initWithTitle:(NSString *)newTitle
andRating:(int)newRating
andYear:(int)newYear;
{
self = [super init];
if(nil != self){
self.title = newTitle;
self.rating = newRating;
self.year = newYear;
}
return self;
}
-(NSString *) description{
NSString *oldDescription = [super description];
return [NSString stringWithFormat: #"%# title =%#, rating =%d year=%#",
oldDescription, self.title, self.rating, self.year];
}
- (void)setTitle:(NSString *)newTitle {
title = [newTitle capitalizedString];
}
-(void) play {
NSLog(#"Playing %#", self);
}
You use year=%# when it should be year=%d.
Some more random thoughts:
You should retain or better even copy the title instead of assigning it.
The init method should be named
-(id)initWithTitle:(NSString *)aTitle
rating:(int)aRating
year:(int)aYear;
Don't forget a dealloc method then.
Your title property is an object type and so should in generally be either retain or copy -- in the case of NSString properties, it is traditional to use copy to avoid issues when you're passed an NSMutableString instead.
#property (copy) NSString* title;
Since you explicitly define the setter, you then need to implement this policy yourself, something like this:
- (void)setTitle:(NSString *)newTitle
{
[title release];
title = [[newTitle capitalizedString] copy];
}
You'll also need to include a dealloc method to clean up:
- (void) dealloc
{
[title release];
[super dealloc];
}