NSMutableArray with size of 9 - objective-c

Question

I need to have an NSMutableArray with a constant count of 9 where I can make index-specific insertions and deletions. I know that array = [[NSMutableArray alloc] initWithCapacity:9]; will declare an array with a capacity of 9, but when you get the size of the array, it returns 0.
My first attempt at a solution was to declare an array with capacity 9 (see above) and then fill it with NSNull objects. This code crashes with the error
[NSMutableArray insertObjects:atIndexes:]: array argument is not an NSArray'
- (void) setBlankArray: (NSMutableArray*)array {
for (int i = 0; i < 9; i++) {
[array insertObjects:[NSNull null] atIndexes:i];
}
}
-(void) addCurrentTile: (TileView*)aTile {
[currentTurnTilesArray insertObject:aTile atIndex: aTile.getValue-1];
}
-(void) removeCurrentTile: (TileView*)aTile {
[currentTurnTilesArray removeObjectAtIndex: aTile.getValue-1];
}
Is there a better way to accomplish it?

Answer 1

Not sure what you are trying to accomplish or why, but your removeCurrentTile will break it, because it will reduce the size of the array by 1. What you need to do is wrap this array with a class that guards it such that it can never never never have any other number of elements than 9.
Personally, I think what you're trying to do is silly. If you know you will always have exactly 9 slots, then you should start with a normal array, not a mutable array. It is the objects at each index that you want to mutate - not the array itself. For example, if these things were to be strings, then you would make an immutable array of 9 NSMutableString objects:
NSArray* arr = #[
[NSMutableString string],
[NSMutableString string],
[NSMutableString string],
[NSMutableString string],
[NSMutableString string],
[NSMutableString string],
[NSMutableString string],
[NSMutableString string],
[NSMutableString string]
];
Now each string can be mutated into another value, but no strings can be added or removed such as to change the length of the array.
Of course that's just an example (using strings, I mean). For maximum flexibility, this would be an NSArray of nine NSMutableDictionary objects. Now every NSMutableDictionary can contain anything, or nothing. But the number of NSMutableDictionaries will always be exactly nine, because the array itself is immutable.

Answer 2

You're looking for insertObject:atIndex:, or more simply addObject:.

Answer 3

[[NSMutableArray alloc] initWithCapacity:9] does not create an array with 9 elements.
It creates an empty array initialized with enough memory to hold 9 objects.
The purpose of this method is to allocate that much memory at once as you declare, so you can add elements to this array and system has not to allocate memory every time. This is only for optimization.
NSMutableArray reference

Answer 4

I just read your question, and I think I understand exactly what you need. Here is the code:
Declare a property:
#property (nonatomic, retain) NSMutableArray *myArray;
Synthesize it:
#synthesize myArray = _myArray;
Overrride its getter like this:
- (NSMutableArray *)myArray
{
if (!_myArray)
{
_myArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc] initWithCapacity:9];
for (int i = 0; i < 9; i++)
{
[self.myArray addObject:[NSNull null]];
}
}
return _myArray;
}
The "setBlankArray" method will simly set the property to nil, and next time you call the getter of the array property it will get automatically initialized with exactly what you need:
- (void)setBlankArray:(NSMutableArray *)array
{
self.myArray = nil;
}
VERY IMPORTANT: Do not write this code:
for (int i = 0; i < 9; i++)
{
[self.myArray addObject:[NSNull null]];
}
in the method just mentioned as this will make the array to contain 18 elements.
Then write the other 2 methods:
// you can also change the parameter from "id" to "TileView *"
- (void)addCurrentTile:(id)sender
{
NSInteger tileIndex = 1; // replace 1 with ((TileView *) sender).getValue - 1
[self.myArray replaceObjectAtIndex:tileIndex
withObject:sender];
}
// you can also change the parameter from "id" to "TileView *"
- (void)removeCurrentTile:(id)sender
{
NSInteger tileIndex = 1; // replace 1 with ((TileView *) sender).getValue - 1
[self.myArray replaceObjectAtIndex:tileIndex
withObject:[NSNull null]];
}
But, DO NOT FORGET to replace "id" with "TileView *", and TO SET the value of tileIndex to "((TileView *) sender).getValue - 1".
Hope this all makes sense, and is helpful for you.
Best regards