I'm declaring an ivar of type NSString on a class. To initialize the value of this ivar I use the following code:
NSString *myVar;
-(void)inAnyMethod
{
myVar = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#",theValue];
}
Do I have to release this ivar? According to my understanding, it is not my responsibility. But in most cases, strings that I use in this manner cause leaks.
What am I missing?
You do not have to release it, because that is a convenience method that returns an autoreleased object.
The way to know if you are getting something with a retain count of 1 that you will need to release is using the Cocoa naming conventions which say that anything that starts with new, alloc or contains copy in the method name will return a retain 1 object, the others will return autoreleased objects like in this case.
In addition to Oscar Gomez answer, note that when you use class methods (those methods with plus sign that you can find in the documentation and are not included in Oscar Gomez list, e.g. stringWithFormat is one of them), you have not to worry about memory management. If you create your own class method, you should do the same: return an autorelease object.
Regarding your code, it cannot work if you simply assign your ivar to the NSString object (returned from that method). In fact, at some point of your application cycle, the object will be released (it has been put in a pool) and your ivar will not reference any object anymore.
The trick: create a #property with a copy policy or send a copy message like the following:
myVar = [[NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#",theValue] copy];
Copy is normally used when a class has subclasses of mutable type. Otherwise use retain. Once done, you have the possession for that object and you have to remember to release it. If you don't do it you cause a leak.
[myVar release];
P.S. Since Xcode 4.2 there is a new compiler feature called ARC.
Hope it helps.
Related
This might be a stupid question, but it keeps bothering me.
Say if we have a method that takes an NSString object as its parameter and does something with the NSString object,
- (void)someMethod:(NSString *)str
{
//do something with str
}
Consider this code
[someObject someMethod:[[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:#"Hello World!"]];
Since alloc has been used in creating the string as parameter of someMethod, it has to be balanced by release no matter explicitly in pre-ARC environment or implicitly under ARC. But it seems there is no way we can get a pointer to the string as we have never assigned it to any pointer.
So my question is, first, is this way of passing parameter prohibited in writing objective c code? If no, then how objects created this way get released? And finally, does this code lead to memory leak?
Just for the record, I understand the above code is written
NSString *string = [[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:#"Hello World!"];
[someObject someMethod:string];
// [string release]; depending on ARC or non-ARC
Well, in fact, that object is assigned to the variable named str, which is a parameter of your method. You can manage the memory inside your method via that pointer, although methods aren't supposed to take ownership of their arguments (except see below).
ARC knows what to do in this situation -- it will either autorelease the object or add a release once the method is finished.
Under MRR, your snippet would be a leak; the correct way to avoid that is also to send autorelease:
[someObject someMethod:[[[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:#"Hello World!"] autorelease]];
or to use your last snippet (putting the string into a temporary variable and releasing later).
As a slightly esoteric option, it is possible for your method to declare that it owns the argument, by using the ns_consumed attribute:
- (void)someMethod:(NSString *) __attribute__((ns_consumed)) str;
This indicates that your method should send release to the object before it returns -- ARC will also take care of that.
So my question is, first, is this way of passing parameter prohibited in writing objective c code?
No. It's perfectly legal.
If no, then how objects created this way get released?
ARC will take care of it for you. If you do your own reference counting, then you can add it to the autorelease pool before it goes out of scope:
[someObject someMethod:
[[[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:#"Hello World!"] autorelease]];
^^^^^^^^^^^
And finally, does this code lead to memory leak?
Not in ARC. In MRC, you would need to add the -autorelease.
The static analyzer would also point out that leak.
There's no reason to not write code as you ask for consideration on… nothing prohibited in the slightest. These objects get released in the same manner that any other object gets released. Your lack of a variable to store the pointer in at the top level isn't important because the Objective C runtime knows about the object.
If I have a property in my class like so:\
#interface Test
NSString *str;
#end
And in my init in the .m:
str = #"Test";
Do I need to manually release that in the classes dealloc?
What about this kind?
NSString *myStr = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#", someString];
Do I need to release that too?
You should really just use ARC, but to answer your specific question, no: you don't need to release those. You only release what you "own", and you only own things you got from a method that contains one of [new, alloc, retain, copy].
That said, since you don't own those strings, you should retain (or copy) them if you need them to stick around.
You shouldn't have to release if you are using ARC in your project (Automatic Reference Counting). ARC is enabled for iOS 5+ so if you are targeting iOS 5 or higher, you dont have to release anything.
If you're not sure if you're using ARC or not, just try to release/retain. If it shows a warning saying you can't release/retain, ARC is enabled, else is disabled and you'll have to retain & release.
Both constructs1 create autoreleased strings. You need to retain them (explicitly or by assigning to a retained property), otherwise you will end up with dangling references once the autorelease is called2. Once you call a retain on an object, releasing it becomes your responsibility.
A more robust approach with NSStrings is to use copy properties, rather than retaining them. Doing so lets you avoid issues when a NSMutableString passed into your init method gets mutated after you have validated its content.
1 I am assuming that you are asking about pre-ARC version of Objective C tools; otherwise, you will not be able to call retain or release explicitly.
2 This usually happens some time after you exit from the method, and the control passes back to the run loop.
I have this in my .h file:
#property (nonatomic,retain) CCTexture2D *tempScreenshot;
Since it says "retain", I'm assuming that whatever value is stored in tempScreenshot is retained.
Do I have to release tempScreenshot in the dealloc method of my class?
Also, if I use the set method to give a new value to tempScreenshot, this new value will be retained, right? What happens to the old value?
Since you're saying "retain" I am assuming this is manual memory management code. If at all possible, you should switch to automatic reference counting (ARC). It dramatically simplifies this work and is faster than the equivalent manual code. Other than support for older OSes, there is almost never a reason to do manual memory management anymore.
Since it says "retain", I'm assuming that whatever value is stored in tempScreenshot is retained.
Whenever you call [self setTempScreenshot:], the accessor will retain the parameter and release the old value. Assigning the ivar directly will not give you any of this. You should always use the accessor except in init and dealloc.
Do I have to release tempScreenshot in the dealloc method of my class?
Yes.
Also, if I use the set method to give a new value to tempScreenshot, this new value will be retained, right? What happens to the old value?
It will be released as long as you use the accessor.
The retain keyword marks the property as retain upon assignment, meaning that on a set, retain will be called on the new value, and release will be called on the old value.
You will need to release the object on dealloc.
In your dealloc method, do: self.tempScreenshot = nil;
This will cause the object to be released. It will then be deallocated assuming nothing else has retained it.
If you were to write your own setter method to retain an object it would look like this.
//Assume an instance variabled name obj for this example
- (void)setAndRetainObjectExample:(NSObject *)newObj {
[obj release];
obj = newObj;
[obj retain];
}
Using the synthesized methods is much cleaner, but looking at it this way may clear up any confusion.
Can you describe the naming convention difference between a method that returns an object it has allocated for the caller (and that the caller should release), and a method that returns an autorelease object?
If you declare a property with a retain attribute, do you need to release the property before you set it to nil?
What does the #synthesize directive do?
From apple documentation
You only release or autorelease objects you own.
You take ownership of an object if you create it using a method whose name begins with “alloc” or “new” or contains “copy” (for example, alloc, newObject, or mutableCopy), or if you send it a retain message.
You use release or autorelease to relinquish ownership of an object. autorelease just means “send a release message in the future” (to understand when this will be, see “Autorelease Pools”).
Your second two questions are related. All that #synthesize does is to generate additional methods for your implementation file. The arguments to #property (nonatomic, retain) NSString* myString; define the behavior of the generated methods. For example, if you declare a property as retain, the setMyString generated method will retain its argument.
Nonatomic is important because properties, by default, are threadsafe. If you don't need thread safety, you can remove a lot of overhead in your accessor methods.
Finally, the implementation of a retain property is
- (void) setMyString:(NSString*)newString {
[newString retain];
[myString release];
myString = newString;
}
So, saying self.myString = nil effectively releases myString for you. Many people advocate using self.property = nil for retained properties, as opposed to [property release], though I think it just comes down to personal preference.
A good source for memory allocation is listed below by Aaron.
Regarding #synthesize:
Say you have a property P, what you will have to do is write a getter and a setter for it. There are a few common approaches, one of which is that you retain that object when you set that property and release the old value. E.g:
- (void)setP:(PClass *)value
{
[value retain];
[_pInstanceVariable release];
_pInstanceVariable = value;
}
Since this is a very common piece of code, the compiler can automate it for you, if you specify the retain keyword in property declaration and then do the #synthesize in you implementation. The compiler will generate the above mentioned code which means your code will be a lot cleaner without tedious repeating parts.
Same holds true for getters, unless you want something more complex than:
- (PClass *)p
{
return _pInstanceVariable;
}
the #synthesize will do the job
memory allocation information and naming can be found here
http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/cocoa/Conceptual/ObjectiveC/Articles/ocAllocInit.html
synthesize is documented here
http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/cocoa/Conceptual/ObjectiveC/Articles/ocProperties.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP30001163-CH17-SW17
The apple website has excellent documentation, I would recommend searching there first.
I'm having a recurring problem in Objective-C. I'm either releasing things too many time, or not enough. or perhaps I'm not retaining them enough...
Can someone point me at a good reference that will give me a rule of thumb on when I need to retain and release?
For example:
I remember reading somewhere that some objects come pre-retained, so I need to release them, but not retain them. Which objects are these?
if I alloc an object and only need it in that method, do I need to release it? retain it?
Obviously, if I retained something, I needtorelease it, but beyond that, I get a bit lost.
The rules are generally pretty simple. If you get an object in one of the following ways:
id obj = [[MyObject alloc] init];
id obj = [myObject retain];
id obj = [myObject copy];
id obj = [myObject mutableCopy];
then you need to release it at some point -- in the same method, or your dealloc method, generally. In other words, balance your calls to alloc, retain, copy, and mutableCopy with a matching release call.
I remember reading somewhere that some objects come pre-retained, so I need to release them, but not retain them. Which objects are these?
This happens rarely. The documentation for the called method should specify that you are responsible for releasing the returned object; otherwise, you should assume you're receiving an autoreleased object.
if I alloc an object and only need it in that method, do I need to release it? retain it?
Yes, you need to release it (but you don't need to retain it). (You can also use one of the convenience methods that return an autoreleased object if you're only going to use it in that method.)
There is one and only one canonical reference: Apple's Memory Management Guide for Cocoa or iPhone.