So I have a few properties that I'm using in some sample code I'm playing with. Notably the "tag" property of the UIView class. Now I set this property, and if I NSLog it, or setup control statements based on the value of tag, I can see that the value I set is there, and being acted upon as expected.
However, if I hover the mouse over the .tag to see which tag value is there, I get nothing at all from Xcode. No pop up showing the value. So then I go to the auto/local/all window and I try to "Add Expression..." (seems that's the only way to setup a traditional "watch" variable, if there is another way, please let me know). Anyhow so I put my object.tag into the "watch" window and it's blank. No value. It isn't zero it's just nothing, as if it didn't exist.
Of course if I hover the mouse over the "object" part of "object.tag" then I get a pop up for the object with the disclosure triangle, which I expand, then I go looking for "_tag" (which appears to be the underlying instance variable).
So what is so difficult about this? Why isn't the tag property viewable during debug by simply hovering over it? Is this something to do with properties in Xcode dev?
I'm running Xcode 4.3.2
The tag property, as any other Objective-C property, is a syntactic sugar. In fact, properties are implemented as accessor methods, which, in turn, are translated to objc_msgSend() function calls. This machinery is nothing like accessing a struct field.
The debugger can show any field in a struct basically because it doesn't require any special knowledge and doesn't have any consequences. Only the struct definition is needed. Getting the value of an Objective-C property, on the other hand, requires executing code in the process context. You can do that manually in the debugger console, but the debugger just won't do this automatically.
I think this is still theoretically possible in isolated cases, but incredibly hard. Consider a case where executing an accessor method changes the object's internal state. For example, calling -[UIViewController view] (accessing its view property) results in loading the view. There may also be delegate methods called, etc. In such cases hovering the mouse over the property in IDE would alter the execution state of the process and thus make debugging itself a joke.
I know how to fix the problem that I am about to outline, however, I am a bit baffled as to why the code scenario works in the iOS simulator but not on my iPad.
I have a method that checks various properties, and then sets the background color of a CALayer depending on the state of a property. The following code is similar to my method of color assignment:
//This will be the CALayer BGColor...
CGColor c = UIColor.blueColor.CGColor; //Blue is the default
switch (myState)
{
case state_one:
c = UIColor.greenColor.CGColor;
//... more code ...
break;
case state_two:
c = UIColor.redColor.CGColor;
//... more code ...
break;
case state_three: //multiple cases are like the state_three case.
//Other code, but I don't need to assign the color. Blue works...
}
myCALayer.backgroundColor = c; //Oh-noes!!! Here we get the dreaded EXC_BAD_ACCESS on iPad
//...more code dealing with the layer.
The code above works without trouble in the Simulator. However, when I run the application on my iPad, it crashes at the backgroundColor assignment.
I can fix this by getting rid of the CGColor variable and assigning the background color from directly within my switch/case statement, and that's what I'm planning on doing.
However, I am curious. Why would this work in one environment and not the other?
UPDATE
Couple things. First, it's worth mentioning that this is an ARC project, using Xcode 4.2, targeting iOS 5 devices. Also, my color assignement code isn't entirely what it looks like because I have a series of defines that I use to set these colors because they are referenced all throughout my application.
This is what a few of the #define statements looks like:
#define BLUE [UIColor colorWithRed:8.0/255.0 green:80.0/255.0 blue:150.0/255.0 alpha:1.0].CGColor
#define GREEN (UIColor.blueColor.CGColor)
//...and there are about 6 other colors
I tried to simplify my code because the compiler should replace the refs to my refs to my defines. Still, it's worth mentioning just in case.
Because of ARC the color is released too early in the end of the method.
i use: CGColorRetain
CGColorRef whiteColor = CGColorRetain([UIColor colorWithRed:1.0 green:1.0
blue:1.0 alpha:1.0].CGColor);
Here's my hunch: It's possible that the UIColor that created it (and held its only reference) has been destroyed before you pass the CGColor. Since CGColorRef's reference counting is not handled for you under ARC, the color would be a dangling reference if the UIColor that held it were destroyed before you use the CGColor.
ARC has an optimization where "autoreleased" objects may never be added to an autorelease pools, and instead, released after the objc object is no longer referenced. This is a combination of three things:
The compiler version and options you use. No surprise, the compiler adds the reference counting, and there are variations for this.
The ObjC Runtime. The runtime may utilize thread local data. Naturally, this can include your stack. If you read into the details of how an object may bypass an autorelease pool, this should be clearer.
The libraries you use (including system libraries and frameworks). As the compiler and runtimes are updated, the libraries may use ARC, or they may use different runtime calls to execute the program.
Knowing that, I suspect this program would rectify the problem:
UIColor * c = UIColor.blueColor; //Blue is the default
switch (myState) {
case state_one:
c = UIColor.greenColor;
//... more code ...
break;
case state_two:
c = UIColor.redColor;
//... more code ...
break;
case state_three: //multiple cases are like the state_three case.
//Other code, but I don't need to assign the color. Blue works...
}
myCGLayer.backgroundColor = c.CGColor;
//...more code dealing with the layer.
In more detail, there are number of ways the compiler and the objc runtime can interpret and execute your program. This means that this problem could affect you when you change compiler versions, or when the runtime (OS) is updated. It can also happen as the libraries you use are updated or built with different versions or compiler settings. For example: If the library switches to ARC along the way, it may use a different runtime calls, or the calls may utilize thread local data differently if the compiler injected calls are updated.
Details about the ARC spec as it relates to the runtime can be found here:
http://clang.llvm.org/docs/AutomaticReferenceCounting.html#runtime
A similar problem was seen here:
EXC_BAD_ACCES drawing shadow
You don't say what your instance myCGLayer us derived from, but I'll take a shot and say it's not derived from CGLayer, because CGLayer doesn't have a backgroundColor property. So I'm guessing (again), the parameter passed should be of type UIColor and not CGColor. CGColor is derived from class CFType. UIColor is derived from NSObject. They shouldn't be interchangeable. If my guesses are right, I'm surprised it works in the simulator.
Don't slap me too hard if my guesses are wrong.
I understand that when you reach a breakpoint while debugging in Xcode you can hover the mouse pointer over objects and see their properties. But with most objects you only get a few of the properties. The rest are hidden. Trying this with a CLLocation object is next to useless.
Is there another way to peer inside this object while debugging?
Do I just have to resort to using NSLog to get what I want?
use the command: po VARNAME This will print out the value for you
As box pointed out, the gdb po command will print out whatever a varname points to. Xcode's debugger panel (the bottom pane in Xcode4) will also list out all objects in the current scope and allow you to view their ivars by clicking the disclosure buttons next to the objects. For Apple classes, though, this doesn't work so great, so I'd rely more on po, NSLog, and Apple's docs.
Create a -(NSString *)description method for whatever object you're trying to view.
At a breakpoint, right click on the variable in the local/global variable list (next to Console output) and click Print Description of "...". This will print out whatever details you want.
In Visual Studio if I type prop and press tab then a property is created for me, I just have to fill in the details. Is there anything like this in Xcode 4?
I realise that a similar question has been asked here: Xcode script for generating/synthesizing properties but it seems to relate to Xcode 3 judging by the date.
Thanks, Gareth
In Xcode4 you can add a property, create an ivar, get release calls in dealloc and setting to nil in viewDidUnload all by simply dragging a UI component from within the XIB editor into your view controller's header file. All you have to do is name the property and Xcode4 does the rest for you. Nice!
Unfortunately if you just want to manually add a property, create an associated ivar and manage memory in an arbitrary class, there is no way to do that. At least none I have found so far! The smart code completion undeniably is an improvement but not the same as an intelligent operation to add all the boiler-plate for the addition of a property.
The code completion in Xcode 4 has been greatly improved. Just start typing #prop... and complete the in the header file. THen switch to your implementation file and start type #syn... and you are done.
I created a button and added an action for it, but as soon as it invoked, I got this error:
-[NSCFDictionary numberButtonClick:]: unrecognized selector sent to instance
0x3d03ac0 2010-03-16 22:23:58.811
Money[8056:207] *** Terminating app
due to uncaught exception
'NSInvalidArgumentException', reason:'*** -[NSCFDictionary numberButtonClick:]: unrecognized selector sent to instance 0x3d03ac0'
This is my code:
- (id)initWithNibName:(NSString *)nibNameOrNil bundle:(NSBundle *)nibBundleOrNil {
if (self = [super initWithNibName:nibNameOrNil bundle:nibBundleOrNil]) {
UIButton *numberButton = [UIButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeCustom];
numberButton.frame = CGRectMake(10, 435, 46, 38);
[numberButton setImage:[UIImage imageNamed:#"one.png"] forState:UIControlStateNormal];
[numberButton addTarget:self action:#selector(numberButtonClick:) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];
[self.view addSubview: numberButton];
}
return self;
}
-(IBAction)numberButtonClick:(id)sender{
NSLog(#"---");
}
It looks like you're not memory managing the view controller properly and it is being deallocated at some point - which causes the numberButtonClicked: method to be sent to another object that is now occupying the memory that the view controller was previously occupying...
Make sure you're properly retaining/releasing your view controller.
For those getting here via Google like I did, which probably pertains more to Xcode 4.2+/iOS 5+ more, what with ARC. I had the same error "unrecognized selector sent to instance". In my case I had a UIButton's target action set up to pass itself as the sender parameter, but later realised I didn't need it and removed that in code. So, something like:
- (IBAction)buttonPressed:(UIButton *)sender {
Was changed to:
- (IBAction)buttonPressed {
Right clicking the UIButton in question showed that the Touch Up Inside event was associated with the view controllers buttonPressed: method. Removing this and reassigning it to the modified method worked a treat.
This was the top Google answer for this issue, but I had a different cause/result - I thought I'd add in my two cents in case others stumble across this problem.
I had a similar issue just this morning. I found that if you right click the UI item giving you the issue, you can see what connections have been created. In my case I had a button wired up to two actions. I deleted the actions from the right-click menu and rewired them up and my problem was fixed.
So make sure you actions are wired up right.
OK, I have to chip in here. The OP dynamically created the button. I had a similar issue and the answer (after hours of hunting) is so simple it made me sick.
When using:
action:#selector(xxxButtonClick:)
or (as in my case)
action:NSSelectorFromString([[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:#"%#BtnTui:", name.lowercaseString])
If you place a colon at the end of the string - it will pass the sender. If you do not place the colon at the end of the string it will not, and the receiver will get an error if it expects one. It is easy to miss the colon if you are dynamically creating the event name.
The receiver code options look like this:
- (void)doneBtnTui:(id)sender {
NSLog(#"Done Button - with sender");
}
or
- (void)doneBtnTui {
NSLog(#"Done Button - no sender");
}
As usual, it is always the obvious answer that gets missed.
In my case the function was not expecting an argument but the button was configured to send one causing the error. To fix this I had to rewire the event handler.
Here is my function:
Notice it contains no arguments.
Here is an image of my button configuration (right click on the button to view it):
Notice there are 3 event handlers.
To fix this I had to remove each of the event items since one of them was sending a reference to itself to the enterPressed function. To remove these items I clicked on the little x icon next to the name of each item until there were no items shown.
Next I had to reconnect the button to the event. To do this hold down the Control key and then drag a line from the button to the action. It should say "Connect Action". Note: I had to restart XCode for this to work for some reason; otherwise it only let me insert actions (aka create a new action) above or below the function.
You should now have a single event handler wired to the button event that passes no arguments:
This answer compliments the answer by #Leonard Challis which you should read as well.
This can also happen if you don't set the "Class" of the view in interface builder.
In my case, I was using NSNotificationCenter and was attempting to use a selector that took no arguments, but was adding a colon. Removing the colon fixed the problem.
When using a selector name, don't use a trailing colon if there are no arguments. If there's one argument, use one trailing colon. If there are more than one argument, you must name them along with a trailing colon for each argument.
See Adam Rosenfield's answer here: Selectors in Objective-C?
I had this problem with a Swift project where I'm creating the buttons dynamically. Problem code:
var trashBarButtonItem: UIBarButtonItem {
return UIBarButtonItem(barButtonSystemItem: .Add, target: self, action: "newButtonClicked")
}
func newButtonClicked(barButtonItem: UIBarButtonItem) {
NSLog("A bar button item on the default toolbar was clicked: \(barButtonItem).")
}
The solution was to add a full colon ':' after the action: e.g.
var trashBarButtonItem: UIBarButtonItem {
return UIBarButtonItem(barButtonSystemItem: .Add, target: self, action: "newButtonClicked:")
}
func newButtonClicked(barButtonItem: UIBarButtonItem) {
NSLog("A bar button item on the default toolbar was clicked: \(barButtonItem).")
}
Full example here: https://developer.apple.com/library/content/samplecode/UICatalog/Listings/Swift_UIKitCatalog_DefaultToolbarViewController_swift.html
The most obvious cause of this (included for completeness) is improperly casting a pointer and calling a method of the wrong class.
NSArray* array = [[NSArray alloc] init];
[(NSDictionary*)array objectForKey: key]; // array is not a dictionary, hence exception
I also had the same issue.
I deleted my uibutton in my storyboard and recreated it .. now everything works fine.
How to debug ‘unrecognized selector send to instance’
In most of the cases Xcode do not take us to the exact line where this issue happen. When app crash you won’t see the line of code that caused this, rather you will be taken to App delegate class, in which the error output may look like:
[UITableViewCellContentView image]: unrecognized selector sent to instance
or
[__NSDictionaryI objectAtIndex:] unrecognized selector sent to instance
or
*** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInvalidArgumentException', reason: '-[TestApp.MyViewController viewDidLoad:]: unrecognized selector sent to instance 0xDABCDD'
How to find line of code causing this:
Go to breakpoint navigator. Click ‘+’ option. click ‘Exception Breakpoint’. An new widget like following will apear.
Add following condition block:
-[NSObject(NSObject) doesNotRecognizeSelector:]
You can also put breakpoint for all exception.
Now run your code again. this time, breakpoint will trigger when this exception occurs.
WRITTEN BY: Prafulla Singh
Full explanition: https://prafullkumar77.medium.com/how-to-debug-unrecognized-selector-send-to-instance-402473bc23d
I had a similar problem, but for me the solution was slightly different. In my case, I used a Category to extend an existing class (UIImage for some resizing capabilities - see this howto in case you're interested) and forgot to add the *.m file to the build target. Stupid error, but not always obvious when it happens where to look. I thought it's worth sharing...
Another possible solution: Add '-ObjC' to your linker arguments.
Full explanation is here: Objective-C categories in static library
I think the gist is: if the category is defined in a library you are statically linking with, the linker isn't smart enough to link in category methods. The flag above makes the linker link in all objective C classes and categories, not just ones it thinks it needs to based on analyzing your source. (Please feel free to tune or correct that answer. I'm knew to linked languages, so I'm just parroting here).
This happened to my because accidentally erase the " #IBAction func... " inside my UIViewcontroller class code, so in the Storyboard was created the Reference Outlet, but at runtime there was any function to process it.
The solution was to delete the Outlet reference inside the property inspector and then recreate it dragging with command key to the class code.
Hope it helps!
I think you should use the void, instead of the IBAction in return type. because you defined a button programmatically.
I had the same error and I discovered the following:
When you use the code
[self.refreshControl addTarget:self action:#selector(yourRefreshMethod:) forControlEvents:UIControlEventValueChanged];
You may think it's looking for the selector:
- (void)yourRefreshMethod{
(your code here)
}
But it's actually looking for the selector:
- (void)yourRefreshMethod:(id)sender{
(your code here)
}
That selector doesn't exist, so you get the crash.
You can change the selector to receive (id)sender in order to solve the error.
But what if you have other functions that call the refresh function without providing a sender? You need one function that works for both. Easy solution is to add another function:
- (void)yourRefreshMethodWithSender:(id)sender{
[self yourRefreshMethod];
}
And then modify the refresh pulldown code to call that selector instead:
[self.refreshControl addTarget:self action:#selector(yourRefreshMethodWithSender:) forControlEvents:UIControlEventValueChanged];
I'm also doing the Stanford iOS course on an older Mac that can't be upgraded to the newest version of Mac OSX. So I'm still building for iOS 6.1, and this solved the problem for me.
On my case I solved the problem after 2 hours :
The sender (a tabBar item) wasn't having any Referencing Outlet. So it was pointing nowhere.
Juste create a referencing outlet corresponding to your function.
Hope this could help you guys.
I'm currently learning iOS development and going through the "Beginning iOS6 Development" book by aPress. I was getting the same error in Chapter 10:Storyboards.
It took me two days to figure it out but found out I accidentally set the TableView cell's tag to 1 when I shouldn't have. For anyone else doing this book and receive a similar error I hope this helps.
I really hope future errors in my code are easier to find! hahaha. The debug error did nothing to push me in the right direction to figuring it out (or at least I'm too new to understand the debugger, lol).
In my case I was using a UIWebView and I passed a NSString in the second parameter instead of a NSURL. So I suspect that wrong class types passed to a functions can cause this error.
..And now mine
I had the button linked to a method which accessed another button's parameter and that worked great BUT as soon I tried to do something with the button itself, I got a crash. While compiling, no error has been displayed.. Solution?
I failed to link the button to the file's owner. So if anyone here is as stupid as me, try this :)
Yet another slightly different solution/case.
I am using Xamarin and MvvmCross and I was trying to bind the UIButton to a ViewModel. I had the UIButton wired up to an Outlet and a TouchUpInside.
When Binding I only use the Outlet:
set.Bind (somethingOutlet).For ("TouchUpInside").To(vm => vm.Something);
All I had to do was remove the action (TouchUpInside) connection in XCode and that solved it.
P.S.
I guess this is in its base all related to the previous answers and to #Chris Kaminski in particular, but I hope this helps someone...
Cheers.
I had the same issue. The problem for me was that one button had two Action methods. What I did was create a first action method for my button and then deleted it in the view controller, but forgot to disconnect the connection in the main storyboard in the connection inspector. So when I added a second action method, there were now two action methods for one button, which caused the error.
For me, it was a leftover connection created in interfacebuilder bij ctrl-dragging. The name of the broken connection was in the error-log
*** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInvalidArgumentException',
reason: '-[NameOfYourApp.NameOfYourClass nameOfCorruptConnection:]:
unrecognized selector sent to instance 0x7f97a48bb000'
I had an action linked to a button. Pressing the button crashed the app because the Outlet no longer existed in my code.
Searching for the name in the log led me to it in the storyboard. Deleted it, and the crash was gone!
I'm replying to Leonard Challis, since I was also taking the Stanford iOS class C193P, as was user "oli206"
"Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInvalidArgumentException', reason:"
The problem was that I had the "Enter" button on the calculator connected twice,and a friend pointed out that doing an inspection of the button in the Storyboard showed that 2 entries were on the "Touch Up Inside" attributes when I right clicked on the "Enter" button. Erasing one of the two "Touch Up Inside" "Sent Events" solved the problem.
This showed that the problem is triggered (for the C193P video class on the Calculator Walkthrough on Assignment 1) as 2 sent events, one of which was causing the exception.
It can happen when you do not assign the ViewController to the ViewControllerScene in
the InterfaceBuilder. So the ViewController.m is not connected to any scene.
Including my share. I got stuck on this for a while, until I realized I've created a project with ARC(Automatic counting reference) disabled. A quick set to YES on that option solved my issue.
Another really silly cause of this is having the selector defined in the interface(.h) but not in the implementation(.m) (p.e. typo)
Another reason/solution to add to the list. This one is caused by iOS6.0 (and/or bad programming). In older versions the selector would match if the parameter types matched, but in iOS 6.0 I got crashes in previously working code where the name of the parameter wasn't correct.
I was doing something like
[objectName methodName:#"somestring" lat:latValue lng:lngValue];
but in the definition (both .h and .m) I had
(viod) methodName:(NSString *) latitude:(double)latitude longitude:(double)longitude;
This worked fine on iOS5 but not on 6, even the exact same build deployed to different devices.
I don't get why the compiler coudn't tell me this, anyway - problem soled.
This also might happen when you want to set a property from a ControllerA to a public property inside a custom ControllerB class and you haven't set the "Custom Class" inside the identity inspector in storyboards yet.
My problem and solution was different and I thought I should post it here so that future readers can save their head from banging to the wall.
I was allocating different xib to same UIVIewController and even after searching everywhere I couldn't find how to correct it. Then I checked my AppDelegate where I was calling initWithNibName and can see that while copying the code, I changed the xib name, but forgot to change UIViewController class. So if none of the solution works for you, check your initWithNibName method.