If you initialize an NSMutableArray with NSArray's convenience method as above, do you get an NSArray or an NSMutableArray?
Any consequences?
(I know that NSMutableArray has "arrayWithCapacity:, I'm just curious)
If you initialize it using:
NSMutableArray *array = [NSMutableArray array];
you get a NSMutableArray. One great feature of Objective-C is that class methods are inherited by subclasses.
So, in a class method you can do something like this:
+(id)array {
return [[[self alloc] init] autorelease];
}
and self will be referencing to the class object where the code is executing (NSArray or NSMutableArray).
Update: While my advice to "test it yourself" is generally a good idea, it was a little trigger-happy in this case. Thanks to Jim in the comments for pointing at that my suggestion below doesn't work well for these classes, because the various forms of NSArray are all implemented by a CoreFoundation toll-free bridging class.
----- Original Answer For Context Below -----
The easiest way to answer a question like this is to test it yourself. Try allocating the array in the way you were curious about, then NSLog from your code:
NSLog(#"We got a %#", NSStringFromClass([theArray class]));
Related
I just noticed that calling addObject: on an NSMutableArray doesn't access that array's setter.
E.g., for NSMutableArray self.myArray, [self.myArray addObject:object] does not use [self setMyArray:array] to add the object.
Previously I have been using custom setters and getter to check assignment before assigning; e.g., if I wanted an array that only accepted objects of class MyClass, I would do the following:
- (void)setMyArray:(NSMutableArray *)myArray
{
for (id object in myArray)
{
if (![object isKindOfClass:[MyClass class]]) return;
}
_myArray = myArray;
}
- (NSMutableArray *)myArray
{
if (!_myArray) _myArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
_myArray = myArray;
}
How do I go about achieving this same functionality when changing the array via addObject:, removeObject:, and other similar functions that may circumvent the setter?
Generally this kind of problem is the reason why NSMutableArray is usually avoided in preference of NSArray.
This is the simple solution, use NSArray instead of NSMutableArray:
self.myArray = [self.myArray arrayByAddingObject:foo];
However, if the array is really big that will cause performance issues. Then you've got two options:
you can have your own addObjectToMyArray: method in your class and always use that
you can create an NSArrayController and use that to access your array. It will implement key value observing and bindings and all of that stuff.
NSMutableArray is designed to perform addObject: with as few CPU instructions as possible and therefore does not proved any way for external code to be notified that the object was added. You have to have some other class wrapped around it.
Do not try to subclass NSMutableArray, because it is a "class cluster" making subclasses extremely complicated.
If what you wish to do is ensure objects in the array are of a particular class then this answer to the question "NSMutableArray - force the array to hold specific object type only" provides code to do exactly that.
If you wish to do other checks on assignment then you can use the code in that answer as a starting point.
Is there any way to specify what specific type of object can be contained within an NSMutableArray?
EDIT More specifically... Is there a way to restrict the class that the object must belong to?
Well, you could always subclass NSMutableArray but as everyone else has said, it is hard to imagine a good reason to do this....
From Subclassing Notes in the docs you would basically have to over-ride the following functions and check for the proper class:
insertObject:atIndex:
addObject:
replaceObjectAtIndex:withObject:
the primitive methods of the NSArray class
You could check the class of the object before adding it to the array.
NSMutableArray *myArray = [NSMutableArray alloc] init];
if ([someObject isKindOfClass:[ClassYouWantInArray class]]){
[myArray addObject:someObject];
}
I'm trying to save data to and XML file on Iphone. For that, I load the wholeXML, add new data and the save it again. The problem arises when i try to store the new data, my
[mArray addObject:newData];
methods crashes, as mArray is not a NSMutableArray, instead, it is a NSCFArray even if I applied a mutableCopy method to it.
As I understand, a NSCFArray is a toll-free bridging to an NSArray, so I can't understand why the mutablyCopy method is not working.
Any idea??
NSMutableDictionary *wholeXML = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] init];
wholeXML = xmlData;
NSArray *array = [[NSArray alloc] init];
NSMutableArray *mArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
array = [wholeXML objectForKey:#"Key"];
mArray = [a mutableCopy];
NSCFArray is a private subclass that gets instantiated when you do things with NSArray factory methods or initializers. You're doing too many initializations. Try this simplified version:
NSMutableDictionary *wholeXML = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] initWithDictionary:xmlData];
NSMutableArray *mArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc] initWithArray:[wholeXML valueForKey:#"Key"]];
NSCFArray is the concrete class for both NSMutableArray and NSArray. It sounds like you are simply mistaken about what kind of array you have. Since the code you posted is obviously not your real code (it won't even compile, and wouldn't exhibit the problem even if it did), it's impossible to tell at what point your program is assigning an immutable array to the variable. But that's what it sounds like is happening.
I will say (and please don't take this as a personal criticism — it's just an observation) that the code you posted suggests you don't have a strong grasp on how classes and object identity work. That's probably the root cause here.
All three of your variables you initialize with [[Something alloc] init], but then you immediately throw away the object and replace it with something else. This means the original object (NSMutableArray in this case) just gets leaked and the variable now contains the new object you have assigned. If that new object isn't an NSMutableArray, it won't magically be turned into one just because that's what the variable held before.
The NSMutableArray can store every NSObject, but can I mention the NSMutableArray can get store my item only, for example, a NSMutableArray that store NSString only?
I remember that the java array can do that, can the objective C array do the similar things? Thanks.
Objective-C does not have this kind of generic constraint on NSArray/NSMutableArray. You have therefore two solutions:
Subclass NSArray/NSMutableArray and check for element type. It is strongly discouraged as NSArray/NSMutableArray is a class "cluster" and not obvious to subclass.
Create a category with specific methods that check the right type. You will have a compile-time enforcement of the type.
You can try it like this -
NSMutableArray *arr = [[[NSMutableArray alloc] init] autorelease];
if([obj isKindOfClass:[NSString class]])
[arr addObject:obj];
This way you end up adding only NSString to your arr.
Not by default, no. NSArray and its mutable counterpart just store pointers which happen to point obj-c objects. These objects can of any type. It would be up to you to make sure that only NSString's get in your array.
You could potentially subclass NSArray and override the addObject: methods such that they throw an exception if you try to add a non-NSString object.
I have a cocoa 'category' for adding inflections (pluralize, singularize, etc.) to NSString. The code requires loading a set of regular expression rules and exceptions from a PLIST into dictionaries and arrays, as well as adding manual exceptions from code. I need a way to persist these data structures (as class members) between multiple calls to the inflection code (all instance methods). I attempted:
+ (NSMutableArray *)uncountables
{
static NSMutableArray *uncountables = nil;
if (uncountables == nil) uncountables = [NSMutableArray array];
return uncountables;
}
However, it appears to fail occasionally. Does a good way of doing this exist? I don't want to subclass NSString if possible. Thanks.
[NSMutableArray array];
returns an autoreleased array. Use this instead:
[[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
I think this code is OK. I use the same thing a lot for singletons. But be aware that it is not thread safe this way. Maybe you calling it from different threads?
As drawnonward already mentioned, [NSMutableArray array]; returns an autoreleased array. But I don't think, it's a good idea to return non-autoreleased array, because it contradicts with Cocoa memory management conceptions - only alloc, copy and new should be released manually. All other initializations are autoreleased.
So, you should just use
interface:
NSArray *a;
...somewhere in a code...
a = [[NSString uncountables] retain];
...
- (void)dealloc {
[a release];
}
to get properly retained/released objects.