NSNotification only NSLog works - iphone

In my Class X I post a Notification like this:
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:viewController
selector:#selector(doThis:)
name:#"myNotification"
object:nil];
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] postNotificationName:#"myNotification" object:nil];
In my Class Y I recieve it like this:
- (void) doThis: (NSNotification *) notification {
NSLog(#"It works.");
[uiTextView resignFirstResponder]; }
The console shows the NSLog message but my UITextView does not hide its keyboard.
(In e.g. viewDidLoad the resignFirstResponder/becomeFirstResponder works.)
Is there any special thing I need to do?

FWIW, in most, but not all, cases, observers should be added and removed by the observer itself, not by a separate object. (What happens if the observer goes away before the separate object, and fails to have the observer properly removed? Or vice-versa? It makes it all too easy to either leak observers or crash on notifications to deallocated objects.)
Anyhow, first thing's first: have you verified that uiTextView is not nil and points at the first responder? I rather suspect that uiTextView is not what you think it is.

As Conrad says, observers should be added and removed by themselves...
Use the best practice to define the name of the notifications as static constants like follows:
static NSString *const kMyNotification = #"myNotification";
Why? because there is a risk that both #"myNotification" might be two different objects and then the notificationName is different and you won't receive the notification. Since I always declare them as static constants I have never had issues with NSNotifications.
Then use it like this:
To register the observer
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver: self
selector: #selector(doThis:)
name: kMyNotification
object: nil];
To post the notification
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] postNotificationName: kMyNotification
object: nil];
To remove the observer:
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] removeObserver: self];

Related

selector from inside a delegate method triggers twice

A weird issue occurs after a delegate method of my static lib is fired. first of all, the project has a sub project which is a static library (xcode 4.6 ios 6.x). The static lib fires its own delegates according to the event.
the App implements the delegate method of the static lib. in the implementation i use the following to access the UI elements and trigger other events. Didgetnotified is the delegate method of the lib.
- (void)didGetNotified
{
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
[self parseData];
NSNotificationCenter *notifyCenter = [NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter];
[notifyCenter addObserver:self
selector:#selector(updateUI)
name:#"updateUIN"
object:nil];
});
}
-(void) parseData {
//parse data and its ready now and send notification
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] postNotificationName:#"updateUIN" object:nil];
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] removeObserver:self name:#"updateUIN" object:nil];
}
-(void) updateUI {
//this method gets fired twice mostly
}
the problem is that the updateUI gets called twice. i cant see what i'm doing wrong. is it something with the threading? the static lib delegate is not on the main thread. but i use the dispatch on the main thread. can some one please explain?
thank in advance.
after intensive debugging i have found that the adding oberserver was actually happened twice. the solution was to remove the oberserver before adding it in case of WIFI disconnects and the date stream goes thru 3G and that case my delegate was fired twice and registered oberver 2 times.
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] removeObserver:self name:#"updateUIN" object:self];
NSNotificationCenter *notifyCenter = [NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter];
[notifyCenter addObserver:self
selector:#selector(updateUI)
name:#"updateUIN"
object:self];

Observers Not Removed

I'm adding buttons to a UITableViewHeader, but getting console messages that observers were not removed before deallocation:
An instance 0x4b4750 of class UIButton was deallocated while key value
observers were still registered with it
That's understandable, so I'm trying to remove them but unsure of the best way to go about this. The only thing which springs to mind is to add them all to an array, then in dealloc, loop through them all and remove the class which created them as an observer. I'm not entirely sure which parameters to pass into [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] removeObserver though. There are are three different buttons in each header view, each firing a different callback. Does this mean I'd need three arrays, on for each type of action called, then use removeTarget?
From the docs:
Important The notification center does not retain its observers,
therefore, you must ensure that you unregister observers (using
removeObserver: or removeObserver:name:object:) before they are
deallocated. (If you don't, you will generate a runtime error if the
center sends a message to a freed object.)
If you have subclassed the buttons, then you could post a message to all observers that the observable UIButton is about to go kaput.
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] postNotificationName:#"UIButton_dealloc" object:self];
Or, in the class that allocates the buttons, once the buttons will be removed you can:
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] postNotificationName:#"UIButton_dealloc" object:theButton];
And the observer objects, in both cases, will do this:
// The special event
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:#selector(doSomething:) name:#"UIButton_event" object:theButton];
// The dealloc
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:#selector(stopObserving:) name:#"UIButton_dealloc" object:theButton];
....
-(void) stopObserving:(NSNotification*)notif {
if ([name isEqualToString:#"UIButton_dealloc"]) {
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] removeObserver:self name:#"UIButton_event" object:object];
}
}
However, this is a somewhat convoluted example in the case of a UIButton, but can be useful for other cases.

Can I watch an NSNotification from another class?

I'm trying to get my head around NSNotificationCenter. If I have something like this in my App Delegate:
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self
selector:#selector(something:)
name:#"something"
object:nil];
-----
-(void)something:(NSNotification *) notification
{
// do something
}
Can I somehow watch this in another view controller? In my case, I'd like to watch it in a view controller with a table, and then reload the table when a notification is received. Is this possible?
Yes you can do it like this:
In class A : post the notification
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] postNotficationName:#"DataUpdated "object:self];
In class B : register first for the notification, and write a method to handle it.
You give the corresponding selector to the method.
//view did load
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:#selector(handleUpdatedData:) name:#"DataUpdated" object:nil];
-(void)handleUpdatedData:(NSNotification *)notification {
NSLog(#"recieved");
}
Yes you can that is the whole purpose of NSNotification, you just have to add the View Controller you want as an observer exactly the same way you did on your App Delegate, and it will receive the notification.
You can find more information here: Notification Programming
Of course it's possible, that's the whole point of notifications. Using addObserver:selector:name:object: is how you register to receive notifications (you should do this in your table view controller), and you can use postNotificationName:object:userInfo: to post a notification from any class.
Read Notofication Programming Topics for more info.
You can register to observe notifications in as many classes as you like. You simply need to "rinse and repeat". Include the code to register as an observer in your view controller (perhaps in viewWillAppear:) and then reload the tableView from your method:
- (void)viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated {
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:#selector(something:) name:#"something" object:nil];
}
-(void)something:(NSNotification *) notification
{
[self.tableView reloadData];
}
It's also a good idea to de-register the view controller once you no longer need the notifications:
- (void)viewWillDisappear:(BOOL)animated {
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] removeObserver:self];
}
You should just add that as an Observer and give a different selector method if you want that viewController to behave differently when that notification is posted.
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self
selector:#selector(somethingOtherThing:)
name:#"something"
object:nil];
-(void)somethingOtherThing:(NSNotification *) notification
{
// do something
}

Pass An Object Between 2 View Controllers

I'm trying to pass an object between 2 VCs, from a popover to the detail view of split view controller.
I think I need to use NSNotificationCenter.
I tried this but can't seem to get it to work.
In didSelectRow of popover
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] postNotificationName:#"PassObject" withObject:objectToPass];
In detail VC
- (void) didReceiveNotificationPassObject:(NSNotification*)notification
{
YourObjectClass *theObject = (YourObjectClass*)notification.object;
}
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:#selector(didReceiveNotificationPassObject:) name:#"PassObject" object:nil];
}
Probably just a typo when entering the question but in the first line where you post the notification
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] postNotificationName:#"PassObject" withObject:objectToPass];
the method signature is wrong - it should be 'object:objectToPass' not 'withObject:objectToPass'. The line you have there will compile with a warning and crash at runtime.
Aside from that all the logic seems fine.
What is the problem you are facing? Does didReceiveNotificationPassObject: hit? If it doesn't, you could verify that viewDidLoad executes before didSelectRow.
Use [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] postNotificationName:#"PassObject" object:objectToPass]; instead of [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] postNotificationName:#"PassObject" withObject:objectToPass];
Also, don't forget to removeObserver in viewDidUnload.
HTH,
Akshay
A fast and easy solution to notify with multiple parameters is to call the notification it like this
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] postNotificationName:#"shareButton" object:#"camera"];
Where "camera" acts like your parameter. Then
- (void)shareButton:(id)sender
{
NSString *kindOf = [sender object];
if ([kindOf isEqualToString:#"camera"]) {
// Your code goes here
}
}

Notification not getting called

In a class when a method is performed, I have put this:
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] postNotificationName:#"locationFromZipFound" object:array];
and in the class that I wish to recieve the notification I have this:
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self
selector:#selector(getZipLocation:)
name:#"locationFromZipFound"
object:nil];
The problem is, this is never called:
-(void)getZipLocation:(NSNotification *)notification; {
NSLog(#"Zip received and put into array!");
NSArray *location = [notification object];
}
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance.
Never mind! I was trying to register for notifications in a method, and it seemed like it didn't like that. I just registered for notifications in viewDidLoad and all seems to be well!
I copy and pasted your code and it works great for me.
I put the postNotification on a Button and the addObserver on viewDidAppear:animated.