Memorymanagement when getting a NSMutableArray from NSObject class to UIViewController class - iphone

Question

I have problem with the following code leaking memory...
#property (nonatomic, retain) NSMutableArray *childrensArray;
-(void)connectionDidFinishLoading:(NSURLConnection *)connection {
NSLog(#"Connection finished loading.");
// Dismiss the network indicator when connection finished loading
[UIApplication sharedApplication].networkActivityIndicatorVisible = NO;
// Parse the responseData of json objects retrieved from the service
SBJSON *parser = [[SBJSON alloc] init];
NSString *jsonString = [[NSString alloc] initWithData:responseData encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
NSDictionary *jsonData = [parser objectWithString:jsonString error:nil];
childrensArray = [jsonData objectForKey:#"Children"];
// Callback to AttendanceReportViewController that the responseData finished loading
[attendanceReportViewController loadChildren];
[connection release];
[responseData release];
[jsonString release];
[parser release];
}
In the viewController the following also leaks memory...
#property (nonatomic, retain) NSMutableArray *childrensArray;
- (void)loadChildren {
// Retrieve a array with dictionaries of children from ServiceGetChildren
self.childrensArray = [[serviceGetChildren.childrensArray copy] autorelease];
int total = [childrensArray count];
totalLabel.text = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%d", total];
[theTableView reloadData];
}

Answer 1

You only release childrensArray when the instance is deallocated. You should also release the instance variable before setting it:
- (void)loadChildren {
// Retrieve a array with dictionaries of children from ServiceGetChildren
[childrensArray release];
childrensArray = [serviceGetChildren.childrensArray copy];
}
A better way would be to actually use your property:
- (void)loadChildren {
// Retrieve a array with dictionaries of children from ServiceGetChildren
self.childrensArray = [[serviceGetChildren.childrensArray copy] autorelease];
}
(Note the autorelease)
This has the benefit of triggering KVO-Notifications should you ever use them.