I am using a search bar in my app and display some results below from an ext API.
The contents first get stored in an array "xyz" and each time the user types in the search bar, I removeAllObjects and reload the table.
The results are correct if the user types slow i.e. [xyz removeAllObjects] works fine...However if the user types very fast, [xyz removeAllObjects] does not seem to have any effect and duplicate items get appended to the array..
I am not sure how to fix this. Please help me. Thank you.
removeAllObjects is an entirely serial operation; that method doesn't return until the array is empty.
Therefore, there must be a thread in play and you are quite likely accessing a mutable array from multiple threads. Mutable arrays aren't thread safe. Fix the exclusivity and you'll fix your problem.
The easiest way is to separate the array being displayed from the array being computed. As soon as the computation is done, move the computed array to the display array and never mutate it again.
Why not create a new NSArray, point the results at that, and then release the old array. That way having duplicates will be impossible. Something like:
NSArray *newArray = [someObject newSearchResults];
NSArray *oldArray = xyz;
xyz = [newArray retain];
[oldArray release];
Related
I dont know how to declare a array which just stores pointers to objects. As per My understanding ,if I use method
[ someArray addObject:someObject ] ,
It would then add the copy of object to array and any changes to object wont get reflected to original object.
What I want is that create a array of pointers which would just point to objects and changes made to objects would persist. pardon me, If I am missing something basic.
An NSArray or NSMutableArray is an array of pointers. No copying is done.
you have your basics wrong. technically when you do that you create the array of pointers to those objects.
http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#DOCUMENTATION/Cocoa/Reference/Foundation/Classes/NSMutableArray_Class/Reference/Reference.html read the description.
If you want to get the object copied you have to explicitly say so.
Look at this question for example
Deep copying an NSArray
By the way you should use an NSMutableArray.
Also look at the superclass NSArray
http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#DOCUMENTATION/Cocoa/Reference/Foundation/Classes/NSArray_Class/NSArray.html#//apple_ref/occ/cl/NSArray
specifically for the initWithArray:copyItems:
flag
If YES, each object in array receives a copyWithZone: message to
create a copy of the object—objects must conform to the NSCopying
protocol. In a managed memory environment, this is instead of the
retain message the object would otherwise receive. The object copy is
then added to the returned array.
If NO, then in a managed memory environment each object in array simply receives a retain message when it is added to the returned
array.
By default adding an object to a nsmutablearray increases its capacity if necessary, adds a retain for the object, and the pointer to the object.
...if I use method
[ someArray addObject:someObject ] ,
It would then add the copy of object to array and any changes to
object wont get reflected to original object.
While it technically doesn't pertain to the question, I simply must correct your terminology. "Copy" in Objective-C implies that the method -copy is sent to the object, which would create a new object in of itself. What Arrays do is send -retain to their objects, which means that the array itself now owns a stake in the object, which is why changes that don't reference the array (-objectAtIndex:), or have a valid claim to the object itself are not reflected.
What I want is that create a array of pointers which would just point
to objects and changes made to objects would persist. pardon me, If I
am missing something basic.
Well, unfortunately iOS does not support the class NSPointerArray, which would make your life significantly easy in regards to an actual array of pointers. Without getting into any C-craziness, I can only reiterate what I mentioned above: If you need to mutate an object in an array, just access it with a valid reference to it, or use -objectAtIndex. So long as you still have a valid claim on the object (a reference in this case, it's pointer didn't change because it was sent -retain) you can change it. Note the simple example below:
NSMutableString *str = [[NSMutableString alloc]initWithString:#"Hello"];
NSArray *arr = [[NSArray alloc]initWithObjects:str, nil];
NSLog(#"%#",arr);
[str appendString:#" Friend!"];
NSLog(#"%#",arr);
This prints:
2012-08-07 21:37:46.368 .MyApp[2325:303] (
Hello
)
2012-08-07 21:37:46.369 .MyApp[2325:303] (
"Hello Friend!"
)
Simple!
the code below is working, but I want to make sure it's correct. I'm nervous about having an empty Array inside my dictionary that I create from the plist, since typically it seems that if you don't, say, initWithCapacity:1 then you often get memory errors once you start trying to add items.
At least, that's been my experience with NSMutableDictionary. However, this is the first time I'm trying to implement nested data objects, so perhaps the reason this code works is that the nested array is automatically initialized when it's imported as part of its parent dictionary?
Any and all comments appreciated. Thanks.
First, here's what the plist looks like that I'm using to create my dictionary:
Next, here's my code where I'm using the plist to create a dictionary, then adding an item to dataArray
// Create a pointer to a dictionary
NSMutableDictionary *dictionary;
// Read "SomeData.plist" from application bundle
NSString *path = [[NSBundle mainBundle] bundlePath];
NSString *finalPath = [path stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"SomeData.plist"];
dictionary = [NSMutableDictionary dictionaryWithContentsOfFile:finalPath];
// Now let's see if we can successfully add an item to the end of this empty nested array. How 'bout the number 23
NSNumber *yetAnotherNumber = [NSNumber numberWithInt:23];
[[dictionary objectForKey:#"dataArray"] addObject:yetAnotherNumber];
// Dump the contents of the dictionary to the console
NSLog(#"%#", dictionary);
Okay, fine, simple, good. When I Log the dictionary contents it shows that "23" has been added as an array value to dataArray. So the code works. But again, I want to confirm that I'm not "getting lucky" here, with my code just happening to work even though I'm not properly initializing that nested array. If so, then I could run into unanticipated errors later on.
So to sum up, dataArray is an empty array inside the .plist, so do I need to initialize it somehow (using, for example initWithCapacity: or something else) before I can properly populate it, or is the way I'm coding here just fine?
Thanks again.
EDIT
Hey all. I've been doing continued research on this, in the interests of finding a satisfying answer. I think I may have stumbled upon something, via this link on deep copying. His previous posts on deep copying had presented some code to do essentially what I was looking for above: create a mutable copy of a dictionary or array, from a plist, that also has mutable sub-structures.
However, as mentioned in the link above, it looks like these methods were superfluous, due to the CFPropertyListCreateDeepCopy method, which can be invoked with a call such as
testData = CFPropertyListCreateDeepCopy(kCFAllocatorDefault, [NSDictionary dictionaryWithContentsOfFile:path], kCFPropertyListMutableContainersAndLeaves);
So, my question is, can I properly use CFPropertyListCreateDeepCopy, in the way shown, to achieve what I've been asking about here? In other words, can I use this method to import my dictionary from a plist with fully mutable, nested data objects?
As I mentioned in one of the comments, I know I can create a nested, mutable dictionary manually, but for complex data that's just not practical, and it seems unlikely that built-in methods to import a mutable plist don't exist. So, based on the above, it looks like I've possibly found the solution, but I'm still too new to this to be able to say for sure. Please advise.
(Side note: I would simply test the code, but as we've established, the current SDK is buggy with regard to allow you to edit immutable nested dictionaries, contrary to the documented behavior. So as before, I'm not just interested in whether this works, but whether it's correct)
Thanks in advance.
init... methods should only be called once, immediately after a call to alloc or allocWithZone:. When framework code creates and returns an object or graph of objects, their init... methods have already been called, so sending another init... message would have undefined results. Don't do that.
Interestingly, in spite of what the documentation appears to say (and admittedly I probably missed a key sentence or paragraph somewhere), when you create an instance of a mutable collection by reading a plist, any nested collections are also mutable. I ran the following little experiment in a test harness just to be sure:
NSMutableDictionary *pets = [NSMutableDictionary dictionaryWithContentsOfFile:#"/tmp/Pets.plist"];
NSMutableArray *cats = [pets objectForKey:#"cats"];
[cats addObject:#"Foo"]; // EDIT: Added line I accidentally omitted earlier
NSLog(#"%#", cats);
So again, the nested collections created when you read in the plist are fully initialized, and mutable to boot, so you can simply use them, as you've been doing.
EDIT
However, after doing some further reading of the docs, I think the OP is right to feel uneasy about relying on what is apparently an undocumented feature of the current version of the SDK. For example, the Property List Programming Guide states:
If you load the property list with
this call:
NSMutableArray * ma = [NSMutableArray arrayWithContentsOfFile:xmlFile];
ma is a mutable array with immutable
dictionaries in each element. Each key
and each value in each dictionary are
immutable.
So, to be on the safe side, if you need a nested collection to be mutable, you should create it yourself. For example, I'd recommend rewriting the code in the example above as follows:
NSMutableDictionary *pets = [NSMutableDictionary dictionaryWithContentsOfFile:#"/tmp/Pets.plist"];
NSArray *cats = [pets objectForKey:#"cats"];
NSMutableArray *mutableCats = [cats mutableCopy];
[pets setObject:mutableCats forKey:cats];
[mutableCats release];
You can then safely make changes to the nested mutable collection:
[mutableCats addObject:#"Foo"];
Any object in a dictionary which is created by reading from disk will be properly initialized. You will not have to do it on your own. However, as pointed out by jlehr, contents of the dictionary should be immutable. If you want the contents of the dictionary to be mutable, you will need to change them on your own. I have no idea why your program is not throwing an exception.
I do not know why you are getting memory errors while not using initWithCapacity:1 in other situations. The following code is perfectly valid:
NSMutableArray *array = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
[array addObject:#"object1"];
[array addObject:#"object2"];
NSLog(#"%#",array);
[array release];
If you don't specify a capacity, the array won't pre-allocate any memory, but it will allocate memory as required later.
Edit:
It is perfectly acceptable to use NSDictionary with CFPropertyListCreateDeepCopy. In Core Foundation, a CFPropertyList can be a CFDictionary, CFArray, CFNumber, CFString, or CFData. Since NSDictionary is toll-free bridged to CFDictionary, you can use it wherever a CFDictionary is asked for by casting, and vice-versa. Your code as is will give a warning, but you can suppress it by casting the dictionary and return values.
NSDictionary *testData = (NSDictionary*)CFPropertyListCreateDeepCopy(kCFAllocatorDefault, (CFDictionaryRef)[NSDictionary dictionaryWithContentsOfFile:path], kCFPropertyListMutableContainersAndLeaves);
I am trying to update data in a table view using a NSMutableArray. Quite simple :(
What is happening is that I get my data from a NSURLConnection Callback, which I parse and store it in an array and call reload data on the table view. The problem is that when cellForRowAtIndexPath is called back by the framework. The array still shows the correct count of the elements but all string objects I had stored earlier are shown as invalid.
Any pointers
Maybe your problem is something like the below
NSString *value = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#",stringFromWebService];
[arrayOfObjects addObject:value];
[value release]; // This should not be released
This may not be exact but could be similar. Here value is obtained from class method of NSString which is an autoreleased object so if you can see it will be released twice, one by autorelease and other by you.
This is the area you need to check.
Check that you are retaining the NSString objects in your NSURLConnection callback. Are you autoreleasing them?
Edit
Ok, forget that last thing. Double checking myself, NSMutableArray will automatically retain the objects when you add them to your array. So you won't need to retain them explicitly:
Like NSArray, instances of
NSMutableArray maintain strong
references to their contents. If you
do not use garbage collection, when
you add an object to an array, the
object receives a retain message. When
an object is removed from a mutable
array, it receives a release message.
So you need to check you aren't doing any other explicit releases on the objects you are adding to the array. Are they referenced anywhere else?
The problem is there where you are adding the string object to a mutable array. The string object was already invalid that time. That's why the time you are accessing them from the array, they are invalid or do not exist.
So best thing is to check the code where you are adding the string object during the parsing.
Your problem may be that you have not initiated the array correctly.
Are you using the array as an attribute of the class?
Make sure when you load the view you allocate and initiate the array.
I have a general question about objects, memory, and retaining.
I am not a complete newb (I have apps for sale on the iTunes Store) but something must have slipped past me. I work with the Google Docs API, and yesterday I was downloading a spreadsheet feed, and enumerating the results, namely, the Spreadsheet Record Feed.
After enumerating and adding objects to a dictionary, the dictionary got added to an array before the loop went to the next Record. So after 5 times through, the array had 5 objects, one dictionary per record, with values from each. Weirdly, at the end, the Array had 5 copies of the same information. Each time through the loop, the dictionary changed, like it was supposed to, but when I inserted it into the array, the other objects in the array changed to match.
I looked through some stuff on StackOverflow and found a suggestion to try this:
[array insertObject:[dictionary copy] atIndex:0];
That fixed it. Adding the copy method made everything work like normal.
I'm just wondering why.
Usually, when an object is put into an array, it's kept intact even if the original object is modified or destroyed.
You are mistaken. Arrays (and all other container classes in Cocoa) never work like that. They only store a reference to the objects they contain (and retain them) so any changes in the original objects will be reflected if you retrieve them from the array (because they are the same objects).
Sure, by calling copy you are creating a copy of the dictionary so now you are dealing with separate objects. At the same time, you are now leaking memory because you are responsible for releasing an object that is returned from copy.
Also, bear in mind that copy only makes a shallow copy, so the actual content of the copied dictionaries is not being copied. If you change the dictionaries' contents, these changes will be reflected in both dictionaries (the "original" one and the copied one you have added to the array).
When you insert an object (let's call it X) into an array, what actually gets placed into the array is a copy of the pointer to X, and not a copy of X itself. X is sent a retain message so that the array can hold on to it, but X is not sent a copy message. This means that changes to X later on will affect the object "stored" in the array.
WARNING: The suggested solution results in a substantial memory leak, since the copied data is never released. A better solution is to autorelease the copied array, so that it will be released when the array is released.
[array insertObject:[[dictionary copy] autorelease] atIndex:0];
Or, for iPhone code (in which autorelease can be bad, especially in loops):
NSDictionary * newDict = [dictionary copy];
[array insertObject:newDict atIndex:0];
[newDict release];
UPDATE: Be sure to read Ole Begemann's answer as well. He makes an excellent point about deep vs. shallow copies of the dictionary.
What is the best a quickest way to reset an NSMutableArray?
-[NSMutableArray removeAllObjects] doesn't work for you?
removeAllObjects
removeAllObjects if assuming by 'reset', you mean you just want to empty the array.
If you are attempting to do what I think you are attempting to do, which is to keep an array empty but not release it, or at least to make it available next time it is needed then firstly you need to set a variable or a property within your class for this variable:
NSMutableArray *mutableArray;
Next add this code before the position at which you will need the empty array:
if (!mutableArray) {
mutableArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
}
Now you can safely call
[mutableArray removeAllObjects];
without fear that the array will become unavailable once empty.