How to release several classes which have the same delegate? - iphone

(or even just one class with one delegate)
Say I have a class called DataGetter, which downloads a file from the web. It has a delegate method, which gets triggered when the file has been downloaded:
- (void) dataGetterFinished:(DataGetter *)dataGetter;
So somehere in my code I can set up several files to be downloaded like so:
// in AViewController.m
DataGetter *blueFile = [[DataGetter alloc] init];
blueFile.delegate = self;
[blueFile getData:#"http://example.com/blue-file"];
DataGetter *redFile = [[DataGetter alloc] init];
redFile.delegate = self;
[redFile getData:#"http://example.com/red-file"];
Using clang static analyzer, each alloc line above gets a 'potential leak of an object allocated on lineā€¦' error. So how would I release the object. It has to hang around because it has a delegate. So is it OK to release it as the last line of the dataGetterFinished method, like so
- (void) dataGetterFinished:(DataGetter *)dataGetter
{
// code
[dateGetter release];
}
...or should I be using autorelease somehow?

Technically, that works fine, however I would suggest keeping track of the different DataGetters in an NSMutableArray.
For example:
DataGetter *blueFile = [[DataGetter alloc] init];
blueFile.delegate = self;
[blueFile getData:#"http://example.com/blue-file"];
[dataGetters addObject:blueFile]; // dataGetters is an NSMutableArray declared in the .h
[blueFile release];
// Same for red
Then in the delegate method, simple remove the getter from the array:
- (void) dataGetterFinished:(DataGetter *)dataGetter
{
// code
[dataGetters removeObject:dataGetter];
}
The array takes care of retaining the object, and you don't get the analysis warning.
Just be sure to release dataGetters in the dealloc method.

Related

Calling another method from Cocos2d Hud layer

I have two class files hudlayer.m and actionlayer.m
I have a method named jump in hudlayer.m
And i have a method named jumpone in actionlayer.m
-(void) jumpone {
_heroBody->ApplyLinearImpulse(b2Vec2(_playerVelX/[_lhelper pixelsToMeterRatio], 1.25), _heroBody->GetWorldCenter());
}
and another method called jump in hudlayer.m
-(void)jump {
ActionLayer *aob = [[ActionLayer alloc] init];
[aob jumpone];
}
The problem is when i call the Jumpone method from actionlayer.m my sprite jumps (i.e method called)
My init method of action layer
- (id)initWithHUD:(HUDLayer *)hud
{
if ((self = [super init])) {
[self setupWorld];
}
return self;
}
But when i call jumpone via jump method in from hudlayer.m it fails and my app crashed.
Any help will be appreciated .thanks
the best solution for your problem is to add a tag to hudlayer & action layer
ex: hudlayer.tag=1;
actionlayer.tag=2;
and then just use getChildByTag like this:
[[[[CCDirector sharedDirector]runningScene] getChildByTag:1]jumpone];
Everytime you call jump it creates a new instance of you ActionLayer. And following that, you setup a new world and everything get tangled up. Furthermore its a memory leak.
Make you ActionLayer to an iVar of HUDLayer and call
aob = [[ActionLayer alloc] init];
in the HUDs init method.
Dont forget to release aob in dealloc of the HUDLayer

iPhone - Will this leak?

I have a setter like this:
- (UIImagePickerController *) foto {
if (_foto == nil) {
_foto = [[UIImagePickerController alloc] init];
_foto.delegate = self;
}
return _foto;
}
it is declared like
#property (nonatomic, retain) UIImagePickerController *foto;
with
#synthesize foto = _foto;
on my dealloc I have
[_foto release];
At some point in my code I want to do this
self.foto = nil;
but something in my soul says the object assigned to self.foto previously will leak, because it was alloc on the setter... how do I make it right?
thanks.
Edit: No, that should be fine. As long as you don't assign something else to _foto before you release, it should work.
Yup. You create an object, then loose the pointer to it. If you throw an autorelease on the init line, that will fix it. You could also use ARC.
The init line doesn't actually do anything... You assign the pointer to an object you create, then assign it to something else.
I don't think there is a leak there. When you assign to self.foto like this:self.foto = nil;, it will release the former one automatically. If you assign it by this way: _foto = nil;, you need to release it manually before the assignment.
Yes that works, and will not leak. When you set the value of _foto, its retain count is 1 (because you called alloc). As long as you release it (which you've said you do) in dealloc, you should be fine, as the retain count will go back to 0. UNLESS your setter is ALSO written by you, and written improperly. It needs to explicitly release the old value, if it's not nil. Something like this:
- (void)setFoto:(UIImagePickerController*)foto {
if (_foto) {
[_foto release];
_foto = nil;
}
if (foto)
_foto = [foto retain];
}

Initializing a static singleton object with NSCoder

I'm working on an iPhone app and facing some troubles with my shared singleton class.
I'm using a shared singleton to store two variables
int gameRuns and int totalScore
'gamRuns' just increments every time the user loads the app, and 'totalScore' is obvious :D
the issue is as follows, I load the singleton and init using my own method when the app loads using this code:
+ (SingletonLevelState*)sharedLevelStateInstance {
static SingletonLevelState *sharedLevelStateInstance;
#synchronized(self) {
if(!sharedLevelStateInstance) {
//Init a singleton
sharedLevelStateInstance = [[SingletonLevelState alloc] init];
sharedLevelStateInstance->gameRuns = 1;
sharedLevelStateInstance->totalScore = 0;
}
}
return sharedLevelStateInstance;
}
This is working great as I can reference this class from any other class and always get a pointer to the same object, so this works fine from other objects:
sharedLevelState = [SingletonLevelState sharedLevelStateInstance];
sharedLevelStateInstance.gameRuns++;
Now I added the NSCoder protocol, and added the two methods initWithCoder and encodeWithCoder as follows :
- (void) encodeWithCoder: (NSCoder *)coder
{
//encode level data
[coder encodeInt:self->gameRuns forKey:#"gameRuns"];
[coder encodeInt:self->totalScore forKey:#"totalScore"];
}
- (id) initWithCoder: (NSCoder *) coder
{
if(self = [super init]){
self->gameRuns = [coder decodeIntForKey:#"gameRuns"];
self->totalScore = [coder decodeIntForKey:#"totalScore"];
}
return self;
}
Now when the app loads, I check to see if we already have a saved sate, if it exists, I just unarchive the class with that file, if not, I init that class using my custom method above, then set its defaults, encode it to file so we have a saved state, here's the code:
//Load Level state
sharedLevelStateInstance = [SingletonLevelState sharedLevelStateInstance];
//Check if file is saved
NSFileManager *fm = [[NSFileManager alloc] init];
NSString *gameStatePath = [NSString stringWithString:[self getSavePath]];
if([fm fileExistsAtPath:gameStatePath]){
[self loadState];
sharedLevelStateInstance.gameRuns = sharedLevelStateInstance.gameRuns+1;
NSLog(#"Loaded %d times", [sharedLevelStateInstance gameRuns]);
}
[fm release];
Now the last line in the if statement works perfectly, it increments every time I load the app as expected and I feel really happy lol.
However, the problem arises when I try to get a reference of the singleton in another class by doing the following:
sharedLevelStateInstance = [SingletonLevelState sharedLevelStateInstance];
NSLog(#"Played: %d times", sharedLevelStateInstance.gameRuns);
It always counts back to 1, I know what happens but I'm not sue what's the best way to solve it, when I initWithCoder the singleton, It's not returning a static object, it creates a new one, when I init my sharedLevelStateInstance, it calls my first custom method, initializing it to the defaults hardcoded.
So StackOverflow, can you please help me ?!
I just need to know what's the best way to get a reference to the same object without allocating a new one every time I initWithCoder !
Thanks :)
So, you code should probably look like this:
if(self = [[SingletonLevelState sharedLevelStateInstance] retain])
Which sets the variables of the singleton, and returns the singleton. Be sure to retain the singleton, so that when the NSCoder releases this instance, it doesn't fully deallocate your singleton.

iPhone alloc and release

i am new in ObjC and iPhone.
I downloaded an example of data sharing between multiple views. The basic approach is to create an data model object in the base UIApplication and get/set data from/to it. So in the init method i saw the following code:
- (id) init;
{
self.theAppDataObject = [[ExampleAppDataObject alloc] init];
[theAppDataObject release];
return [super init];
}
And after that, using delegate we can access this object.
id theDelegate = (id) [UIApplication sharedApplication].delegate;
ExampleAppDataObject* theDataObject;
theDataObject = (ExampleAppDataObject*) theDelegate.theAppDataObject;
So, my question is in the first code example. Why do we need to alloc memory for the theAppDataObject object, and immediately after that - release the object? Why don't we get nil when accessing this object later?
10x
I assume theAppDataObject is declared as #property (retain). Therefore, when setting the object by doing self.theAppDataObject (or [self setTheAppDataObject:]), this property will retain the ExampleAppDataObject. Therefore, you can release it afterwards.
When you alloc and init the ExampleAppDataObject, it's retain count goes up to 1. When you set the AppDataObject to this ExampleAppDataObject, it sends retain to it, so the retain count goes up to 2. You can then release your own ownership of the object; it won't get deallocated because theAppDataObject still has ownership.
If that makes sense.
That depends on how theAppDataObject property is defined.
If it provides a retaining setter-accessor the retain count of the appDataObject will flip to 2, one more than needed here.
So release one of it.
Better and more understandable way would be to write
if ( (self = [super init]) ) {
ExampleAppDataObject *myAppDataObject = [[ExampleAppDataObject alloc] init];
self.theAppDataObject = myAppDataObject;
[myAppDataObject release];
}
return self;
Iphone uses reference count based memory management model..See this tutorial first and then apple's technical documentation... theAppDataObject is a property (see the use of self. theAppDataObject) which should be retained for the above code to work..Any object which is retained should have a bonus plus 1 retain count...An object only gets released when its retain count gets to zero..
first things first: that code sample is terrible.
- (id) init
{
// assign self. super may return another address
self = [super init];
// then check for nil
if (self != nil) {
// then assign the ivar directly because you should
// not invoke methods of partially constructed objects
theAppDataObject = [[ExampleAppDataObject alloc] init];
}
// then return the address super returned
return self;
}
now for your questions:
Why do we need to alloc memory for the theAppDataObject object, and immediately after that - release the object?
self.theAppDataObject calls through the setter, which retains, copies, or assigns theAppDataObject. in this case, we could assume it is highly likely to be retained.
Why don't we get nil when accessing this object later?
release does not set a pointer to nil. it sends a message to the object which then decrements the retain count (in the typical case). what you might have expected in this case is an object which has been deallocated. that does not happen when the argument is retained because the reference count does not reach zero in the program you have shown. the object is still alive because it's been retained and the address of the object stored when the setter (self.theAppDataObject = arg) is called.

How to release an object in a forin loop?

I'm new to cocoa / objective-c and i'm struggeling with the releases of my objects. I have the following code:
gastroCategoryList = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
for (NSDictionary *gastrocategory in gastrocategories) {
NSString *oid = [gastrocategory objectForKey:#"id"];
GastroCategory *gc = [[GastroCategory alloc] initWithId:[oid intValue] name:[gastrocategory objectForKey:#"name"]];
[gastroCategoryList addObject:gc];
}
The analyzer shows me that the "gastrocategory" defined in the for is a potential memory leak. But i'm not sure if i can release this at the end of the for loop?
Also at the following code:
- (NSArray *)eventsForStage:(int)stageId {
NSMutableArray *result = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
for (Event *e in eventList) {
if ([e stageId] == stageId) {
[result addObject:e];
}
}
return result;
}
The Analyzer tells me that my "result" is a potential leak. But where should I release this?
Is there also a simple rule to memorize when i should use assign, copy, retain etc. at the #property ?
Another problem:
- (IBAction)showHungryView:(id)sender {
GastroCategoriesView *gastroCategoriesView = [[GastroCategoriesView alloc] initWithNibName:#"GastroCategoriesView" bundle:nil];
[gastroCategoriesView setDataManager:dataManager];
UIView *currentView = [self view];
UIView *window = [currentView superview];
UIView *gastroView = [gastroCategoriesView view];
[window addSubview:gastroView];
CGRect pageFrame = currentView.frame;
CGFloat pageWidth = pageFrame.size.width;
gastroView.frame = CGRectOffset(pageFrame,pageWidth,0);
[UIView beginAnimations:nil context:NULL];
currentView.frame = CGRectOffset(pageFrame,-pageWidth,0);
gastroView.frame = pageFrame;
[UIView commitAnimations];
//[gastroCategoriesView release];
}
I don't get it, the "gastroCategoriesView" is a potential leak. I tried to release it at the end or with autorelease but neither works fine. Everytime I call the method my app is terminating. Thank you very much again!
In your loop, release each gc after adding it to the list since you won't need it in your loop scope anymore:
gastroCategoryList = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
for (NSDictionary *gastrocategory in gastrocategories) {
NSString *oid = [gastrocategory objectForKey:#"id"];
GastroCategory *gc = [[GastroCategory alloc] initWithId:[oid intValue] name:[gastrocategory objectForKey:#"name"]];
[gastroCategoryList addObject:gc];
[gc release];
}
In your method, declare result to be autoreleased to absolve ownership of it from your method:
NSMutableArray *result = [[[NSMutableArray alloc] init] autorelease];
// An alternative to the above, produces an empty autoreleased array
NSMutableArray *result = [NSMutableArray array];
EDIT: in your third issue, you can't release your view controller because its view is being used by the window. Setting it to autorelease also causes the same fate, only delayed.
You'll have to retain your GastroCategoriesView controller somewhere, e.g. in an instance variable of your app delegate.
BoltClock's answer is spot-on as to the first part of your question. I'll try to tackle the rest.
Assign is for simple, non-object types such as int, double, or struct. It generates a setter that does a plain old assignment, as in "foo = newFoo". Copy & retain will, as their names imply, either make a copy of the new value ("foo = [newFoo copy]") or retain it ("foo = [newFoo retain]"). In both cases, the setter will release the old value as appropriate.
So the question is, when to copy and when to retain. The answer is... it depends. How does your class use the new value? Will your class break if some other code modifies the incoming object? Say, for example, you have an NSString* property imaginatively named "theString." Other code can assign an NSMutableString instance to theString - that's legal, because it's an NSString subclass. But that other code might also keep its own reference to the mutable string object, and change its value - is your code prepared to deal with that possibility? If not, it should make its own copy, which the other code can't change.
On the other hand, if your own code makes no assumptions about whether theString might have been changed, and works just as well whether or not it was, then you'd save memory by retaining the incoming object instead of unnecessarily making a copy of it.
Basically, the rule, which is unfortunately not so simple sometimes, is to think carefully about whether your own code needs its own private copy, or can correctly deal with a shared object whose value might be changed by other code.
The reason you can release gc after it is added to the gastroCategoryList is that when an object is added to an array, the array retains that object. So, even though you release your gc, it will still be around; retained by the gastroCategoryList.
When you are returning a newly created object from a method, you need to call autorelease. This will cause the object to be released only after the runtime leaves the scope of the calling method, thereby giving the calling method a chance to do something with the returned value.
Note that if your method starts with the word copy or new, then you should not autorelease your object; you should leave it for the calling method to release.
As for copy vs retain vs assign... as a general rule, copy objects that have a mutable version, such as NSArray, NSSet, NSDictionary, and NSString. This will ensure that the object you have a pointer to is not mutable when you don't want it to be.
Otherwise, use retain whenever you want your class to be ensured that an object is still in memory. This will apply to almost every object except for objects that are considered parents of your object, in which case you would use assign. (See the section on retain cycles here).
Also note that you have to use assign for non-object types such as int.
Read through the Memory Management Programming Guide a bit; it's quite helpful.