I'm attempting to create an NSArray with a grouping of string literals, however I get the compile error "Initializer element is not constant".
NSArray *currencies = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:#"Dollar", #"Euro", #"Pound", nil];
Could someone point out what I'm doing wrong, and possibly explain the error message?
New syntax for creating an array with string literals:
NSArray *currencies = #[#"Dollar", #"Euro", #"Pound"];
To fix your complication error the code must be in a method. If you want to use it statically then create a class method that follows the singleton pattern.
This isn't a problem with the NSArray creation itself (you would get the same error if you wrote [NSArray array] instead), but with where you've written it. I'm guessing this is a global or file-static NSArray. In C, that kind of variable has to have a constant initializer — meaning not a function call (or, by extension, a method call). The solution is to put the actual creation and assignment of the array into a method that will be called before you need the array, such as initialize.
It sounds like Chuck has spotted the problem. One thing you want to be aware of though in coding your solution is that you'll want to avoid storing an autoreleased instance of NSArray in a static variable. Also, a common pattern for these situations is to write a class method that creates and returns the value stored in the static variable, like so:
+ (NSArray *)currencies
{
static NSArray *_currencies;
// This will only be true the first time the method is called...
//
if (_currencies == nil)
{
_currencies = [[NSArray alloc] initWithObjects:#"Dollar", #"Euro", #"Pound", nil];
}
return _currencies;
}
Although this is old, please notice that Apple committed a new patch to the llvm project adding support for new Objective-C literal syntax for NSArray, NSDictionary and NSNumber.
See here and here
I'm a newbie in objective-c, but I think that the correct code is:
NSArray *currencies = [[NSArray alloc] initWithObjects:#"Dollar", #"Euro", #"Pound", nil];
I am not sure tho.
There's nothing wrong with that code. Are you sure the error is being produced at that line?
Related
Ive got the following code:
Trying to debug it for a while. Can't figure it out.
[self.vManager vendorsNearLocation:userLocation block:^(NSArray *vendors, NSError *error)
{
self.vManager.vendors_array = [NSArray arrayWithArray:vendors];
NSLog(#"Vendors array was %d long", [self.vManager.vendors_array count]);
if(vendors && [vendors count])
{
for (id v in vendors)
{
Vendor *aVendor = [[Vendor alloc] initWithAttributes:v];
[self.mapView addAnnotation:aVendor];
[self.vManager.vendor_dict setObject:aVendor
forKey:[aVendor name]];
I was hoping to set the values of the dictionary in that loop. But dictionary is always empty. No errors or warnings, nothing gets set Yet the array has values and my map shows all the vendors. By the way the vManager is a Singleton and Dictionary is being initialized in the viewDidLoad method of the caller
Is there something that Im doing thats obviously wrong?
I think you need to initialize the dictionary in the SINGLETON class itself. I tried the same thing yesterday and it worked.
Just make a function and initialize the dictionary there and call that function before making use of that dictionary.
It will surely work.
I have just spotted something that I am a little puzzled about, I wonder if someone would be so kind as to clarify it for me.
NSArray *nextArray = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:#"ONE", #"TWO", #"THREE", nil];
for(id eachObject in nextArray) {
NSLog(#"COUNT: %d", [eachObject length]);
}
Why does the above not complain/warn about the fact that I am asking for the length of an id?
In Objective-C id is the general type for any kind of object regardless of class and can be used for instances of a class and for class objects themselves.
The id type is completely nonrestrictive it has no information about an object, except that it is an object. So there's no way for the compiler to know whether or not that object can respond to a method because it doesn't know what kind of object it is.
By using it in your code you're basically saying 'to whatever this is pointing to, perform this operation'.
You use id when you specifically do not want compiler type checking. You can send any message to an id type without a warning, and you can assign an id to any other type without a type cast.
This allows you to fetch an object from an array without using a cast. E.g., you're free to assume that the array contains NSStrings:
NSString* someString = [myArray objectAtIndex:1];
It also allows you to send a message to an object without a cast or a warning. In fact, the message you wish to send may not be part of any formal class or protocol:
id someObject = [myArray objectAtIndex:1];
if ([someObject respondsToSelector:#selector(setName:)])
{
[someObject setName:#"Foo"];
}
The compiler will never type check messages sent to an id. It's partly what enables Objective-C's dynamism.
If eachObject was any other type, then you would get an error if the compiler couldn't resolve the method name.
The NSArray might contain different object types, for example:
NSArray *thArray = [[NSArray alloc] initWithObjects:#"Stack",#"Overflow",[NSNumber numberWithInt:10],nil];
for(id theObject in thArray) {
NSLog(#"COUNT: %lu", [theObject length]);
}
The id can represent any object (in this case NSString or NSNumber),
therefor the compiler cannot know whether the primitive method length exists.
Simply, id means all Objective-C Class. so, length method it belongs a NSString Class. Compiler no throw warning to you.
id is determined dynamically at runtime, is unknown at compile time.
Each object in Objective-C knows what class it has and if it can handle a message. It's not the compiler who checks the class, it is the object itself at runtime.
The class of an object can be undefined at compilertime, but at runtime each object has a defined class.
I am having two arrays, Namely
NMutableArray* first;
NMutableArray* second;
Now I am copying first object to the second array like
for (int i=0;i<first.count; i++)
{
[second addObject:[first objectAtIndex:i];
}
This is ok. I don't know how to access the value of the First Array. I tried like this ,
[second addObject:[[first objectAtIndex:i]name]];
I want to get the name value which is in the first object of first array. I tried using the above line, it is showing some warning. Please help me
Assuming you started with an array like this:
NSArray *array1 = #[#{#name : #"Fred"},
#{#name : #"Bill"}];
You could create a second array that contains the value of a given property of each element of the first array as follows:
NSArray *array2 = [array1 valueForKey:#"name"];
If you then logged the second array...
NSLog(#"%#", array2);
...the resulting output would be
2012-04-18 16:26:11.226 ExampleRunner[23320:707] (
Fred,
Bill
)
EDIT
Note that this will work regardless of whether the objects in the first array are instances of NSDictionary as shown in the example above, or instances of a class or classes that have a name property or instance variable (or an _name instance variable, for that matter). For more information on how and why this works, see the documentation for the NSKeyValueCoding informal protocol:
http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#DOCUMENTATION/Cocoa/Reference/Foundation/Protocols/NSKeyValueCoding_Protocol/Reference/Reference.html
The brackets are currently in the wrong place:
[second addObject:[[first objectAtIndex:i] name]];
Updated Answer:
Again, I think you should split stuff out into easy to parse lines of code:
for (id theObject in first)
{
// without an actual type, I still think the compiler might
// throw a warning on this next line of code;
// but maybe RJR III is correct and it won't warn.
// I didn't check.
NSString * nameOfObject = [theObject name];
if(nameOfObject)
{
[second addObject:nameOfObject];
}
}
Notice that I do some error checking in here as well (i.e. making sure the name is not nil).
Original Answer:
You're getting a warning because the compiler doesn't know what kind of custom object is being fetched from your call to "[first objectAtIndex: i]". In other words, it doesn't know what kind of object you're trying to get the "name" of.
Cast it to the right type and you'll get rid of the warning.
Or even better, split that one line of multiple things happening at once into two or three lines of code and make your code more readable in the process.
I have use below syntax for for set the object.
[dict setObject:eventArray forKey:categoryName];
Now i am trying to get below syntax but i got nothing.
NSMutableArray *tempArrayValue=[[NSMutableArray alloc]init];
tempArrayValue =[tempDict valueForKey:categoryValue];
What is the problem i cant understand can u help me?
you have given key as categoryName not categoryValue, and while retrieving you are using categoryValue.
NSMutableArray *tempArrayValue=[[NSMutableArray alloc]init]; tempArrayValue =[tempDict valueForKey:categoryName];
If you're setting the value like this:
[dict setObject:eventArray forKey:categoryName];
Then you should be fetching it back again like this:
NSMutableArray* eventArray = [dict valueForKey:categoryName];
assuming that eventArray is of type NSMutableArray.
What you are doing has at least two different problems.
This line is a memory leak, since you allocate an object and then throw it away, so delete it:
NSMutableArray *tempArrayValue=[[NSMutableArray alloc]init];
This second line may return a nil object, if there is no object stored for the key categoryValue. (You are using an object called categoryName above, as the key to store the value):
tempArrayValue =[tempDict valueForKey:categoryValue];
You haven't posted enough code to be able to tell why it's not working otherwise.
I have a class that I use to setup objects in an array. In this class I have a custom "initWithDictionary", where I parse a JSON dictionary. However, as I am running into NSNull, this crashes my app. To get around this, I set up a class that handles exceptions, so when a string is NSNull, it's replace it with #"". or -1 for integers.
This is my NullExtensions class:
#interface NSNull (valueExtensions)
-(int)intValue;
-(NSString *)stringValue;
#end
#implementation NSNull (valueExtensions)
-(int)intValue {
return -1;
}
-(NSString*)stringValue {
return #"";
}
#end
However, in my initWithDictionary method, the following code crashes my app:
self.bookTitle = [[parsedDictionary objectForKey:#"book_title"] stringValue];
It doesn't work regardless of the object in the parsed dictionary being NSNull or containing a valid string. Only if I do the following (and the string is not null):
self.bookTitle = [parsedDictionary objectForKey:#"book_title"];
Is stringValue incorrect in this case? And if so, how do I use it properly in order to setup proper NSNull replacements?
Thx
You really really don't want to add a category to NSNull that adds such common methods. That will change the behavior of NSNull for all instances in the application, including ones created by the underlying frameworks solely for their private use.
If you need a value class that represents the notion of "value doesn't exist and therefore I'm going to return these default values instead", create a class or instance that represents exactly that.
As for why it crashes, I couldn't tell you without seeing the actual details of the crash.
And, yes, it really is THAT bad to add a category to a class that adds such a common method. All it takes is one bit of code in a plug-in or framework that does:
if ([fooMaybeNull respondsToSelector: #selector(intValue)] bar = [fooMaybeNull intValue];
Not terribly farfetched -- I have had to debug nasty crashers or misbehaviors due to exactly this kind of willy-nilly category addition.
If you are going to add methods to a class via categories, prefix your method names so as to isolate them from existing functionality. It is still fragile, but manageably so.
Instead of creating categories on NSNull, for which you would also have to add a similar category to NSString (that's why it crashes, because real strings do not respond to stringValue) - instead try creating a helper category on NSDictionary like "stringForKey" that uses the code Johan posted and returns an NSString, probably also should enforce all other types get mapped to empty strings as well.
The NSNull extensions you have written look ok to me but using a method like stringValue may be confusing since other classes like NSNumber use this.
Personally though, I think NSNull replacement in this instance is unnecessary. If you just made a quick test you can replace the NSNull where you need to. e.g.
id testObject = [parsedDictionary objectForKey:#"book_title"];
self.bookTitle = testObject==[NSNull null] ? #"" : testObject;
You are asking an NSString for its stringValue. No need to convert a string to a string.
Try this:
if (![[parsedDictionary objectForKey:#"book_title"] isKindOfClass:[NSNull class]]) {
self.bookTitle = [parsedDictionary objectForKey:#"book_title"];
} else {
self.bookTitle = #"";
}
Edit: You should not use the category on NSNull you created. You don't need it, nor should you want it. If the source for the dictionary inserts NSNull instances, go ahead and use my code above. Normally you would expect to simple have no value inserted for the key, at which time you can simple see if [parsedDictionary objectForKey:#"book_title"] returns anything.
Are you sure that the dictionary is returning [NSNull null]? By default, dictionaries return nil, not [NSNull null], when an value isn't found for a key.
However, in my initWithDictionary method, the following code crashes my app:
self.bookTitle = [[parsedDictionary objectForKey:#"book_title"] stringValue];
It doesn't work regardless of the object in the parsed dictionary being NSNull or containing a valid string.
That makes sense, since stringValue is not a valid method on NSString. It will work for NSValue and its subclasses, but not NSString.