Swift - Timer not able to access updated instance property - ios

Im my react native project's native module I need to send some data periodically from Objective-C to Swift so I am using NSNotificationCenter. I receive the data successfully in my Swift class, inside the function attached to the observer, and I store it in a property.
If I access this property from any instance method call I can see that the value has updated.
However if I access the same property in the selector function attached to the Timer it appears as if the value has not been updated and I cannot figure out why? It seems as if the timer selector function does not have access to anything except the initial value of the property - I have also tried passing the property as part of userInfo to the Timer but the issue is the same.
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] postNotificationName:#"stateDidUpdate" object:nil userInfo:state];
class StateController {
var state: Dictionary<String, Any> = Dictionary()
var timer: Timer = Timer()
func subscribeToNotifications() {
NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(
self, selector: #selector(receivedStateUpdate),
name: NSNotification.Name.init(rawValue: "stateDidUpdate"), object: nil)
}
#objc func receivedStateUpdate(notification: NSNotification) {
if let state = notification.userInfo {
self.state = (state as? Dictionary<String, Any>)!
print("\(self.state)") // I can see that self.state has been updated here
}
}
func runTimer() {
self.timer = Timer(timeInterval: 0.1, target: self, selector: #selector(accessState(timer:)), userInfo: nil, repeats: true)
self.timer.fire()
RunLoop.current.add(self.timer, forMode: RunLoop.Mode.default)
RunLoop.current.run(until: Date(timeIntervalSinceNow: 2))
}
#objc func accessState(timer: Timer) {
print("\(self.state)") // state is an empty Dictionary when accessed here
}
func printState() {
"\(self.state)" // value printed is the updated value received from the notification
}
}

I figured out that multiple instances of my Swift class being created was causing the issue. I assumed that React Native would create a singleton when calling a native module but it appears multiple instances are created as I could see how many times the init method was called. Switching to a Singleton pattern resolved the issue for me following this excellent video and this excellent gist on how to create a singleton in a react native project
class StateController {
static let shared = StateController()
private override init() {
}
}

Related

swift: Listen for "struct variable"-change event?

I got a small problem :
How is it possible to listen for the change of a struct-instance variable declared in another ("uneditable!!") class?
I added some small code snippets to maybe clarify my thoughts.
instructions:
FixedClass is a uneditable class: I don't want to change / I'm not able to change any code of the "FixedClass"
EditableClass can be edited - I'm sure you will get it looking at the code (^_^)/
code:
let fixedClass: FixedClass = FixedClass()
class FixedClass {
struct MyObject {
var abc = 0
}
var instance = MyObject()
public init() { Timer.scheduledTimer(timeInterval: 0.4, target: self, selector: #selector(self.updateVar), userInfo: nil, repeats: true) }
#objc func updateVar() {
instance.abc+=1
}
func getVar() -> Int {
return instance.abc
}
}
let editableClass: EditableClass = EditableClass()
class EditableClass {
public init() { }
func listenForChange() {
// listen for change event of FixedClass.getVar()
print("Variable: \(fixedClass.getVar())")
}
}
Calling with: editableClass.listenForChange()
To sum that up I'd like to listen for the change of the FixedClass.getVar() result - preferably avoid using loops or timers. However the most important thing is to get it working at least.
Any help would be very appreciated, thanks!
This is going to depend totally on how the 'real' FixedClass is defined. I.E. is it a subclass of NSObject, is it an ObjectiveC class, how the property you want to observe is defined.
As far as your actual example is concerned you could do it by subclassing like this:
var newFixedClass: NewFixedClass = NewFixedClass()
var editableClass: EditableClass = EditableClass()
protocol NewFixedClassProtocol: class {
func changed(newFixedClass: NewFixedClass)
}
class NewFixedClass: FixedClass {
public weak var delegate: NewFixedClassProtocol?
override var instance: FixedClass.MyObject {
didSet {
self.delegate?.changed(newFixedClass: self)
}
}
}
class EditableClass: NewFixedClassProtocol {
public init() {
newFixedClass.delegate = self
}
func changed(newFixedClass: NewFixedClass) {
print ("Value = \(newFixedClass.instance.abc)")
}
}
So you basically create a protocol which the class doing the observing supports, create a subclass of the FixedClass which has a delegate of the protocol type and overrides the property of the FixedClass you want to observe with a didSet observer which then calls the delegate method. At some point you have to assign the class observing as the delegate of the sub class (I did it in the init method as a test).
So doing that I can observe when the structure changes but I haven't touched the FixedClass.
Note however that this method relies heavily on knowing about the original FixedClass so may not work for your 'real world' case.
(Also as an aside I couldn't get it to work with the globally defined instances of the classes and had to set them inside my initial view controller but that could be to do with how I was testing and doesn't alter the method involved)
A couple of things:
If the original class was Objective-C or otherwise participated in KVO (e.g. Swift dynamic properties of NSObject subclass, etc.) then you could observe changes. But but that's a fairly narrow use case. But that's a general pattern for making one's properties observable by other objects. For more information, see the Key-Value Observing Programming Guide.
If you can’t edit the class, in some narrow cases you could theoretically subclass it and add whatever observation system you want. That obviously only works if you’re manually instantiating FixedClass and it is contingent upon how FixedClass was implemented, but in some narrow cases, you can achieve what you need via subclassing.
You asked:
Would you be so kind an share some code snippets with us?
Sure, consider your FixedClass:
class FixedClass {
struct MyObject {
var abc = 0
}
var instance = MyObject()
public init() { Timer.scheduledTimer(timeInterval: 0.4, target: self, selector: #selector(self.updateVar), userInfo: nil, repeats: true) }
#objc func updateVar() {
instance.abc+=1
}
func getVar() -> Int {
return instance.abc
}
}
You could then define a subclass:
class FixedClassSubclass: FixedClass {
static let changeNotification = NSNotification.Name(rawValue: Bundle.main.bundleIdentifier! + ".FixedClassSubclassNotification")
override func updateVar() {
super.updateVar()
NotificationCenter.default.post(name: FixedClassSubclass.changeNotification, object: self)
}
}
Then you could do:
let fixed = FixedClassSubclass()
and
NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(forName: FixedClassSubclass.changeNotification, object: nil, queue: nil) { _ in
print("changed")
}
You can use whatever notification process you want. NotificationCenter. KVN. Delegate-protocol pattern. Whatever. The details of this will vary entirely based upon the details of FixedClass and you have given us a contrived example that is unlikely to be extensible in many situations.
I must confess to some general misgivings to the idea of trying to hook into the internal implementation details of a non-editable class. We generally strive for loosely coupled objects that only rely on published, supported interfaces. This endeavor violates both of those objectives. But I'll assume you have some good reason to do what you're attempting to do.
One way to do this would be to use NotificationCenter to broadcast the change, and have your EditableClass listen for that change and react to it. Your implementation could look something like this:
class FixedClass { //Class names should start with capital letters
struct MyObject { //Struct names should also start with capital letters
var abc = 0
}
var instance = myObject()
public init() { Timer.scheduledTimer(timeInterval: 0.4, target: self, selector: #selector(self.updateVar), userInfo: nil, repeats: true) }
#objc func updateVar() {
instance.abc+=1
//Broadcast the change, and pass this FixedClass instance
NotificationCenter.default.post(name: Notification.Name("fixedClassChanged"), object: self)
}
func getVar() -> Int {
return instance.abc
}
}
Then you could react to this broadcast in your EditableClass like so:
class EditableClass {
public init() { }
func listenForChange() {
//Observe same notification being broadcast by the other class
NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(self, selector: #selector(processChange(_:)), name: Notification.Name("fixedClassChanged"), object: nil)
}
#objc func processChange(_ sender: Notification) {
//When the notification comes in, check to see if the object passed in was a FixedClass, and if so process whatever needs to be processed
if let fixed = sender.object as? FixedClass {
print("Class changed to \(fixed.getVar())")
}
}
}

NSTimer scheduledTimerWithTimeInterval - not calling funciton

I want to run a timer in the background. So I created a singleton.
The problem is that after the set 5.0 seconds, it does not call the function timeEnded(). Xcode proposes to add #Objc in front of the function (like this: #Objc func timeEnded() {...) to solve some problem (I don't get what, though). But it still doesn't call that function. Any ideas?
class TimerService {
static let instance = TimerService()
var internalTimer: NSTimer?
func startTimer() {
guard internalTimer != nil else {
return print("timer already started")
}
internalTimer = NSTimer.scheduledTimerWithTimeInterval(5.0, target: self, selector: #selector(TimerService.timeEnded), userInfo: nil, repeats: false)
}
func timeEnded() {
//NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().postNotificationName("timerEnded", object: nil)
print("timer Ended")
}
}
You never actually start the timer because your startTimer() function will always return before reaching the line of code where you create the timer.
In your guard statement you only continue the execution of the function if internalTimer != nil but the only place where you set the timer is after that statement. Thus, your timer is never created and internalTimer will always be nil.
This should fix your problem:
func startTimer() {
guard internalTimer == nil else {
return print("timer already started")
}
internalTimer = NSTimer.scheduledTimerWithTimeInterval(5.0, target: self, selector: #selector(TimerService.timeEnded), userInfo: nil, repeats: false)
}
Selectors are a feature of Objective-C and can only be used with methods that are exposed to the dynamic Obj-C runtime. You cannot have a selector to a pure Swift method.
If your class inherits from NSObject then its public methods are exposed to Obj-C automatically. Since your class does not inherit from NSObject you have to use the #objc attribute to indicate that you want this method exposed to Obj-C so that it may be called with an Obj-C selector.
#selector() is the new syntax in Swift 2.2. It allows the compiler to check that the selector you're trying to use actually exists. The old syntax is deprecated and will be removed in Swift 3.0.

UserInfo in NSTimer not passing correct information - Swift

Here is some sample code for what I am trying to do.
func firstFunction() {
var timer = NSTimer.scheduledTimerWithTimeInterval(0.6, target: self, selector: Selector("secondFunction:"), userInfo: self.data!.getInfo(), repeats: false);
println("Info: \(timer.userInfo)");
}
func secondFunction(value: Int) {
println("Called with \(value)");
}
The following is the output:
Info: Optional((
2
)) and Called with 140552985344960
Called with ############ is constantly changing too. Even if I use just a number in place of self.data!.getInfo I still get Info: Optional(2) as the output and the Called with output still changes. I'm thinking it's happening because the value being passed is an optional one, so how do I make it not optional if that is the problem?
NSTimer's scheduledTimerWithTimeInterval userInfo parameter is not a standard parameter in the sense that although you can set userInfo to hold AnyObject, you can't simply pass in a parameter as you would with most functions because scheduledTimerWithTimeInterval's selector can only be passed an NSTimer as its one and only parameter. So your secondFunction: must specify an NSTimer as its parameter if you'd like to access the value you have stored within the timer's userInfo, ex:
func firstFunction() {
var timer = NSTimer.scheduledTimerWithTimeInterval(0.6, target: self, selector: Selector("secondFunction:"), userInfo: self.data!.getInfo(), repeats: false);
println("Info: \(timer.userInfo)");
}
func secondFunction(timer: NSTimer) {
var value = timer.userInfo as Int
secondFunction(value)
}
// Function added based on your comment about
// also needing a function that accepts ints
func secondFunction(value: Int) {
println("Called with \(value)");
}

Triggering a specific action when the app enters foreground from a local notification in iOS? (using swift)

I am building an iOS app using the new language Swift. Now it is an HTML5 app, that displays HTML content using the UIWebView. The app has local notifications, and what i want to do is trigger a specific javascript method in the UIWebView when the app enters foreground by clicking (touching) the local notification.
I have had a look at this question, but it does not seem to solve my problem. I have also come across this question which tells me about using UIApplicationState, which is good as that would help me know the the app enters foreground from a notification. But when the app resumes and how do i invoke a method in the viewController of the view that gets displayed when the app resumes?
What i would like to do is get an instance of my ViewController and set a property in it to true. Something as follows
class FirstViewController: UIViewController,UIWebViewDelegate {
var execute:Bool = false;
#IBOutlet var tasksView: UIWebView!
}
And in my AppDelegate i have the method
func applicationWillEnterForeground(application: UIApplication!) {
let viewController = self.window!.rootViewController;
let mainStoryboard: UIStoryboard = UIStoryboard(name: "Main", bundle: nil)
var setViewController = mainStoryboard.instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier("FirstView") as FirstViewController
setViewController.execute = true;
}
so what i would like to do is when the app enters foreground again, i want to look at the execute variable and run the method as follows,
if execute{
tasksView.stringByEvaluatingJavaScriptFromString("document.getElementById('sample').click()");
}
Where should i put the code for the logic to trigger the javascript from the webview? would it be on viewDidLoad method, or one of the webView delegate methods? i have tried to put that code in the viewDidLoad method but the value of the boolean execute is set to its initial value and not the value set in the delegate when the app enters foreground.
If I want a view controller to be notified when the app is brought back to the foreground, I might just register for the UIApplication.willEnterForegroundNotification notification (bypassing the app delegate method entirely):
class ViewController: UIViewController {
private var observer: NSObjectProtocol?
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
observer = NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(forName: UIApplication.willEnterForegroundNotification, object: nil, queue: .main) { [unowned self] notification in
// do whatever you want when the app is brought back to the foreground
}
}
deinit {
if let observer = observer {
NotificationCenter.default.removeObserver(observer)
}
}
}
Note, in the completion closure, I include [unowned self] to avoid strong reference cycle that prevents the view controller from being deallocated if you happen to reference self inside the block (which you presumably will need to do if you're going to be updating a class variable or do practically anything interesting).
Also note that I remove the observer even though a casual reading of the removeObserver documentation might lead one to conclude is unnecessary:
If your app targets iOS 9.0 and later or macOS 10.11 and later, you don't need to unregister an observer in its dealloc method.
But, when using this block-based rendition, you really do need to remove the notification center observer. As the documentation for addObserver(forName:object:queue:using:) says:
To unregister observations, you pass the object returned by this method to removeObserver(_:). You must invoke removeObserver(_:) or removeObserver(_:name:object:) before any object specified by addObserver(forName:object:queue:using:) is deallocated.
I like to use the Publisher initializer of NotificationCenter. Using that you can subscribe to any NSNotification using Combine.
import UIKit
import Combine
class MyFunkyViewController: UIViewController {
/// The cancel bag containing all the subscriptions.
private var cancelBag: Set<AnyCancellable> = []
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
addSubscribers()
}
/// Adds all the subscribers.
private func addSubscribers() {
NotificationCenter
.Publisher(center: .default,
name: UIApplication.willEnterForegroundNotification)
.sink { [weak self] _ in
self?.doSomething()
}
.store(in: &cancelBag)
}
/// Called when entering foreground.
private func doSomething() {
print("Hello foreground!")
}
}
Add Below Code in ViewController
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
let notificationCenter = NotificationCenter.default
notificationCenter.addObserver(self, selector:#selector(appMovedToForeground), name: UIApplication.willEnterForegroundNotification, object: nil)
}
#objc func appMovedToForeground() {
print("App moved to foreground!")
}
In Swift 3, it replaces and generates the following.
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
foregroundNotification = NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(forName:
NSNotification.Name.UIApplicationWillEnterForeground, object: nil, queue: OperationQueue.main) {
[unowned self] notification in
// do whatever you want when the app is brought back to the foreground
}

How to implement callback/selector with performSelector in swift?

I am trying to create an equivalent of below method signature (Objective-C) in swift language. I couldn't get an answer on how to get the right equivalent for this. Any help is highly appreciated.
- (void)myMethod:(MyObject*)firstParam
setCallbackObject:(id)obj
withMySelector:(SEL)selector {
[obj performSelector:selector withObject:nil afterDelay:0]
}
First:
NOTE
The performSelector: method and related selector-invoking methods are not imported in Swift because they are inherently unsafe.
If you still want to implement it that way, read below.
You could use NSTimer:
var myTimer: NSTimer = NSTimer.scheduledTimerWithTimeInterval(0.0, target: self, selector: "selectorMethod", userInfo: nil, repeats: false)
String can be used where Selector is needed. It will automatically be converted (autoboxing).
The delay can be of course higher: 0.1 is then equal to 1 tenth of a second.
To call a method like:
func selectorMethod() {
...
}
We need to check before using the selector on the class. But the respondsToSelector: is in the NSObject protocol, so you have to derive at least from that (or one that subclasses from it).
To make it clear, here is the example.
Code:
class Test {
func myMethod(firstParam: String, setCallbackObject obj: AnyObject, withMySelector selector: Selector) {
if obj.respondsToSelector(selector) {
var myTimer: NSTimer = NSTimer.scheduledTimerWithTimeInterval(0.0, target: obj, selector: selector, userInfo: nil, repeats: false)
myTimer.fire()
} else {
println("Warning: does not respond to given selector")
}
}
}
class Test2: NSObject {
func selectorMethod() {
print("worked")
}
}
var test: Test = Test()
var callBackObj: Test2 = Test2()
test.myMethod("thisfirstis", setCallbackObject: callBackObj, withMySelector: Selector("selectorMethod"))
Output:
workedProgram ended with exit code: 0

Resources