Objective-C Defining a Global Array for use by several ViewControllers - ios

Question

I've been trying to implement a global NSMutableArray from what I think to be a singleton class that I've implemented.
I can enter ViewController # 2, add and remove objects to the array.
However, when I leave ViewController #2 and come back, the data does not persist, and I have an array with 0 objects.
What do you think I'm doing wrong?
.h
// GlobalArray.h
#interface GlobalArray : NSObject{
NSMutableArray* globalArray;
}
+(void)initialize;
.m
#import "GlobalArray.h"
#implementation GlobalArray
static GlobalArray* sharedGlobalArray;
NSMutableArray* globalArray;
+(void)initialize{
static BOOL initalized = NO;
if(!initalized){
initalized = YES;
sharedGlobalArray = [[GlobalArray alloc] init];
}
}
- (id)init{
if (self = [super init]) {
if (!globalArray) {
globalArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
}
}
return self;
}
View Controller #2
GlobalArray* myGlobalArray;
myGlobalArray = [[GlobalArray alloc] init];
//Various add and remove code
Thank you for your input.

Answer 1

Following is best approach to share data Globally at Application level. Singleton Class is a key. Singleton is only initialised once, rest of times shared data is returned.
#interface Singleton : NSObject
#property (nonatomic, retain) NSMutableArray * globalArray;
+(Singleton*)singleton;
#end
#implementation Singleton
#synthesize globalArray;
+(Singleton *)singleton {
static dispatch_once_t pred;
static Singleton *shared = nil;
dispatch_once(&pred, ^{
shared = [[Singleton alloc] init];
shared.globalArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc]init];
});
return shared;
}
#end
Following is the way to access/use shared data.
NSMutableArray * sharedData = [Singleton singleton].globalArray;

Answer 2

You create separate instance of GlobalArray in your ViewController#2 with this code:
GlobalArray* myGlobalArray;
myGlobalArray = [[GlobalArray alloc] init];
Instead, you should create accessor method to return your shared instance, something like this:
// GlobalArray.h
#interface GlobalArray : NSObject{
NSMutableArray* globalArray;
}
+(void)initialize;
+(GlobalArray*)sharedInstance;
with implementation:
// GlobalArray.m
// ... your existing code
// accessor method
+(GlobalArray*)sharedInstance
{
return sharedGlobalArray;
}
and then call it from your ViewController#2:
GlobalArray* myGlobalArray = [GlobalArray sharedInstance];
However, using global variables to transfer data between view controllers is bad practice; I suggest you to use more safe methods, create a delegate, for example.

Answer 3

To create a shared global array, if that's really what you want, just put this in the header file:
extern NSMutableArray *myGlobalArray;
and this in your main source file:
NSMutableArray *myGlobalArray;
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions {
myGlobalArray = [NSMutableArray new];
}

Answer 4

Use this code for set and get the array views, for adding and removing do it separate in controller itself.
// GlobalArray.h
#interface GlobalArray : NSObject
#property (nonatomic, strong) NSMutableArray* globalArray;
+ (id)sharedManager;
-(NSMutableArray *) getGlobalArray;
-(void) setGlobalArray:(NSMutableArray *)array;
#end
/*-----------------------------------------*/
#import "GlobalArray.h"
#implementation GlobalArray
+ (id)sharedManager {
static GlobalArray *sharedMyManager = nil;
static dispatch_once_t onceToken;
dispatch_once(&onceToken, ^{
sharedMyManager = [[self alloc] init];
});
return sharedMyManager;
}
- (id)init{
if (self = [super init]) {
if (!globalArray) {
globalArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
}
}
return self;
}
-(NSMutableArray *) getGlobalArray{
return self.globalArray;
}
-(void) setGlobalArray:(NSMutableArray *)array{
_globalArray = globalArray;
}
#end
-------------------------
//get array
NSArray * array = [[GlobalArray sharedManager] getGlobalArray];
//set array
[[GlobalArray sharedManager] setGlobalArray:array]
-------------------------