removeAllObjects crashes app - ios

Question

I want to clear my array, what i did is,
I have tableview view in my app, first i am fetching data from server and loading it in tableView.
-(void)viewDidLoad{
//fetching data from server using background thread and storing it in array called (msg_array)
[table reloadData];
}
when last row comes on screen i want to fetch new data from server and i want to display it,
-(void)LoadMoreData{ //this method gets fire when last cell is on screen
if ([msg_array count]>0)
{
[msg_array removeAllObjects]; //crashes here
}
}
This gives the error:
Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInvalidArgumentException',
reason: '-[__NSArrayI removeAllObjects]: unrecognized selector sent to instance
Why does it cause a crash:
The array is allocated like this:
msg_array = [dictShow copy];
dictshow contains the data and copying it to msg_array and dictshow is mutabledictionary
(Taken from comments)

Answer 1

'-[__NSArrayI removeAllObjects]: unrecognized selector sent to instance
This means that the array doens't have the method you're trying to call. That's because it is an immutable array (NSArray), not mutable (NSMutableArray).
Either make it mutable if you want to mutate it. Or, replace:
[msg_array removeAllObjects];
with:
msg_array = #[];
Based on your comment, the array should be mutable. That means that you have a mutable property / instance variable, but that you're creating an immutable instance to store into it. Find that location and update it (to create / return a mutableCopy at least).

Answer 2

Its because you are trying to modify a immutable array, you have two options here:
msg_array = #[];
OR
NSMutableArray *mutableMessageArray = [msg_array mutableCopy];
[mutableMessageArray removeAllObjects];
msg_array = [mutableMessageArray copy];
I prefer the first option as its neater, but if you need to do any other modifications of the array the latter option might be best for you.
NB:
Check how you declare msg_array, can you post that code?

Answer 3

msg_array could be immutable thats why it is crashing. removeAllObjects is only for NSMutableArray

Answer 4

__NSArrayI, looking carefully at this bit, we can see it's suffixed with an i. This i means the array is immutable and can't be changed.
You possibly want to use an NSMutableArray
msg_array = [dictShow copy]; dictshow contains the data and copying it to msg_array and dictshow is mutabledictionary
This is very strange! I expect that calling copy on a dictionary would always return a dictionary. Unless you are mistaken there, I can only imagine that either the dictionary's keys or its values are being returned.
I think you might have meant mutable array; assuming you did, the call to copy returns an immutable object, try [dictShow mutableCopy] instead

Answer 5

msg_array = [NSMutableArray arrayWithArray:_MoodsArray].mutableCopy;