I have a NSMutableArray that i define in the header file as:
#property (strong, nonatomic) NSMutableArray *tempPhotosArray;
Then i allocate as:
_tempPhotosArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
What i'd like to know is if i then go to replaceObjectAtIndex the program will complain on an out of bounds. I want to keep only a set number of items in that array, so is it possible to do a insert or replace? i.e. if at index 0 it is empty do an insert, if there is an object already replace it?
Thanks
i think i agree with Hani Ibrahim. Since you said you only want to keep a set number of objects in the array. So how many you want?
// add these code when you initialize the array
int aSetNumber = 5;
_tempPhotosArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
for (int i = 0; i < aSetNumber; i++)
{
[_tempPhotosArray addobject: [NSNull null]];
}
i guess then you can do whatever you want, i don't know what exactly you want to do in this case, but i would check if the object in that position is NSNUll, if so, replace that, if not, i don't know what you want them
//use these code when you trying to insert the real object
if([[_tempPhotoArray objectAtIndex:anIndex] isKindOfClass: [NSNull class]])
{
//replace it here
}
As to why you are getting an error, what everyone else wrote is accurate, but....
The description of what you want doesn't match what an NSArray is. It sounds like you want a list of up to 5 items and never more than 5. It might be that if you try to add a 6th item the "oldest" goes away. Like a "recently opened" file history. You can make this type of functionality with an NSArray, but that's not what it is out of the box.
I would suggest making your own object class. I'm not going to write all the code for you, because this sounds suspiciously like programming homework, but I will point you in the correct direction.
FivePack <-- our class
NSArray *storage; <-- where we house the data
// a public method which lets you add things.
- (void)addItem:(id)item {
int indexOfLastItemInArrayToSave = 4;
if (storage.length < 4)
indexOfLastItemInArrayToSave = length-1;
NSRange range = NSMakeRange(0, indexOfLastItemInArrayToSave);
NSArray *temp = [storage subArrayWithRange:range];
// now create a new array with the first item being "item" that
// was passed in and the rest of the array being the contents of temp.
// Then save that to storage.
}
What you want to do with the data and writing something to get it from your new object is up to you, because I'm not sure how you want to do it.
There are no objects in the array when you initially created it, so there is nothing to replace.
Like this?
if([_tempPhotosArray count] > 0)
//replace object
else
//add object to array
Related
I feel like there is a more regulation way to do what I am doing in, either by some iOS specific thing, or pattern I'm aware of. I'm trying to create an NSMutableArray variable, that essentially acts as temporary storage for a logger class. Each time the array is accessed, I want to either lazily instantiate it, or set it to nil. The way I am thinking of doing it seems a little hacky and I'm looking for some input?
- (NSMutableArray)myArray {
if (!_myArray) {
_myArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
} else {
_myArray = nil;
}
return _myArray;
}
The effect I'm hoping to achieve is using a logger that is logging details about network requests - http codes, URLs, repsonse times, etc. I want the logger to amalgamate all this output in this storage array. Later on, when I'm hitting an API, I want to take the contents of this array, and send it up to the API, and I also want the array to reset (so the array is essentially a log of network request data since the last time the app hits the API, versus a log of what has happened since the app launched.
I realise that I could do this manually by niling the array when I access it, but I'm trying to do this in a more of a plug and play way, where it you don't need to worry if someone forgets to nil the array etc
The effect that you are trying to achieve is perfectly legitimate, but you shouldn't try to achieve it with a getter alone: the very fact that a simple getter could reset something back to nil would be counter-intuitive to your readers.
Instead, you should make two methods - one to prepare the array, and another one to harvest it, and replace with a fresh nil:
- (NSMutableArray*)myArray {
if (!_myArray) {
_myArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
}
return _myArray;
}
- (NSMutableArray*)resetArray{
NSMutableArray *res = _myArray;
_myArray = nil;
return res;
}
Now the sequence of operations becomes intuitively clear: you get myArray as many times as you wish, add as many items as you need, and then when you are done call resetArray. This would get you a complete array with all the data, and reset the object to be ready for the next call:
for (int col = 0 ; col != 10 ; col++) {
[log.myArray addObject:[self getDataForIndex:col]];
}
NSMutableArray* logArray = [log resetArray];
What you're doing doesn't make any sense to me.
Creating it empty if it doesn't exist makes sense.
Setting it to nil if it does exist does not make sense.
The usual pattern for lazy loading is to use a property with a getter:
#property (nonatomic, retain) NSMutableArray * myArray;
and then the implementation:
//Custom getter
-(NSMutableArray*) myArray;
{
if (!_myArray)
_myArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
return _myArray;
}
Then you ALWAYS refer to the array using the getter. If it hasn't yet been created, the getter creates and returns the empty array. If it does exist, it returns the existing one.
I am hoping not to need to use an NSMutableArray here. I have an array with 10 elements. I want to change the value at index 4. Is there a way to do this without having to use NSMutableArray? The problem with NSMutableArray is that we can change anything about it, including its size. I don't want the size of this array to change accidentally. I just want to change the value at index 4 from say 22 to 25. How might I do that? doing array[4]=25 is not working.
NSArray *ar1 = #[#"1",#"2"];
NSMutableArray *ar1update = [ar1 mutableCopy];
ar1update[1] = #"Changed";
ar1 = [NSArray arrayWithArray:ar1update];
The only way is to create a new NSArray and change your pointer to a new NSArray. I can give an example...
In interface:
#property (strong, nonatomic) NSArray *myArray;
In implementation:
- (void) updateMyArray{
NSMutableArray *myArrayMut = [self.myArray mutableCopy];
myArrayMut[4] = #"new item";
self.myArray = [myArrayMut copy];
}
So basically, you can create a mutable copy temporarily, make the change you need, and then make an immutable copy. Once you have the immutable copy, you can point myArray to the new copy. As long as you are only changing existing items in updateMyArray and the myArray starts out with 10 items or less, you will never be able to have more than 10 items.
If you don't wish to use NSMutableArray how about a plain old C array? E.g.:
int array[10];
...
array[4] = 25;
You can store Objective-C objects in such an array and ARC will handle the memory management.
If you really want a fixed-sized NSArray/NSMutableArray you can do that by subclassing those types yourself - subclassing NSArray only requires implementing two methods and you can use an underlying C array or NSMutableArray for the actual storage.
HTH
I am trying to check if the NSMutableArray has a specific object, before adding the object to it, if exists then don't add.
i looked over many posts explaining how to do this, managed to implement it like this, but it always gives me that the object "doesn't exist", though i already added it !
//get row details into FieldLables Object
AllItemsFieldNames *FieldLabels = feedItems[row];
// object to hold single row detailes
AllItemsFieldNames *SelectedRowDetails = [[AllItemsFieldNames alloc] init];
SelectedRowDetails.item_name = FieldLabels.item_name;
//SelectedRowDetails.item_img = FieldLabels.item_img;
SelectedRowDetails.item_price = FieldLabels.item_price;
//NSLog(#"item has been added %#", SelectedRowDetails.item_name);
//NSLog(#"shopcartLength %lu", (unsigned long)SelectedFieldsNames.count);
if([SelectedFieldsNames containsObject:SelectedRowDetails])
{
NSLog(#"Already Exists!");
}
else
{
NSLog(#"Doesn't Exist!");
[SelectedFieldsNames addObject:SelectedRowDetails];
}
I can display all object from the NSMutableArray into a table, what i need to do in the above code is stop the addition of duplicate objects.
The first method listed on the NSArray documentation under the section "querying an array" is containsObject:. If it's not working, that suggests that your implementation of isEqual: is not correct. Make sure you follow the note in the documentation:
If two objects are equal, they must have the same hash value. This
last point is particularly important if you define isEqual: in a
subclass and intend to put instances of that subclass into a
collection. Make sure you also define hash in your subclass.
You might also consider using an NSSet since you can't add duplicates to that. Of course, this would also require a working version of isEqual:.
Sets are composed of unique elements, so this serves as a convenient way to remove all duplicates in an array.
here some sample,
NSMutableArray*array=[[NSMutableArray alloc]initWithObjects:#"1",#"2",#"3",#"4", nil];
[array addObject:#"4"];
NSMutableSet*chk=[[NSMutableSet alloc ]initWithArray:array]; //finally initialize NSMutableArray to NSMutableSet
array= [[NSMutableArray alloc] initWithArray:[[chk allObjects] sortedArrayUsingSelector:#selector(compare:)]]; //after assign NSMutableSet to your NSMutableArray and sort your array,because sets are unordered.
NSLog(#"%#",array);//1,2,3,4
I have an array - placeObjectsArray, that hold a lot of objects called place. Place is object of class PlaceHolder, in which i create different properties, filled with data:
self.place = [[PlaceHolder alloc]init];
// A lot of code here during parson XML with data
[self.placeObjectsArray addObject:self.place];
Header of this file look like this:
#interface PlaceHolder : NSObject
#property (strong, nonatomic) NSString *name;
#property (strong, nonatomic) NSString *description;
#property (strong, nonatomic) NSString *webPage;
It actually a container for an entity, each one hold data for name, description, image links etc. At now, i have array with place objects. What i want to, to manipulate with that objects inside an array. For example, how could i find all of data for specific "name"? (Name is one of properties in PlaceHolder class). How could i make an array that contain only names? How could i see in console 10 random "description"?
Any advice would be appreciated, thanks!
You're asking a bunch of separate questions.
First, how to select items in your array that match a particular name: Create an NSPredicate and use filteredArrayUsingPredicate. Google NSPredicate and you should find lots of examples.
Alternately you could use indexesOfObjectsPassingTest to get an index set of the items in the array that match your search criteria, and then use objectsAtIndexes: to turn the index set into a sub-array.
As for how to get all the names from the entries in your array, you can use a very cool trick in key value coding.
If you send an array the valueForKey message, it tries to fetch an item from each entry in the array using that key, and return them all in a new array. The code would look like this:
NSArray *names = [placeObjectsArray valueForKey #"name"];
Fetching 10 random descriptions is a little more complicated. You would need to write code that loops through the array, selecting 10 random items, and appends the description of each one into a new mutable array.
The trick there is to use arc4random_uniform to get a random index in your array:
NSUInteger random_index = arc4random_uniform(placeObjectsArray.count);
I leave the rest to you as a learning exercise.
If you want to fetch 10 random descriptions and make sure you never fetch the same description twice it's more complicated. You need to create a mutable copy of your array, then loop through the copy, fetching a random item, adding it's description to an array, and deleting the item from the array.
You can use NSPredicates:
NSPredicate *predicate = [NSPredicate predicateWithFormat:#"SELF.name LIKE[cd] %#", nameSearch];
NSArray *filtered = [self.placeObjectsArray filteredArrayUsingPredicate:predicate];
You could iterate over your array looking for the PlaceHolder with a given name, like:
PlaceHolder *namedPlaceholder = nil;
for (PlaceHolder *placeholder in theArray) {
if ([placeholder.name isEqualToString:"whateverName"]) {
namedPlaceholder = placeholder;
break;
}
}
If you want to find PlaceHolders by name efficiently you might consider using a dictionary instead of an array. With a dictionary you can map names to objects, like:
NSMutableDictionary *myDictionary = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] init];
myDictionary[#"foo"] = somePlaceholder;
myDictionary[#"bar"] = someOtherPlaceholder;
and retrieve them like:
PlaceHolder *somePlaceholder = myDictionary[#"foo"];
To get random objects from an array, I recommend getting random indexes using arc4random_uniform. This gives pseudo-random numbers with a better uniform distribution than rand or random, and does not require you to explicitly seed the sequence with srand or srandom.
PlaceHolder *randomPlaceholder = theArray[arc4random_uniform(theArray.count)];
or
const NSUInteger arrayCount = theArray.count;
for (NSUInteger j = 0; j < 10; j++) {
PlaceHolder *randomPlaceholder = theArray[arc4random_uniform(arrayCount)];
// Do something with randomPlaceholder.
}
I'm trying the following code to create an instance, assign properties, add to array.
Then, assigning new properties and adding again.
However array will contain 2 identical objects (equal to the second one added). The class Message simply has several (nonatomic, retain) NSStrings/Integer properties.
This probably has something to do with my understanding of pointer, can someone explain?
self.messages=[[NSMutableArray alloc]init];
Message *m=[[Message alloc]init];
m.cb=#"2402";
m.ck=1001;
m.msg=#"as";
[self.messages addObject:m];
m.cb=#"2422";
m.ck=1002;
m.msg=#"aadfsdsdfdssdklsdflkh";
[self.messages addObject:m];
NSLog(#"%#",self.messages);
When you add an object to an array, it does not add a copy of the object to the array, but instead just a reference to it. If you want two different objects, then you need to create two different objects instead of re-using the same one (or, as #Brendon points out, create a copy when you add it to your array).
To fix your example, the most common technique would be to add the following line right before you start modifying the properties for the second object:
m=[[Message alloc]init];
Or, use a second pointer and object instead of reusing m.
EDIT:
To add a copy, change [self.messages addObject:m]; to [self.messages addObject:[m copy]];, assuming that the Message class conforms to the NSCopying protocol.
Yes, after executing the posted code self.messages contains the Message object twice, at indexes 0 and 1. That's not a problem, though. Arrays can contain any object, even themselves.
It seems that you want two distict objects, so you would just create a second Message.
You can either implement the NSCopy protocol — as mentioned by lnafziger — or just create new instances quite easily in a for loop.
«Two or more, use a for»
— Edsger W. Dijkstra
self.messages=[[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
NSArray *dataArray = #[ #{#"cb": #"2402", #"ck": #(1001), #"msg": #"as"},
#{#"cb": #"2422", #"ck": #(1002), #"msg": #"aadfsdsdfdssdklsdflkh"}
];
for(NSDictionary *data in dataArray) {
Message *m=[[Message alloc] init];
m.cb = data[#"cb"];
m.ck = [data[#"ck"] integerValue];
m.msg = data[#"msg"];
[self.messages addObject:m];
}