KVO Loading a new view with existing model data - ios

Question

I've recently begun to discover what can be done with KVO and I'm refactoring some of my code and saving a lot of lines at the same time. I do face one issue that is so general that it makes me wonder whether a certain pattern is recommended.
In some cases I load a new view controller that needs to represent data from an already initialized model. On -viewDidLoad I would register for KVO:
[_model addObserver:self
forKeyPath:kSomeKey
options:NSKeyValueObservingOptionNew
context:(__bridge void *)(_model)];
and change my interface when values change:
-(void)observeValueForKeyPath:(NSString *)keyPath ofObject:(id)object
change:(NSDictionary *)change
context:(void *)context
{
if ([keyPath isEqual:kSomeKey] && context == (__bridge void *)(_model)) {
[self updateSomeInterfaceElement];
}
Unfortunately and understandably, the view is not updated with current values from the model when I load my new view.
Is my best option to call -updateSomeInterfaceElement in -viewDidLoad? It doesn't seem to be a big deal like this, but when listening for 10-20 properties, it looks very inefficient (especially since all my -updateSomeInterfaceElement methods are mostly 1 line only, so no need to make them into a separate method). Is there any way to circumvent this, or is there a more elegant solution?

Answer 1

You want to change your options to include NSKeyValueObservingOptionInitial. This will cause KVO to fire a notification when you add the observer, providing the observer with the "initial" value.
Also, as an aside, you should get in the habit of calling super if observeValueForKeyPath:... is called for a notification you didn't sign up for. Also, it's a bit more bulletproof to avoid using "live" pointers in the role of KVO contexts (since a future object could have the same pointer if the current object is deallocated.) I generally prefer to use a pattern like this:
static void * const MyObservationContext = (void*)&MyObservationContext;
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
// ... other stuff ...
[self addObserver:self forKeyPath:#"model.someKey" options:NSKeyValueObservingOptionNew | NSKeyValueObservingOptionInitial context:MyObservationContext];
// ... other stuff ...
}
- (void)observeValueForKeyPath:(NSString *)keyPath ofObject:(id)object change:(NSDictionary *)change context:(void *)context
{
if (context == MyObservationContext)
{
// Do stuff
}
else
{
[super observeValueForKeyPath:keyPath ofObject:object change:change context:context];
}
}