What is the Objective-C equivalent for "toString()", for use with NSLog?

Question

Is there a method that I can override in my custom classes so that when

      NSLog(@"%@", myObject)

is called, it will print the fields (or whatever I deem important) of my object? I guess I'm looking for the Objective-C equivalent of Java's toString().

Answer 1

You can override the description method of NSObject:

- (NSString *)description

On the subject of logging I recommend this blog post for better logging in Objective-C.

Answer 2

Actually, it's

- (NSString *)description

It's instance method, not class

Answer 3

Add this to the @implementation of your Photo class:

- (NSString *)description {
   return [NSString stringWithFormat:@"Photo: Name=%@ Author=%@",name,author];
}