NSArray: add multiple objects with same value

Question

How can I add multiple objects to my NSArray? Each object will have the same value.

Ex.

I want the value "SO" added to my array 10 times

Answer 1

You can initialize the array with a set of objects:

NSString * blah = @"SO";
NSArray * items = [NSArray arrayWithObjects: blah, blah, nil];

or you can use a mutable array and add the objects later:

NSMutableArray * mutableItems = [[NSMutableArray new] autorelease];
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
    [mutableItems addObject:blah];

Answer 2

Just add them with initWithObjects: (or whichever method you prefer). An NSArray does not require its objects to be unique, so you can add the same object (or equal objects) multiple times.

Answer 3

If you don't want to use mutable arrays and also don't want to repeat your identifier N times, utilize that NSArray can be initialized from a C-style array:

@interface NSArray (Foo) 
+ (NSArray*)arrayByRepeatingObject:(id)obj times:(NSUInteger)t;
@end

@implementation NSArray (Foo)
+ (NSArray*)arrayByRepeatingObject:(id)obj times:(NSUInteger)t {
    id arr[t];
    for(NSUInteger i=0; i<t; ++i) 
        arr[i] = obj;
    return [NSArray arrayWithObjects:arr count:t];    
}
@end

// ...
NSLog(@"%@", [NSArray arrayByRepeatingObject:@"SO" times:10]);