Get instance variable???

Question

Hello, I have the following class:

@interface Gamer : CCNode {
NSMutableArray * cards;
}
@property (nonatomic, retain) NSMutableArray * cards;

+(id) CreatePlayer;
-(BOOL)SetCardsArr:(NSMutableArray *) cs;
-(BOOL)GetCardForMove:(Card*) card actionCard:(Card*)selCard;
@end

@implementation Gamer

@synthesize cards;

+(id) CreatePlayer
{
return [[self alloc] init];
}

-(BOOL) SetCardsArr:(NSMutableArray *) cs
{
if (!cs) return NO; 
cards = [cs copy];
return YES;  
}
-(BOOL)GetCardForMove:(Card*) card actionCard:(Card*)selCard;
{
for (Card * curCard in cards)
    {
    if ([curCard GetCardSuit] == [selCard GetCardSuit])
            {
        selCard = curCard;
        break;
    }
}
return YES;
}

 -(id) init
 {
if(![super init]) return nil;

return self;
 }
 - (void)dealloc
 {
[cards release];
[super dealloc];
 }
@end

On the my main game class I set gamer array with help of the SetCardsArr method. And after some actions I am trying to get Gamer card by GetCardForMove method like this:

Card * moveCard = nil;
    Card * selCard = card;
[mGamer GetCardForMove:moveCard actionCard:selCard];

The GetCardForMove function works fine, card found and assigned properly but Card * moveCard is nil :(. I am new to Objective-C and a little confused, please point me on my errors.

Answer 1

Actually the card isn't assigned at all. If you want your code outside the method to see the card, do either this (the better approach):

- (Card *)cardForActionCard: (Card *)selCard {
  //stuff
  return usefulCard;
}

or this (most similar to your current code):

- (BOOL)getCardForMove: (Card **)card actionCard: (Card *)selCard {
  //stuff
  if (card) {
    *card = usefulCard;
  }
  return YES;
}

By the way, this is unrelated to your question but your code contains a couple of problems regarding memory management (I assume as you have a dealloc method that you're in a retain-counted environment). No need to cover them here, just run "Build and Analyze" and fix the problems it reports.

Answer 2

Thanks for help. It helps me. And I have an another little question. I need to fill the array

 NSMutableArray * cards;

with Card objects one by one. Is it correct method for adding Card to cards array?

-(BOOL) AddCardToArr:(Card *) card
{
if (!card) return NO;   
[cards addObject:card];
return YES;
}

This is how I use the AddCardToArr in another class(mGamer is the Gamer class object):

for (int i=0;i<5; ++i)
{
  Card * card = (Card *)[cards objectAtIndex:i];      
  [mGamer AddCardToArr:card];
}

Any advice will be very helpful.