Objective-C return enum array from method

Question

I have an enum in my objective-C code similar to this:

typedef enum {
    FRUIT_APPLE = 1,
    FRUIT_PEAR = 2,
    FRUIT_BANANA = 3,
    // etc. 
} Fruit

I need to be able to return an array of these in a method, something like this:

@implementation FruitTest

static Fruit fruits[] = {FRUIT_APPLE, FRUIT_BANANA};

+(Fruit[]) fruits
{
    return fruits;
} 

@end

However, this generates a compile error:

#1  'fruits' declared as method returning an array 
#2  Incompatible types in return

Any ideas on how to solve this? Thanks!

Answer 1

• With C Code, you cannot return an array directly like your current code but you need to return a pointer. In obj-c, you can also use NSArray, which you can return.

• However, you cannot make an array of enum, neither an array of int or NSInteger, you need to do like fruits = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:[NSNumber numberWithInt:enumValue]];

Your code should look like:

static NSArray *fruits;

+ (NSArray *)myFruits {
  if (!fruits) {
    fruits = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:[NSNumber numberWithInt:enumValue], nil];
  }
}

Answer 2

You have to declare the method as returning a pointer to a Fruit, rather than an array. You can do so like this:

@implementation FruitTest

static Fruit fruits[] = {FRUIT_APPLE, FRUIT_BANANA};

+(Fruit *) fruits
{
    return fruits;
} 

@end