Is there an easy way to get the creator object of an object in objective-c / iPhone-OS?

Question

Example:

I have an class that inherits from UIImageView. An object creates an instance from that class. Now, that class needs a weak reference to it's parent. I could make an initializer where the object has to pass "self" to the new created object. But I feel that there is a better way. Is there any?

Answer 1

I don't think there's any way to do this natively in the language.

The problem you would have with such a function even if it was available is what would occur if the "parent" object has been deallocated?

Answer 2

You might want to take a look at:

• SO question: How to message superview
• SO question: Proper design for delegates and controllers

Basically, these questions make the same conclusions as are made here: there is no built in way. You'll need to reference yourself, like

-(id)initWithParent:(id)parent

Answer 3

No, there's not. If you need this you'll have to set the parent during or right after initialization.