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Foundation Functions Reference

Framework
Foundation/Foundation.h
Declared in
NSBundle.h
NSByteOrder.h
NSDecimal.h
NSException.h
NSGeometry.h
NSHFSFileTypes.h
NSHashTable.h
NSJavaSetup.h
NSMapTable.h
NSObjCRuntime.h
NSObject.h
NSPathUtilities.h
NSRange.h
NSZone.h

Overview

This chapter describes the functions and function-like macros defined in the Foundation Framework.

Functions by Task

Assertions

For additional information about Assertions, see Assertions and Logging.

Bundles

For additional information on generating strings files see Strings Files in Internationalization Programming Topics.

Byte Ordering

Decimals

You can also use the class NSDecimalNumber for decimal arithmetic.

Exception Handling

You can find the following macros implemented in NSException.h. Exception Programming Topics for Cocoa discusses these macros and gives examples of their usage. These macros are useful for code that needs to run on versions of the system prior to Mac OS X v10.3 For later versions of the operating system, you should use the Objective-C compiler directives @try, @catch, @throw, and @finally; for information about these directives, see Exception Handling in The Objective-C 2.0 Programming Language.

Java Setup

Hash Tables

HFS File Types

Managing Map Tables

Managing Object Allocation and Deallocation

Interacting with the Objective-C Runtime

Logging Output

Managing File Paths

Managing Points

Managing Ranges

Managing Rectangles

Managing Sizes

Uncaught Exception Handlers

Whether there’s an uncaught exception handler function, any uncaught exceptions cause the program to terminate, unless the exception is raised during the posting of a notification.

Managing Memory

Managing Zones

Functions

NSAllHashTableObjects

Returns all of the elements in the specified hash table.

NSArray * NSAllHashTableObjects (
   NSHashTable *table
);

Return Value

An array object containing all the elements of table.

Discussion

This function should be called only when the table elements are objects, not when they’re any other data type.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSHashTable.h

NSAllMapTableKeys

Returns all of the keys in the specified map table.

NSArray * NSAllMapTableKeys (
   NSMapTable *table
);

Return Value

An array object containing all the keys in table. This function should be called only when table keys are objects, not when they’re any other type of pointer.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSMapTable.h

NSAllMapTableValues

Returns all of the values in the specified table.

NSArray * NSAllMapTableValues (
   NSMapTable *table
);

Return Value

An array object containing all the values in table. This function should be called only when table values are objects, not when they’re any other type of pointer.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSMapTable.h

NSAllocateCollectable

Allocates collectable memory.

void *__strong NSAllocateCollectable (
   NSUInteger size,
   NSUInteger options
);

Parameters
size

The number of bytes of memory to allocate.

options

0 or NSScannedOption: A value of 0 allocates nonscanned memory; a value of NSScannedOption allocates scanned memory.

Return Value

A pointer to the allocated memory, or NULL if the function is unable to allocate the requested memory.

Availability
Declared In
NSZone.h

NSAllocateMemoryPages

Allocates a new block of memory.

void * NSAllocateMemoryPages (
   NSUInteger bytes
);

Discussion

Allocates the integral number of pages whose total size is closest to, but not less than, byteCount. The allocated pages are guaranteed to be filled with zeros. If the allocation fails, raises NSInvalidArgumentException.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSZone.h

NSAllocateObject

Creates and returns a new instance of a given class.

id NSAllocateObject (
   Class aClass,
   NSUInteger extraBytes,
   NSZone *zone
);

Parameters
aClass

The class of which to create an instance.

extraBytes

The number of extra bytes required for indexed instance variables (this value is typically 0).

zone

The zone in which to create the new instance (pass NULL to specify the default zone).

Return Value

A new instance of aClass or nil if an instance could not be created.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSObject.h

NSAssert

Generates an assertion if a given condition is false.

#define NSAssert(condition, desc)

Parameters
condition

An expression that evaluates to YES or NO.

desc

An NSString object that contains an error message describing the failure condition.

Discussion

The NSAssert macro evaluates the condition and serves as a front end to the assertion handler.

Each thread has its own assertion handler, which is an object of class NSAssertionHandler. When invoked, an assertion handler prints an error message that includes the method and class names (or the function name). It then raises an NSInternalInconsistencyException exception. If condition evaluates to NO, the macro invokes handleFailureInMethod:object:file:lineNumber:description: on the assertion handler for the current thread, passing desc as the description string.

This macro should be used only within Objective-C methods.

Assertions are disabled if the preprocessor macro NS_BLOCK_ASSERTIONS is defined.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSException.h

NSAssert1

Generates an assertion if a given condition is false.

#define NSAssert1(condition, desc, arg1)

Parameters
condition

An expression that evaluates to YES or NO.

desc

An NSString object that contains a printf-style string containing an error message describing the failure condition and a placeholder for a single argument.

arg1

An argument to be inserted, in place, into desc.

Discussion

The NSAssert1 macro evaluates the condition and serves as a front end to the assertion handler.

Each thread has its own assertion handler, which is an object of class NSAssertionHandler. When invoked, an assertion handler prints an error message that includes the method and class names (or the function name). It then raises an NSInternalInconsistencyException exception. If condition evaluates to NO, the macro invokes handleFailureInMethod:object:file:lineNumber:description: on the assertion handler for the current thread, passing desc as the description string and arg1 as a substitution variable.

This macro should be used only within Objective-C methods.

Assertions are disabled if the preprocessor macro NS_BLOCK_ASSERTIONS is defined.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSException.h

NSAssert2

Generates an assertion if a given condition is false.

#define NSAssert2(condition, desc, arg1, arg2)

Parameters
condition

An expression that evaluates to YES or NO.

desc

An NSString object that contains a printf-style string containing an error message describing the failure condition and placeholders for two arguments.

arg1

An argument to be inserted, in place, into desc.

arg2

An argument to be inserted, in place, into desc.

Discussion

The NSAssert2 macro evaluates the condition and serves as a front end to the assertion handler.

Each thread has its own assertion handler, which is an object of class NSAssertionHandler. When invoked, an assertion handler prints an error message that includes the method and class names (or the function name). It then raises an NSInternalInconsistencyException exception. If condition evaluates to NO, the macro invokes handleFailureInMethod:object:file:lineNumber:description: on the assertion handler for the current thread, passing desc as the description string and arg1 and arg2 as substitution variables.

This macro should be used only within Objective-C methods.

Assertions are disabled if the preprocessor macro NS_BLOCK_ASSERTIONS is defined.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSException.h

NSAssert3

Generates an assertion if a given condition is false.

#define NSAssert3(condition, desc, arg1, arg2, arg3)

Parameters
condition

An expression that evaluates to YES or NO.

desc

An NSString object that contains a printf-style string containing an error message describing the failure condition and placeholders for three arguments.

arg1

An argument to be inserted, in place, into desc.

arg2

An argument to be inserted, in place, into desc.

arg3

An argument to be inserted, in place, into desc.

Discussion

The NSAssert3 macro evaluates the condition and serves as a front end to the assertion handler.

Each thread has its own assertion handler, which is an object of class NSAssertionHandler. When invoked, an assertion handler prints an error message that includes the method and class names (or the function name). It then raises an NSInternalInconsistencyException exception. If condition evaluates to NO, the macro invokes handleFailureInMethod:object:file:lineNumber:description: on the assertion handler for the current thread, passing desc as the description string and arg1, arg2, and arg3 as substitution variables.

This macro should be used only within Objective-C methods.

Assertions are disabled if the preprocessor macro NS_BLOCK_ASSERTIONS is defined.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSException.h

NSAssert4

Generates an assertion if a given condition is false.

#define NSAssert4(condition, desc, arg1, arg2, arg3, arg4)

Parameters
condition

An expression that evaluates to YES or NO.

desc

An NSString object that contains a printf-style string containing an error message describing the failure condition and placeholders for four arguments.

arg1

An argument to be inserted, in place, into desc.

arg2

An argument to be inserted, in place, into desc.

arg3

An argument to be inserted, in place, into desc.

arg4

An argument to be inserted, in place, into desc.

Discussion

The NSAssert4 macro evaluates the condition and serves as a front end to the assertion handler.

Each thread has its own assertion handler, which is an object of class NSAssertionHandler. When invoked, an assertion handler prints an error message that includes the method and class names (or the function name). It then raises an NSInternalInconsistencyException exception. If condition evaluates to NO, the macro invokes handleFailureInMethod:object:file:lineNumber:description: on the assertion handler for the current thread, passing desc as the description string and arg1, arg2, arg3, and arg4 as substitution variables.

This macro should be used only within Objective-C methods.

Assertions are disabled if the preprocessor macro NS_BLOCK_ASSERTIONS is defined.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSException.h

NSAssert5

Generates an assertion if a given condition is false.

#define NSAssert5(condition, desc, arg1, arg2, arg3, arg4, arg5)

Parameters
condition

An expression that evaluates to YES or NO.

desc

An NSString object that contains a printf-style string containing an error message describing the failure condition and placeholders for five arguments.

arg1

An argument to be inserted, in place, into desc.

arg2

An argument to be inserted, in place, into desc.

arg3

An argument to be inserted, in place, into desc.

arg4

An argument to be inserted, in place, into desc.

arg5

An argument to be inserted, in place, into desc.

Discussion

The NSAssert5 macro evaluates the condition and serves as a front end to the assertion handler.

Each thread has its own assertion handler, which is an object of class NSAssertionHandler. When invoked, an assertion handler prints an error message that includes the method and class names (or the function name). It then raises an NSInternalInconsistencyException exception. If condition evaluates to NO, the macro invokes handleFailureInMethod:object:file:lineNumber:description: on the assertion handler for the current thread, passing desc as the description string and arg1, arg2, arg3, arg4, and arg5 as substitution variables.

This macro should be used only within Objective-C methods.

Assertions are disabled if the preprocessor macro NS_BLOCK_ASSERTIONS is defined.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSException.h

NSCAssert

Generates an assertion if the given condition is false.

NSCAssert(condition, NSString *description)

Discussion

Assertions evaluate a condition and, if the condition evaluates to false, call the assertion handler for the current thread, passing it a format string and a variable number of arguments. Each thread has its own assertion handler, which is an object of class NSAssertionHandler. When invoked, an assertion handler prints an error message that includes method and class names (or the function name). It then raises an NSInternalInconsistencyException exception.

The NSCAssert macro evaluates the condition and serves as a front end to the assertion handler. This macro should be used only within C functions. NSCAssert takes no arguments other than the condition and format string.

The condition must be an expression that evaluates to true or false. description is a printf-style format string that describes the failure condition.

Assertions are disabled if the preprocessor macro NS_BLOCK_ASSERTIONS is defined. All macros return void.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSException.h

NSCAssert1

NSCAssert1 is one of a series of macros that generate assertions if the given condition is false.

NSCAssert1(condition, NSString *description, arg1)

Discussion

Assertions evaluate a condition and, if the condition evaluates to false, call the assertion handler for the current thread, passing it a format string and a variable number of arguments. Each thread has its own assertion handler, which is an object of class NSAssertionHandler. When invoked, an assertion handler prints an error message that includes method and class names (or the function name). It then raises an NSInternalInconsistencyException exception.

The NSCAssert1 macro evaluates the condition and serves as a front end to the assertion handler. This macro should be used only within C functions.

The condition expression must evaluate to true or false. description is a printf-style format string that describes the failure condition. arg1 is an argument to be inserted, in place, into the description.

Assertions are disabled if the preprocessor macro NS_BLOCK_ASSERTIONS is defined. All macros return void.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSException.h

NSCAssert2

NSCAssert2 is one of a series of macros that generate assertions if the given condition is false.

NSCAssert2(condition, NSString *description, arg1, arg2)

Discussion

Assertions evaluate a condition and, if the condition evaluates to false, call the assertion handler for the current thread, passing it a format string and a variable number of arguments. Each thread has its own assertion handler, which is an object of class NSAssertionHandler. When invoked, an assertion handler prints an error message that includes method and class names (or the function name). It then raises an NSInternalInconsistencyException exception.

The NSCAssert2 macro evaluates the condition and serves as a front end to the assertion handler. This macro should be used only within C functions.

The condition expression must evaluate to true or false. description is a printf-style format string that describes the failure condition. Each argn is an argument to be inserted, in place, into the description.

Assertions are disabled if the preprocessor macro NS_BLOCK_ASSERTIONS is defined. All macros return void.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSException.h

NSCAssert3

NSCAssert3 is one of a series of macros that generate assertions if the given condition is false.

NSCAssert3(condition, NSString *description, arg1, arg2, arg3)

Discussion

Assertions evaluate a condition and, if the condition evaluates to false, call the assertion handler for the current thread, passing it a format string and a variable number of arguments. Each thread has its own assertion handler, which is an object of class NSAssertionHandler. When invoked, an assertion handler prints an error message that includes method and class names (or the function name). It then raises an NSInternalInconsistencyException exception.

The NSCAssert3 macro evaluates the condition and serves as a front end to the assertion handler. This macro should be used only within C functions.

The condition expression must evaluate to true or false. description is a printf-style format string that describes the failure condition. Each argn is an argument to be inserted, in place, into the description.

Assertions are disabled if the preprocessor macro NS_BLOCK_ASSERTIONS is defined. All macros return void.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSException.h

NSCAssert4

NSCAssert4 is one of a series of macros that generate assertions if the given condition is false.

NSCAssert4(condition, NSString *description, arg1, arg2, arg3, arg4)

Discussion

Assertions evaluate a condition and, if the condition evaluates to false, call the assertion handler for the current thread, passing it a format string and a variable number of arguments. Each thread has its own assertion handler, which is an object of class NSAssertionHandler. When invoked, an assertion handler prints an error message that includes method and class names (or the function name). It then raises an NSInternalInconsistencyException exception.

The NSCAssert4 macro evaluates the condition and serves as a front end to the assertion handler. This macro should be used only within C functions.

The condition expression must evaluate to true or false. description is a printf-style format string that describes the failure condition. Each argn is an argument to be inserted, in place, into the description.

Assertions are disabled if the preprocessor macro NS_BLOCK_ASSERTIONS is defined. All macros return void.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSException.h

NSCAssert5

NSCAssert5 is one of a series of macros that generate assertions if the given condition is false.

NSCAssert5(condition, NSString *description, arg1, arg2, arg3, arg4, arg5)

Discussion

Assertions evaluate a condition and, if the condition evaluates to false, call the assertion handler for the current thread, passing it a format string and a variable number of arguments. Each thread has its own assertion handler, which is an object of class NSAssertionHandler. When invoked, an assertion handler prints an error message that includes method and class names (or the function name). It then raises an NSInternalInconsistencyException exception.

The NSCAssert5 macro evaluates the condition and serves as a front end to the assertion handler. This macro should be used only within C functions.

The condition expression must evaluate to true or false. description is a printf-style format string that describes the failure condition. Each argn is an argument to be inserted, in place, into the description.

Assertions are disabled if the preprocessor macro NS_BLOCK_ASSERTIONS is defined. All macros return void.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSException.h

NSClassFromString

Obtains a class by name.

Class NSClassFromString (
   NSString *aClassName
);

Parameters
aClassName

The name of a class.

Return Value

The class object named by aClassName, or nil if no class by that name is currently loaded. If aClassName is nil, returns nil.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSObjCRuntime.h

NSCompareHashTables

Returns a Boolean value that indicates whether the elements of two hash tables are equal.

BOOL NSCompareHashTables (
   NSHashTable *table1,
   NSHashTable *table2
);

Return Value

YES if the two hash tables are equal—that is, if each element of table1 is in table2 and the two tables are the same size, otherwise NO.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSHashTable.h

NSCompareMapTables

Compares the elements of two map tables for equality.

BOOL NSCompareMapTables (
   NSMapTable *table1,
   NSMapTable *table2
);

Return Value

YES if each key of table1 is in table2, and the two tables are the same size, otherwise NO.

Discussion

Note that this function does not compare values, only keys.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSMapTable.h

NSContainsRect

Returns a Boolean value that indicates whether one rectangle completely encloses another.

BOOL NSContainsRect (
   NSRect aRect,
   NSRect bRect
);

Return Value

YES if aRect completely encloses bRect. For this condition to be true, bRect cannot be empty, and must not extend beyond aRect in any direction.

Availability
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSConvertHostDoubleToSwapped

Performs a type conversion.

NSSwappedDouble NSConvertHostDoubleToSwapped (
   double x
);

Discussion

Converts the double value in x to a value whose bytes can be swapped. This function does not actually swap the bytes of x. You should not need to call this function directly.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSConvertHostFloatToSwapped

Performs a type conversion.

NSSwappedFloat NSConvertHostFloatToSwapped (
   float x
);

Discussion

Converts the float value in x to a value whose bytes can be swapped. This function does not actually swap the bytes of x. You should not need to call this function directly.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSConvertSwappedDoubleToHost

Performs a type conversion.

double NSConvertSwappedDoubleToHost (
   NSSwappedDouble x
);

Discussion

Converts the value in x to a double value. This function does not actually swap the bytes of x. You should not need to call this function directly.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSConvertSwappedFloatToHost

Performs a type conversion.

float NSConvertSwappedFloatToHost (
   NSSwappedFloat x
);

Discussion

Converts the value in x to a float value. This function does not actually swap the bytes of x. You should not need to call this function directly.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSCopyHashTableWithZone

Performs a shallow copy of the specified hash table.

NSHashTable * NSCopyHashTableWithZone (
   NSHashTable *table,
   NSZone *zone
);

Return Value

A pointer to a new copy of table, created in zone and containing pointers to the data elements of table.

Discussion

If zone is NULL, the new table is created in the default zone.

The new table adopts the callback functions of table and calls the hash and retain callback functions as appropriate when inserting elements into the new table.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSHashTable.h

NSCopyMapTableWithZone

Performs a shallow copy of the specified map table.

NSMapTable * NSCopyMapTableWithZone (
   NSMapTable *table,
   NSZone *zone
);

Return Value

A pointer to a new copy of table, created in zone and containing pointers to the keys and values of table.

Discussion

If zone is NULL, the new table is created in the default zone.

The new table adopts the callback functions of table and calls the hash and retain callback functions as appropriate when inserting elements into the new table.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSMapTable.h

NSCopyMemoryPages

Copies a block of memory.

void NSCopyMemoryPages (
   const void *source,
   void *dest,
   NSUInteger bytes
);

Discussion

Copies (or copies on write) byteCount bytes from source to destination.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSZone.h

NSCopyObject

Creates an exact copy of an object.

id NSCopyObject (
   id object,
   NSUInteger extraBytes,
   NSZone *zone
);

Parameters
object

The object to copy.

extraBytes

The number of extra bytes required for indexed instance variables (this value is typically 0).

zone

The zone in which to create the new instance (pass NULL to specify the default zone).

Return Value

A new object that’s an exact copy of anObject, or nil if object is nil or if object could not be copied.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSObject.h

NSCountHashTable

Returns the number of elements in a hash table.

NSUInteger NSCountHashTable (
   NSHashTable *table
);

Return Value

The number of elements currently in table.

Availability
Declared In
NSHashTable.h

NSCountMapTable

Returns the number of elements in a map table.

NSUInteger NSCountMapTable (
   NSMapTable *table
);

Parameters
table

A reference to a map table structure.

Return Value

The number of key-value pairs currently in table.

Availability
Declared In
NSMapTable.h

NSCParameterAssert

Evaluates the specified parameter.

NSCParameterAssert(condition)

Discussion

Assertions evaluate a condition and, if the condition evaluates to false, call the assertion handler for the current thread, passing it a format string and a variable number of arguments. Each thread has its own assertion handler, which is an object of class NSAssertionHandler. When invoked, an assertion handler prints an error message that includes method and class names (or the function name). It then raises an NSInternalInconsistencyException exception.

This macro validates a parameter for a C function. Simply provide the parameter as the condition argument. The macro evaluates the parameter and, if the parameter evaluates to false, logs an error message that includes the parameter and then raises an exception.

Assertions are disabled if the preprocessor macro NS_BLOCK_ASSERTIONS is defined. All macros return void.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSException.h

NSCreateHashTable

Creates and returns a new hash table.

NSHashTable * NSCreateHashTable (
   NSHashTableCallBacks callBacks,
   NSUInteger capacity
);

Return Value

A pointer to an NSHashTable created in the default zone.

Discussion

The table’s size is dependent on (but generally not equal to) capacity. If capacity is 0, a small hash table is created. The NSHashTableCallBacks structure callBacks has five pointers to functions, with the following defaults: pointer hashing, if hash is NULL; pointer equality, if isEqual is NULL; no callback upon adding an element, if retain is NULL; no callback upon removing an element, if release is NULL; and a function returning a pointer’s hexadecimal value as a string, if describe is NULL. The hashing function must be defined such that if two data elements are equal, as defined by the comparison function, the values produced by hashing on these elements must also be equal. Also, data elements must remain invariant if the value of the hashing function depends on them; for example, if the hashing function operates directly on the characters of a string, that string can’t change.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSHashTable.h

NSCreateHashTableWithZone

Creates a new hash table in a given zone.

NSHashTable * NSCreateHashTableWithZone (
   NSHashTableCallBacks callBacks,
   NSUInteger capacity,
   NSZone *zone
);

Return Value

A pointer to a new hash table created in the specified zone. If zone is NULL, the hash table is created in the default zone.

Discussion

The table’s size is dependent on (but generally not equal to) capacity. If capacity is 0, a small hash table is created. The NSHashTableCallBacks structure callBacks has five pointers to functions, with the following defaults: pointer hashing, if hash is NULL; pointer equality, if isEqual is NULL; no callback upon adding an element, if retain is NULL; no callback upon removing an element, if release is NULL; and a function returning a pointer’s hexadecimal value as a string, if describe is NULL. The hashing function must be defined such that if two data elements are equal, as defined by the comparison function, the values produced by hashing on these elements must also be equal. Also, data elements must remain invariant if the value of the hashing function depends on them; for example, if the hashing function operates directly on the characters of a string, that string can’t change.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSHashTable.h

NSCreateMapTable

Creates a new map table in the default zone.

NSMapTable * NSCreateMapTable (
   NSMapTableKeyCallBacks keyCallBacks,
   NSMapTableValueCallBacks valueCallBacks,
   NSUInteger capacity
);

Discussion

Creates and returns a pointer to an NSMapTable structure in the default zone; the table’s size is dependent on (but generally not equal to) capacity. If capacity is 0, a small map table is created. The NSMapTableKeyCallBacks arguments are structures that are very similar to the callback structure used by NSCreateHashTable—they have the same defaults as documented for that function.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSMapTable.h

NSCreateMapTableWithZone

Creates a new map table in the specified zone.

NSMapTable * NSCreateMapTableWithZone (
   NSMapTableKeyCallBacks keyCallBacks,
   NSMapTableValueCallBacks valueCallBacks,
   NSUInteger capacity,
   NSZone *zone
);

Return Value

A new map table in allocated in zone. If zone is NULL, the hash table is created in the default zone.

Discussion

The table’s size is dependent on (but generally not equal to) capacity. If capacity is 0, a small map table is created. The NSMapTableKeyCallBacks arguments are structures that are very similar to the callback structure used by NSCreateHashTable; in fact, they have the same defaults as documented for that function.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSMapTable.h

NSCreateZone

Creates a new zone.

NSZone * NSCreateZone (
   NSUInteger startSize,
   NSUInteger granularity,
   BOOL canFree
);

Return Value

A pointer to a new zone of startSize bytes, which will grow and shrink by granularity bytes. If canFree is 0, the allocator will never free memory, and malloc will be fast. Returns NULL if a new zone could not be created.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSZone.h

NSDeallocateMemoryPages

Deallocates the specified block of memory.

void NSDeallocateMemoryPages (
   void *ptr,
   NSUInteger bytes
);

Discussion

This function deallocates memory that was allocated with NSAllocateMemoryPages.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSZone.h

NSDeallocateObject

Destroys an existing object.

void NSDeallocateObject (
   id object
);

Parameters
object

An object.

Discussion

This function deallocates object, which must have been allocated using NSAllocateObject.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSObject.h

NSDecimalAdd

Adds two decimal values.

NSCalculationError NSDecimalAdd (
   NSDecimal *result,
   const NSDecimal *leftOperand,
   const NSDecimal *rightOperand,
   NSRoundingMode roundingMode
);

Discussion

Adds leftOperand to rightOperand and stores the sum in result.

An NSDecimal can represent a number with up to 38 significant digits. If a number is more precise than that, it must be rounded off. roundingMode determines how to round it off. There are four possible rounding modes:

NSRoundDownRound return values down.
NSRoundUpRound return values up.
NSRoundPlainRound to the closest possible return value; when caught halfway between two positive numbers, round up; when caught between two negative numbers, round down.
NSRoundBankersRound to the closest possible return value; when halfway between two possibilities, return the possibility whose last digit is even.

The return value indicates whether any machine limitations were encountered in the addition. If none were encountered, the function returns NSCalculationNoError. Otherwise it may return one of the following values: NSCalculationLossOfPrecision, NSCalculationOverflow or NSCalculationUnderflow. For descriptions of all these error conditions, see exceptionDuringOperation:error:leftOperand:rightOperand: in NSDecimalNumberBehaviors.

For more information, see Number and Value Programming Topics for Cocoa.

Availability
Declared In
NSDecimal.h

NSDecimalCompact

Compacts the decimal structure for efficiency.

void NSDecimalCompact (
   NSDecimal *number
);

Discussion

Formats number so that calculations using it will take up as little memory as possible. All the NSDecimal... arithmetic functions expect compact NSDecimal arguments.

For more information, see Number and Value Programming Topics for Cocoa.

Availability
Declared In
NSDecimal.h

NSDecimalCompare

Compares two decimal values.

NSComparisonResult NSDecimalCompare (
   const NSDecimal *leftOperand,
   const NSDecimal *rightOperand
);

Return Value

NSOrderedDescending if leftOperand is bigger than rightOperand; NSOrderedAscending if rightOperand is bigger than leftOperand; or NSOrderedSame if the two operands are equal.

Discussion

For more information, see Number and Value Programming Topics for Cocoa.

Availability
Declared In
NSDecimal.h

NSDecimalCopy

Copies the value of a decimal number.

void NSDecimalCopy (
   NSDecimal *destination,
   const NSDecimal *source
);

Discussion

Copies the value in source to destination.

For more information, see Number and Value Programming Topics for Cocoa.

Availability
Declared In
NSDecimal.h

NSDecimalDivide

Divides one decimal value by another.

NSCalculationError NSDecimalDivide (
   NSDecimal *result,
   const NSDecimal *leftOperand,
   const NSDecimal *rightOperand,
   NSRoundingMode roundingMode
);

Discussion

Divides leftOperand by rightOperand and stores the quotient, possibly rounded off according to roundingMode, in result. If rightOperand is 0, returns NSDivideByZero.

For explanations of the possible return values and rounding modes, see NSDecimalAdd.

Note that repeating decimals or numbers with a mantissa larger than 38 digits cannot be represented precisely.

For more information, see Number and Value Programming Topics for Cocoa.

Availability
Declared In
NSDecimal.h

NSDecimalIsNotANumber

Returns a Boolean that indicates whether a given decimal contains a valid number.

BOOL NSDecimalIsNotANumber (
   const NSDecimal *dcm
);

Return Value

YES if the value in decimal represents a valid number, otherwise NO.

For more information, see Number and Value Programming Topics for Cocoa.

Availability
Declared In
NSDecimal.h

NSDecimalMultiply

Multiplies two decimal numbers together.

NSCalculationError NSDecimalMultiply (
   NSDecimal *result,
   const NSDecimal *leftOperand,
   const NSDecimal *rightOperand,
   NSRoundingMode roundingMode
);

Discussion

Multiplies rightOperand by leftOperand and stores the product, possibly rounded off according to roundingMode, in result.

For explanations of the possible return values and rounding modes, see NSDecimalAdd.

For more information, see Number and Value Programming Topics for Cocoa.

Availability
Declared In
NSDecimal.h

NSDecimalMultiplyByPowerOf10

Multiplies a decimal by the specified power of 10.

NSCalculationError NSDecimalMultiplyByPowerOf10 (
   NSDecimal *result,
   const NSDecimal *number,
   short power,
   NSRoundingMode roundingMode
);

Discussion

Multiplies number by power of 10 and stores the product, possibly rounded off according to roundingMode, in result.

For explanations of the possible return values and rounding modes, see NSDecimalAdd.

For more information, see Number and Value Programming Topics for Cocoa.

Availability
Declared In
NSDecimal.h

NSDecimalNormalize

Normalizes the internal format of two decimal numbers to simplify later operations.

NSCalculationError NSDecimalNormalize (
   NSDecimal *number1,
   NSDecimal *number2,
   NSRoundingMode roundingMode
);

Discussion

An NSDecimal is represented in memory as a mantissa and an exponent, expressing the value mantissa x 10exponent. A number can have many NSDecimal representations; for example, the following table lists several valid NSDecimal representations for the number 100:

Mantissa

Exponent

100

0

10

1

1

2

Format number1 and number2 so that they have equal exponents. This format makes addition and subtraction very convenient. Both NSDecimalAdd and NSDecimalSubtract call NSDecimalNormalize. You may want to use it if you write more complicated addition or subtraction routines.

For explanations of the possible return values, see NSDecimalAdd.

For more information, see Number and Value Programming Topics for Cocoa.

Availability
Declared In
NSDecimal.h

NSDecimalPower

Raises the decimal value to the specified power.

NSCalculationError NSDecimalPower (
   NSDecimal *result,
   const NSDecimal *number,
   NSUInteger power,
   NSRoundingMode roundingMode
);

Discussion

Raises number to power, possibly rounding off according to roundingMode, and stores the resulting value in result.

For explanations of the possible return values and rounding modes, see NSDecimalAdd.

For more information, see Number and Value Programming Topics for Cocoa.

Availability
Declared In
NSDecimal.h

NSDecimalRound

Rounds off the decimal value.

void NSDecimalRound (
   NSDecimal *result,
   const NSDecimal *number,
   NSInteger scale,
   NSRoundingMode roundingMode
);

Discussion

Rounds number off according to the parameters scale and roundingMode and stores the result in result.

The scale value specifies the number of digits result can have after its decimal point. roundingMode specifies the way that number is rounded off. There are four possible values for roundingMode: NSRoundDown, NSRoundUp, NSRoundPlain, and NSRoundBankers. For thorough discussions of scale and roundingMode, see NSDecimalNumberBehaviors.

For more information, see Number and Value Programming Topics for Cocoa.

Availability
Declared In
NSDecimal.h

NSDecimalString

Returns a string representation of the decimal value.

NSString * NSDecimalString (
   const NSDecimal *dcm,
   id locale
);

Discussion

Returns a string representation of decimal. locale determines the format of the decimal separator.

For more information, see Number and Value Programming Topics for Cocoa.

Availability
Declared In
NSDecimal.h

NSDecimalSubtract

Subtracts one decimal value from another.

NSCalculationError NSDecimalSubtract (
   NSDecimal *result,
   const NSDecimal *leftOperand,
   const NSDecimal *rightOperand,
   NSRoundingMode roundingMode
);

Discussion

Subtracts rightOperand from leftOperand and stores the difference, possibly rounded off according to roundingMode, in result.

For explanations of the possible return values and rounding modes, see NSDecimalAdd.

For more information, see Number and Value Programming Topics for Cocoa.

Availability
Declared In
NSDecimal.h

NSDecrementExtraRefCountWasZero

Decrements the specified object’s reference count.

BOOL NSDecrementExtraRefCountWasZero (
   id object
);

Parameters
object

An object.

Return Value

NO if anObject had an extra reference count, or YES if anObject didn’t have an extra reference count—indicating that the object should be deallocated (with dealloc).

Discussion

Decrements the “extra reference” count of anObject. Newly created objects have only one actual reference, so that a single release message results in the object being deallocated. Extra references are those beyond the single original reference and are usually created by sending the object a retain message. Your code should generally not use these functions unless it is overriding the retain or release methods.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSObject.h

NSDefaultMallocZone

Returns the default zone.

NSZone * NSDefaultMallocZone (void);

Return Value

The default zone, which is created automatically at startup.

Discussion

This zone is used by the standard C function malloc.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSZone.h

NSDivideRect

Divides a rectangle into two new rectangles.

void NSDivideRect (
   NSRect inRect,
   NSRect *slice,
   NSRect *rem,
   CGFloat amount,
   NSRectEdge edge
);

Discussion

Creates two rectangles—slice and rem—from inRect, by dividing inRect with a line that’s parallel to the side of inRect specified by edge. The size of slice is determined by amount, which specifies the distance from edge.

slice and rem must not be NULL.

For more information, see NSRectEdge.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSEndHashTableEnumeration

Used when finished with an enumerator.

void NSEndHashTableEnumeration (
   NSHashEnumerator *enumerator
);

Discussion

This function should be called when you have finished using the enumeration struct enumerator.

Availability
Declared In
NSHashTable.h

NSEndMapTableEnumeration

Used when finished with an enumerator.

void NSEndMapTableEnumeration (
   NSMapEnumerator *enumerator
);

Discussion

This function should be called when you have finished using the enumeration struct enumerator.

Availability
Declared In
NSMapTable.h

NSEnumerateHashTable

Creates an enumerator for the specified hash table.

NSHashEnumerator NSEnumerateHashTable (
   NSHashTable *table
);

Return Value

An NSHashEnumerator structure that will cause successive elements of table to be returned each time this enumerator is passed to NSNextHashEnumeratorItem.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSHashTable.h

NSEnumerateMapTable

Creates an enumerator for the specified map table.

NSMapEnumerator NSEnumerateMapTable (
   NSMapTable *table
);

Parameters
table

A reference to a map table structure.

Return Value

An NSMapEnumerator structure that will cause successive key-value pairs of table to be visited each time this enumerator is passed to NSNextMapEnumeratorPair.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSMapTable.h

NSEqualPoints

Returns a Boolean value that indicates whether two points are equal.

BOOL NSEqualPoints (
   NSPoint aPoint,
   NSPoint bPoint
);

Return Value

YES if the two points aPoint and bPoint are identical, otherwise NO.

Availability
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSEqualRanges

Returns a Boolean value that indicates whether two given ranges are equal.

BOOL NSEqualRanges (
   NSRange range1,
   NSRange range2
);

Return Value

YES if range1 and range2 have the same locations and lengths.

Availability
Declared In
NSRange.h

NSEqualRects

Returns a Boolean value that indicates whether the two rectangles are equal.

BOOL NSEqualRects (
   NSRect aRect,
   NSRect bRect
);

Return Value

YES if aRect and bRect are identical, otherwise NO.

Availability
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSEqualSizes

Returns a Boolean that indicates whether two size values are equal.

BOOL NSEqualSizes (
   NSSize aSize,
   NSSize bSize
);

Return Value

YES if aSize and bSize are identical, otherwise NO.

Availability
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSExtraRefCount

Returns the specified object’s reference count.

NSUInteger NSExtraRefCount (
   id object
);

Parameters
object

An object.

Return Value

The current reference count of object.

Discussion

This function is used in conjunction with NSIncrementExtraRefCount and NSDecrementExtraRefCountWasZero in situations where you need to override an object’s retain and release methods.

Availability
Declared In
NSObject.h

NSFileTypeForHFSTypeCode

Returns a string encoding a file type code.

NSString * NSFileTypeForHFSTypeCode (
   OSType hfsFileTypeCode
);

Parameters
hfsFileTypeCode

An HFS file type code.

Return Value

A string that encodes hfsFileTypeCode.

Discussion

For more information, see HFS File Types.

Availability
Declared In
NSHFSFileTypes.h

NSFreeHashTable

Deletes the specified hash table.

void NSFreeHashTable (
   NSHashTable *table
);

Discussion

Releases each element of the specified hash table and frees the table itself.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSHashTable.h

NSFreeMapTable

Deletes the specified map table.

void NSFreeMapTable (
   NSMapTable *table
);

Parameters
table

A reference to a map table structure.

Discussion

Releases each key and value of the specified map table and frees the table itself.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSMapTable.h

NSFullUserName

Returns a string containing the full name of the current user.

NSString * NSFullUserName (void);

Return Value

A string containing the full name of the current user.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSPathUtilities.h

NSGetSizeAndAlignment

Obtains the actual size and the aligned size of an encoded type.

const char * NSGetSizeAndAlignment (
   const char *typePtr,
   NSUInteger *sizep,
   NSUInteger *alignp
);

Discussion

Obtains the actual size and the aligned size of the first data type represented by typePtr and returns a pointer to the position of the next data type in typePtr. You can specify NULL for either sizep or alignp to ignore the corresponding information.

The value returned in alignp is the aligned size of the data type; for example, on some platforms, the aligned size of a char might be 2 bytes while the actual physical size is 1 byte.

Availability
Declared In
NSObjCRuntime.h

NSGetUncaughtExceptionHandler

Returns the top-level error handler.

NSUncaughtExceptionHandler * NSGetUncaughtExceptionHandler (void);

Return Value

A pointer to the top-level error-handling function where you can perform last-minute logging before the program terminates.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSException.h

NSHashGet

Returns an element of the hash table.

void * NSHashGet (
   NSHashTable *table,
   const void *pointer
);

Return Value

The pointer in the table that matches pointer (as defined by the isEqual callback function). If there is no matching element, returns NULL.

Availability
Declared In
NSHashTable.h

NSHashInsert

Adds an element to the specified hash table.

void NSHashInsert (
   NSHashTable *table,
   const void *pointer
);

Discussion

Inserts pointer, which must not be NULL, into table. If pointer matches an item already in the table, the previous pointer is released using the release callback function that was specified when the table was created.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSHashTable.h

NSHashInsertIfAbsent

Adds an element to the specified hash table only if the table does not already contain the element.

void * NSHashInsertIfAbsent (
   NSHashTable *table,
   const void *pointer
);

Return Value

If pointer matches an item already in table, returns the preexisting pointer; otherwise, pointer is added to the table and returns NULL.

Discussion

You must not specify NULL for pointer.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSHashTable.h

NSHashInsertKnownAbsent

Adds an element to the specified hash table.

void NSHashInsertKnownAbsent (
   NSHashTable *table,
   const void *pointer
);

Discussion

Inserts pointer, which must not be NULL, into table. Unlike NSHashInsert, this function raises NSInvalidArgumentException if table already includes an element that matches pointer.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSHashTable.h

NSHashRemove

Removes an element from the specified hash table.

void NSHashRemove (
   NSHashTable *table,
   const void *pointer
);

Discussion

If pointer matches an item already in table, this function releases the preexisting item.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSHashTable.h

NSHeight

Returns the height of a given rectangle.

CGFloat NSHeight (
   NSRect aRect
);

Return Value

The height of aRect.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSHFSTypeCodeFromFileType

Returns a file type code.

OSType NSHFSTypeCodeFromFileType (
   NSString *fileTypeString
);

Parameters
fileTypeString

A string of the sort encoded by NSFileTypeForHFSTypeCode().

Return Value

The HFS file type code corresponding to fileTypeString, or 0 if it cannot be found.

Discussion

For more information, see HFS File Types.

Availability
Declared In
NSHFSFileTypes.h

NSHFSTypeOfFile

Returns a string encoding a file type.

NSString * NSHFSTypeOfFile (
   NSString *fullFilePath
);

Parameters
fullFilePath

The full absolute path of a file.

Return Value

A string that encodes fullFilePath‘s HFS file type, or nil if the operation was not successful

Discussion

For more information, see HFS File Types.

Availability
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSHFSFileTypes.h

NSHomeDirectory

Returns the path to the current user’s home directory.

NSString * NSHomeDirectory (void);

Return Value

The path to the current user’s home directory.

Discussion

For more information on file-system utilities, see Low-Level File Management Programming Topics.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSPathUtilities.h

NSHomeDirectoryForUser

Returns the path to a given user’s home directory.

NSString * NSHomeDirectoryForUser (
   NSString *userName
);

Parameters
userName

The name of a user.

Return Value

The path to the home directory for the user specified by userName.

Discussion

For more information on file system utilities, see Low-Level File Management Programming Topics.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSPathUtilities.h

NSHostByteOrder

Returns the endian format.

long NSHostByteOrder (void);

Return Value

The endian format, either NS_LittleEndian or NS_BigEndian.

Availability
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSIncrementExtraRefCount

Increments the specified object’s reference count.

void NSIncrementExtraRefCount (
   id object
);

Parameters
object

An object.

Discussion

This function increments the “extra reference” count of object. Newly created objects have only one actual reference, so that a single release message results in the object being deallocated. Extra references are those beyond the single original reference and are usually created by sending the object a retain message. Your code should generally not use these functions unless it is overriding the retain or release methods.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSObject.h

NSInsetRect

Insets a rectangle by a specified amount.

NSRect NSInsetRect (
   NSRect aRect,
   CGFloat dX,
   CGFloat dY
);

Return Value

A copy of aRect, altered by moving the two sides that are parallel to the y axis inward by dX, and the two sides parallel to the x axis inwards by dY.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSIntegralRect

Adjusts the sides of a rectangle to integer values.

NSRect NSIntegralRect (
   NSRect aRect
);

Return Value

A copy of aRect, expanded outward just enough to ensure that none of its four defining values (x, y, width, and height) have fractional parts. If the width or height of aRect is 0 or negative, this function returns a rectangle with origin at (0.0, 0.0) and with zero width and height.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSIntersectionRange

Returns the intersection of the specified ranges.

NSRange NSIntersectionRange (
   NSRange range1,
   NSRange range2
);

Return Value

A range describing the intersection of range1 and range2—that is, a range containing the indices that exist in both ranges.

Discussion

If the returned range’s length field is 0, then the two ranges don’t intersect, and the value of the location field is undefined.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSRange.h

NSIntersectionRect

Calculates the intersection of two rectangles.

NSRect NSIntersectionRect (
   NSRect aRect,
   NSRect bRect
);

Return Value

The graphic intersection of aRect and bRect. If the two rectangles don’t overlap, the returned rectangle has its origin at (0.0, 0.0) and zero width and height (including situations where the intersection is a point or a line segment).

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSIntersectsRect

Returns a Boolean value that indicates whether two rectangles intersect.

BOOL NSIntersectsRect (
   NSRect aRect,
   NSRect bRect
);

Return Value

YES if aRect intersects bRect, otherwise NO. Returns NO if either aRect or bRect has a width or height that is 0.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSIsEmptyRect

Returns a Boolean value that indicates whether a given rectangle is empty.

BOOL NSIsEmptyRect (
   NSRect aRect
);

Return Value

YES if aRect encloses no area at all—that is, if its width or height is 0 or negative, otherwise NO.

Availability
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSJavaBundleCleanup

This function has been deprecated.

void NSJavaBundleCleanup (
   NSBundle *bundle,
   NSDictionary *plist
);

Availability
Declared In
NSJavaSetup.h

NSJavaBundleSetup

This function has been deprecated.

id NSJavaBundleSetup (
   NSBundle *bundle,
   NSDictionary *plist
);

Availability
Declared In
NSJavaSetup.h

NSJavaClassesForBundle

Loads the Java classes located in the specified bundle.

NSArray * NSJavaClassesForBundle (
   NSBundle *bundle,
   BOOL usesyscl,
   id *vm
);

Discussion

Loads and returns the Java classes in the specified bundle. If the Java virtual machine is not loaded, load it first. A reference to the Java virtual machine is returned in the vm parameter. You can pass nil for the vm parameter if you do not want this information. Pass NO for usesyscl if you want to use a new instance of the class loader to load the classes; otherwise, the system can reuse an existing instance of the class loader. If you pass NO for usesyscl, the new class loader will be released when you are done with it; otherwise, the class loader will be cached for use next time.

Availability
Declared In
NSJavaSetup.h

NSJavaClassesFromPath

Loads the Java classes located at the specified path.

NSArray * NSJavaClassesFromPath (
   NSArray *path,
   NSArray *wanted,
   BOOL usesyscl,
   id *vm
);

Discussion

Loads and returns the Java classes in the specified bundle. If the Java virtual machine is not loaded, load it first. A reference to the Java virtual machine is returned in the vm parameter. You can pass nil for the vm parameter if you do not want this information. Pass an array of names of classes to load in the wanted parameter. If you pass nil for the wanted parameter, all classes at the specified path will be loaded. Pass NO for usesyscl if you want to use a new instance of the class loader to load the classes; otherwise, the system can reuse an existing instance of the class loader. If you pass NO for usesyscl, the new class loader will be released when you are done with it; otherwise, the class loader will be cached for use next time.

Availability
Declared In
NSJavaSetup.h

NSJavaNeedsToLoadClasses

Returns a Boolean value that indicates whether a virtual machine is needed or if Java classes are provided.

BOOL NSJavaNeedsToLoadClasses (
   NSDictionary *plist
);

Discussion

Returns YES if a virtual machine is needed or if a virtual machine already exists and there’s an indication that Java classes are provided.

Availability
Declared In
NSJavaSetup.h

NSJavaNeedsVirtualMachine

Returns a Boolean value that indicates whether a Java virtual machine is required.

BOOL NSJavaNeedsVirtualMachine (
   NSDictionary *plist
);

Discussion

Returns YES if plist contains a key saying that it requires Java.

Availability
Declared In
NSJavaSetup.h

NSJavaObjectNamedInPath

Creates an instance of the named class using the class loader previously specified at the given path.

id NSJavaObjectNamedInPath (
   NSString *name,
   NSArray *path
);

Discussion

Returns a new instance of the class name. The class loader must be already be set up for the specified path (you can do this using a function such as NSJavaClassesFromPath).

Availability
Declared In
NSJavaSetup.h

NSJavaProvidesClasses

Returns a Boolean value that indicates whether Java classes are provided.

BOOL NSJavaProvidesClasses (
   NSDictionary *plist
);

Discussion

Returns YES if plist contains an NSJavaPath key.

Availability
Declared In
NSJavaSetup.h

NSJavaSetup

Loads the Java virtual machine with specified parameters.

id NSJavaSetup (
   NSDictionary *plist
);

Discussion

Part of the Java-to-Objective-C bridge. You normally shouldn’t use it yourself.

You can pass nil for the plist dictionary, in which case the Java virtual machine will not be loaded, so you should probably just use NSJavaSetupVirtualMachine instead. The plist dictionary may contain the following key-value pairs.

Availability
Declared In
NSJavaSetup.h

NSJavaSetupVirtualMachine

Sets up the Java virtual machine.

id NSJavaSetupVirtualMachine (void);

Discussion

Sets up and returns a reference to the Java virtual machine.

Availability
Declared In
NSJavaSetup.h

NSLocalizedString

Returns a localized version of a string.

NSString *NSLocalizedString(NSString *key, NSString *comment)

Return Value

The result of invoking localizedStringForKey:value:table: on the main bundle and a nil table.

Discussion

You can specify Unicode characters in key using \\Uxxxx—see the -u option for for the genstrings utility.

For more information, see NSBundle.

Special Considerations

In Mac OS X v10.4 and earlier, to ensure correct parsing by the genstrings utility, the key parameter must not contain any high-ASCII characters.

Availability
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSBundle.h

NSLocalizedStringFromTable

Returns a localized version of a string.

NSString *NSLocalizedStringFromTable(NSString *key, NSString *tableName, NSString *comment)

Return Value

The result of invoking localizedStringForKey:value:table: on the main bundle, passing it the specified key and tableName.

Discussion

You can specify Unicode characters in key using \\Uxxxx—see the -u option for for the genstrings utility.

For more information, see NSBundle.

Special Considerations

In Mac OS X v10.4 and earlier, to ensure correct parsing by the genstrings utility, the key parameter must not contain any high-ASCII characters.

Availability
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSBundle.h

NSLocalizedStringFromTableInBundle

Returns a localized version of a string.

NSString *NSLocalizedStringFromTableInBundle(NSString *key, NSString *tableName, NSBundle *bundle, NSString *comment)

Return Value

The result of invoking localizedStringForKey:value:table: on bundle, passing it the specified key and tableName.

Discussion

You can specify Unicode characters in key using \\Uxxxx—see the -u option for for the genstrings utility.

For more information, see NSBundle.

Special Considerations

In Mac OS X v10.4 and earlier, to ensure correct parsing by the genstrings utility, the key parameter must not contain any high-ASCII characters.

Availability
Declared In
NSBundle.h

NSLocalizedStringWithDefaultValue

Returns a localized version of a string.

NSString NSLocalizedStringWithDefaultValue(NSString *key, NSString *tableName, NSBundle *bundle, NSString *value, NSString *comment)

Return Value

The result of invoking localizedStringForKey:value:table: on bundle, passing it the specified key, value, and tableName.

Discussion

You can specify Unicode characters in key using \\Uxxxx—see the -u option for for the genstrings utility.

If you use genstrings to parse your code for localizable strings, you can use this method to specify an initial value that is different from key.

For more information, see NSBundle.

Special Considerations

In Mac OS X v10.4 and earlier, to ensure correct parsing by the genstrings utility, the key parameter must not contain any high-ASCII characters.

Availability
Declared In
NSBundle.h

NSLocationInRange

Returns a Boolean value that indicates whether a specified position is in a given range.

BOOL NSLocationInRange (
   NSUInteger loc,
   NSRange range
);

Return Value

YES if loc lies within range—that is, if it’s greater than or equal to range.location and less than range.location plus range.length.

Availability
Declared In
NSRange.h

NSLog

Logs an error message to the Apple System Log facility.

void NSLog (
   NSString *format,
   ...
);

Discussion

Simply calls NSLogv, passing it a variable number of arguments.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSObjCRuntime.h

NSLogPageSize

Returns the binary log of the page size.

NSUInteger NSLogPageSize (void);

Return Value

The binary log of the page size.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSZone.h

NSLogv

Logs an error message to the Apple System Log facility.

void NSLogv (
   NSString *format,
   va_list args
);

Discussion

Logs an error message to the Apple System Log facility (see man 3 asl). If the STDERR_FILENO file descriptor has been redirected away from the default or is going to a tty, it will also be written there. If you want to direct output elsewhere, you need to use a custom logging facility.

The message consists of a timestamp and the process ID prefixed to the string you pass in. You compose this string with a format string, format, and one or more arguments to be inserted into the string. The format specification allowed by these functions is that which is understood by NSString’s formatting capabilities (which is not necessarily the set of format escapes and flags understood by printf). The supported format specifiers are described in String Format Specifiers. A final hard return is added to the error message if one is not present in the format.

In general, you should use the NSLog function instead of calling this function directly. If you do use this function directly, you must have prepared the variable argument list in the args argument by calling the standard C macro va_start. Upon completion, you must similarly call the standard C macro va_end for this list.

Output from NSLogv is serialized, in that only one thread in a process can be doing the writing/logging described above at a time. All attempts at writing/logging a message complete before the next thread can begin its attempts.

The effects of NSLogv are not serialized with subsystems other than those discussed above (such as the standard I/O package) and do not produce side effects on those subsystems (such as causing buffered output to be flushed, which may be undesirable).

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSObjCRuntime.h

NSMakeCollectable

Makes a newly allocated Core Foundation object eligible for collection.

NS_INLINE id NSMakeCollectable(CFTypeRef cf) {
   return cf ? (id)CFMakeCollectable(cf) : nil;
}

Discussion

This function is a wrapper for CFMakeCollectable, but its return type is id—avoiding the need for casting when using Cocoa objects.

This function may be useful when returning Core Foundation objects in code that must support both garbage-collected and non-garbage-collected environments, as illustrated in the following example.

- (CFDateRef)foo {
    CFDateRef aCFDate;
    // ...
    return [NSMakeCollectable(aCFDate) autorelease];
}

CFTypeRef style objects are garbage collected, yet only sometime after the last CFRelease is performed. Particularly for fully-bridged CFTypeRef objects such as CFStrings and collections (such as CFDictionary), you must call either CFMakeCollectable or the more type safe NSMakeCollectable, preferably right upon allocation.

Availability
Declared In
NSZone.h

NSMakePoint

Creates a new NSPoint from the specified values.

NSPoint NSMakePoint (
   CGFloat x,
   CGFloat y
);

Return Value

An NSPoint having the coordinates x and y.

Availability
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSMakeRange

Creates a new NSRange from the specified values.

NSRange NSMakeRange (
   NSUInteger loc,
   NSUInteger len
);

Return Value

An NSRange with location location and length length.

Availability
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSRange.h

NSMakeRect

Creates a new NSRect from the specified values.

NSRect NSMakeRect (
   CGFloat x,
   CGFloat y,
   CGFloat w,
   CGFloat h
);

Return Value

An NSRect having the specified origin of [x, y] and size of [w, h].

Availability
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSMakeSize

Returns a new NSSize from the specified values.

NSSize NSMakeSize (
   CGFloat w,
   CGFloat h
);

Return Value

An NSSize having the specified width and height.

Availability
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSMapGet

Returns a map table value for the specified key.

void * NSMapGet (
   NSMapTable *table,
   const void *key
);

Return Value

The value that table maps to key, or NULL if table doesn’t contain key.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSMapTable.h

NSMapInsert

Inserts a key-value pair into the specified table.

void NSMapInsert (
   NSMapTable *table,
   const void *key,
   const void *value
);

Discussion

Inserts key and value into table. If key matches a key already in table, value is retained and the previous value is released, using the retain and release callback functions that were specified when the table was created. Raises NSInvalidArgumentException if key is equal to the notAKeyMarker field of the table’s NSMapTableKeyCallBacks structure.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSMapTable.h

NSMapInsertIfAbsent

Inserts a key-value pair into the specified table.

void * NSMapInsertIfAbsent (
   NSMapTable *table,
   const void *key,
   const void *value
);

Return Value

If key matches a key already in table, the preexisting key; otherwise, key and value are added to table and returns NULL.

Discussion

Raises NSInvalidArgumentException if key is equal to the notAKeyMarker field of the table’s NSMapTableKeyCallBacks structure.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSMapTable.h

NSMapInsertKnownAbsent

Inserts a key-value pair into the specified table if the pair had not been previously added.

void NSMapInsertKnownAbsent (
   NSMapTable *table,
   const void *key,
   const void *value
);

Discussion

Inserts key (which must not be notAKeyMarker) and value into table. Unlike NSMapInsert, this function raises NSInvalidArgumentException if table already includes a key that matches key.

key is compared with notAKeyMarker using pointer comparison; if key is identical to notAKeyMarker, raises NSInvalidArgumentException.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSMapTable.h

NSMapMember

Indicates whether a given table contains a given key.

BOOL NSMapMember (
   NSMapTable *table,
   const void *key,
   void **originalKey,
   void **value
);

Return Value

YES if table contains a key equal to key, otherwise NO.

Discussion

If table contains a key equal to key, originalKey is set to key, and value is set to the value that table maps to key.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSMapTable.h

NSMapRemove

Removes a key and corresponding value from the specified table.

void NSMapRemove (
   NSMapTable *table,
   const void *key
);

Discussion

If key matches a key already in table, this function releases the preexisting key and its corresponding value.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSMapTable.h

NSMaxRange

Returns the number 1 greater than the maximum value within the range.

NSUInteger NSMaxRange (
   NSRange range
);

Return Value

range.location + range.length—in other words, the number 1 greater than the maximum value within the range.

Availability
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSRange.h

NSMaxX

Returns the largest x coordinate of a given rectangle.

CGFloat NSMaxX (
   NSRect aRect
);

Return Value

The largest x coordinate value within aRect.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSMaxY

Returns the largest y coordinate of a given rectangle.

CGFloat NSMaxY (
   NSRect aRect
);

Return Value

The largest y coordinate value within aRect.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSMidX

Returns the x coordinate of a given rectangle’s midpoint.

CGFloat NSMidX (
   NSRect aRect
);

Return Value

Returns the x coordinate of the center of aRect.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSMidY

Returns the y coordinate of a given rectangle’s midpoint.

CGFloat NSMidY (
   NSRect aRect
);

Return Value

The y coordinate of aRect’s center point.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSMinX

Returns the smallest x coordinate of a given rectangle.

CGFloat NSMinX (
   NSRect aRect
);

Return Value

The smallest x coordinate value within aRect.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSMinY

Returns the smallest y coordinate of a given rectangle.

CGFloat NSMinY (
   NSRect aRect
);

Return Value

The smallest y coordinate value within aRect.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSMouseInRect

Returns a Boolean value that indicates whether the point is in the specified rectangle.

BOOL NSMouseInRect (
   NSPoint aPoint,
   NSRect aRect,
   BOOL flipped
);

Return Value

YES if the hot spot of the cursor lies inside a given rectangle, otherwise NO.

Discussion

This method assumes an unscaled and unrotated coordinate system. Specify YES for isFlipped if the underlying view uses a flipped coordinate system.

Point-in-rectangle functions generally assume that the bottom edge of a rectangle is outside of the rectangle boundaries, while the upper edge is inside the boundaries. This method views aRect from the point of view of the user—that is, this method always treats the bottom edge of the rectangle as the one closest to the bottom edge of the user’s screen. By making this adjustment, this function ensures consistent mouse-detection behavior from the user’s perspective.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSNextHashEnumeratorItem

Returns the next hash-table element in the enumeration.

void * NSNextHashEnumeratorItem (
   NSHashEnumerator *enumerator
);

Return Value

The next element in the table that enumerator is associated with, or NULL if enumerator has already iterated over all the elements.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSHashTable.h

NSNextMapEnumeratorPair

Returns a Boolean value that indicates whether the next map-table pair in the enumeration are set.

BOOL NSNextMapEnumeratorPair (
   NSMapEnumerator *enumerator,
   void **key,
   void **value
);

Return Value

NO if enumerator has already iterated over all the elements in the table that enumerator is associated with; otherwise, sets key and value to match the next key-value pair in the table and returns YES.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSMapTable.h

NSOffsetRect

Offsets the rectangle by the specified amount.

NSRect NSOffsetRect (
   NSRect aRect,
   CGFloat dX,
   CGFloat dY
);

Return Value

A copy of aRect, with its location shifted by dX along the x axis and by dY along the y axis.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSOpenStepRootDirectory

Returns the root directory of the user’s system.

NSString * NSOpenStepRootDirectory (void);

Return Value

A string identifying the root directory of the user’s system.

Discussion

For more information on file system utilities, see Low-Level File Management Programming Topics.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSPathUtilities.h

NSPageSize

Returns the number of bytes in a page.

NSUInteger NSPageSize (void);

Return Value

The number of bytes in a page.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSZone.h

NSParameterAssert

Validates the specified parameter.

NSParameterAssert(condition)

Discussion

Assertions evaluate a condition and, if the condition evaluates to false, call the assertion handler for the current thread, passing it a format string and a variable number of arguments. Each thread has its own assertion handler, which is an object of class NSAssertionHandler. When invoked, an assertion handler prints an error message that includes method and class names (or the function name). It then raises an NSInternalInconsistencyException exception.

This macro validates a parameter for an Objective-C method. Simply provide the parameter as the condition argument. The macro evaluates the parameter and, if it is false, it logs an error message that includes the parameter and then raises an exception.

Assertions are disabled if the preprocessor macro NS_BLOCK_ASSERTIONS is defined. All assertion macros return void.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSException.h

NSPointFromCGPoint

Returns an NSPoint typecast from a CGPoint.

NSPoint NSPointFromCGPoint(CGPoint cgpoint) {
   return (*(NSPoint *)&(cgpoint));
}

Return Value

An NSPoint typecast from a CGPoint.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSPointFromString

Returns a point from a text-based representation.

NSPoint NSPointFromString (
   NSString *aString
);

Parameters
aString

A string of the form “{x, y}”.

Return Value

If aString is of the form “{x, y}” an NSPoint structure that uses x and y as the x and y coordinates, in that order.

If aString only contains a single number, it is used as the x coordinate. If aString does not contain any numbers, returns an NSPoint object whose x and y coordinates are both 0.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSPointInRect

Returns a Boolean value that indicates whether a given point is in a given rectangle.

BOOL NSPointInRect (
   NSPoint aPoint,
   NSRect aRect
);

Return Value

YES if aPoint is located within the rectangle represented by aRect, otherwise NO.

Discussion

Point-in-rectangle functions generally assume that the “upper” and “left” edges of a rectangle are inside the rectangle boundaries, while the “lower” and “right” edges are outside the boundaries. This method treats the “upper” and “left” edges of the rectangle as the ones containing the origin of the rectangle.

Special Considerations

The meanings of “upper” and “lower” (and “left” and “right”) are relative to the current coordinate system and the location of the rectangle. For a rectangle of positive height located in positive x and y coordinates:

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSPointToCGPoint

Returns a CGPoint typecast from an NSPoint.

CGPoint NSPointToCGPoint(NSPoint nspoint) {
   union _ {NSPoint ns; CGPoint cg;};
   return ((union _ *)&nspoint)->cg;
}

Return Value

A CGPoint typecast from an NSPoint.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSProtocolFromString

Returns a the protocol with a given name.

Protocol *NSProtocolFromString (
   NSString *namestr
);

Parameters
namestr

The name of a protocol.

Return Value

The protocol object named by namestr, or nil if no protocol by that name is currently loaded. If namestr is nil, returns nil.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSObjCRuntime.h

NSRangeFromString

Returns a range from a text-based representation.

NSRange NSRangeFromString (
   NSString *aString
);

Discussion

Scans aString for two integers which are used as the location and length values, in that order, to create an NSRange struct. If aString only contains a single integer, it is used as the location value. If aString does not contain any integers, this function returns an NSRange struct whose location and length values are both 0.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSRange.h

NSReallocateCollectable

Reallocates collectable memory.

void *__strong NSReallocateCollectable (
   void *ptr,
   NSUInteger size,
   NSUInteger options
);

Discussion

Changes the size of the block of memory pointed to by ptr to size bytes. It may allocate new memory to replace the old, in which case it moves the contents of the old memory block to the new block, up to a maximum of size bytes.

options can be 0 or NSScannedOption: A value of 0 allocates nonscanned memory; a value of NSScannedOption allocates scanned memory.

This function returns NULL if it’s unable to allocate the requested memory.

Availability
Declared In
NSZone.h

NSRealMemoryAvailable

Returns information about the user’s system.

NSUInteger NSRealMemoryAvailable (void);

Return Value

The number of bytes available in RAM.

Availability
Declared In
NSZone.h

NSRectFromCGRect

Returns an NSRect typecast from a CGRect.

NSRect NSRectFromCGRect(CGRect cgrect) {
   return (*(NSRect *)&(cgrect));
}

Return Value

An NSRect typecast from a CGRect.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSRectFromString

Returns a rectangle from a text-based representation.

NSRect NSRectFromString (
   NSString *aString
);

Discussion

Scans aString for four numbers which are used as the x and y coordinates and the width and height, in that order, to create an NSPoint object. If aString does not contain four numbers, those numbers that were scanned are used, and 0 is used for the remaining values. If aString does not contain any numbers, this function returns an NSRect object with a rectangle whose origin is (0, 0) and width and height are both 0.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSRectToCGRect

Returns a CGRect typecast from an NSRect.

CGRect NSRectToCGRect(NSRect nsrect) {
   return (*(CGRect *)&(nsrect));
}

Return Value

A CGRect typecast from an NSRect.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSRecycleZone

Frees memory in a zone.

void NSRecycleZone (
   NSZone *zone
);

Discussion

Frees zone after adding any of its pointers still in use to the default zone. (This strategy prevents retained objects from being inadvertently destroyed.)

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSZone.h

NSResetHashTable

Deletes the elements of the specified hash table.

void NSResetHashTable (
   NSHashTable *table
);

Discussion

Releases each element but doesn’t deallocate table. This function is useful for preserving the capacity of table.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSHashTable.h

NSResetMapTable

Deletes the elements of the specified map table.

void NSResetMapTable (
   NSMapTable *table
);

Parameters
table

A reference to a map table structure.

Discussion

Releases each key and value but doesn’t deallocate table. This method is useful for preserving the capacity of table.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSMapTable.h

NSRoundDownToMultipleOfPageSize

Returns the specified number of bytes rounded down to a multiple of the page size.

NSUInteger NSRoundDownToMultipleOfPageSize (
   NSUInteger bytes
);

Return Value

In bytes, the multiple of the page size that is closest to, but not greater than, byteCount (that is, the number of bytes rounded down to a multiple of the page size).

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSZone.h

NSRoundUpToMultipleOfPageSize

Returns the specified number of bytes rounded up to a multiple of the page size.

NSUInteger NSRoundUpToMultipleOfPageSize (
   NSUInteger bytes
);

Return Value

In bytes, the multiple of the page size that is closest to, but not less than, byteCount (that is, the number of bytes rounded up to a multiple of the page size).

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSZone.h

NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains

Creates a list of directory search paths.

NSArray * NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains (
   NSSearchPathDirectory directory,
   NSSearchPathDomainMask domainMask,
   BOOL expandTilde
);

Discussion

Creates a list of path strings for the specified directories in the specified domains. The list is in the order in which you should search the directories. If expandTilde is YES, tildes are expanded as described in stringByExpandingTildeInPath.

For more information on file system utilities, see Locating Directories on the System.

Availability
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSPathUtilities.h

NSSelectorFromString

Returns the selector with a given name.

SEL NSSelectorFromString (
   NSString *aSelectorName
);

Parameters
aSelectorName

A string of any length, with any characters, that represents the name of a selector.

Return Value

The selector named by aSelectorName. If aSelectorName is nil, or cannot be converted to UTF-8 (this should be only due to insufficient memory), returns (SEL)0.

Discussion

To make a selector, NSSelectorFromString passes a UTF-8 encoded character representation of aSelectorName to sel_registerName and returns the value returned by that function. Note, therefore, that if the selector does not exist it is registered and the newly-registered selector is returned.

Recall that a colon (“:”) is part of a method name; setHeight is not the same as setHeight:. For more about methods names, see The Language in The Objective-C 2.0 Programming Language.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSObjCRuntime.h

NSSetUncaughtExceptionHandler

Changes the top-level error handler.

void NSSetUncaughtExceptionHandler (
   NSUncaughtExceptionHandler *
);

Discussion

Sets the top-level error-handling function where you can perform last-minute logging before the program terminates.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSException.h

NSSetZoneName

Sets the name of the specified zone.

void NSSetZoneName (
   NSZone *zone,
   NSString *name
);

Discussion

Sets the name of zone to name, which can aid in debugging.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSZone.h

NSShouldRetainWithZone

Indicates whether an object should be retained.

BOOL NSShouldRetainWithZone (
   id anObject,
   NSZone *requestedZone
);

Parameters
anObject

An object.

requestedZone

A memory zone.

Return Value

Returns YES if requestedZone is NULL, the default zone, or the zone in which anObject was allocated; otherwise NO.

Discussion

This function is typically called from inside an NSObject’s copyWithZone:, when deciding whether to retain anObject as opposed to making a copy of it.

Availability
Declared In
NSObject.h

NSSizeFromCGSize

Returns an NSSize typecast from a CGSize.

NSSize NSSizeFromCGSize(CGSize cgsize) {
   return (*(NSSize *)&(cgsize));
}

Return Value

An NSSize typecast from a CGSize.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSSizeFromString

Returns an NSSize from a text-based representation.

NSSize NSSizeFromString (
   NSString *aString
);

Discussion

Scans aString for two numbers which are used as the width and height, in that order, to create an NSSize struct. If aString only contains a single number, it is used as the width. The aString argument should be formatted like the output of NSStringFromSize, for example, @"{10,20}". If aString does not contain any numbers, this function returns an NSSize struct whose width and height are both 0.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSSizeToCGSize

Returns a CGSize typecast from an NSSize.

CGSize NSSizeToCGSize(NSSize nssize) {
   return (*(CGSize *)&(nssize));
}

Return Value

A CGSize typecast from an NSSize.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSStringFromClass

Returns the name of a class as a string.

NSString * NSStringFromClass (
   Class aClass
);

Parameters
aClass

A class.

Return Value

A string containing the name of aClass. If aClass is nil, returns nil.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSObjCRuntime.h

NSStringFromHashTable

Returns a string describing the hash table’s contents.

NSString * NSStringFromHashTable (
   NSHashTable *table
);

Return Value

A string describing table’s contents.

Discussion

The function iterates over the elements of table, and for each one appends the string returned by the describe callback function. If NULL was specified for the callback function, the hexadecimal value of each pointer is added to the string.

Availability
Declared In
NSHashTable.h

NSStringFromMapTable

Returns a string describing the map table’s contents.

NSString * NSStringFromMapTable (
   NSMapTable *table
);

Parameters
table

A reference to a map table structure.

Return Value

A string describing the map table’s contents.

Discussion

The function iterates over the key-value pairs of table and for each one appends the string “a = b;\n”, where a and b are the key and value strings returned by the corresponding describe callback functions. If NULL was specified for the callback function, a and b are the key and value pointers, expressed as hexadecimal numbers.

Availability
Declared In
NSMapTable.h

NSStringFromPoint

Returns a string representation of a point.

NSString * NSStringFromPoint (
   NSPoint aPoint
);

Parameters
aPoint

A point structure.

Return Value

A string of the form “{a, b}”, where a and b are the x and y coordinates of aPoint.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSStringFromProtocol

Returns the name of a protocol as a string.

NSString * NSStringFromProtocol (
   Protocol *proto
);

Parameters
proto

A protocol.

Return Value

A string containing the name of proto.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSObjCRuntime.h

NSStringFromRange

Returns a string representation of a range.

NSString * NSStringFromRange (
   NSRange range
);

Return Value

A string of the form “{a, b}”, where a and b are non-negative integers representing aRange.

Availability
Declared In
NSRange.h

NSStringFromRect

Returns a string representation of a rectangle.

NSString * NSStringFromRect (
   NSRect aRect
);

Discussion

Returns a string of the form “{{a, b}, {c, d}}”, where a, b, c, and d are the x and y coordinates and the width and height, respectively, of aRect.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSStringFromSelector

Returns a string representation of a given selector.

NSString *NSStringFromSelector (
   SEL *aSelector
);

Parameters
aSelector

A selector.

Return Value

A string representation of aSelector.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSObjCRuntime.h

NSStringFromSize

Returns a string representation of a size.

NSString * NSStringFromSize (
   NSSize aSize
);

Return Value

A string of the form “{a, b}”, where a and b are the width and height, respectively, of aSize.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSSwapBigDoubleToHost

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

double NSSwapBigDoubleToHost (
   NSSwappedDouble x
);

Discussion

Converts the big-endian value in x to the current endian format and returns the resulting value. If it is necessary to swap the bytes of x, this function calls NSSwapDouble to perform the swap.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSSwapBigFloatToHost

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

float NSSwapBigFloatToHost (
   NSSwappedFloat x
);

Discussion

Converts the big-endian value in x to the current endian format and returns the resulting value. If it is necessary to swap the bytes of x, this function calls NSSwapFloat to perform the swap.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSSwapBigIntToHost

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

unsigned int NSSwapBigIntToHost (
   unsigned int x
);

Discussion

Converts the big-endian value in x to the current endian format and returns the resulting value. If it is necessary to swap the bytes of x, this function calls NSSwapInt to perform the swap.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSSwapBigLongLongToHost

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

unsigned long long NSSwapBigLongLongToHost (
   unsigned long long x
);

Discussion

Converts the big-endian value in x to the current endian format and returns the resulting value. If it is necessary to swap the bytes of x, this function calls NSSwapLongLong to perform the swap.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSSwapBigLongToHost

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

unsigned long NSSwapBigLongToHost (
   unsigned long x
);

Discussion

Converts the big-endian value in x to the current endian format and returns the resulting value. If it is necessary to swap the bytes of x, this function calls NSSwapLong to perform the swap.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSSwapBigShortToHost

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

unsigned short NSSwapBigShortToHost (
   unsigned short x
);

Discussion

Converts the big-endian value in x to the current endian format and returns the resulting value. If it is necessary to swap the bytes of x, this function calls NSSwapShort to perform the swap.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSSwapDouble

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

NSSwappedDouble NSSwapDouble (
   NSSwappedDouble x
);

Discussion

Swaps the bytes of x and returns the resulting value. Bytes are swapped from each low-order position to the corresponding high-order position and vice versa. For example, if the bytes of x are numbered from 1 to 8, this function swaps bytes 1 and 8, bytes 2 and 7, bytes 3 and 6, and bytes 4 and 5.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSSwapFloat

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

NSSwappedFloat NSSwapFloat (
   NSSwappedFloat x
);

Discussion

Swaps the bytes of x and returns the resulting value. Bytes are swapped from each low-order position to the corresponding high-order position and vice versa. For example, if the bytes of x are numbered from 1 to 4, this function swaps bytes 1 and 4, and bytes 2 and 3.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSSwapHostDoubleToBig

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

NSSwappedDouble NSSwapHostDoubleToBig (
   double x
);

Discussion

Converts the value in x, specified in the current endian format, to big-endian format and returns the resulting value. If it is necessary to swap the bytes, this function calls NSSwapDouble to perform the swap.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSSwapHostDoubleToLittle

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

NSSwappedDouble NSSwapHostDoubleToLittle (
   double x
);

Discussion

Converts the value in x, specified in the current endian format, to little-endian format and returns the resulting value. If it is necessary to swap the bytes, this function calls NSSwapDouble to perform the swap.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSSwapHostFloatToBig

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

NSSwappedFloat NSSwapHostFloatToBig (
   float x
);

Discussion

Converts the value in x, specified in the current endian format, to big-endian format and returns the resulting value. If it is necessary to swap the bytes, this function calls NSSwapFloat to perform the swap.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSSwapHostFloatToLittle

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

NSSwappedFloat NSSwapHostFloatToLittle (
   float x
);

Discussion

Converts the value in x, specified in the current endian format, to little-endian format and returns the resulting value. If it is necessary to swap the bytes, this function calls NSSwapFloat to perform the swap.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSSwapHostIntToBig

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

unsigned int NSSwapHostIntToBig (
   unsigned int x
);

Discussion

Converts the value in x, specified in the current endian format, to big-endian format and returns the resulting value. If it is necessary to swap the bytes, this function calls NSSwapInt to perform the swap.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSSwapHostIntToLittle

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

unsigned int NSSwapHostIntToLittle (
   unsigned int x
);

Discussion

Converts the value in x, specified in the current endian format, to little-endian format and returns the resulting value. If it is necessary to swap the bytes, this function calls NSSwapInt to perform the swap.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSSwapHostLongLongToBig

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

unsigned long long NSSwapHostLongLongToBig (
   unsigned long long x
);

Discussion

Converts the value in x, specified in the current endian format, to big-endian format and returns the resulting value. If it is necessary to swap the bytes, this function calls NSSwapLongLong to perform the swap.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSSwapHostLongLongToLittle

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

unsigned long long NSSwapHostLongLongToLittle (
   unsigned long long x
);

Discussion

Converts the value in x, specified in the current endian format, to little-endian format and returns the resulting value. If it is necessary to swap the bytes, this function calls NSSwapLongLong to perform the swap.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSSwapHostLongToBig

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

unsigned long NSSwapHostLongToBig (
   unsigned long x
);

Discussion

Converts the value in x, specified in the current endian format, to big-endian format and returns the resulting value. If it is necessary to swap the bytes, this function calls NSSwapLong to perform the swap.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSSwapHostLongToLittle

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

unsigned long NSSwapHostLongToLittle (
   unsigned long x
);

Discussion

Converts the value in x, specified in the current endian format, to little-endian format and returns the resulting value. If it is necessary to swap the bytes, this function calls NSSwapLong to perform the swap.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSSwapHostShortToBig

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

unsigned short NSSwapHostShortToBig (
   unsigned short x
);

Discussion

Converts the value in x, specified in the current endian format, to big-endian format and returns the resulting value. If it is necessary to swap the bytes, this function calls NSSwapShort to perform the swap.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSSwapHostShortToLittle

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

unsigned short NSSwapHostShortToLittle (
   unsigned short x
);

Discussion

Converts the value in x, specified in the current endian format, to little-endian format and returns the resulting value. If it is necessary to swap the bytes, this function calls NSSwapShort to perform the swap.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSSwapInt

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

unsigned int NSSwapInt (
   unsigned int inv
);

Discussion

Swaps the bytes of inv and returns the resulting value. Bytes are swapped from each low-order position to the corresponding high-order position and vice versa. For example, if the bytes of inv are numbered from 1 to 4, this function swaps bytes 1 and 4, and bytes 2 and 3.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSSwapLittleDoubleToHost

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

double NSSwapLittleDoubleToHost (
   NSSwappedDouble x
);

Discussion

Converts the little-endian formatted value in x to the current endian format and returns the resulting value. If it is necessary to swap the bytes of x, this function calls NSSwapDouble to perform the swap.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSSwapLittleFloatToHost

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

float NSSwapLittleFloatToHost (
   NSSwappedFloat x
);

Discussion

Converts the little-endian formatted value in x to the current endian format and returns the resulting value. If it is necessary to swap the bytes of x, this function calls NSSwapFloat to perform the swap.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSSwapLittleIntToHost

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

unsigned int NSSwapLittleIntToHost (
   unsigned int x
);

Discussion

Converts the little-endian formatted value in x to the current endian format and returns the resulting value. If it is necessary to swap the bytes, this function calls NSSwapInt to perform the swap.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSSwapLittleLongLongToHost

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

unsigned long long NSSwapLittleLongLongToHost (
   unsigned long long x
);

Discussion

Converts the little-endian formatted value in x to the current endian format and returns the resulting value. If it is necessary to swap the bytes, this function calls NSSwapLongLong to perform the swap.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSSwapLittleLongToHost

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

unsigned long NSSwapLittleLongToHost (
   unsigned long x
);

Discussion

Converts the little-endian formatted value in x to the current endian format and returns the resulting value. If it is necessary to swap the bytes of x, this function calls NSSwapLong to perform the swap.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSSwapLittleShortToHost

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

unsigned short NSSwapLittleShortToHost (
   unsigned short x
);

Discussion

Converts the little-endian formatted value in x to the current endian format and returns the resulting value. If it is necessary to swap the bytes of x, this function calls NSSwapShort to perform the swap.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSSwapLong

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

unsigned long NSSwapLong (
   unsigned long inv
);

Discussion

Swaps the bytes of inv and returns the resulting value. Bytes are swapped from each low-order position to the corresponding high-order position and vice versa. For example, if the bytes of inv are numbered from 1 to 4, this function swaps bytes 1 and 4, and bytes 2 and 3.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSSwapLongLong

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

unsigned long long NSSwapLongLong (
   unsigned long long inv
);

Discussion

Swaps the bytes of inv and returns the resulting value. Bytes are swapped from each low-order position to the corresponding high-order position and vice versa. For example, if the bytes of inv are numbered from 1 to 8, this function swaps bytes 1 and 8, bytes 2 and 7, bytes 3 and 6, and bytes 4 and 5.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSSwapShort

A utility for swapping the bytes of a number.

unsigned short NSSwapShort (
   unsigned short inv
);

Discussion

Swaps the low-order and high-order bytes of inv and returns the resulting value.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSByteOrder.h

NSTemporaryDirectory

Returns the path of the temporary directory for the current user.

NSString * NSTemporaryDirectory (void);

Return Value

A string containing the path of the temporary directory for the current user. If no such directory is currently available, returns nil.

Discussion

For more information on file system utilities, see Low-Level File Management Programming Topics.

The temporary directory is determined by confstr(3) passing the _CS_DARWIN_USER_TEMP_DIR flag. The erase rules are whatever match that directory.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSPathUtilities.h

NSUnionRange

Returns the union of the specified ranges.

NSRange NSUnionRange (
   NSRange range1,
   NSRange range2
);

Return Value

A range covering all indices in and between range1 and range2. If one range is completely contained in the other, the returned range is equal to the larger range.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSRange.h

NSUnionRect

Calculates the union of two rectangles.

NSRect NSUnionRect (
   NSRect aRect,
   NSRect bRect
);

Discussion

Returns the smallest rectangle that completely encloses both aRect and bRect. If one of the rectangles has 0 (or negative) width or height, a copy of the other rectangle is returned; but if both have 0 (or negative) width or height, the returned rectangle has its origin at (0.0, 0.0) and has 0 width and height.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSUserName

Returns the logon name of the current user.

NSString * NSUserName (void);

Return Value

The logon name of the current user.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSPathUtilities.h

NSWidth

Returns the width of the specified rectangle.

CGFloat NSWidth (
   NSRect aRect
);

Return Value

The width of aRect.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSGeometry.h

NSZoneCalloc

Allocates memory in a zone.

void * NSZoneCalloc (
   NSZone *zone,
   NSUInteger numElems,
   NSUInteger byteSize
);

Discussion

Allocates enough memory from zone for numElems elements, each with a size numBytes bytes, and returns a pointer to the allocated memory. The memory is initialized with zeros. This function returns NULL if it was unable to allocate the requested memory.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSZone.h

NSZoneFree

Deallocates a block of memory in the specified zone.

void NSZoneFree (
   NSZone *zone,
   void *ptr
);

Discussion

Returns memory to the zone from which it was allocated. The standard C function free does the same, but spends time finding which zone the memory belongs to.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSZone.h

NSZoneFromPointer

Gets the zone for a given block of memory.

NSZone * NSZoneFromPointer (
   void *ptr
);

Return Value

The zone for the block of memory indicated by pointer, or NULL if the block was not allocated from a zone.

Discussion

pointer must be one that was returned by a prior call to an allocation function.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSZone.h

NSZoneMalloc

Allocates memory in a zone.

void * NSZoneMalloc (
   NSZone *zone,
   NSUInteger size
);

Discussion

Allocates size bytes in zone and returns a pointer to the allocated memory. This function returns NULL if it was unable to allocate the requested memory.

Availability
See Also
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSZone.h

NSZoneName

Returns the name of the specified zone.

NSString * NSZoneName (
   NSZone *zone
);

Return Value

A string containing the name associated with zone. If zone is nil, the default zone is used. If no name is associated with zone, the returned string is empty.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSZone.h

NSZoneRealloc

Allocates memory in a zone.

void * NSZoneRealloc (
   NSZone *zone,
   void *ptr,
   NSUInteger size
);

Discussion

Changes the size of the block of memory pointed to by ptr to size bytes. It may allocate new memory to replace the old, in which case it moves the contents of the old memory block to the new block, up to a maximum of size bytes. ptr may be NULL. This function returns NULL if it was unable to allocate the requested memory.

Availability
See Also
Declared In
NSZone.h

NS_DURING

Marks the start of the exception-handling domain.

NS_DURING

Discussion

The NS_DURING macro marks the start of the exception-handling domain for a section of code. (The NS_HANDLERmacro marks the end of the domain.) Within the exception-handling domain you can raise an exception, giving the local exception handler (or lower exception handlers) a chance to handle it.

Availability
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSException.h

NS_ENDHANDLER

Marks the end of the local event handler.

NS_ENDHANDLER

Discussion

The NS_ENDHANDLER marks the end of a section of code that is a local exception handler. (The NS_HANDLERmacros marks the beginning of this section.) If an exception is raised in the exception handling domain marked off by the NS_DURING and NS_HANDLER, the local exception handler (if specified) is given a chance to handle the exception.

Availability
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSException.h

NS_HANDLER

Marks the end of the exception-handling domain and the start of the local exception handler.

NS_HANDLER

Discussion

The NS_HANDLER macro marks end of a section of code that is an exception-handling domain while at the same time marking the beginning of a section of code that is a local exception handler for that domain. (The NS_DURING macro marks the beginning of the exception-handling domain; the NS_ENDHANDLER marks the end of the local exception handler.) If an exception is raised in the exception-handling domain, the local exception handler is first given the chance to handle the exception before lower-level handlers are given a chance.

Availability
Related Sample Code
Declared In
NSException.h

NS_VALUERETURN

Permits program control to exit from an exception-handling domain with a value of a specified type.

NS_VALUERETURN(val, type)

Parameters
val

A value to preserve beyond the exception-handling domain.

type

The type of the value specified in val.

Discussion

The NS_VALUERETURN macro returns program control to the caller out of the exception-handling domain—that is, a section of code between the NS_DURING and NS_HANDLER macros that might raise an exception. The specified value (of the specified type) is returned to the caller. The standard return statement does not work as expected in the exception-handling domain.

Availability
Declared In
NSException.h

NS_VOIDRETURN

Permits program control to exit from an exception-handling domain.

NS_VOIDRETURN

Discussion

The NS_VOIDRETURN macro returns program control to the caller out of the exception-handling domain—that is, a section of code between the NS_DURING and NS_HANDLER macros that might raise an exception. The standard return statement does not work as expected in the exception-handling domain.

Availability
Declared In
NSException.h

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© 2008 Apple Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Last updated: 2008-10-15)

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