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CFMutableArray Reference

Derived from
Framework
CoreFoundation/CoreFoundation.h
Declared in
CFArray.h
Companion guides

Overview

CFMutableArray manages dynamic arrays. The basic interface for managing arrays is provided by CFArray. CFMutableArray adds functions to modify the contents of an array.

You create a mutable array object using either the CFArrayCreateMutable or CFArrayCreateMutableCopy function.

CFMutableArray provides several functions for changing the contents of an array, for example the CFArrayAppendValue and CFArrayInsertValueAtIndex functions add values to an array and CFArrayRemoveValueAtIndex removes values from an array. You can also reorder the contents of an array using CFArrayExchangeValuesAtIndices and CFArraySortValues.

CFMutableArray is “toll-free bridged” with its Cocoa Foundation counterpart, NSMutableArray. This means that the Core Foundation type is interchangeable in function or method calls with the bridged Foundation object. Therefore, in a method where you see an NSMutableArray * parameter, you can pass in a CFMutableArrayRef, and in a function where you see a CFMutableArrayRef parameter, you can pass in an NSMutableArray instance. This fact also applies to concrete subclasses of NSMutableArray. See Interchangeable Data Types for more information on toll-free bridging.

Functions

CFArrayAppendArray

Adds the values from one array to another array.

void CFArrayAppendArray (
   CFMutableArrayRef theArray,
   CFArrayRef otherArray,
   CFRange otherRange
);

Parameters
theArray

The array to which values from otherArray are added. If theArray is a limited-capacity array, adding otherRange.length values from otherArray must not cause the capacity limit of theArray to be exceeded.

otherArray

An array providing the values to be added to theArray.

otherRange

The range within otherArray from which to add the values to theArray. The range must not exceed the index space of otherArray.

Discussion

The new values are retained by theArray using the retain callback provided when theArray was created. If the values are not of the type expected by the retain callback, the behavior is undefined. The values are assigned to the indices one larger than the previous largest index in theArray, and beyond, and the count of theArray is increased by otherRange.length. The values are assigned new indices in theArray from smallest to largest index in the order in which they appear in otherArray.

Availability
Related Sample Code
Declared In
CFArray.h

CFArrayAppendValue

Adds a value to an array giving it the new largest index.

void CFArrayAppendValue (
   CFMutableArrayRef theArray,
   const void *value
);

Parameters
theArray

The array to which value is to be added. If theArray is a limited-capacity array and it is full before this operation, the behavior is undefined.

value

A CFType object or a pointer value to add to theArray.

Discussion

The value parameter is retained by theArray using the retain callback provided when theArray was created. If value is not of the type expected by the retain callback, the behavior is undefined. The value parameter is assigned to the index one larger than the previous largest index and the count of theArray is increased by one.

Availability
Related Sample Code
Declared In
CFArray.h

CFArrayCreateMutable

Creates a new empty mutable array.

CFMutableArrayRef CFArrayCreateMutable (
   CFAllocatorRef allocator,
   CFIndex capacity,
   const CFArrayCallBacks *callBacks
);

Parameters
allocator

The allocator to use to allocate memory for the new array and its storage for values. Pass NULL or kCFAllocatorDefault to use the current default allocator.

capacity

The maximum number of values that can be contained by the new array. The array starts empty and can grow to this number of values (and it can have less). If this parameter is 0, the array’s maximum capacity is not limited. The value must not be negative.

callBacks

A pointer to a CFArrayCallBacks structure initialized with the callbacks for the array to use on each value in the array. A copy of the contents of the callbacks structure is made, so that a pointer to a structure on the stack can be passed in or can be reused for multiple array creations. This parameter may be NULL, which is treated as if a valid structure of version 0 with all fields NULL had been passed in.

If any of the fields are not valid pointers to functions of the correct type, or this parameter is not a valid pointer to a CFArrayCallBacks structure, the behavior is undefined. If any value put into the array is not one understood by one of the callback functions, the behavior when that callback function is used is undefined. If the array contains CFType objects only, then pass kCFTypeArrayCallBacks as this parameter to use the default callback functions.

Return Value

A new mutable array, or NULL if there was a problem creating the object. Ownership follows the Create Rule.

Availability
Related Sample Code
Declared In
CFArray.h

CFArrayCreateMutableCopy

Creates a new mutable array with the values from another array.

CFMutableArrayRef CFArrayCreateMutableCopy (
   CFAllocatorRef allocator,
   CFIndex capacity,
   CFArrayRef theArray
);

Parameters
allocator

The allocator to use to allocate memory for the new array and its storage for values. Pass NULL or kCFAllocatorDefault to use the current default allocator.

capacity

The maximum number of values that can be contained by the new array. The array starts with the same count as theArray and can grow to this number of values (and it can have less). If this parameter is 0, the array’s maximum capacity is not limited. The capacity must not be negative, and must be greater than or equal to the count of theArray.

theArray

The array to copy. The pointer values from the array are copied into the new array. However, the values are also retained by the new array.

Return Value

A new mutable array that contains the same values as theArray. The new array has the same count as the theArray and uses the same callbacks. Ownership follows the Create Rule.

Availability
Related Sample Code
Declared In
CFArray.h

CFArrayExchangeValuesAtIndices

Exchanges the values at two indices of an array.

void CFArrayExchangeValuesAtIndices (
   CFMutableArrayRef theArray,
   CFIndex idx1,
   CFIndex idx2
);

Parameters
theArray

The array that contains the values to be swapped.

idx1

The index of the value to swap with the value at idx2. The index must not exceed the index space of theArray (0 to N-1 inclusive, where N is the count of theArray before the operation).

idx2

The index of the value to swap with the value at idx1. The index must not exceed the index space of theArray (0 to N-1 inclusive, where N is the count of theArray before the operation).

Availability
Declared In
CFArray.h

CFArrayInsertValueAtIndex

Inserts a value into an array at a given index.

void CFArrayInsertValueAtIndex (
   CFMutableArrayRef theArray,
   CFIndex idx,
   const void *value
);

Parameters
theArray

The array into which value is inserted. If theArray is a fixed-capacity array and it is full before this operation, the behavior is undefined.

idx

The index at which to insert value. The index must not exceed the index space of theArray (0 to N-1 inclusive, where N is the count of theArray before the operation. If the index is the same as the count of theArray, this function has the same effect as CFArrayAppendValue.

value

The value to insert into theArray. The value is retained by theArray using the retain callback provided when theArray was created. If value is not of the type expected by the retain callback, the behavior is undefined.

Discussion

The value parameter is assigned to the index idx, and all values in theArray with equal and larger indices have their indices increased by one.

Availability
Related Sample Code
Declared In
CFArray.h

CFArrayRemoveAllValues

Removes all the values from an array, making it empty.

void CFArrayRemoveAllValues (
   CFMutableArrayRef theArray
);

Parameters
theArray

The array from which all of the values are removed.

Availability
Related Sample Code
Declared In
CFArray.h

CFArrayRemoveValueAtIndex

Removes the value at a given index from an array.

void CFArrayRemoveValueAtIndex (
   CFMutableArrayRef theArray,
   CFIndex idx
);

Parameters
theArray

The array from which the value is to be removed.

idx

The index of the value to remove. The value not lie outside the index space of theArray (0 to N-1 inclusive, where N is the count of theArray before the operation).

Discussion

All values in theArray with indices larger than idx have their indices decreased by one.

Availability
Related Sample Code
Declared In
CFArray.h

CFArrayReplaceValues

Replaces a range of values in an array.

void CFArrayReplaceValues (
   CFMutableArrayRef theArray,
   CFRange range,
   const void **newValues,
   CFIndex newCount
);

Parameters
theArray

The array in which some values are to be replaced. If this parameter is not a valid CFMutableArray object, the behavior is undefined.

range

The range of values within theArray to replace. The range location or end point (defined by the location plus length minus 1) must not lie outside the index space of theArray (0 to N-1 inclusive, where N is the count of theArray). The range length must not be negative. The range may be empty (length 0), in which case the new values are merely inserted at the range location.

newValues

A C array of the pointer-sized values to be placed into theArray. The new values in theArray are ordered in the same order in which they appear in this C array. This parameter may be NULL if the newCount parameter is 0. This C array is not changed or freed by this function. If this parameter is not a valid pointer to a C array of at least newCount pointers, the behavior is undefined.

newCount

The number of values to copy from the newValues C array into theArray. If this parameter is different from the range length, the excess newCount values are inserted after the range or the excess range values are deleted. This parameter may be 0, in which case no new values are replaced into theArray and the values in the range are simply removed. If this parameter is negative or greater than the number of values actually in the newValues C array, the behavior is undefined.

Availability
Related Sample Code
Declared In
CFArray.h

CFArraySetValueAtIndex

Changes the value at a given index in an array.

void CFArraySetValueAtIndex (
   CFMutableArrayRef theArray,
   CFIndex idx,
   const void *value
);

Parameters
theArray

The array in which the value is to be changed.

idx

The index at which to set the new value. The value must not lie outside the index space of theArray (0 to N-1 inclusive, where N is the count of the array before the operation).

value

The value to set in theArray. The value is retained by theArray using the retain callback provided when theArray was created and the previous value at idx is released. If the value is not of the type expected by the retain callback, the behavior is undefined. The indices of other values are not affected.

Availability
Related Sample Code
Declared In
CFArray.h

CFArraySortValues

Sorts the values in an array using a given comparison function.

void CFArraySortValues (
   CFMutableArrayRef theArray,
   CFRange range,
   CFComparatorFunction comparator,
   void *context
);

Parameters
theArray

The array whose values are sorted.

range

The range of values within theArray to sort. The range location or end point (defined by the location plus length minus 1) must not lie outside the index space of theArray (0 to N-1 inclusive, where N is the count of theArray). The range length must not be negative. The range may be empty (length 0).

comparator

The function with the comparator function type signature that is used in the sort operation to compare the values in theArray. If this parameter is not a pointer to a function of the correct prototype, the behavior is undefined. If there are values in theArray that the comparator function does not expect or cannot properly compare, the behavior is undefined. The values in the range are sorted from least to greatest according to this function.

context

A pointer-sized program-defined value, which is passed as the third parameter to the comparator function, but is otherwise unused by this function. If the context is not what is expected by the comparator function, the behavior is undefined.

Availability
Related Sample Code
Declared In
CFArray.h

Data Types

CFMutableArrayRef

A reference to a mutable array object.

typedef struct __CFArray *CFMutableArrayRef;

Availability
Declared In
CFArray.h

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© 2003, 2005 Apple Computer, Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Last updated: 2005-12-06)

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