Question

How can i specify the return types in GCD blocks? Here I want to return my result as NSData …

- (NSData *)returnData:(NSString *)urlString{
    dispatch_queue_t concurrentQueue = 
    dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_DEFAULT, 0);

    dispatch_sync(concurrentQueue, ^{   // here return type showing error

        NSString *strUrl = urlString;
        if([strUrl length] == 0)
            return nil; // from this point i want to stop the execution of the block and return nil .

        // otherwise only continue the left operations



    });         
}

Answer 1

- (NSData *)returnData:(NSString *)urlString {
    dispatch_queue_t concurrentQueue = 
    dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_DEFAULT, 0);

    // Declare your local data outside the block.
    // `__block` specifies that the variable can be modified from within the block.
    __block NSData *localData = nil;

    dispatch_sync(concurrentQueue, ^{
        // Do something with `localData`...
        localData = somethingWonderful;
    });

    // `localData` now contains your wonderful data.
    return localData;
}

The block’s format (parameters/return type) are specified in the function’s signature. In this case, dispatch_sync uses a block with no return type and no parameters. If you want further variables to work with you need to declare them outside the block, as in the code above.