Question

I am trying to use a variable integer throughout multiple methods in my view controller. The secondsLeft variable works fine, but the otherNumber variable won’t work. I get the error: initializer element is not a compile-time constant. Any ideas on how I am supposed to do this? THank you!

@interface ViewController ()

@end

@implementation ViewController
@synthesize countDown,Timerlbl;

int secondsLeft = 500;

int otherNumber =[(AppDelegate *)[UIApplication sharedApplication].delegate otherNumber];

Answer 1

The problem is that you have declared otherNumber as a global variable and the compiler expects the initial assignment to be a compile-time constant. [delegate otherNumber] results in a selector invocation and this is not a compile-time constant.

The solution is to move the assignment into code. For example:

- (id)init
{
    self = [super init];
    if(self) {
        otherNumber = [(AppDelegate *)[UIApplication sharedApplication].delegate otherNumber];
    }

    return self;
}

As another note, global variables are generally inadvisable in Objective-C. @property values are generally more recommended. Not only that, your ViewController class now has a dependency with your AppDelegate. Since your AppDelegate most likely is the one responsible for instantiating your ViewController, consider having it inject in the value of otherNumber. For example:

@interface ViewController ()
@property (nonatomic, assign) int otherNumber;
@end

- (id)initWithSomeNumber:(int)otherNumber
{
    self = [super init];
    if(self) {
        self.otherNumber = otherNumber;
    }

    return self;
}