Question

I have a class to perform little conversions like NSDate to NSString with a specific format, etc.

Every methods are class methods, eg +[Tools humanReadableStringForDate:(NSDate*)date];

I sometime need my method +[Tools A] to call a method +[Tools B] of my class, but inside a block.

Should I create a __block safeSelf = self; or is it unnecessary because I use class level methods ?

EDIT :
here is an example, not my actual code :

@implementation FileManager 

+(void) uploadEveryFile:(void (^)(NSObject*))thingToDo :(NSArray*) fileArray {

    for(NSString *s in fileArray) {
        [[SomeWebAPI uploadFile:s withSuccess:^(NSNumber *responseCode) {
            [self logUploadOk:s];
        }];
    }
}

+(void) logUploadOk:(NSString*)s {
    NSLog(@"File upload ok : %@", s)
}

@end

I think this make things clearer. I like to use self keyword even for class methods when I can – in this example I can because I am in the same class and refer to a class level method – because it seems to make more sense, and can be helpful if I have to modify my class name.

So is it correct to write it like this ? Is it working but not really correct ? Do I really need to call logUploadOk using [FileManager logUploadOk:s] ?

Thank you !

Answer 1

It is unnecessary to use __block or __weak or anything like that. You are talking about self in a class method, which is the class object itself. The class object lives for the whole program, so memory management like retain and release on it have no effect. So you don’t need to worry about retain cycles.