Question

Is there any way to avoid this kind of code when overwriting the default setter for a retain property?

-(void)setMasterViewController:(UIViewController *)newMaster {
    [newMaster retain];
    [masterViewController release];
    masterViewController = newMaster;

    // do custom stuff on set
}

Is there any way to access the default setter, something like:

-(void)setMasterViewController:(UIViewController *)newMaster {
    [defaultSetMasterViewController:newMaster];
    // do custom stuff
}

This would keep the code DRYer. The way I’m doing it currently, the fact that it’s a retain property is mentioned twice.

Answer 1

CoreData generates primitive setters, but in general there’s no such affordance. You may be able to replace custom setters with key-value observing in some cases, but the solution to your specific question is probably “use ARC” if you can limit support to 10.6+/4.3+. It will handle the retain/release stuff on your behalf.