Question

my question is about communicating two directions from one class to its child.

I have a GameLayer CCLayer with a child GameObject CCNode. The GameLayer is a semi-singleton shared layer. I need to import in GameLayer’s header the GameObject.h to be able to init the GameObject. I am now trying to communicate back to the gamelayer and I’m stuck. THe code all works until the questions.

static GameLevel1Layer* sharedGameLayer;

+(GameLevel1Layer*) sharedGameLayer
{
    NSAssert(sharedGameLayer != nil, @"shared game layer not there yet");
    return sharedGameLayer;
}

On init, I init the GameObject

-(id) init
{
    if ((self = [super init]))
    {
        sharedGameLayer = self;

    GameObject1* gameObject1 = [GameObject1 gameObject1];
    fish1.position = CGPointMake(0, 0);
    fish1.tag = kFish1TagValue;
    [self addChild:gameObject1 z:10];
    }
return self;
}

in game object (which is a node but basically inits a ccsprite)

+(id) gameObject1{
    return [[self alloc] initWithFish1Image];
    }

-(id) initWithFish1Image {
    if ((self = [super init])) {

        CCSpriteFrameCache* frameCache = [CCSpriteFrameCache sharedSpriteFrameCache];
        [frameCache addSpriteFramesWithFile:@"fish1atlas.plist"];

        sceneSpriteBatchNode = [CCSpriteBatchNode batchNodeWithFile:@"fish1atlas.png"]; 
        [self addChild:sceneSpriteBatchNode z:0]; 

        fish1Sprite = [[CCSprite alloc] initWithSpriteFrameName:@"fish1_normal_1.png"];
        fish1Sprite.tag = kFish1SpriteTag;
        fish1Sprite.rotation = -30;
        [self addChild:fish1Sprite];


        }
    return self;
    }

My problem is that from within GameObject I’m trying to send a message to GameLayer1. If I include GameLayer1.h the argument gets circular and I get an undeclared identifier confusion. If I just try:
[GameLayer1 sharedGameLayer] methodImTrying];
It doesnt recgonize and I get an undeclared identifier.

I tried adding:
@class GameLayer1;
and when I send a message to GameLayer it fails that “class message is a forward declaration”.

[self.parent method]; and [super method] both fail.

I thought using a shared layer would allow me to access the parent node without having to import the header for the gamelayer in the gameobject. I know this is a basic question of objective-c, any help would be appreciated.

UPDATE:

If I instead import GameLevel1Layer.h into GameObject’s header and add the @class GameObject to GameLayer, I can call
[GameLevel1Layer sharedGameLayer] method];
i wonder if i’m doing this all quite wrong.

Answer 1

Simplest way to avoid this problem is to use forward declarations.

In .h file of GameObject1 just declare

 @class GameLevel1Layer 

and in GameObject1.m include GameLevel1Layer.h

In .h file of GameLevel1Layer just declare

 @class  GameObject1

and in GameLevel1Layer.m include GameObject1.h