Question

Ok, I have an IBAction that syncs with iCal and is also triggered by KVO of the ‘name’ property in my CD Model, so that when the property changes the Action is triggered. What happens is that once the IBAction reaches the end it skips to the KVO declaration which then triggers the Action again and again and again, this is where the loop occurs.

Here’s some code. The IBAction …

- (IBAction)sync:(id)sender {
    [syncButton setTitle:@"Syncing..."];
    NSString *dateText = (@"Last Sync : %d", [NSDate date]);
    [syncDate setStringValue:dateText];
    NSManagedObjectContext *moc = [self managedObjectContext];
    NSEntityDescription *entityDescription = [NSEntityDescription
                                              entityForName:@"projects" inManagedObjectContext:moc];
    NSFetchRequest *request = [[[NSFetchRequest alloc] init] autorelease];
    [request setEntity:entityDescription];

    NSError *error = nil;
    NSArray *array = [moc executeFetchRequest:request error:&error];
    if (array == nil)
    {
        NSAlert *anAlert = [NSAlert alertWithError:error];
        [anAlert runModal];
    }
    NSArray *namesArray = [array valueForKey:@"name"];
    NSPredicate *predicate = [CalCalendarStore taskPredicateWithCalendars:[[CalCalendarStore defaultCalendarStore] calendars]];
    NSArray *tasksNo = [[CalCalendarStore defaultCalendarStore] tasksWithPredicate:predicate];
    NSArray *tasks = [tasksNo valueForKey:@"title"];
    NSMutableArray *namesNewArray = [NSMutableArray arrayWithArray:namesArray];
    [namesNewArray removeObjectsInArray:tasks];
    NSLog(@"%d", [namesNewArray count]);    
    NSInteger *popIndex = [calenderPopup indexOfSelectedItem];

    //Load the array
    CalCalendarStore *store = [CalCalendarStore defaultCalendarStore];
    NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSApplicationSupportDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
    NSString *supportDirectory = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
    NSString *fileName = [supportDirectory stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"oldtasks.plist"];

    NSMutableArray *oldTasks = [[NSMutableArray alloc] initWithContentsOfFile:fileName];
    [oldTasks removeObjectsInArray:namesArray];
    NSLog(@"%d",[oldTasks count]);
    //Use the content
    NSPredicate* taskPredicate = [CalCalendarStore taskPredicateWithCalendars:[[CalCalendarStore defaultCalendarStore] calendars]];
    NSArray* allTasks = [[CalCalendarStore defaultCalendarStore] tasksWithPredicate:taskPredicate];

    // Get the calendar
    CalCalendar *calendar = [[store calendars] objectAtIndex:popIndex];
    // Note: you can change which calendar you're adding to by changing the index or by
    // using CalCalendarStore's -calendarWithUID: method    

        // Loop, adding tasks
    for(NSString *title in namesNewArray) {
        // Create task
        CalTask *task = [CalTask task];
        task.title = title;
        task.calendar = calendar;

        // Save task
        if(![[CalCalendarStore defaultCalendarStore] saveTask:task error:&error]) {
            NSLog(@"Error");
            // Diagnostic error handling
            NSAlert *anAlert = [NSAlert alertWithError:error];
            [anAlert runModal];
    }
    } 

    NSMutableArray *tasksNewArray = [NSMutableArray arrayWithArray:tasks];
    [tasksNewArray removeObjectsInArray:namesArray];
    NSLog(@"%d", [tasksNewArray count]);    
    for(NSString *title in tasksNewArray) {
        NSManagedObjectContext *moc = [self managedObjectContext];
        JGManagedObject *theParent = 
        [NSEntityDescription insertNewObjectForEntityForName:@"projects"
                                      inManagedObjectContext:moc];
        [theParent setValue:nil forKey:@"parent"];
        // This is where you add the title from the string array
        [theParent setValue:title forKey:@"name"]; 
        [theParent setValue:[NSNumber numberWithInt:0] forKey:@"position"];

    }

    for(CalTask* task in allTasks)
        if([oldTasks containsObject:task.title]) {
            [store removeTask:task error:nil];
        }

    // Create a predicate for an array of names.
    NSPredicate *mocPredicate = [NSPredicate predicateWithFormat:@"name IN %@", oldTasks];
    [request setPredicate:mocPredicate];

    NSSortDescriptor *sortDescriptor = [[NSSortDescriptor alloc] initWithKey:@"name" ascending:YES];
    [request setSortDescriptors:[NSArray arrayWithObject:sortDescriptor]];

    // Execute the fetch request put the results into array
    NSArray *resultArray = [moc executeFetchRequest:request error:&error];
    if (resultArray == nil)
    {
        // Diagnostic error handling
        NSAlert *anAlert = [NSAlert alertWithError:error];
        [anAlert runModal];
    }

    // Enumerate through the array deleting each object.
    // WARNING, this will delete everything in the array, so you may want to put more checks in before doing this.
    for (JGManagedObject *objectToDelete in resultArray ) {
        // Delete the object.
        [moc deleteObject:objectToDelete];
    }
    //Save the array
    [namesArray writeToFile:fileName atomically:YES];
    [syncButton setTitle:@"Sync Now"];
    NSLog(@"Sync Completed");
}

Which when it reaches the end (somehow) triggers the KVO Declaration …

- (void)observeValueForKeyPath:(NSString *)keyPath ofObject:(id)object change:(NSDictionary *)change context:(void *)context {
    [self performSelector:@selector(sync:)];
}

Which then triggers the IBAction again. This is where the loop occurs as it gets stuck here and constantly triggers the Action.

Can anyone figure out what on earth is happening???

Answer 1

You are triggering the selector sync: for any KVO-compliant property.
You should filter any keypath that gets changed withing your sync method to avoid recursion.

I would do the following:

• Set a breakpoint and check the value
  of keyPath to figure out which change
  is starting the recursion.
• Filter out changes for keypaths that trigger a recursion

or

• Detach all observers when sync: starts and reattach them when finished