Stopping a loop

Question

As explained in my earlier question …

This code …

- (void)syncKVO:(id)sender {
    NSManagedObjectContext *moc = [self managedObjectContext];
    [syncButton setTitle:@"Syncing..."];
    NSString *dateText = (@"Last Sync : %d", [NSDate date]);
    [syncDate setStringValue:dateText];
    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");
}

triggers this code …

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

because I am adding objects and the KVO method is triggered when the Core Data 'name' property is changed.

I need to stop the observeValueForKeyPath:ofObject:change:context: method if it was triggered by the syncKVO method. How would I do this?

Answer 1

Looking at your code I wonder if you really want to do this syncing when entities are saved, and not as soon as the object keys changed. I think you’d be better off ditching observing completely and watching for the NSManagedObjectContextObjectsDidChangeNotification, using the values of the userInfo keys specified in the CoreData documentation to determine which entities need to be updated.

Answer 2

The simplest thing you could do is use an instance variable which keeps track of whether you’re syncing and ignore observer changes when it’s set. It may be better to stop and start observing at the beginning and end of syncKVO:, but it depends on what you’re actually observing: you don’t want to mass unsubscribe and resubscribe if you’re watching a large collection.