How do I create delegates in Objective-C?

Question

I know how delegates work, and I know how I can use them.

But how do I create them?

Answer 1

The approved answer is great, but if you're looking for a 1 minute answer try this:

MyClass.h file should look like this (add delegate lines with comments!)

#import <BlaClass/BlaClass.h>

@class MyClass;             //define class, so protocol can see MyClass
@protocol MyClassDelegate <NSObject>   //define delegate protocol
    - (void) myClassDelegateMethod: (MyClass *) sender;  //define delegate method to be implemented within another class
@end //end protocol

@interface MyClass : NSObject {
}
@property (nonatomic, weak) id <MyClassDelegate> delegate; //define MyClassDelegate as delegate

@end

MyClass.m file should look like this

#import "MyClass.h"
@implementation MyClass 
@synthesize delegate; //synthesise  MyClassDelegate delegate

- (void) myMethodToDoStuff {
    [self.delegate myClassDelegateMethod:self]; //this will call the method implemented in your other class    
}

@end

To use your delegate in another class (UIViewController called MyVC in this case) MyVC.h:

#import "MyClass.h"
@interface MyVC:UIViewController <MyClassDelegate> { //make it a delegate for MyClassDelegate
}

MyVC.m:

myClass.delegate = self;          //set its delegate to self somewhere

Implement delegate method

- (void) myClassDelegateMethod: (MyClass *) sender {
    NSLog(@"Delegates are great!");
}

Answer 2

I think all these answers make a lot of sense once you understand delegates. Personally I came from the land of C/C++ and before that procedural languages like Fortran etc so here is my 2 min take on finding similar analogues in C++ paradigm.

If I were to explain delegates to a C++/Java programmer I would say

What are delegates ? These are static pointers to classes within another class. Once you assign a pointer, you can call functions/methods in that class. Hence some functions of your class are "delegated" (In C++ world - pointer to by a class object pointer) to another class.

What are protocols ? Conceptually it serves as similar purpose as to the header file of the class you are assigning as a delegate class. A protocol is a explicit way of defining what methods needs to be implemented in the class who's pointer was set as a delegate within a class.

How can I do something similar in C++? If you tried to do this in C++, you would by defining pointers to classes (objects) in the class definition and then wiring them up to other classes that will provide additional functions as delegates to your base class. But this wiring needs to be maitained within the code and will be clumsy and error prone. Objective C just assumes that programmers are not best at maintaining this decipline and provides compiler restrictions to enforce a clean implementation.

Answer 3

//1.
//Custom delegate 
@protocol TB_RemovedUserCellTag <NSObject>

-(void)didRemoveCellWithTag:(NSInteger)tag;

@end

//2.
//Create a weak reference in a class where you declared the delegate
@property(weak,nonatomic)id <TB_RemovedUserCellTag> removedCellTagDelegate;

//3. 
// use it in the class
  [self.removedCellTagDelegate didRemoveCellWithTag:self.tag];

//4. import the header file in the class where you want to conform to the protocol
@interface MyClassUsesDelegate ()<TB_RemovedUserCellTag>

@end

//5. Implement the method in the class .m -(void)didRemoveCellWithTag:(NSInteger)tag { NSLog@("Tag %d",tag);

}

Answer 4

Swift version

A delegate is just a class that does some work for another class. Read the following code for a somewhat silly (but hopefully enlightening) Playground example that shows how this is done in Swift.

// A protocol is just a list of methods (and/or properties) that must
// be used by any class that adopts the protocol.
protocol OlderSiblingDelegate: class {
    // This protocol only defines one required method
    func getYourNiceOlderSiblingAGlassOfWater() -> String
}

class BossyBigBrother {

    // The delegate is the BossyBigBrother's slave. This position can 
    // be assigned later to whoever is available (and conforms to the 
    // protocol).
    weak var delegate: OlderSiblingDelegate?

    func tellSomebodyToGetMeSomeWater() -> String? {
        // The delegate is optional because there might not be anyone
        // nearby to boss around.
        return delegate?.getYourNiceOlderSiblingAGlassOfWater()
    }
}

// PoorLittleSister conforms to the OlderSiblingDelegate protocol
class PoorLittleSister: OlderSiblingDelegate {

    // This method is repquired by the protocol, but the protocol said
    // nothing about how it needs to be implemented.
    func getYourNiceOlderSiblingAGlassOfWater() -> String {
        return "Go get it yourself!"
    }

}

// initialize the classes
let bigBro = BossyBigBrother()
let lilSis = PoorLittleSister()

// Set the delegate 
// bigBro could boss around anyone who conforms to the 
// OlderSiblingDelegate protocol, but since lilSis is here, 
// she is the unlucky choice.
bigBro.delegate = lilSis

// Because the delegate is set, there is a class to do bigBro's work for him.
// bigBro tells lilSis to get him some water.
if let replyFromLilSis = bigBro.tellSomebodyToGetMeSomeWater() {
    print(replyFromLilSis) // "Go get it yourself!"
}

In actual practice, delegates are often used in the following situations

1. When a class needs to communicate some information to another class
2. When a class wants to allow another class to customize it

The classes don't need to know anything about each other beforehand except that the delegate class conforms to the required protocol.

I highly recommend reading the following two articles. They helped me understand delegates even better than the documentation did.

• What is Delegation? – A Swift Developer’s Guide
• How Delegation Works – A Swift Developer’s Guide

Answer 5

Delegate :- Create

@protocol addToCartDelegate <NSObject>

-(void)addToCartAction:(ItemsModel *)itemsModel isAdded:(BOOL)added;

@end

Send and please assign delegate to view you are sending data

[self.delegate addToCartAction:itemsModel isAdded:YES];

Answer 6

Maybe this is more along the lines of what you are missing:

If you are coming from a C++ like viewpoint, delegates takes a little getting used to - but basically 'they just work'.

The way it works is that you set some object that you wrote as the delegate to NSWindow, but your object only has implementations (methods) for one or a few of the many possible delegate methods. So something happens, and NSWindow wants to call your object - it just uses Objective-c's respondsToSelector method to determine if your object wants that method called, and then calls it. This is how objective-c works - methods are looked up on demand.

It is totally trivial to do this with your own objects, there is nothing special going on, you could for instance have an NSArray of 27 objects, all different kinds of objects, only 18 some of them having the method -(void)setToBue; The other 9 don't. So to call setToBlue on all of 18 that need it done, something like this:

for (id anObject in myArray)
{
  if ([anObject respondsToSelector:@selector(@"setToBlue")])
     [anObject setToBlue]; 
}

The other thing about delegates is that they are not retained, so you always have to set the delegate to nil in your MyClass dealloc method.