Weak object in an NSDictionary?

Question

I would like to store a zeroing weak reference to an object in a NSDictionary. This is for a reference to a parent NSDictionary, so I can crawl bac

Answer 1

I've settled on defining a "container" class with a single member, like this:

@interface Parent : NSObject
@property (nonatomic, weak) id parent;
@end

@implementation Parent

@synthesize parent = _parent;

- (id)initWithParent: (id)parent;
{
    if (( self = [super init] )) {
        _parent = parent;
    }
    return self;
}
@end

And using it:

id parentRef = [[Parent alloc] initWithParent: parent];
[newElement setObject: parentRef forKey: ParentKey];

I think this will work for me, but it seems crazy that there's no better way built in to Foundation.