How to know when to invalidate an `NSTimer`

Question

Here\'s my issue:

I have a model class that has an NSTimer in it that I want the Timer to run for the entire lifespan of the model object. Initiliazati

Answer 1

Based on @Martin R idea, I create custom class which easier to use, and add some checking to avoid crash.

@interface EATimerTarget : NSObject

// Initialize with block to avoid missing call back
- (instancetype)initWithRealTarget:(id)realTarget timerBlock:(void(^)(NSTimer *))block;

// For NSTimer @selector() parameter
- (void)timerFired:(NSTimer *)timer;

@end

@interface EATimerTarget ()
@property (weak, nonatomic) id realTarget;
@property (nonatomic, copy) void (^timerBlock)(NSTimer *); // use 'copy' to avoid retain counting
@end

@implementation EATimerTarget

- (instancetype)initWithRealTarget:(id)realTarget timerBlock:(void (^)(NSTimer *))block {
    self = [super init];
    if (self) {
        self.realTarget = realTarget;
        self.timerBlock = block;
    }
    return self;
}

- (void)timerFired:(NSTimer *)timer {
    // Avoid memory leak, timer still run while our real target is dealloc
    if (self.realTarget) {
        self.timerBlock(timer);
    }
    else {
        [timer invalidate];
    }
}

@end

Here is my sample class

@interface MyClass
@property (nonatomic, strong) NSTimer *timer;
@end

@implementation MyClass

- (id)init
{
    self = [super init];
    if (self) {
         // Using __weak for avoiding retain cycles
         __weak typeof(self) wSelf = self;
    EATimerTarget *timerTarget = [[EATimerTarget alloc] initWithRealTarget:self timerBlock: ^(NSTimer *timer) {
        [wSelf onTimerTick:timer];
    }];
         self.timer = [NSTimer timerWithTimeInterval:1 target:timerTarget selector:@selector(timerFired:) userInfo:nil repeats:YES];
         [[NSRunLoop mainRunLoop] addTimer:self.timer forMode:NSDefaultRunLoopMode];
    }
    return self;
}

- (void)dealloc
{
    [self.timer invalidate]; // This releases the EATimerTarget as well! 
    NSLog(@"### MyClass dealloc");
}

- (void)onTimerTick:(NSTimer *)timer {
     // DO YOUR STUFF!
     NSLog(@"### TIMER TICK");
}

@end

Answer 2

The [NSTimer scheduledTimerWithTimeInterval:...] retains the target, so if the target is self, then your instance of the model class will never be deallocated.

As a workaround, one can use a separate object (called TimerTarget in the following example). TimerTarget has a weak reference to ModelClass, to avoid a retain cycle.

This "helper class" looks like this. Its only purpose is to forward the timer event to the "real target".

@interface TimerTarget : NSObject
@property(weak, nonatomic) id realTarget;
@end

@implementation TimerTarget

- (void)timerFired:(NSTimer*)theTimer
{
    [self.realTarget performSelector:@selector(timerFired:) withObject:theTimer];
}

@end

Now, in your model class, you can create a timer and invalidate it in dealloc:

@interface ModelClass ()
@property(strong, nonatomic) NSTimer *timer;
@end

@implementation ModelClass

- (id)init
{
    self = [super init];
    if (self) {
        TimerTarget *timerTarget = [[TimerTarget alloc] init];
        timerTarget.realTarget = self;
        self.timer = [NSTimer scheduledTimerWithTimeInterval:1
                                                 target:timerTarget
                                               selector:@selector(timerFired:)
                                               userInfo:nil repeats:YES];
    }
    return self;
}

- (void)dealloc
{
    [self.timer invalidate]; // This releases the TimerTarget as well!
    NSLog(@"ModelClass dealloc");
}

- (void)timerFired:(NSTimer*)theTimer
{
    NSLog(@"Timer fired");
}

@end

So we have

modelInstance ===> timer ===> timerTarget ---> modelInstance
(===> : strong reference, ---> : weak reference)

Note that there is no (strong) reference from the timer to the instance of the model class anymore.

I have tested this with the following code, which creates an instance of ModelClass and releases it after 5 seconds:

__block ModelClass *modelInstance = [[ModelClass alloc] init];
int64_t delayInSeconds = 5.0;
dispatch_time_t popTime = dispatch_time(DISPATCH_TIME_NOW, delayInSeconds * NSEC_PER_SEC);
dispatch_after(popTime, dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^(void){
    modelInstance = nil;
});

Output:

2013-01-23 23:54:11.483 timertest[16576:c07] Timer fired
2013-01-23 23:54:12.483 timertest[16576:c07] Timer fired
2013-01-23 23:54:13.483 timertest[16576:c07] Timer fired
2013-01-23 23:54:14.483 timertest[16576:c07] Timer fired
2013-01-23 23:54:15.483 timertest[16576:c07] Timer fired
2013-01-23 23:54:15.484 timertest[16576:c07] ModelClass dealloc