Set property values of an Objective-C class using reflection

Question

I am trying to learn reflection in Objective-C. I\'ve found some great information on how to dump the property list of a class, especially here, but I want to know if it is

Answer 1

The NSKeyValueCoding protocol, which NSObject implements (see NSKeyValueCoding.h), contains the method -setValuesForKeysWithDictionary:. This method takes exactly the kind of dictionary you describe and sets the appropriate properties (or ivars) of the reciever.

This is absolutely reflection; the code in setValuesForKeysWithDictionary: accesses the properties by the names you give it, and will even find the appropriate ivar if no setter method exists.

Answer 2

Objective C properties automatically conform to the NSKeyValueCoding protocol. You can use setValue:forKey: to set any property value by a string property name.

NSDictionary * objectProperties = @{@"propertyName" : @"A value for property name",
                                    @"anotherPropertyName" : @"MOAR VALUE"};

//Assuming class has properties propertyName and anotherPropertyName
NSObject * object = [[NSObject alloc] init];

for (NSString * propertyName in objectProperties.allKeys)
{
    NSString * propertyValue = [objectProperties valueForKey:propertyName];

    [object setValue:propertyValue
              forKey:propertyName];
}