对象之间进行通信最基本的方式就是消息传递,在Cocoa中提供Notification Center机制来完成这一任务。其主要作用就是负责在任意两个对象之间进行通信。使用方法很简单,如下几个步骤即可:
假设A与B之间进行通信,B来触发事件,A接受该事件,并作出响应。
1) A编写自定义的消息响应函数update
2) A向消息中心注册,[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver: self selector:@selector(update) name:@"update" object:nil]
3) B触发事件[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] postNotificationName:@"update" object:nil]
每一个进程都有一个默认的NSNotificationCenter,可以通过类方法defaultCenter获取该消息中心的实例。消息中心可以处理同一进程中不同对象之间的消息。如果要在同一台机器上进行进程间的通信,需要使用NSDistributedNotificationCenter。
消息中心以同步的方式将消息分发到所有的观察者中,换言之,直到所有的观察者都收到消息并处理完毕以后,控制权才会回到调用者的手里。如果需要异步的处理消息,需要使用通知队列NSNotificationQueue。
在多线程程序中,通知会被分发到每一个发起消息的线程中,这可能与观察者注册时所在的线程已经不是同一线程。
实例:
@implementation TestClass
- (void) dealloc
{
// If you don't remove yourself as an observer, the Notification Center
// will continue to try and send notification objects to the deallocated
// object.
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] removeObserver:self];
[super dealloc];
}
- (id) init
{
self = [super init];
if (!self) return nil;
// Add this instance of TestClass as an observer of the TestNotification.
// We tell the notification center to inform us of "TestNotification"
// notifications using the receiveTestNotification: selector. By
// specifying object:nil, we tell the notification center that we are not
// interested in who posted the notification. If you provided an actual
// object rather than nil, the notification center will only notify you
// when the notification was posted by that particular object.
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self
selector:@selector(receiveTestNotification:)
name:@"TestNotification"
object:nil];
return self;
}
- (void) receiveTestNotification:(NSNotification *) notification
{
// [notification name] should always be @"TestNotification"
// unless you use this method for observation of other notifications
// as well.
if ([[notification name] isEqualToString:@"TestNotification"])
NSLog (@"Successfully received the test notification!");
}
@end