How can I create my own methods which take a block as an argument and which I can call later?

Question

How can I create my own methods which take a block as an argument and which I can call later?

I have tried following things.

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
typedef void (^viewCreator)(void);

@interface blocks2ViewController : UIViewController
{
}
-(void)createButtonUsingBlocks:(viewCreator *)block;

@end


- (void)viewDidLoad {
  [super viewDidLoad];
  [self createButtonUsingBlocks:^(NSString * name) {
        UIButton *dummyButton = [[UIButton alloc]initWithFrame:CGRectMake(50, 50, 200, 100)];
        dummyButton.backgroundColor = [UIColor greenColor];
        [self.view addSubview:dummyButton];
  }];
}

-(void)createButtonUsingBlocks:(viewCreator *)block
{
    //    Do something
    NSLog(@"inside creator");
}

I have also tried to pass the block variable to my custom method but without any success. Why it is so and what is the right way to do this?

---

Update

This is file is.h:

 #import <UIKit/UIKit.h>

typedef void (^viewCreator)(void);

@interface blocks2ViewController : UIViewController
{

}
- (void)createButtonUsingBlocks:(viewCreator)block;
@end

And this is the .m file:

#import "blocks2ViewController.h"

@implementation blocks2ViewController
// Implement viewDidLoad to do additional setup after loading the view, typically from a nib.
- (void)viewDidLoad {
    [super viewDidLoad];
        [self createButtonUsingBlocks:^(NSString * name) {
        UIButton *dummyButton = [[UIButton alloc]initWithFrame:CGRectMake(50, 50, 200, 100)];
        dummyButton.backgroundColor = [UIColor greenColor];
        [self.view addSubview:dummyButton];
        [dummyButton release];
    }];
}

- (void)didReceiveMemoryWarning {
    // Releases the view if it doesn't have a superview.
    [super didReceiveMemoryWarning];

    // Release any cached data, images, etc that aren't in use.
}

- (void)viewDidUnload {
    // Release any retained subviews of the main view.
    // e.g. self.myOutlet = nil;
}

// ...

-(void)createButtonUsingBlocks:(viewCreator)block
{
//    viewCreator;
    NSLog(@"inside creator");
}
@end

Answer 1

First the typedef is off if you want to let your blocks take a string parameter:

typedef void (^viewCreator)(NSString*);

Secondly the type for blocks is:

ReturnType (^)(ParameterTypes...)

and not

ReturnType (^*)(ParameterTypes...)

Thus there is no need to add pointers to the viewCreator type:

- (void)createButtonUsingBlocks:(viewCreator)block;

Third you actually have to call the block if you are not doing that yet:

-(void)createButtonUsingBlocks:(viewCreator *)block {
    block(@"button name");
    // ...

Fourth and last, the UIButton is over-retained - you should release or autorelease it:

UIButton *dummyButton = [[UIButton alloc] initWithFrame:...];
// ...    
[self.view addSubview:dummyButton];
[dummyButton release];

Throwing all that together:

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
typedef void (^viewCreator)(NSString*);

@interface blocks2ViewController : UIViewController {}
-(void)createButtonUsingBlocks:(viewCreator)block;      
@end

@implementation blocks2ViewController
- (void)viewDidLoad {
    [super viewDidLoad];  
    [self createButtonUsingBlocks:^(NSString *name) {
        UIButton *dummyButton = 
            [[UIButton alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(50, 50, 200, 100)];
        dummyButton.backgroundColor = [UIColor greenColor];
        [self.view addSubview:dummyButton];
        [dummyButton release];
    }];
}

-(void)createButtonUsingBlocks:(viewCreator)block {
    block(@"my button name");
}
@end

Answer 2

You can also do it this way without pre-defining the method:

@interface blocks2ViewController : UIViewController
-(void)createButtonUsingBlocks:(void (^)(NSString *name))block;
@end

- (void)viewDidLoad {
    [super viewDidLoad];
    [self createButtonUsingBlocks:^(NSString * name) {
        UIButton *dummyButton = [[UIButton alloc]initWithFrame:CGRectMake(50, 50, 200, 100)];
        dummyButton.backgroundColor = [UIColor greenColor];
        [self.view addSubview:dummyButton];
    }];
}

-(void)createButtonUsingBlocks:(void (^)(NSString *name))block
{
    block(@"My Name Here");
}