Objective-C: Pass selector as parameter and then call it

Question

i'm trying to pass a selector as a parameter and execute it later. But i get a SIGABRT error when i try to call the selector with the next error in console:

Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInvalidArgumentException', reason: '-[HttpRequest OnFinishConn:]: unrecognized selector sent to instance 0x7834c80'

HttpRequest.h

#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>

@interface HttpRequest : NSObject
{
    @private SEL onEndSel;
    @private NSMutableData* receivedData;
}
-(void) StartRequest:(NSString *) url 
          parameters:(NSString*) params 
            onEndSelector:(SEL) selector;
@end

HttpRequest.m

#import "HttpRequest.h"

@implementation HttpRequest

-(void) StartRequest:(NSString *)url 
          parameters:(NSString*)params
          onEndSelector:(SEL)selector
{
    receivedData = [[NSMutableData alloc] init];
    NSMutableURLRequest *request = 
    [[NSMutableURLRequest alloc] initWithURL:[NSURL URLWithString:url]];
    [request setHTTPMethod:@"POST"];
    [request setHTTPBody:[params dataUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding]];
    onEndSel = selector;
    NSURLConnection* conn = [[NSURLConnection alloc] initWithRequest:request delegate:self];


}
-(void) connectionDidFinishLoading:(NSURLConnection*) connection
{
    //NSLog([[NSString alloc] initWithData:receivedData encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding]);
    [self performSelector:onEndSel withObject:[[NSMutableData alloc] initWithData:receivedData]];
}
-(void) connection:(NSURLConnection *)connection didReceiveData:(NSData *)data{
    [receivedData appendData:data];    
}
@end

AppDelegate.m

- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
    //self.window = [[UIWindow alloc] initWithFrame:[[UIScreen mainScreen] bounds]];
    // Override point for customization after application launch.
    //self.window.backgroundColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
    HttpRequest* req = [[HttpRequest alloc] init];
    SEL mysel = @selector(OnFinishConn:);
    NSString * url = [[NSString alloc] initWithString:@"http://www.google.es"];
    [req StartRequest:url parameters:@"a" onEndSelector:@selector(OnFinishConn:)];
    [self.window makeKeyAndVisible];

    return YES;
}
-(void)OnFinishConn:(NSMutableData *)data
{
    NSLog([[NSString alloc] initWithData:data encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding]);
}

I'm new in objective c, so please be patient.

Answer 1

That is because you are trying using the target-action pattern but not passing a target. I would actually recommend the delegate approach but here is an example of what your interface should look like.

@interface HttpRequest : NSObject
{
    @private 
    id onEndTarget; //<- need to know who to send the message to (do not retain)
    SEL onEndSel;
    NSMutableData* receivedData;
}

//Accept the target here
-(void) StartRequest:(NSString *) url 
          parameters:(NSString*) params 
           onEndTarget:(id)target
            onEndSelector:(SEL) selector;

//... implementation

-(void) connectionDidFinishLoading:(NSURLConnection*) connection
{
    [onEndTarget performSelector:onEndSel withObject:[[NSMutableData alloc] initWithData:receivedData]];
}

//...
//Inside App Delegate
[req StartRequest:url parameters:@"a" onEndTarget:self onEndSelector:@selector(OnFinishConn:)];

Make sure you do not retain the onEndTarget because that could create a retain cycle. Also consider making the target a property so if something is done with the connection before it complete it can stop being the delegate.