Call Random in Different Method

[canit210]

Alrighty so here's the low-down.

I've got one method that sets an NSUInteger declared in the .h file to a random integer using arc4random().

Later on in the code (in a different method) I'd like to use that random integer for a comparison. However, every time it's going through the comparison it creates a new random integer rather than using the one that was already established earlier.

Can anybody help me out?

[baja_yu]

Create a property or a pure ivar for the number and use that to get the generated value, don't make a new one every time.

[canit210]

Originally Posted by baja_yu

Create a property or a pure ivar for the number and use that to get the generated value, don't make a new one every time.

Hi baja,

I appreciate your response but am still running into a bit of trouble. I read up a bit more on properties to make sure I understood them correctly, but as it turns out, I don't think I do. In my .h class I set the randoms to NSUIntegers and declared them as properties as seen below:

        NSUInteger		*randomTall;
	NSUInteger		*randomWide;
	NSUInteger		*randomYPosn;
	NSUInteger		*randomXPosn;

@property (nonatomic, retain) NSUInteger *randomTall;
@property (nonatomic, retain) NSUInteger *randomWide;
@property (nonatomic, retain) NSUInteger *randomYPosn;
@property (nonatomic, retain) NSUInteger *randomXPosn;

In the .m file I synthesized the variables and used the following implementation to actually set the values in one of my methods:

randomTall = 50 + arc4random() % 197];
randomYPosn = 44 + arc4random() % (290-44-randomTall);
randomWide = 50 + arc4random() % 431; 	
randomXPosn = arc4random() % (480-randomWide);

In the .h file I am getting an error stating that the 4 properties with 'retain' attribute must be of object type... Should I change this to assign or is there a conflict between with using the NSUInteger type?

I am also getting an error in my .m file that says I am invalidly using the "- operand" because I'm using it with an int and NSUInteger type. Obviously conflicting.

One other big conflict I am seeing as well is that I am later using this random number to set the frame of a rectangle and because CGRectMake doesn't take an NSUInteger it's throwing an error here as well.

I think the biggest confusion is that I am not using the right data type and/or I may not be setting/assigning the property correctly. Once again, I assure that I did read some of the property tutorials posted here on iphoneDevSDK and other places online and made changes accordingly but I'm thinking a may still be pretty far off base.

Thanks so much for your help.

[baja_yu]

unsigned integers aren't objects nor can they be retained. You shouldn't be declaring them as pointers nor as retainer properties.

Also, doing this

randomTall = 50 + arc4random() % 197];

is accessing the variable directly and not using the setter generated by the property. If you were doing that with an object you would be in for some memory leaks. You need to use 'self' to use the property.

[canit210]

Finally got it working.

Thanks again baja