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# decodeObject()

Decodes and returns an object that was previously encoded with any of the `encode…Object` methods.

```
func decodeObject() -> Any?
```

## Discussion

`NSCoder`’s implementation invokes [`decodeValue(ofObjCType:at:)`](/documentation/Foundation/NSCoder/decodeValue(ofObjCType:at:)) to decode the object data.

Subclasses may need to override this method if they override any of the corresponding `encode…Object` methods. For example, if an object was encoded conditionally using the [`encodeConditionalObject(_:)`](/documentation/Foundation/NSCoder/encodeConditionalObject(_:)) method, this method needs to check whether the object had actually been encoded.

## See Also

[`encodeByrefObject(_:)`](/documentation/Foundation/NSCoder/encodeByrefObject(_:))

An encoding method for subclasses to override such that it creates a proxy, rather than a copy, when decoded.

[`encodeBycopyObject(_:)`](/documentation/Foundation/NSCoder/encodeBycopyObject(_:))

An encoding method for subclasses to override such that it creates a copy, rather than a proxy, when decoded.

[`encode(_:)`](/documentation/Foundation/NSCoder/encode(_:)-9648d)

Encodes an object.


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