Initializer

init(forFunction:arguments:)

Returns a new expression that will invoke one of the predefined functions.

Declaration

init(forFunction name: String, arguments parameters: [Any])

Parameters

name

The name of the function to invoke.

parameters

An array containing NSExpression objects that will be used as parameters during the invocation of selector.

For a selector taking no parameters, the array should be empty. For a selector taking one or more parameters, the array should contain one NSExpression object which will evaluate to an instance of the appropriate type for each parameter.

If there is a mismatch between the number of parameters expected and the number you provide during evaluation, an exception may be raised or missing parameters may simply be replaced by nil (which occurs depends on how many parameters are provided, and whether you have over- or underflow).

Return Value

A new expression that invokes the function name using the parameters in parameters.

Discussion

The name parameter can be one of the following predefined functions.

Function

Parameter

Returns

Availability

average:

An NSArray object containing NSExpression objects representing numbers

An NSNumber object (the average of values in the array)

OS X v10.4 and later

sum:

An NSArray object containing NSExpression objects representing numbers

An NSNumber object (the sum of values in the array)

OS X v10.4 and later

count:

An NSArray object containing NSExpression objects representing numbers

An NSNumber object (the number of elements in the array)

OS X v10.4 and later

min:

An NSArray object containing NSExpression objects representing numbers

An NSNumber object (the minimum of the values in the array)

OS X v10.4 and later

max:

An NSArray object containing NSExpression objects representing numbers

An NSNumber object (the maximum of the values in the array)

OS X v10.4 and later

median:

An NSArray object containing NSExpression objects representing numbers

An NSNumber object (the median of the values in the array)

OS X v10.5 and later

mode:

An NSArray object containing NSExpression objects representing numbers

An NSArray object (the mode of the values in the array)

OS X v10.5 and later

stddev:

An NSArray object containing NSExpression objects representing numbers

An NSNumber object (the standard deviation of the values in the array)

OS X v10.5 and later

add:to:

An NSArray object containing two NSExpression objects representing numbers

An NSNumber object (the sum of the values in the array)

OS X v10.5 and later

from:subtract:

An NSArray object containing two NSExpression objects representing numbers

An NSNumber object (the result of subtracting the second value in the array from the first value in the array)

OS X v10.5 and later

multiply:by:

An NSArray object containing two NSExpression objects representing numbers

An NSNumber object (the result of multiplying the values in the array)

OS X v10.5 and later

divide:by:

An NSArray object containing two NSExpression objects representing numbers

An NSNumber object (the result of dividing the first value in the array by the second value in the array)

OS X v10.5 and later

modulus:by:

An NSArray object containing two NSExpression objects representing numbers

An NSNumber object (the remainder of dividing the first value in the array by the second value in the array)

OS X v10.5 and later

sqrt:

An NSArray object containing one NSExpression object representing a number

An NSNumber object (the square root of the value in the array)

OS X v10.5 and later

log:

An NSArray object containing one NSExpression object representing a number

An NSNumber object (the log of the value in the array)

OS X v10.5 and later

ln:

An NSArray object containing one NSExpression object representing a number

An NSNumber object (the natural log of the value in the array)

OS X v10.5 and later

raise:toPower:

An NSArray object containing two NSExpression objects representing numbers

An NSNumber object (the result of raising the first value in the array to the power of the second value in the array)

OS X v10.5 and later

exp:

An NSArray object containing one NSExpression object representing a number

An NSNumber object (the base-e exponential of the value in the array)

OS X v10.5 and later

ceiling:

An NSArray object containing one NSExpression object representing a number

An NSNumber object (the smallest integral value not less than the value in the array)

OS X v10.5 and later

abs:

An NSArray object containing one NSExpression object representing a number

An NSNumber object (the absolute value of the value in the array)

OS X v10.5 and later

trunc:

An NSArray object containing one NSExpression object representing a number

An NSNumber object (the integral value nearest to but no greater than the value in the array)

OS X v10.5 and later

random

nil

An NSNumber object (a random integer value)

OS X v10.5 and later

random:

An NSArray object containing one NSExpression object representing a number

An NSNumber object (a random integer value between 0 and the value in the array (exclusive))

OS X v10.5 and later

now

nil

An [NSDate] object (the current date and time)

OS X v10.5 and later

floor:

An NSArray object containing one NSExpression object representing a number

An NSNumber object

iOS 3.0 and later

uppercase:

An NSArray object containing one NSExpression object representing a string

An NSString object

iOS 3.0 and later

lowercase:

An NSArray object containing one NSExpression object representing a string

An NSString object

iOS 3.0 and later

bitwiseAnd:with:

An NSArray object containing two NSExpression objects representing numbers

An NSNumber object (the number is treated as an NSInteger)

iOS 3.0 and later

bitwiseOr:with:

An NSArray object containing two NSExpression objects representing numbers

An NSNumber object (the number is treated as an NSInteger)

iOS 3.0 and later

bitwiseXor:with:

An NSArray object containing two NSExpression objects representing numbers

An NSNumber object (the number is treated as an NSInteger)

iOS 3.0 and later

leftshift:by:

An NSArray object containing two NSExpression objects representing numbers

An NSNumber object (the number is treated as an NSInteger)

iOS 3.0 and later

rightshift:by:

An NSArray object containing two NSExpression objects representing numbers

An NSNumber object (the number is treated as an NSInteger)

iOS 3.0 and later

onesComplement:

An NSArray object containing one NSExpression object representing a number

An NSNumber object (the number is treated as an NSInteger)

iOS 3.0 and later

noindex:

An NSArray object containing an NSExpression object

The result of evaluating the parameter as though the noindex: function expression didn't exist.

iOS 3.0 and later

This method raises an exception immediately if the selector is invalid; it raises an exception at runtime if the parameters are incorrect.

The parameters argument is a collection containing an expression which evaluates to a collection, as illustrated in the following examples:

NSNumber *number1 = [NSNumber numberWithInteger:20];
NSNumber *number2 = [NSNumber numberWithInteger:40];
NSArray *numberArray = [NSArray arrayWithObjects: number1, number2, nil];
 
NSExpression *arrayExpression = [NSExpression expressionForConstantValue: numberArray];
NSArray *argumentArray = [NSArray arrayWithObject: arrayExpression];
 
NSExpression* expression =
    [NSExpression expressionForFunction:@"sum:" arguments:argumentArray];
id result = [expression expressionValueWithObject: nil context: nil];
 
BOOL ok = [result isEqual: [NSNumber numberWithInt: 60]]; // ok == YES

[NSExpression expressionForFunction:@"random" arguments:nil];
 
[NSExpression expressionForFunction:@"max:"
    arguments: [NSArray arrayWithObject:
        [NSExpression expressionForConstantValue:
            [NSArray arrayWithObjects:
                [NSNumber numberWithInt: 5], [NSNumber numberWithInt: 10], nil]]]];
 
[NSExpression expressionForFunction:@"subtract:from:"
    arguments: [NSArray arrayWithObjects:
        [NSExpression expressionForConstantValue: [NSNumber numberWithInt: 5]],
        [NSExpression expressionForConstantValue: [NSNumber numberWithInt: 10]], nil]];

Special Considerations

This method throws an exception immediately if the selector is unknown; it throws at runtime if the parameters are incorrect.

See Also

Creating an Expression for a Function

init(forFunction: NSExpression, selectorName: String, arguments: [Any]?)

Returns an expression which will return the result of invoking on a given target a selector with a given name using given arguments.