iOS NSMethodSignature (or encoding) of NSBlock

Question

I need a way to check the number of arguments and argument types of a given block at runtime (I need this for some object mapping library I\'m currently writing, I\'m mapping St

Answer 1

Using CTBlockDescription, you can get all the runtime information you need as a NSMethodSignature object. Usage is straightforward:

NSString * (^block)(int, NSArray *) = ^NSString * (int i, NSArray * a){
    return @"Oh, yeah!";
};
NSMethodSignature *signature = [[[CTBlockDescription alloc] initWithBlock:block] blockSignature];
NSLog(@"signature %@", [signature debugDescription]);

This will output the following signature:

signature <NSMethodSignature: 0x6844900>
    number of arguments = 3
    frame size = 12
    is special struct return? NO
    return value: -------- -------- -------- --------
        type encoding (@) '@'
        flags {isObject}
        modifiers {}
        frame {offset = 0, offset adjust = 0, size = 4, size adjust = 0}
        memory {offset = 0, size = 4}
    argument 0: -------- -------- -------- --------
        type encoding (@) '@?'
        flags {isObject}
        modifiers {}
        frame {offset = 0, offset adjust = 0, size = 4, size adjust = 0}
        memory {offset = 0, size = 4}
    argument 1: -------- -------- -------- --------
        type encoding (i) 'i'
        flags {isSigned}
        modifiers {}
        frame {offset = 4, offset adjust = 0, size = 4, size adjust = 0}
        memory {offset = 0, size = 4}
    argument 2: -------- -------- -------- --------
        type encoding (@) '@'
        flags {isObject}
        modifiers {}
        frame {offset = 8, offset adjust = 0, size = 4, size adjust = 0}
        memory {offset = 0, size = 4}