Create and use an Enum in Objective-C

Question

I'm currently developing a poker game for iOS in Objective-C, but I'm having issues with using enums. I would like to create an enum called "Suit" and use it in my Card class, since every card would have its deck and suit such as "Ace Spade".

Where do I define my enum?

typedef enum Suit {
    Diamond,
    Club,
    Heart,
    Spade
}

Also, what type of class should I define the Suit enum in (ex. NSObject, UIView, etc.)? And, after I import Suit.h in Card.h, can I define it as property directly in Card.h?

I'm not very familiar with Objective-C, so any help is appreciated.

Aren't you suppose to add a semicolon at the end? And why are you defining it with typedef, while not adding an alias to the enum at the end? — TheAmateurProgrammer
– TheAmateurProgrammer, Commented Sep 23, 2012 at 8:08
And to address your problem, if the Card class is the only class that uses Suit, then you can just add Suit in your Card's header. There's no strict rule to follow where you're suppose to put an enum, just put it where classes that requires it can easily access it. — TheAmateurProgrammer
– TheAmateurProgrammer, Commented Sep 23, 2012 at 8:09
"for the Suit header class, what class type should it be?(subclass of what, NSObject or..?" <- enums are not classes. — user529758
– user529758, Commented Sep 23, 2012 at 8:23
@theAmateurProgrammer as I said I don't know much about objective-c enum. Card is gonna be used for several times in several classes. — Ivan Li
– Ivan Li, Commented Sep 23, 2012 at 10:24
@H2CO3 thanks for telling, Quuxplusone 's sample is much clearer. — Ivan Li
– Ivan Li, Commented Sep 23, 2012 at 10:26

Quuxplusone · Accepted Answer · 2012-09-23 08:15:50Z

7

typedef enum {
    Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades
} Suit;

typedef int Value;

struct Card {
    Suit suit;
    Value value;
};

or, if you really think Card needs to be a heavyweight class, then

@interface Card : NSObject
@property Suit suit;
@property Value value;
@end

answered Sep 23, 2012 at 8:15

Quuxplusone

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1 Comment

Zev Eisenberg Over a year ago

You can also use the NS_ENUM macro to more cleanly type your enums. Look in the UIKit headers, e.g. UIView.h - they use it for all the UIView enums.

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