Redefine makes easier to achieve method swizzling - that is, to overwrite methods implementations during runtime using the objc runtime. It also makes possible to switch back and forth through implementations, the original and the new one. ALDRedefinition uses the C++ concept of RAII, so the user just have to make sure to mantain a reference to the redefinition object for it to take place. When it is deallocated, everything goes back to normal.
The obvious use for it is unit tests. You don't have to prepare your code specifically for tests using factories, interfaces and etc, since it's possible to redefine any class or instance method. But, of course, you can do a lot of other crazy stuffs if you want to =D
Main features are:
- Swizzle class and instance methods
- Create more than one redefinition for the same class/instance method
- Start/stop a redefinition at will
- Call original selector implementations from redefined implementations
- Thread safety
What is new in version 1.1.0
Added the possibility to call original implementations from redefined implementations! For more info about each version, see CHANGELOG.
Attention: Apple documentation says new implementations must have the signature id^(id object, SEL selector, method_args...), what is wrong. You should follow the signature specified in Redefine docs: id^(id object, method_args...)
1) Redefining a class method
Let's say you want to test a behavior for a given signed user, which is managed by UserManager:
-( void )test_Greetings
{
ALDRedefinition *redefinition = [ALDRedefinition redefineClass: [UserManager class]
selector: @selector( currentUsername )
withImplementation: ^id(id object, ...) {
return @"John Doe";
}];
XCTAssertEqualObjects( [UserManager greetings], @"Hello, John Doe!" )
}
// ...
@implementation UserManager
// ...
+( NSString* )greetings
{
return [NSString stringWithFormat: @"Hello, %@!", [self currentUsername]];
}
// ...
@endYou don't have to worry about setting the original implementation of currentUsername back, since it will be done automatically when ALDRedefinition is deallocated.
2) Redefining an instance method
Let's say you want to test a specific behavior that only happens when a value is set on your NSUserDefaults:
-( void )test_When_Value_Is_Set_On_Standard_Defaults
{
ALDRedefinition *redefinition = [ALDRedefinition redefineClassInstances: [NSUserDefaults class]
selector: @selector( objectForKey: )
withImplementation: ^id(id object, ...) {
return @"Value";
}];
NSString* valueIWantToTest = [[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] objectForKey: kMyAwsomeKey];
XCTAssertEqualObjects( valueIWantToTest, @"Value" );
}As said before, you don't have to worry about setting the original implementation of objectForKey: back, since it will be done automatically when ALDRedefinition is deallocated.
The reason redefineClassInstances:selector:withImplementation: is plural is because all instances of NSUserDefaults class will have its objectForKey: redefined while the redefinition is in place.
3) Beware of class clusters like NSArray:
The code below will not work because NSArray is a class cluster, so it returns other classes which override objectForIndex: method:
-( void )test_backward
{
// testArray is not really a NSArray
NSArray *testArray = @[ @1, @2, @3 ];
// ERROR! THIS WILL NOT WORK AS EXPECTED!!!
ALDRedefinition *redefinition = [ALDRedefinition redefineClassInstances: [NSArray class]
selector: @selector( objectAtIndex: )
withImplementation: ^id(id object, ...) {
return @"Mock";
}];
for( NSUInteger i = 0 ; i < testArray.count ; i++ )
XCTAssertEqualObjects( @"Mock", [testArray objectAtIndex: i] );
}For it to work, we would need to use testArray real class. So, the correct code is:
-( void )test_backward
{
// testArray is not really a NSArray
NSArray *testArray = @[ @1, @2, @3 ];
// Ah-ha! Now everything is fine =)
ALDRedefinition *redefinition = [ALDRedefinition redefineClassInstances: [testArray class]
selector: @selector( objectAtIndex: )
withImplementation: ^id(id object, ...) {
return @"Mock";
}];
for( NSUInteger i = 0 ; i < testArray.count ; i++ )
XCTAssertEqualObjects( @"Mock", [testArray objectAtIndex: i] );
}4) Stop and Restart using a redefinition at will and checking if a redefinition is in place
Of course you don't need to deallocate a redefinition object to make it uneffective:
ALDRedefinition *redefinition = [ALDRedefinition redefineClassInstances: [NSArray class]
selector: @selector( firstObject )
withImplementation: ^id(id object, ...) {
return testArray.lastObject;
}];
// From now on, firstObject will return lastObject
// ...
// Let's bring the original implementation back
[redefinition stopUsingRedefinition];
// From now on, firstObject will return firstObject
// ...
// Nah, let's redefine it again
[redefinition startUsingRedefinition];
// ...
// Checks if a redefinition is in place
BOOL isRedefinitionInPlace = redefinition.usingRedefinition5) Multiple redefinitions with the same target
Since version 1.0.2, you can set multiple redefinitions for the same target. The previous redefinition will be stopped. If you want listen to theses changes, the usingRedefinition property is now KVO compliant:
NSString *test = @"original value";
// Creates a redefinition for NSString description
ALDRedefinition *firstRedefinition = [ALDRedefinition redefineClassInstances: [NSString class]
selector: @selector( description )
withImplementation: ^id(id object, ...) {
return @"first";
}];
// First redefinition is in place
assert( [[test description] isEqualToString: @"first"] );
// Creates another redefinition for NSString description
ALDRedefinition *secondRedefinition = [ALDRedefinition redefineClassInstances: [NSString class]
selector: @selector( description )
withImplementation: ^id(id object, ...) {
return @"second";
}];
// Second redefinition is in place...
assert( [[test description] isEqualToString: @"second"] );
// ... And the first redefinition has been stopped!
assert( firstRedefinition.usingRedefinition == NO );
// When we set firstRedefinition back...
[firstRedefinition startUsingRedefinition];
// ... The second redefinition is out!
assert( secondRedefinition.usingRedefinition == NO );
// Stopping the current redefinition...
[firstRedefinition stopUsingRedefinition];
// Brings the original implementation back
assert( [[test description] isEqualToString: @"original value"] );
// Hence, no redefinition is in use
assert( firstRedefinition.usingRedefinition == NO );
assert( secondRedefinition.usingRedefinition == NO );6) Calling original selector implementations from redefined implementations
This is possible since version 1.1.0:
NSArray *testArray = @[ @0, @1, @2 ];
ALDRedefinition *redefinition = [ALDRedefinition redefineClassInstances: [testArray class]
selector: @selector( objectAtIndex: )
withPolymorphicImplementation: ^id( SEL selectorBeingRedefined, IMP originalImplementation ) {
return ^id( id object, ... ) {
va_list args;
va_start( args, object );
NSUInteger index = va_arg( args, NSUInteger );
va_end( args );
id original = originalImplementation( object, selectorBeingRedefined, index );
return [NSString stringWithFormat: @"Mock%@", original];
};
}];
assert( [[testArray objectAtIndex: 2] isEqualToString: @"Mock2"] );Redefine is available through CocoaPods, to install it simply add the following line to your Podfile:
pod "Redefine"iOS 6.0 or higher, OSX 10.7 or higher, ARC only
Redefine is available under the MIT license. See the LICENSE file for more info.