OSDictionary


Abstract: A collection class whose instances maintain a list of object references. Objects in the collection are aquired with unique associative keys.

An instance of OSDictionary is a mutable container which contains a list of OSObject derived object references and these objects are identified and aquired by unique associative keys. When an object is placed into a dictionary, a unique identifier or key must provided to identify the object within the collection. The key then must be provided to find the object within the collection. If an object is not found within the collection, a 0 is returned. Placing an object into a dictionary for a key, which already identifies an object within that dictionary, will replace the current object with the new object.

Objects placed into a dictionary are automatically retained and objects removed or replaced are automatically released. All objects are released when the collection is freed.

© 2000 Apple Computer, Inc. — (Last Updated 2/23/2000)