So more precisely, you want dynamic, runtime observaion of the properties, if I got it correctly. Do something like this (implement this method on self, the class you want to introspect):
#import <objc/runtime.h>
- (NSArray *)allPropertyNames
{
unsigned count;
objc_property_t *properties = class_copyPropertyList([self class], &count);
NSMutableArray *rv = [NSMutableArray array];
unsigned i;
for (i = 0; i < count; i++)
{
objc_property_t property = properties[i];
NSString *name = [NSString stringWithUTF8String:property_getName(property)];
[rv addObject:name];
}
free(properties);
return rv;
}
- (void *)pointerOfIvarForPropertyNamed:(NSString *)name
{
objc_property_t property = class_getProperty([self class], [name UTF8String]);
const char *attr = property_getAttributes(property);
const char *ivarName = strchr(attr, 'V') + 1;
Ivar ivar = object_getInstanceVariable(self, ivarName, NULL);
return (char *)self + ivar_getOffset(ivar);
}
Use it like this:
SomeType myProperty;
NSArray *properties = [self allPropertyNames];
NSString *firstPropertyName = [properties objectAtIndex:0];
void *propertyIvarAddress = [self getPointerOfIvarForPropertyNamed:firstPropertyName];
myProperty = *(SomeType *)propertyIvarAddress;
// Simpler alternative using KVC:
myProperty = [self valueForKey:firstPropertyName];
Hope this helps.