C++ – Calling Objective-C method from C++ member function

You can mix C++ with Objective-C if you do it carefully. There are a few caveats but generally speaking they can be mixed. If you want to keep them separate, you can set up a standard C wrapper function that gives the Objective-C object a usable C-style interface from non-Objective-C code (pick better names for your files, I have picked these names for verbosity):

MyObject-C-Interface.h

#ifndef __MYOBJECT_C_INTERFACE_H__
#define __MYOBJECT_C_INTERFACE_H__

// This is the C "trampoline" function that will be used
// to invoke a specific Objective-C method FROM C++
int MyObjectDoSomethingWith (void *myObjectInstance, void *parameter);
#endif

MyObject.h

#import "MyObject-C-Interface.h"

// An Objective-C class that needs to be accessed from C++
@interface MyObject : NSObject
{
    int someVar;
}

// The Objective-C member function you want to call from C++
- (int) doSomethingWith:(void *) aParameter;
@end

MyObject.mm

#import "MyObject.h"

@implementation MyObject

// C "trampoline" function to invoke Objective-C method
int MyObjectDoSomethingWith (void *self, void *aParameter)
{
    // Call the Objective-C method using Objective-C syntax
    return [(id) self doSomethingWith:aParameter];
}

- (int) doSomethingWith:(void *) aParameter
{
    // The Objective-C function you wanted to call from C++.
    // do work here..
    return 21 ; // half of 42
}
@end

MyCPPClass.cpp

#include "MyCPPClass.h"
#include "MyObject-C-Interface.h"

int MyCPPClass::someMethod (void *objectiveCObject, void *aParameter)
{
    // To invoke an Objective-C method from C++, use
    // the C trampoline function
    return MyObjectDoSomethingWith (objectiveCObject, aParameter);
}

The wrapper function does not need to be in the same .m file as the Objective-C class, but the file that it does exist in needs to be compiled as Objective-C code. The header that declares the wrapper function needs to be included in both CPP and Objective-C code.

(NOTE: if the Objective-C implementation file is given the extension ".m" it will not link under Xcode. The ".mm" extension tells Xcode to expect a combination of Objective-C and C++, i.e., Objective-C++.)

You can implement the above in an Object-Orientented manner by using the PIMPL idiom. The implementation is only slightly different. In short, you place the wrapper functions (declared in "MyObject-C-Interface.h") inside a class with a (private) void pointer to an instance of MyClass.

MyObject-C-Interface.h (PIMPL)

#ifndef __MYOBJECT_C_INTERFACE_H__
#define __MYOBJECT_C_INTERFACE_H__

class MyClassImpl
{
public:
    MyClassImpl ( void );
    ~MyClassImpl( void );

    void init( void );
    int  doSomethingWith( void * aParameter );
    void logMyMessage( char * aCStr );

private:
    void * self;
};

#endif

Notice the wrapper methods no longer require the void pointer to an instance of MyClass; it is now a private member of MyClassImpl. The init method is used to instantiate a MyClass instance;

MyObject.h (PIMPL)

#import "MyObject-C-Interface.h"

@interface MyObject : NSObject
{
    int someVar;
}

- (int)  doSomethingWith:(void *) aParameter;
- (void) logMyMessage:(char *) aCStr;

@end

MyObject.mm (PIMPL)

#import "MyObject.h"

@implementation MyObject

MyClassImpl::MyClassImpl( void )
    : self( NULL )
{   }

MyClassImpl::~MyClassImpl( void )
{
    [(id)self dealloc];
}

void MyClassImpl::init( void )
{    
    self = [[MyObject alloc] init];
}

int MyClassImpl::doSomethingWith( void *aParameter )
{
    return [(id)self doSomethingWith:aParameter];
}

void MyClassImpl::logMyMessage( char *aCStr )
{
    [(id)self doLogMessage:aCStr];
}

- (int) doSomethingWith:(void *) aParameter
{
    int result;

    // ... some code to calculate the result

    return result;
}

- (void) logMyMessage:(char *) aCStr
{
    NSLog( aCStr );
}

@end

Notice that MyClass is instantiated with a call to MyClassImpl::init. You could instantiate MyClass in MyClassImpl's constructor, but that generally isn't a good idea. The MyClass instance is destructed from MyClassImpl's destructor. As with the C-style implementation, the wrapper methods simply defer to the respective methods of MyClass.

MyCPPClass.h (PIMPL)

#ifndef __MYCPP_CLASS_H__
#define __MYCPP_CLASS_H__

class MyClassImpl;

class MyCPPClass
{
    enum { cANSWER_TO_LIFE_THE_UNIVERSE_AND_EVERYTHING = 42 };
public:
    MyCPPClass ( void );
    ~MyCPPClass( void );

    void init( void );
    void doSomethingWithMyClass( void );

private:
    MyClassImpl * _impl;
    int           _myValue;
};

#endif

MyCPPClass.cpp (PIMPL)

#include "MyCPPClass.h"
#include "MyObject-C-Interface.h"

MyCPPClass::MyCPPClass( void )
    : _impl ( NULL )
{   }

void MyCPPClass::init( void )
{
    _impl = new MyClassImpl();
}

MyCPPClass::~MyCPPClass( void )
{
    if ( _impl ) { delete _impl; _impl = NULL; }
}

void MyCPPClass::doSomethingWithMyClass( void )
{
    int result = _impl->doSomethingWith( _myValue );
    if ( result == cANSWER_TO_LIFE_THE_UNIVERSE_AND_EVERYTHING )
    {
        _impl->logMyMessage( "Hello, Arthur!" );
    }
    else
    {
        _impl->logMyMessage( "Don't worry." );
    }
}

You now access calls to MyClass through a private implementation of MyClassImpl. This approach can be advantageous if you were developing a portable application; you could simply swap out the implementation of MyClass with one specific to the other platform ... but honestly, whether this is a better implementation is more a matter of taste and needs.