Incompatible pointer types initializing 'NSDate

Question

I am setting up some constants, one being an NSDate but receiving this wanring message:

Incompatible pointer types initializing NSDate *const __strong with an expression of type NSString

Simple explanation of code (imp file):

NSDate *const kPAPUserBirthdayKey = @"fbBirthday";

Advanced explanation: I use a constants file as a singleton holding constant variables for the API i write to. For example the above which is a Date field which will hold the facebook users birthday when connecting to Facebook.

This is then later used in the following conversion:

// Convert the DOB string into Date format
NSDateFormatter* df = [[NSDateFormatter alloc] init];
[df setDateFormat:@"MM/dd/yyyy"];
NSDate* userDOB = [df dateFromString:user.birthday];
[[PFUser currentUser] setObject:userDOB forKey:kPAPUserBirthdayKey];

Can someone explain what the warning actually means and what should be changed here? I get the same error on the last line of the above?

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:07

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NSDate *const kPAPUserBirthdayKey = @"fbBirthday";

You are assigning a string to a NSDate.

Change NSDate to NSString.

Use:

NSString const *kPAPUserBirthdayKey = @"fbBirthday";

Also check what you need ?

A constant pointer or pointer to a constant.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:07

Community

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answered Mar 22 '13 at 15:52

Anoop Vaidya

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@CarlVeazey: sorry yet again typo miss, explained good but copied and forgot to change nsdate to nsstring :( And you are very frequent to downvote. NO mercy what so ever. – Anoop Vaidya Mar 22 '13 at 15:57
Ok, I guess this relates more to how this is being used/implemented. fbBirthday is a string correct however that is simply the title/column the date will then be input into. So the actual data being input would be a Date, shown here - [[PFUser currentUser] setObject:userDOB forKey:kPAPUserBirthdayKey]; – StuartM Mar 22 '13 at 16:01

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 22 '13 at 15:53

0

NSDate *const kPAPUserBirthdayKey                               = @"fbBirthday";

Here fbBirthday is a string not date. The warning says that.

answered Mar 22 '13 at 15:53

Vignesh

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score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 22 '13 at 15:58

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Change your constant's type to NSString. The compiler is telling you you're making an assignment between incompatible types, as NSString is not a subclass of NSDate.

answered Mar 22 '13 at 15:58

Carl Veazey

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Incompatible pointer types initializing 'NSDate

3 Answers3