OK, this forum seems to have an issue with people asking for help without it being very clear exactly what they need help with, so I thought I'd post this: consider this a set of guidelines for getting useful help out of the other FMs on here.
When faced with a problem that you do not know how to solve, first of all, ask yourself these questions:
1. Does this seem like something that should be obvious, or an issue that somebody else has probably solved already? If so, have you tried Googling for the answer? Failing that, have you tried searching these forums for an answer and checking the stickies at the top of the forum?
2. Have you looked at the documentation? If you're having a problem with, say, an NSString, have you looked at the pretty comprehensive NSString documentation?
Having asked yourself these questions, if you still haven't found your answer, its time to ask for help. When posting on here with a question/problem, try and cover the following:
1. Summarize. What is the overall issue you are having? Is your question related to some kind of fundamental design decision, a compile issue (warnings/errors), a crash, unexpected behaviour?
2. Expected outcomes. What did you expect to happen? What is actually happening?
3. Code. Nobody is going to be able to help you, particularly with crashing/compile issues, if you don't post your code. I don't mean pseudo-code, or some kind of mashed up edited version of your code, post as much relevant sample code as you can. Start with the method that is causing you a problem. If that method is referencing variables, post your header and any initialisation. If in doubt, post the entire class and header file. If somebody asks to see some other part of your code, show them. Don't be protective of your code; nobody is here to "steal" your code, we just want to help.
3a. Use CODE tags when posting code. Code posted without using code blocks is difficult to read.
4. What have you tried? It helps to know what you've already tried and what failed. If you've tried looking in the documentation, where have you looked? (if you haven't looked in the docs, return to the beginning of this post).
5. Resolution. If you are able to solve the problem on your own, don't just say "I SOLVED IT" and disappear. Tell us how you solved it. Maybe you'll help somebody else with the same problem if they come across your thread. Maybe the way you solved it wasn't the best way and somebody may be able to recommend a better way.
Finally, a little bit of manners never hurt. If somebody takes the time to help you and/or posts a solution to your problem, it doesn't hurt to acknowledge it and say thanks.
When faced with a problem that you do not know how to solve, first of all, ask yourself these questions:
1. Does this seem like something that should be obvious, or an issue that somebody else has probably solved already? If so, have you tried Googling for the answer? Failing that, have you tried searching these forums for an answer and checking the stickies at the top of the forum?
2. Have you looked at the documentation? If you're having a problem with, say, an NSString, have you looked at the pretty comprehensive NSString documentation?
Having asked yourself these questions, if you still haven't found your answer, its time to ask for help. When posting on here with a question/problem, try and cover the following:
1. Summarize. What is the overall issue you are having? Is your question related to some kind of fundamental design decision, a compile issue (warnings/errors), a crash, unexpected behaviour?
2. Expected outcomes. What did you expect to happen? What is actually happening?
3. Code. Nobody is going to be able to help you, particularly with crashing/compile issues, if you don't post your code. I don't mean pseudo-code, or some kind of mashed up edited version of your code, post as much relevant sample code as you can. Start with the method that is causing you a problem. If that method is referencing variables, post your header and any initialisation. If in doubt, post the entire class and header file. If somebody asks to see some other part of your code, show them. Don't be protective of your code; nobody is here to "steal" your code, we just want to help.
3a. Use CODE tags when posting code. Code posted without using code blocks is difficult to read.
4. What have you tried? It helps to know what you've already tried and what failed. If you've tried looking in the documentation, where have you looked? (if you haven't looked in the docs, return to the beginning of this post).
5. Resolution. If you are able to solve the problem on your own, don't just say "I SOLVED IT" and disappear. Tell us how you solved it. Maybe you'll help somebody else with the same problem if they come across your thread. Maybe the way you solved it wasn't the best way and somebody may be able to recommend a better way.
Finally, a little bit of manners never hurt. If somebody takes the time to help you and/or posts a solution to your problem, it doesn't hurt to acknowledge it and say thanks.
