Accessing PFObject Subclassed Properties from a Query - parse-platform

Question

I am using Parse and have created a subclass of PFObject. When creating objects it makes things much easier. Once objects are created, I am experimenting with querying the database and accessing the custom properties I created. What I am finding is that I cannot use dot notation to access the properties when I am working the the PFObjects returned from the query. Is this normal?
Here is subclass I created.
import Foundation
import UIKit
import Parse
class MessagePFObject: PFObject
{
#NSManaged var messageSender : String
#NSManaged var messageReceiver : String
#NSManaged var messageMessage : String
#NSManaged var messageSeen : Bool
//+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
// Custom Query method.
override class func query() -> PFQuery?
{
let query = PFQuery(className: MessagePFObject.parseClassName())
query.includeKey("user")
query.orderByDescending("createdAt")
return query
}
//+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
init(messageSenderInput: String?, messageReceiverInput: String?, messageMessageInput: String?)
{
super.init()
self.messageSender = messageSenderInput!
self.messageReceiver = messageReceiverInput!
self.messageMessage = messageMessageInput!
self.messageSeen = false
}
//+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
override init()
{
super.init()
}
}
//++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ EXTENSION +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
extension MessagePFObject : PFSubclassing
{
class func parseClassName() -> String
{
return "MessagePFObject"
}
//+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
override class func initialize()
{
var onceToken: dispatch_once_t = 0
dispatch_once(&onceToken) {
self.registerSubclass()
}
}
}
Here is my query and what I am required to do to access the properties. createdAt, updatedAt, etc are all available with dot notation but none of my custom properties are. You can see I access messageSeen with element.objectForKey("messageSeen").
let predicate = NSPredicate(format: "messageSender == %# OR messageReceiver == %#", self.currentUser!.username!, self.currentUser!.username!)
let query = messagePFObject.queryWithPredicate(predicate)
query!.findObjectsInBackgroundWithBlock ({ (objects, error) -> Void in
if error == nil && objects!.count > 0
{
for element in objects!
{
print(element)
print(element.parseClassName)
print(element.objectId)
print(element.createdAt)
print(element.updatedAt)
print(element.objectForKey("messageSeen"))
}
}
else if error != nil
{
print(error)
}
})
If this is normal then that is fine. I just want to make sure I am not missing something.
Take care,
Jon

Answer 1

Your object subclass has to implement the PFSubclassing protocol and you need to call MessagePFObject.registerSubclass() in your app delegate.
The parse documentation is very good : https://parse.com/docs/ios/guide#objects-subclasses