How to cancel NSBlockOperation

Doh. Dear future googlers: of course operation is nil when copied by the block, but it doesn't have to be copied. It can be qualified with __block like so:

//THIS MIGHT LEAK! See the update below.
__block NSBlockOperation *operation = [NSBlockOperation blockOperationWithBlock:^{
   while( ! [operation isCancelled]){
      //do something...
   }
}];

UPDATE:

Upon further meditation, it occurs to me that this will create a retain cycle under ARC. In ARC, I believe __block storage is retained. If so, we're in trouble, because NSBlockOperation also keeps a strong references to the passed in block, which now has a strong reference to the operation, which has a strong reference to the passed in block, which…

It's a little less elegant, but using an explicit weak reference should break the cycle:

NSBlockOperation *operation = [[NSBlockOperation alloc] init];
__weak NSBlockOperation *weakOperation = operation;
[operation addExecutionBlock:^{
   while( ! [weakOperation isCancelled]){
      //do something...
   }
}];

Anyone that has ideas for a more elegant solution, please comment!

To reinforce jemmons answer. WWDC 2012 session 211 - Building Concurent User Interfaces (33 mins in)

NSOperationQueue* myQueue = [[NSOperationQueue alloc] init];
NSBlockOperation* myOp = [[NSBlockOperation alloc] init];

// Make a weak reference to avoid a retain cycle
__weak NSBlockOperation* myWeakOp = myOp;

[myOp addExecutionBlock:^{
    for (int i = 0; i < 10000; i++) {
        if ([myWeakOp isCancelled]) break;
        precessData(i);
    }
}];
[myQueue addOperation:myOp];

With Swift 5, you can create a cancellable BlockOperation with addExecutionBlock(_:). addExecutionBlock(_:) has the following declaration:

func addExecutionBlock(_ block: @escaping () -> Void)

Adds the specified block to the receiver’s list of blocks to perform.

---

The example below shows how to implement addExecutionBlock(_:):

let blockOperation = BlockOperation()

blockOperation.addExecutionBlock({ [unowned blockOperation] in
    for i in 0 ..< 10000 {
        if blockOperation.isCancelled {
            print("Cancelled")
            return // or break
        }
        print(i)
    }
})

Note that, in order to prevent a retain cycle between the BlockOperation instance and its execution block, you have to use a capture list with a weak or unowned reference to blockOperation inside the execution block.

---

The following Playground code shows how to cancel a BlockOperation subclass instance and check that there is no retain cycle between it and its execution block:

import Foundation
import PlaygroundSupport

PlaygroundPage.current.needsIndefiniteExecution = true

class TestBlockOperation: BlockOperation {
    deinit {
        print("No retain cycle")
    }
}

do {
    let queue = OperationQueue()

    let blockOperation = TestBlockOperation()
    blockOperation.addExecutionBlock({ [unowned blockOperation] in
        for i in 0 ..< 10000 {
            if blockOperation.isCancelled {
                print("Cancelled")
                return // or break
            }
            print(i)
        }
    })

    queue.addOperation(blockOperation)

    Thread.sleep(forTimeInterval: 0.5)
    blockOperation.cancel()
}

This prints:

0
1
2
3
...
Cancelled
No retain cycle